I can't wait to hear your take on Amusement Parks USA.  That has my favorite Beach Boys keyboard solo.

Paywall.

Very excited to see those four Doo Wop covers from the soundtrack of Deadman's Curve finally see commercial release after 44 years.
GET A JOB and ONE SUMMER NIGHT are great fun.
In my opinion, I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU and TEENAGER IN LOVE are two of the finest solo tracks Dean ever cut - up there with both the 1966 and 1978 versions of LIKE A SUMMER RAIN (take your pick). I'm a huge Dion fan but Dean's cover is my personal favorite over the original.  
As for Eyes, I know Dean is very proud of that one and he's usually pretty self-deprecating about this stuff.

The song is HERE WE GO... AGAIN.  I can distinctly hear Bruce's writing style, his production and keyboard textures.  Parts of the track wouldn't be out of place on LA Light Album... lyrically as well ("used to sing on lofts... But now we cruising on a yacht.") And I hear very lush "Stack-O-Bruce-and-Christian" bg vocals throughout, mixed low but definitely there.  This is a Bruce Johnston-LA Light Era/The Weekend 2022 mashup that works really, really well.  And it's not stunt casting with Bruce... this is very much a collaboration.  I'm seriously impressed.

A wonderful tribute in Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/billy-hinsche-beach-boys-dino-desi-billy-dead-obit-1260824/

This actually got some airplay in 1998 and I always thought it was a delightful track.  I'm not sure who exactly from The Beach Boys participates.  My understanding was that this is a Bruce Johnston project.  I don't hear Mike at all.  Bruce can be heard in the mix but I'm not sure who else.

<<Thank you Howie -
but are you sure that the delay isn't a consequence of Mike Love having rewritten the booklet notes, in secret and in the last minutes? This kind of thing does happen sometimes, I was told.
It also explains the gap between online and physical release dates.>>

I would think, coming from Howie, "..nothing untoward, weird or sinister..." means just that.  Nothing untoward, weird or sinister.

No reason to question him further.

Take his word for it. And relax.

Apart from the fact that Love & Mercy was a standalone film, the fact that it was not a huge financial success would prevent a sequel.  The budget was $10,000,000; the 28,600,000 world wide take (after factoring in P&A costs) meant a very slim profit margin at best... at worst, the film would still be well in the red.

The only musical biopic I recall getting a sequel was THE JOLSON STORY (1946), which begat JOLSON SINGS AGAIN in 1949.

<<But as much as I love the material, I'm not sure what "deserved" (if we can even use that word) to be a "hit.">>
I also have a fondness for the 1976-1980 era... some real gems amid the flotsam, particularly considering the chaos the band was in.  At the time, I had the sense that they were picking the wrong tracks as singles.  In an alternate universe:
1977
ROLLER SKATING CHILD - a punchier, sweetened single mix with an organic base line, similar to the live version performed on the 1979 LA Light tour. I remember at the time talking to some insiders in early 1979 who had heard they were considering releasing a live version as a disco single... this was while Here Comes the Night was still on the charts,
1978:
COUNTRY PIE - after getting boos at a show I attended in the fall of 1977, this song was getting serious heat in concert in the summer of 1978, at least in the midwest.  I think a beach Boys version would have done well and my circle of friends assumed it would be the centerpiece of the new CBS/Caribou LP along with Lady Lynda.
MATCHPOINT OF OUR LOVE - Brrian's best vocal since 1971 - a tasty disco exercise that cuts HCTN to pieces.  It reminded me of the Dr. Hook hit When You're In Love With a Beautiful Woman.
1979:
ANGEL COME HOME - I have to agree with Bruce's assessment in his 1978 Pet Sounds interview that this song had serious potential as a hit single.  It had a vocal sound similar  to Eddie Money's work and Exile's Kiss You All Over. 
CONSTANT COMPANION - One of the many revelations in ESQ magazine's excellent issue on the making of LA LIGHT revealed that a Beach Boys version of this Dennis Wilson / Carli Munoz track was under consideration as the lead off single.  It might have done well in the same way Wings' GOODNIGHT TONIGHT was a hit.
1980:
I was working in college radio at the time KTSA came out.  We were pure college radio... alternate rock, etc. We were giving Peter Noone's Tremblers LP airtime as well as KTSA.  Our program director was vry fond of SCHOOL DAYS... and also thought KEEPIN' THE SUMMER ALIVE had serious single potential. 

<<I think artistically, LA, commercially, maybe 15 Big Ones. Some of the oldies on the latter are kind of nice, and played out well when they toured it in 76, like Palisades Park>>

The first Beach Boys show I saw was in the summer of 1976 and I remember Susie Cincinnati, A Casual Look, Palisades Park, Back Home, Rock & Roll Music and It's OK were highlights of the show.  It's OK live had a wonderful falsetto tag that I wish had been on the mix of the single.  As I recall, it was Al who sang it.  That same falsetto tag was featured on Celebration's 1978 cover of It's OK for the Almost Summer soundtrack, if anyone wants to hear what it sounded like live.  Had the Beach Boys single included that tag I think it would have been a bigger hit.

