The excerpt about the vitamin energy drink cracks me up - classic hyper enthused Brian. Could you imagine if we had 5-Hour Energy in 1966?

I dare say it...he would have completed SMILE by Christmas.  

Anyway, it would make a swell ad campaign.

3 albums - not ONE for the Beach Boys? what a drag...

aaaaand it begins...

Nope! Won't go there. At the end of the day, nothing makes me smile more than knowing Brian is back in the studio and he's groovin' to the sounds. God bless him. That matters more than fanboy fantasy and such.

You gotta like this quote - We’ve got some new tunes we want to try out on a live crowd as well as doing some great music from our catalogues.” 

New tunes, as in plural. That's a good sign. Should be a very interesting tour, albeit mini tour.

[The Ghost of Murry!]

Al sounds amazing as always.... and way to thumb that mandolin!

The Lennon track is most impressive... wonder who arranged the vocals?

The Ghost of Murry!

Love Al's Hammer remake. Here's to a full-on folkie album from Al!

All the guys are such prisoners of their musical legacy. More power to 'em when they break out of the shell and do what moves 'em.

An interesting thought!

Did Brian ever really "break out of the shell" during the past 30 years? I wish he did! The Gershwin record (despite the somewhat unimaginative backing tracks) may be pretty close and judging from his vocal performance on that album it was something that got him at least very interested, which I suspect is a rare thing to happen.

I was going to suggest the Gershwin album as an example (although I do have a guilty pleasure for the 4/4 shuffle beat numbers, like They Can't Take That Away From Me). Perhaps Orange Crate Art could be another example.

Ain't Necessarily So has some dark Ira lyrics that are uncharacteristically Brian, which is why I found his rendition so refreshing.

Com'on Al. Call some young heavy cats down to Red Barn, such as Nickel Creek - you'll knock out an album in record time and it'll sell close to Postcard numbers.

Love Al's Hammer remake. Here's to a full-on folkie album from Al!

All the guys are such prisoners of their musical legacy. More power to 'em when they break out of the shell and do what moves 'em.

aeijtzsche, the track list is pretty much what I expected, and I'm pretty impressed.  If I have any beef at all, it's with this type of box set in general.  As a die-hard fan (but non completeist), I'll probably end up buying most of these tracks.  But does whoever called the shots really think the casual fan will buy this?

That's the $64K question. If you were conducting the train at Capitol, you would have to decide whether a rarities only (or heavily weighted) release would realize greater profit than a career spanning box set with rarities. While I loved Hawthorne, my understanding is that it underperformed in the marketplace.

With today's I-tunes ala carte market model, most of these questions will probably be rendered moot in a decade's time.

Moniker hit it on the head several pages ago; I believe that BRI or Capitol believe that an all encompassing rarities box set is prohibitive in either sales and/or market branding. It is what it is, and I'll be happy with what I can get. Your mileage may vary.

Yet another article socking it to Mike. No, my name is not Dave Swanson

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beach-boys-box-set/


BEACH BOYS ‘MADE IN CALIFORNIA’ BOX SET ANNOUNCED

by Dave Swanson June 11, 2013 4:53 PM

Last year, as the Beach Boys kicked off their 50th anniversary celebration, a multi-disc box set was supposed to be part of that. It was put on hold, until now.‘Made In California’ was originally announced to be released in early 2012 as the kick off of the 50th celebration.

A variety of issues held up its release, but now, Capitol Records has announced a street date of Aug. 27.The set will contain over seven and a half hours of music, including 60 previously unreleased tracks, along with the hits and album tracks of the band’s 50 year run. Included will be alternate takes, live recordings, and demos, as well as some radio and television performances.

There were reports early on that Mike Love, the notorious stick in the mud, had demanded certain unreleased tracks be taken off. Apparently, it has remained intact. In a statement on the box, Love said, “This box set captures the evolution of a dream which started with a family singing Everly Brothers songs around a piano, to creating the harmonies that fans would carry in their hearts for a lifetime.”‘Made In California’ will be packaged to look like a high school yearbook, and will include a reproduction of an essay, titled ‘My Philosophy,’ written by Brian Wilson in 1959, while still a student. The package also includes photos, memorabilia, classic Beach Boys artwork and more from the bands archives, as well as notations from Love, Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks.

