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9. We got remasters of many classic BB albums.

Besides the remastering, I think it's worth cheering about that we got official mono and stereo mixes of some albums on CD for the first time!

thanks, bgas!

AHA! I found this:

in a 1988 interview with Pete Fornatele, the five records he'd keep for his own jukebox:

Be my baby
Da doo ron ron
Good Vibrations
Macarthur Park
and...
Spooky by the Classics Four... "I thought that was a great record!"

and this

The Queen reference is in Richard Cromelin's piece for Sounds, Aug 7 1976:  Brian says "Like for instance there's a group called Queen.  They made a record, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which to me was a fulfillment and an answer to a teenage prayer, of artistic music...I studied the record.  I became very familiar with it, and I'm very very fond of it and I'm scared of it at the same time.  Oh, it's the most competitive thing that's come along in ages! It's just totally amazing what people do when they lose their noggins, when they lose their heads and they go in there and freak...That's what Queen did.  They had enough of what was happening, and by God they went in and did their thing and stomped! And I appreciate that and I'm very fond of it."   Clearly in 1975 Brian was doing very little and probably listened to Rodney , Jim Pewter and other DJ's every day.  By the way-I had the privilege of interviewing Chip Rachlin for my book and he told me that he took Dennis to see Queen in 1975 or 76 and that Dennis insisted on going backstage afterwards and meeting them.

Using Google seems to be a more reliable way of searching the SS archives than using the search function on the forum, to be honest.

I remember hearing about an interview where Brian shows some guy his record collection in the 70s and talks about Bohemian Rhapsody, anyone have a link to that?

Maybe he was mixed up, but it would be really cool if Brian liked Bohemian Rhapsody.

Don't have the link handy, but it was definitely Bohemian Rhapsody

Searching Google books, I found this:

"Brian Wilson, the compositional mastermind of The Beach Boys, told Creem magazine's Richard Cromelin in the October 1976 issue that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was, "to me, a fulfillment of artistic music. I studied the record, I became very ..."

http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=6506

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ohz0hVVaqkA

Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) does a splendid cover of "Little Bird"!

Cool posts!  I was hoping to get some responses like these - a great variety of styles.

Da Doo Ron Ron

Yea this is pretty accurate the more that I think about it. The piano triplet and percussion overdub are staples for me.

nice pick, what a great production!

Wouldn't It Be Nice

It has been my favorite song ever since I first heard it in 1966. I doubt that there is one day that I have not played it at least once.  Well, there may have been a few days over the past 46 years that I didn't listen to it, but you get where I'm coming from.

Wouldn't It Be Nice (stereo track w/ background vocals)

The beauty of the harmonies, the complex chords, the complex arrangement....I mean, the lead instrument is an ACCORDION and Brian makes it sounds like an instrument that came straight from the hands of God!

Brilliant song that inspires me all the time.

Haha, I am definitely familiar with WIBN - amazing song, I've certainly been inspired by it (I'll try listening to the backing track with backing vocals more, too)

Halah by Mazzy Star

I hadn't heard of Mazzy Star before - definitely going to keep listening to that song, sounds great so far

Good idea for the topic, Sonic Oasis (aka DiamondHead)!
I mentioned it plenty of times before & since then nothing changed - I still love At My Window like no other song by any artist, including The BBs themselves. Such a warm, homely, benign & just extremely beautiful song! Must admit, when I 1st heard AMW, I thought its lead vocalist - Bruce Johnston - was the best singer of The BBs. Now I don't think so, of course, but nevertheless I like his singing here. Though Brian could sang it no less good imo. Or even better. Anyway, the song is ideal on every side, mostly the harmonies. Every time I hear At My Window, I have very beautiful images in my head, like I'm in a some calm place where only horizon, meadows, the sun & no anger, evil etc. Generally, I like it when song creates such kind of atmosphere & brings good memories or transfers you to some picturesque place. So that's another reason of why I adore AMW. Btw, the melody isn't that simple & childlike as it may seem. To my ears, there's also some hint of psychedelia, sth. very whimsical about it. In short, undeservedly overlooked gem.

At My Window - YES!  Thanks, RangeRover, for getting me back into Sunflower... One of the greatest sounding albums I've ever heard (props to Stephen Desper)

Hmmm. I'd have to say Getcha Back, the THICK harmonies are really like nothing else.

Getcha Back - that's cool to hear, have you experimented with trying to produce vocals like that?