<< I prefer the MIC version of Rock N Roll Music; a version like that in 1976 would have given the album a more powerful kick>>
This 2012 "Faders Up" mix was a revelation; it stands up with their other rock & roll hit single covers from the 60s.  It's historical fact that the rest of the band tampered with the mixes before releasing 15 Big Ones.  It really makes me wonder if we got a "Faders Up" mix of the entire album we might have a very different 15 BIG ONES .

I was 16 when 15 BIG ONES came out and had just become a major fan the year before.  At the time I owned SPIRIT OF AMERICA and GOOD VIBRATIONS-BEST OF THE BEACH BOYS.  While I was thrilled they had a new album out and a hit single, the album sounded sloppy and rough to me.  When compared to everything else I'd been listening to, it just didn't sound right.  A fun singalong album.  Rock & Roll Music, It's OK, Palisades Park, Susie Cincinnati, In the Still of the Night and Back Home were classics to me and I loved that snippet of Tallahassee  Lassie but the rest were "meh."  I bought into the whole "Brian's Back" thing so eagerly awaited the next one.  LA Light, to me, was a very good album.  In those days, I rooted for their chart success like I was following a baseball team and for the first time they'd made a record that sounded contemporary, competitive, could hold its own on the top 40 charts, against The Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Wings, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman and whoever else they might be competing against.  Sonically, it sounded great.  Still does.  It's clear Bruce was following the Sunflower template (albeit with much less involvement from Brian) and trying to create a true group effort that fit right into 1979.  I think the faults of the album lie in what was left off, as opposed to what made the cut.  A shorter mix of Here Comes the Night would have left room for some of the other out-takes that have trickled out in the last few years.  Judging from is Pet Sounds interview from the Fall of 1978, Bruce may have simply felt he needed to include the longer mix of HCTN simply as a way to fill out the album.  In that interview he seemed adamant about not including Brian's Back, California Feelin,' Calendar Girl or Santa Ana Winds in the final cut and Jim Guercio's idea to bookend the album with Do You Dig Worms and Can't Wait Too Long never saw fruition.  The irony is that both Good Timin' and Angel Come Home were in play in 1976.  It would have been interesting to hear those on a 1976 group effort.  I recall one interview with Carl during the making of 15 Big Ones.  He seemed very disappointed that Good Timin' would not make the cut.

Interesting mix... I'd say it's a good bet this was created for a film... possibly a Vietnam War-era production... possibly a flashback sequence where a soldier is thinking of his girl while in the middle of a  combat sequence.

"I think that logo was first seen on the 15 Big Ones album cover."

Correct. The logo was designed by Dean Torrence and first appeared on the 15 Big Ones LP and 1976 tour program.

"Just to cycle back here, the falsetto on the tag is actually Carl as well. I know this because I myself thought it was Brian, and I was over at Alan Boyd's house one night and he played me the soloed tag vocals. I was wrong; it was Carl."

I stand corrected.  Fascinating how we all heard it differently.  From the time I first heard it on the flipside of the Here Comes the Night single, it was and remains my favorite track on the album.

It's a fun read... reads like a novel... interesting set of characters and stories... some we've heard or met before, some we haven't.

"The falsetto? I remember reading it was Carl, although personally I thought it was Bruce."

There are two falsettos on this track.  During the bridge, Carl sings the falsetto after Dennis' line "I dream of you..."  For decades I thought this falsetto was Brian but Alan Boyd confirmed it was Carl.  The second falsetto comes on the tag of the track.   This falsetto is Bruce.  Bruce also provided falsetto on Pacific Ocean Blue (notably on End of the Show).

Thank you.  That's a bizarre story.  I remember the limo entrance and exit now, which is strange because the hotel they were staying at was right next door to the stadium.  You literally walked out of the stadium into the hotel.

"I can think of is that more recent symphonic album, where the tracks were almost completely redone."

For me, one of the stunning blunders for the symphonic album was the decision not to use the stereo remixes.  They flew in the mono versions, then recorded new instrumentation to cover the rough spots, which accounts for the patchwork nature of the project.

"The Tremblers was an interesting project - Peter singing new wave style music with a group of guys nobody knew. Wonder if there are any live tapes of them? They didn't do ANY Herman's Hermits material on stage. In fact, there was a spat going on between Peter and the other Hermits, who'd decided to go on with another singer playing the part of Herman.
 By the time his solo album, One of the Glory Boys, came out, he was performing in Pirate of Penzance, so I don't think there was any proper concert tour for that album."