Earlier this year, it was announced and Love and Johnston were set to carry on with the Beach Boys name, leaving Jardine, Marks and Wilson in the dust. Since then, Wilson has re-signed with Capitol Records and is working on a new album, with some help from Marks and Jardine. He is also hitting the road with the duo.

Hey - I know that dude! Part of the Cleveland scene. I remember he gave me a great Smile comp on cassette sometime long ago in the hazy 1990's. We were both on a GBV album.

I'm sick of RnR music, and Come Go with Me too. No, Al- I will not go with you. That was valuable CD space that could've been better allocated.

I've heard one of the preliminary remixes of Rock 'n' Roll Music, and I have to say it's actually pretty...revelatory might be a bit inaccurate, but it was pretty fantastic.  Mind you this was over 5 years ago.

Could this '12 remix be an attempt to recreate the old 'hot mix' we heard of back in the day? Always wondered why that one never came out in a box set.

Quite excited about the set, although I'm a little disappointed we won't have say, a half dozen more enigmatic tracks in full fidelity - such as Life Is For the Living. In the balancing act of commercial product vs. hard core collectibles, this sort of omission is to be expected (or course, Beachboyscentral.com could solve all that).

What I AM glad about is that I passed on the recent greatest hits releases which dangled the 'stereo remix' carrot in front of me...it'll be nice to have it all in a fresh release.  

In lieu of all that, we have our beloved boots. And yes...the instrumental of In The Back of My Mind is awe inspiring (particularly the extended fade which is worthy of the best of Mancini). Why this was neglected from MIC is Still A Mystery.

Blessed be the bootleggers, without whom we would be much the poorer.

I deny it. To me the clusterfuck is on Brian and Al.

Jeez. What an incredibly stupid comment. Aww well...consider the source.

You know, kind Smiley Smilers - this circular tug o' war is only going to ratchet up when Brian releases his CD. Brian will weave and bobb, while the press opines freely. Conjecture. Again. And that's fine by me. I'll enjoy hearing Mike and Bruce stammering while posed pointed questions by the Dingleberry County News Herald.

[Seconds]

Seconds, the John Frankenheimer 1966 film-noir tour de force is being released by Criterion this August. Wonder if Brian will purchase a copy?

Come in, Mr. Wilson!

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/seconds-movie-criterion?src=nl&mag=esq&list=nl_enl_mtv_non_053113_seconds-movie

I dunno. I'm sure the programs have benefit, but the whole presentation smacks of a camera-ready United Way production.

A circle jerk of rich people, slappin' each other on the back and telling each other how great they are. Look at the camera, look at the camera!

[click]

America drinks and goes home. Nuttin' to see here! Move along!

aaaand another head-in-his-ass comment by the fair and balanced moderator! If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was reading the comments section of Michelle Malkin. Substitute Liberals for Brianista...aaaand there ya go.

Anyway, regarding the topic The Stones have a cool factor that the BB really never had. Sure, Jan is probably betraying his magazine's current demographic but the Stones are quite simply the DNA of much which followed.

The blessing and curse of Endless Summer put an end to any possible reinvention and manifestation of the Beach Boy's brand in anything other than a "Remember the old days" archetype. Doesn't mean they aren't cool in their own way, just not in an all encompassing stop the presses everyone kinda way - like the Stones.

Some singers just have that rare DNA, where they continue to sound youthful well into their 60's. From the upcoming new release by John Fogerty.

The CMA's can stuff it. THIS is the country...and it took an old rocker to show'em how.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj5zf_jkt5s

...That being said Mike's job isn't to cow-tow to the diehard Beach Boys fanbase, but to sell the brand to the general public which he does very well.  The general public doesn't care who is up on stage representing the brand, nor do they care that the brand is being represented playing at a car wash.  They are just there to stomp their feet, clap their hands and sing surfy songs and Mike Love delivers that to them on a nightly basis.