The work of Spiritualized. The best sounding, best arranged modern records. And I am making modern records by virtue of the date. He also says so much bang-on stuff in interviews and has so much good taste.

Cool, I'll check that out

The Beach Boys - All I Wanna Do

It takes me to another place, away from the world.

Another Sunflower track - that album is the bomb

Don't laugh...

Dancing Queen - ABBA
The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

I get chills up my spine just hearing the opening chords from both of these songs.

Dancing Queen is no joke - that is one solid record!  Especially the drums

Great topic!

For me it would be 'You Get what You Give' by the New Radicals. It floored me when it was a minor hit in 98 (or was it 99) and I've listened to it (and their lone Maybe You've been Brainwashed Too? album) ever since...

Wow, I wasn't expecting that one, but now that you say so, that was definitely one of the best singles of the 90s.  Listening now

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[The drumming]

What is the one piece of recorded music that you draw the greatest musical inspiration from?  It can be an individual track, a single, an EP, an LP, a CD album, anything goes.

I'll start:

Strawberry Fields Forever (the individual track)
This song became a part of my life when I was pretty young, probably 5 or 6.  I remember that for a couple weeks, I listened to the 1993 Blue Album CD set every night in bed.  Usually I would fall asleep near the end of disc 1, but every night after my routine bedtime prayer, I would hear the unique 1993 stereo version of Strawberry Fields Forever.  Everything about that recording saturated my subconscious and shaped the way I hear and play music.  The drumming, the recording technique, the lyrics, the chord progressions, the melody, the orchestration, the bass playing, the groove, the backwards tag at the end, the singing, the vocal harmony...  When I listen to SFF, it triggers a profound response of creative energy and "spiritual love", as BW might say.
Now that the original mono mix is accessible to me, I prefer listening to that for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum across the internet.

were they ashamed of the song "Luau" since it never got on any album or even compilation?

I recall someone talking about an 80s interview where the song came up. Mike and Brian were talking about it, Mike said he thought it was interesting, and then Carl said he thought it was sh*t.

Just came up on random for me about a half hour ago. I don't see what's to be so ashamed about, if any of them are, it's a B-side to their first single and not bad considering. s'cute. Certainly deserving of a mere two minute spot on the box set, at least.

Don't we hear one of the Wilson brothers say "Let's do Luau!" during I Get Around on the Party! album?  Leads me to believe that he at least thought it was still a fun song in 1965!

[Pepper - It was the album that made me love them. Fixing A Hole, Getting Better, She's Leaving Home, LSD, Day In The Life, Within Without You. It's a wonderful vibe, probably their best 'album' album - it's got great flow. And it is also probably my favourite production.]

I can't decide what to vote for!


It's Help! vs. Rubber Soul vs. Sgt. Pepper vs. Abbey Road.

(Hard Day's Night and Revolver not quite doing it for me at crunch time, probably due to prerponderance of B grade material. White Album, has previously stated, has Ob La Di Ob La Da on it and can thus get f***ed).


So....

Help! - in the good corner, we have Help, Yesterday, The Night Before, Ticket to Ride, I've Just Seen A Face, I Need You. In the dud corner, we have Yesterday, Another Girl, Act Naturally (I love Ringo but come on), Dizzy Miss Lizzy (although they sound huge - two note guitar riff FTW). It's probably the best they got as the 'rock band' sound for me, and it has a nice vibe.

Rubber Soul - Probably quicker to list what I don't f***s with - Run For Your Life (seems a damp squib to end it on, as well as the usual concerns), What Goes On (I prefer Sufjan Stevens' nuts cover, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNmPCcaFPbM). That's it. And everyone is on incredible form, here. George's songs are particular highlights.

Pepper - It was the album that made me love them. Fixing A Hole, Getting Better, She's Leaving Home, LSD, Day In The Life, Within Without You. It's a wonderful vibe, probably their best 'album' album - it's got great flow. And it is also probably my favourite production.

Abbey Road - a lot I don't f*** with here, too (maxwell's f***in silver hammer). But the highs are ridiculous. Something, The Medley, I Want You, Come Together, Octopus's Garden (I love that), Here Comes The Sun. It does seem like Paul's manifesto, though.

Going to have to go for Pepper for strictly emotional reasons, although Rubber Soul is probably 'better'.

Well said by hypehat - I agree with his breakdown.