The Tremblers opened for The Beach Boys on a tour of the midwest in August of 1980.  I saw them August 10, 1980, at the State Fairgrounds in Louisville, KY.  I was covering the show for our college radio station WIDB (Carbondale, IL) and we were giving airplay to the first Tremblers LP, which was excellent.  I recently purchased it on vinyl.  Hours before the show, we met Peter Noone for an interview in a green room area directly below the stage.  He was 32 years old at the time and one of the nicest people I've ever met in the music business.  He was absolutely thrilled to be on tour with The Beach Boys; he was as much a fan as we were.  He geeked out over an original pressing of PET SOUNDS I'd brought. We did mention that the Hermits were actually booked (without him) to play a local roadhouse near Carbondale.  He smiled and said, "Well, after all these years maybe they've learned how to play the songs." After the interview, it was around lunchtime and the hotel adjoined the stadium.  He insisted on bringing us up to the hotel dining room to have lunch with Carl and Bruce.  He was such a fan, and knew we were, and was genuinely thrilled that he could do this for us. When we arrived, they were just finishing lunch but both Bruce and Carl graciously spoke with us about Peter's album and asked about our current playlist.  They were both genuinely interested in college radio,  I mentioned that we'd had strong positive reactions from listeners to School Days and Keepin' the Summer Alive from KTSA.  They both autographed the albums we'd brought.  Bruce immediately noticed the copy of THREE WINDOW COUPE by The Rip Chords was a re-issue.  That night the Tremblers were excellent.  A lean and mean 30 minute set, all new material, tight band, with Noone in fine form.  The Beach Boys show was excellent as well.  They played a lot of tracks from the new album, including a blistering take on the title song and Santa Ana Winds, a favorite of mine.  it was my first time seeing Dennis back since 1978... he was energetic as usual. though his voice was so rough I thought he was intentionally trying to sound like Donald Duck. I was 21 at the time and still fairly naive in those days about internal politics.  In the 70s and early 80s, we saw enough weird stuff on stage and read about it in the rock press to know everything it that world was a little off kilter but the historical perspective came later. After the show that night I ran into Mike in the hotel bar and we talked about the new album.  He was nursing a beer and clearly frustrated with it's brief run on the charts.  I mentioned Some of Your Love as a potential single and he said the label was leaning toward School Days.  It was a fun day for this fan and The Tremblers LP got a good run on our station.  I've never forgotten Noone's friendliness and generosity.  It truly felt like he was one of us.

"Yes, that's true. But still, if he wanted that song to be recorded by someone from that era and style, he at least could've tried to get it to Dean. But then I am wondering anyway, why at least Brian and Carl never worked with Dino. They were basically extended family, in the 80s Carl became Dino's son-in-law (although at that time Dean obviously had quit his recording career), but yet you never hear anything about it. It just seems strange to me"

Part of the Beach Boys' extended family did work with Dean.  Billy Hinsche, with Dean Paul Martin, produced 4 sides for Dean in 1970, which became two standalone singles on Reprise.  But by the 80s, except for the single county LP and a one off single in 1985, Dean was through with recording.

"I don't know how much effort Brian put into trying to get the song to Sinatra. But even if he wouldn't, why not give it to Dean Martin? The Beach Boys had a very close connection to Dino. "

Dean Martin's recording career was on hold in 1976.   He wasn't that interested. He'd cut his last Reprise LP, ONCE IN A WHILE, in 1974 and the label would not release it until October 1978, after Jimmy Bowen did some sweetening and "contemporized" the tracks.   Dean would not record again until 1983, when he did a country album, THE NASHVILLE sessions, again helmed by Bowen.

<A little backstory for those who don't know, Bruce and Terry apparently wanted "bring the fun back" to west coast music or something like that in the early '70s and so they went about overdubbing old Jan & Dean records and released those on the United Artists label. >

A quick qualifier on this.  The first two singles for UA...  GONNA HUSTLE YOU/Summertime (1972) and SUMMER MEANS FUN/Gonna Hustle You (1973) were Dean Torrence projects through his deal with UA.  Bruce and Terry came in to record new BG vocals with Dean for GONNA HUSTLE YOU and SUMMER MEANS FUN. They were released under the name LEGENDARY MASKED SURFERS,

Looking forward to this...

"I'm reminded of the famous Walter Yetnikoff quote after hearing a preview of the band's first offering for their new label, along the lines of "we've just been f***ed". So when the band did overtly try to go commercial, it laid a bigger egg."
According to Jerry Schilling, Walter said that quote in the summer of 1978 when the Beach Boys flew to New York to meet with CBS.  CBS was upset that they'd received nothing from The Beach Boys since they'd signed the previous year.  Schilling and the band walked in and sat down.  Walter leaned forward and said that famous line. It didn't have anything to do with LA session tapes.  According to Jerry, at that point, Brian came to the rescue of the meeting and said he had some definite ideas for the first CBS album and wanted to go to Criteria in Miami to record.  After the Criteria sessions, a tape was assembled for CBS that included California Feelin', Santa Ana Winds, Baby Blue, Love Surrounds Me, Good Timin', Brian's Back, Calendar Girl, Lookin' Down the Coast, Shortnin' Bread and a demo of I'm Beggin' You Please.  The label found it promising and with CBS Producer Bruce Johnston at the helm, recording continued.