Some years back, circa '05 or so I saw Mike and Bruce at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Western Washington. Mike did a little soliloquy on God Only Knows, dedicating it to the memory of Carl Wilson. The older gentlemen sitting next to me said, "who's that...was that their father?"

 

It is what it is, and it's a pretty vivid example of a large swath of the casual fan base. Too bad, but of course it's all marketing and it's all branding ain't it?

Mike is doing his part to create good BB karma; all he wanted was to sit in a room with Brian and write, and he was snubbed. As more and more information comes in, i see that Mike would have kept it going if only they were really making BB records and not Joe Thomas records.  Mike is healthy, sober, kind and good, and this is an olive branch for Al--the first step in the eventual reunion that will produce more shows and albums.

Aaaaaaand they're OFF!   

To paraphrase the old Hee Haw routine from Roy Clark and Buck Owens...



 

Much as I enjoy VDP, I would bet that there's a difference between his 'work place personae' and the glib $10-a-word pontificator. His interviews to me read a lot like Tom Waits interviews - the world's a stage and VDP plays the part of Samuel Clemens incarnate. When the mike is on, it's showtime. And that's good copy.

That being said, it's somewhat refreshing to read another angle on the whole Smile saga. I don't blame him for being touchy on all things Smile...it's both an albatross and a blessing to Van Dyke.

I guess Mike wants a creative collaboration.


But I don't know if Mike can even write a lyric nowadays that doesn't have a theme of 1) let's have fun in the sun,  2) remember those times in the past when we had fun in the sun? let's do that again, or 3) don't mess up the ocean environment.

Let's have some fun at the beach
Like we used to do
Make sure we pick up our trash when we go    

Really dig the tune! Took me to a High Llamas Hawaii vibe.

His style of interviewing has even been taught in universities. He rarely read the books of celebrity authors on his show, he didn't believe in the deep probing / research type interviews - he just developed an 'everyman' style that he felt was his calling card. I suppose at the end of the day, we're not talking PBS here...it's showbiz.

On the other hand, Brian is/always has been also obsessed/concerned with wanting to be commercial and he has said it publically. Neither one considers commercial a dirty word, that commercial is a dirty word is a figment of our own imaginations/sensibilities. They have both always wanted to be artfully commercial.

Exactly. Brian was never happy if the Beach Boys didn't sell.  One could make the argument that Brian Wilson was the most commercial of all Beach Boys. He was actually better at being commercial than Mike Love.

Don't have the exact quote handy, but the Uncut interview circa '98 (the one with Sean Hagen, Bruce, etc.). Brian tells Sean "can we get Carol? can we get Hal for the sessions? If we do, we'll have a number one record!" He's then told by Melinda I believe - "Brian you don't have to make a number one record...just make the record YOU want to make." To which Brian responds - "you mean you don't want a number one record?"

It's funny, it's sad...it's just Brian!

I bet he wouldn't have enjoyed BWPS half as much if it didn't do as respectably in the charts. He obviously puts a lot of weight on that stuff.

Whenever we're ragging on [insert any celebrity actor/athlete here], a brother of a friend of mine likes to opine, "he makes more money that YOU do."

Oh jeez, guess you're right. Never mind. End of discussion!

It's just a question of bias. Commercialism being the be all, end all. That's Mike's bias, and Carl (just a supposition mind you) probably had a broader perspective. Recall Bruce's comments on Pacific Ocean Blue (well before its remastering and re release) that he felt it wasn't 'commercial' enough. Bias. It's no wonder that Mike and Bruce are BFF's. The whole Mike and Carl relationship may have been close but frequently chaffed under the weight of the whole hit machine mindset. Does that make him a baaaad person? No...but I've got my biases too, so there you go.

And regarding the sound of thousands of adoring fans night after night, that's a moot point. We had the same dynamic in 2012 - and it walked the tightrope between commerce and ART. That's the difference, and Mike couldn't care less. C'est la vie.