It's Sgt. Pepper for me, too.  It's definitely the easiest listen - as Paul described, "I was into clean sounds - maybe a Beach Boy influence at that point."  It's got that wonderful clean warmth to it that, in my experience, is only matched by Nilsson's "The Point" and Pet Sounds.

Who exactly are you waiting on to record the backing vox for Little Bird?  I thought that was going pretty well 

Awesome story, Stephen!  Thanks for that.  I ought to read your book soon, especially if it's got more stories like that!

Wow, another great study video!  Amazing how you're able to bring out so much extra depth and clarity without any additional speakers

I took a while for me to grow into this album (especially because of the production style, which I still am not a huge fan of), but now I love it!  Wow, it's like a dream that the guys were able to get together after so long and make an album that is this good...

Still works for me.  Check your spaces and caps!

Just listened again... My favorite moment that highlights this version of CCW is when it gets to Mikes "In an ocean or in a glass..." part.  Hard to describe exactly, but the matrix and/or transient restoration processing takes it to a whole 'nother level!

RangeRoverA1, I'm pretty sure I would not be alone to say that I appreciate your presence here and your posts.  I think it's also fun to have a laugh at our idiosyncrasies!

[does inverting the right and left channels negatively affect the matrix-processed audio?]

I've just listened to "Cool, Cool, Water" and the bonus track ... wow!  They both sound amazing (I have to say, I have under-appreciated the latter song up until now).  And hearing the CCW sessions, and the detailed notes - an unparalleled resource...

Stephen, after listening to both, I realized that somewhere along the line, the left and right channels coming from my computer were coming out of the wrong/opposite speakers.  I've resolved the problem, but now that I've re-listened to parts of the bonus track again, I can't tell if it actually sounds better this way or I am becoming more familiar with the 360 degree sound.  My question is, does inverting the right and left channels negatively affect the matrix-processed audio?

Thank you so much for this treasure!  I'm looking forward to returning to these and hearing more (hopefully full-length Sunflower in "the matrix"!).

Wow, really great contributions by everyone on this thread...

it's true, it depends on the day, the mood, etc. but at the end of the day, I find that the more i try to analyze it and decide which one is the best, the less i enjoy the experience.




time to listen to Pet Sounds! (2006 Mono!)

[cleaner]

I don't believe that it's really stereo, but it is undeniably cleaner than the two-fer version that I'm familiar with... Are there bootleg stems out there or cleaner mixes that I'm unaware of?

The way I look at it, nobody has ever or will ever hear Smile.  It simply was not completed in its original form.  Sure, BW/VDP, etc made a complete album in 2004, but that is not The Beach Boys.

That being said, The Smile Sessions is fantastic.  One of the most interesting things about the Smile phenomenon is how, due to the modular nature of the music and the incompleteness of the album, the listener can customize their Smile experience without really compromising "Brian's original version" - he never really decided on how he wanted to piece the snippets together (except for completed songs like Vegetables, Cabinessence, Cool, Cool Water and Surf's Up), and TSS simply followed the template of the 2004 release!

That's why I have gotten enormous satisfaction out of making my own "what-if" version of Smile with pieces and full songs the high-quality 2011 mixes.  But does it top Pet Sounds?  YES

[It never crossed my mind until I saw this:]

Haha, let me be more specific...

"TALOYF" has a groove, attitude, verse/chorus structure, and chord progression that remind me of a specific type of Weezer song.  Best example is "Undone - The Sweater Song" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHQqqM5sr7g&feature=related).  To say that it is akin to Weezer in general is ridiculous...

It never crossed my mind until I saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAwoe-jYa0

I don't hear anything Weezerish in TALOYF either, but in the stereo of my mind I can hear them doing a pretty great cover version of it.

This is kind of what I meant.

Out of phasing - you got audacity? drag yr track into it, split it to mono (drop down menu on the track), then select one of the mono tracks, go to effects, press invert. It gets rid of the centre channel, which doesn't do much for a lot of the album, but those strings take centre stage in the break.

Haha, I've used this technique myself but had no idea there was a message-board slang word for it! 

cool, I need to give that a try on Summer's Gone

Anyone else get a really strong Weezer vibe from "Take A Load Off Your Feet"??

I think it's worthy to bring up the "alternate version" of Little Girl from the Hawthorne, CA compilation.  Sure, it's not the original version, and it's not REALLY in stereo, but Mr. O'Leary, it's pretty close to what it sounds like you're looking for.