In the end, the Beach Boys did nothing to use it or promote it, and it stayed hidden in the vaults for an eternity.
Mike Love replaced the song with an inappropriate ‘tune’
called Student Demonstration Time using the music from another song composed by Mike Stoller… WHAT A GENIUS!!!

Ouch!

Perhaps they are trying to time it as a holiday release?

[REVIEW and Q&A: Brian Wilson – At My Piano]

REVIEW and Q&A: Brian Wilson – At My Piano

https://esquarterly.com/2021/10/19/review-and-qa-brian-wilson-at-my-piano/?fbclid=IwAR2ggYkfAtLLLDj4kiqgWH9EyAnCtoZ53kaSmNQYeJb1sKP9A7Pv6OAizLg

Great article and interview! Thanks!


ESQ: Did you find that you needed to revisit any piano charts, or did you record the album by memory?

Brian: I went strictly by memory and did not need to see charts or anything else. These are my songs. They are in my brain forever.

I saw the " Great Brian Wilson' on Saturday night in Atlantic City and must say this was the best I have seen him perform in a long time.  I have previously seen Brian 's  band 68 times but Saturday show  was unreal!   First off the band was very solid as usual- pitch tones and instrumentals terrific- Blondie Al Matt and Darien were great on the individual songs they performed. . In the middle of show Blondie came on stage and performed a 3 song set leading with Feel Flows and dedicating it to Carl- saying (where are you Carl).  He then did Long Promised Road and closed his individual set with Sail on Sailor (masterful!!!)  Al's voice was the same as if he were still in the 70"s especially on Help Me Rhonda.  Matt hit all the high parts perfectly as he sang Don't Worry Baby never missing a beat and Darien was excellent as always singing Darling.

Brian was assisted on and off stage with the assistance of a walker and two aides.  The Band opened the show with California Girls and  Brian's voice was excellent all night long.  Brian seemed very relaxed throughout the show singing and not talking the lyrics. He really was very strong on songs like It Ok, Do it Again, and Please Let Me Wonder and the groups background harmonies on that song were spot on as usual. After each solo song by the other performers, Brian would call out the vocalists saying things like the "great"  Matt Jardine" etc   Of course he brought the entire audience on their feet with God Only Knows and the crowd clapped and yelled for at least 2 minutes.  Band remained onstage prior to the encore for the individual introductions and Brian then closed the show with Love and mercy.  Truly a great show and now we are off to Greensburg and Akron for shows later this week!!!!!

If you get a chance try to see Brian when he comes to your area- if other shows are as good as Saturday I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
 

Great to hear. Thanks for the review!

Back in 2001 Starbucks released a Beach Boys compilation which at the time was regarded by some, including me, as one of the better Beach Boys compilations. It was called Summer Crush. Track list: I Can Hear Music, Don't Worry Baby, Sail On Sailor, GOK, Surf's Up, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Friends, Add Some Music, Sloop, Cool Cool Water, Disnet Girls, GV, Caroline No, Do It Again.

Agreed, that's a very cool mix!

Lovely pics!

The website promo writeup on the Beach Boys is full of gems... you really have to read the whole thing to appreciate it, but:

"Had this remarkable band been less committed to its art and its fans, it could have retired from the field with honor at dozens of points along the way, confident that it had made a lasting contribution to world culture.  It could have rested on the success of the epoch-shifting Pet Sounds masterpiece in 1966… or after Mike Love’s concept album Endless Summer ignited a second generation of Beach Boys fans and stirred a tempest that rocked the music world… or after recording Love’s co-written Golden Globe nominated “Kokomo” in 1988 and seeing it become its best selling single ever… or after being inducted that same year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame… or after watching its worldwide album sales blow past l00 million… or after winning the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 [along with The Who, Bob Marley, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Les Paul].  And still, The Beach Boys continue to have fun, fun, fun, with no end in sight."

https://www.thebeachboyscruise.com/artist/the-beach-boys/

Ringin' in the 60th with Mark McGrath. Sweeeeet! 

But to be fair, for a show billed as a 'Greatest Hits' show, Salt Lake City, Wake the World, Add Some Music, Long Promised Road and Feel Flows are still pretty cool.

If you don't care much about lyrics, it's an utterly unique arrangement worth listening to.

Yep! This exactly. I find the lyrics mostly cringe-y, but it's still well worth listening to. The mood it generates is lovely.

Agreed with other posters that it's a weird fit on a 1980 album.

Just got off the phone with a friend who just saw Long Promised Road in Nashville. During the Q&A, someone asked how Brian managed during the pandemic shutdowns. Jason Fine said that when he talked to Brian on the phone during the shutdown, Brian excitedly said, "HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS THING CALLED GRUBHUB?!"

 

The Beach Boys Facebook feed just put out a post about Smiley Smile (the album) and it cites Robbie Robertson of The Band as an admirer. I did a Google search and all the mentions seem to be repeats of a passing reference to Robbie from the Smiley Smile liner notes. Can anyone point me to what Robbie actually said about the album?

Great stuff!

[November 19]

One of my favorite parts of any Brian Wilson/Beach Boys documentary is when he sits down at a piano and plays - sometimes he sings along to the song, other times he just lets the piano do all the work. These were always wonderful little glimpses into Brian’s domain. And now we have a full album of him at the piano. 48 minutes of Brian playing piano for us, what a great gift to us fans!

I’m sure it has been mentioned, and probably everyone knows by now, but the date for release is November 19. Hopefully we’ll get a couple more singles out of this before it drops!

Yes to all this!

I missed this beautiful quote from the promo email:

“We had an upright piano in our living room and from the time I was 12 years old I played it each and every day. I never had a lesson, I was completely self-taught. I can’t express how much the piano has played such an important part in my life. It as bought me comfort, joy and security. It has fueled my creativity as well as my competitive nature.

I play it when I’m happy or feeling sad. I love playing for people and I love playing alone when no one is listening.

Honestly, the piano and the music I create on it has probably saved my life.”

– Brian Wilson

Listening to God Only Knows. It's achingly lovely. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album. IMO it really has Brian's 'feel' to it, and I love that.

Thanks, these are great! 

[The Beach Boys’ archival set Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions – 1969-1971 debuts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 sold. It’s just the second top 10 for the band since the Top Album Sales chart launched in 1991. The group previously hit the region with the 2012 studio album That’s Why God Made the Radio, which debuted and peaked at No. 3 (June 23, 2012-dated chart).]

The Beach Boys’ archival set Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions – 1969-1971 debuts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 sold. It’s just the second top 10 for the band since the Top Album Sales chart launched in 1991. The group previously hit the region with the 2012 studio album That’s Why God Made the Radio, which debuted and peaked at No. 3 (June 23, 2012-dated chart).

Nice! And hey, it would've been 10,001 if my order wasn't cancelled! 

I have been to Brian's first two shows of the new tour.(8/29 and 8/31/21. Brian sang the majority of leads and was in very good voice. He sang all 3 verses of Sloop John B, a strong lead on surfin USA in the encore and the strongest lead on FunFunFun by him that I have heard in years. He did not sing much on Barbara Ann, but who can blame him? Personally I am so tired of this song - perhaps Brian is as well.

Brian sang a very strong lead on I Get Around,  DanceDanceDance, Salt Lake City, Good Vibrations, Do It Again, God Only Knows, California Girls, and strong bridges on Wouldn't It Be Nice and Long Promised Road. And a very good Love And Mercy.

Al sang leads on Help Me Rhonda and Wake The World, Barbara Ann, and one or 2 of the car songs.

Very good shows and Brian is in very good voice.

That's great! Thanks for the review.

Hi all, I had a set pre-ordered through ImportCDs months ago, but got a message a few days ago that my order was cancelled. On the product page I see the set is now listed as 'Back Order'. Did anyone receive their set through them?

I'm in the US.  I ordered from ImportCDs, too, and sent them a message asking if they could tell me when I could expect it.  I just checked my email and I, too, received a reply that said they don't have copies of it and so it is on backorder -- which means it could take 45 days to get to me!

What the f**k did Capitol do to screw up the distribution of this set?  I wish Howie, Mark, or Alan would come here and try to explain to us why orders have been cancelled by Amazon in the UK and by ImportCDs in the US!  Even with all the delays they still couldn't get the product out!  This is sad.  Just so sad.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Ugh! Sorry to hear it... thanks for the reply though. Yeah, I guess I'll pursue it elsewhere.

Hi all, I had a set pre-ordered through ImportCDs months ago, but got a message a few days ago that my order was cancelled. On the product page I see the set is now listed as 'Back Order'. Did anyone receive their set through them?

Fantastic!

This is how the band always did things, once Brian wasn’t running the show.  They’d have 20 songs to pick from for an album. Seven would be really tremendous. Seven would be ok. Six would be fairly bad.  The album would include 3 from group A, 5 from group B and 4 from group C. 

That's a really great way to explain it! And yet, somewhat in their defense, the seven tremendous tracks would sound like they came from two or three or four completely different bands. (Though in your hypothetical, the 12 tracks that actually were chosen likely have the same problem.)    And we probably won't agree even amongst ourselves which A-list tracks should have made the cut.

From the September edition of Record Collector (jump to the last sentence):

"Alan Boyd: We’re hoping to do another box set next year which focuses on the Carl And The Passions and Holland era. There are some fascinating unreleased songs that aren’t really finished. There are some really interesting early versions — all the layers of the music within the fairytale [Holland bonus EP Mount Vernon And Fairway] is really interesting to dive into. I can’t wait to hear The Trader with just the track and the backing vocals. And we’d also like to include one of the complete Carnegie Hall shows that they did in late 1972."

Thank you!
Wow, that would be great.

It really would!

Anyway, I'm not going to any concerts or other events with large crowds for quite a while yet.

Agreed. I'm in the NY/CT area and there's some degree of risk attending events like that here, but it would be borderline crazy to do them in LA/MS.