Forgive me and delete this thread if someone else has already started this topic (looked, didn't see anything), but...

https://www.magazinecafestore.com/products/life-the-beach-boys

Yes, it's a real thing. Snagged myself a  hard copy on my way out of the local pharmacy. Talk about an impulse buy, LOL, but there was an entire display that made it utterly impossible to miss.

Haven't read much of it yet so I can't provide commentary or a review.

Just wanted other BB fans to be aware of it should they be interested in tracking down a copy.

@HeroesandVillains: Thanks for reminding me how much I like Sound Of Free and Lady (Fallin' In Love) (the string arrangement there is absolutely superb!).

Like Mike's vocals on nearly all of the songs already mentioned. I'm also quite fond of his vocals on Sumahama, Devoted To You (BBs Party, my least favorite BB album), All This Is That, Bluebirds Over The Mountain, (his part in the bridge of) It's About Time, Lahaina Aloha, Here Today and Pitter Patter.

[is]

The Wild Honey album is a classic. No need to change anything.

[always]

Not to derail the thread but, on a related note, I've met seven people locally in the past 20 years who claimed to have written all the big hair metal hits of the 1980s. Same story each time: "I wrote this, that and this other thing and <insert band names here> stole them from me and I never received credit or saw a dime in royalties." I refrained from calling bullshit in each instance simply because I wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible.

My favorite in my area is the bassist who periodically posts ads looking for musicians and always claims to have served as the bassist for a dozen major acts. He believes he toured with David Bowie for "many years" -never mind that neither his name nor likeness appear anywhere in relation to Bowie's live (or studio) work. I did call bullshit on that one and got, "Well, uh... you, uh... you don't know what you're talking about!" Uh-huh.

This is the Internet age, folks. Think it all the way through before you lie about sh*t.      

Fiona? Is that you?

No Fionas here. Just a Jared.

Personally, I think some of their covers from the 1960s are top notch.  ie. Do You Wanna Dance, I'm So Young, Sloop John B, I Can Hear Music, etc etc. 

But I agree that the ones of 15BO, and many that came after, sound somewhat lazy.

Yeah, the songs they covered in the '60s were pretty solid. My complaint (albeit 50 years too late) really is that their doing a cover song meant one less slot on an album for another original song. Given some of the previously unreleased tracks from the '60s that have surfaced in the past 20 years, it's sad to think they were left off of then current albums in favor of covers... or at least that's my perception, which doesn't necessarily reflect the reasons for those choices. (Don't know. Wasn't there.)   

At the moment I'm feeling 'Til I Die.

+1

Maybe elements of its subject matter appeal to him, rather than the music. The title, for one thing...

Hey, John. I dunno. There are a few seriously sweet vocal harmonies on that album (less ambitious than what Brian is known for, of course) that probably would've caught his ear. I know who I think of when I hear them and I can't help wonder if they weren't the inspiration for such. (Possible... Seems like I read somewhere that somebody in Floyd at the time was a fan of the Pet Sounds album. Unfortunately, I can't remember and provide the source of that so I may be confusing it with something said by someone else entirely.)

For someone (I'd do it for a relatively meager salary for several months) to introduce Brian to the modern home studio and the product lines of companies like Acoustica (or Apple), Native Instruments and Toontrack so that perhaps he can see the potential thereof and hopefully be inspired enough to give us a few more albums. (In fact, I would extend the same offer to the rest of the Beach Boys as well.) I'd also introduce him/them to TuneCore and CDBaby.

Brian Wilson Presents Love You, sung clearly and with full arrangements.

+1.

[rejected]

It floors me to no end that those are the rejected tracks. I mean, were the folks at Warner Brothers just deaf or were they strung out on heroin when they heard these songs?!? The rejects from the BB are several orders of magnitude better than any number of finest efforts from many other bands. That aside, as always Mr. Desper... one word... SUPERB.

Party to "We're Sticking This Thing Out Solely Because Some Jack Off At Capitol Records Thinks We Need To Crank Out A New Album Every Three Months And We Need To Buy Some Time So We Can Complete The Album That Brian Is About To Begin Work On That Will Ultimately Be Regarded As Our Greatest And Most Cohesive Artistic Statement, But In The Meantime, A Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Bar Ann."

Smile/Smiley Smile to "Perhaps If This Had Been Completed Properly In 1967, We Could Have Shut Many Of Our Detractors Up And Been Able To Move Beyond The Unfortunate And Inaccurate Public Perception That We're Merely A Surf, Sun And Sand (And Girls) Band, Alas it Was Not To Be For Whatever Reason(s), Depending On Who You Ask."

Endless Summer to "Sadly, This Is The Beginning Of The End For Us As A Vital, Contemporary Commercial Force That Had Just Enjoyed Our Most Creative And Artistically Interesting Period (1965-1973), Despite The Fact That, For Several Reasons, Fewer And Fewer People Were Aware Of What We Were Doing Over The Course Of The Stated Time."

15 Big Ones to the title I understand that Dennis had suggested for it ("Group Therapy") or "Warner Brothers Is Livid Because Capitol Is Making A Fortune From The Endless Summer Compilation So We Needed To Put Something New Out To (Hopefully) Alleviate The Displeasure Of Warner Brothers Over The Matter." (I don't despise 15 Big Ones, but I wish they'd restricted it to one cover song, probably Rock And Roll Music, and filled out the rest of the disc with originals, which, by most accounts, there was no shortage of at the time. Even if it put a crimp in the whole "Brian Is Back" campaign by having the rest of the group actively involved in and credited with the production, it would be more satisfying a record if it were heavier on the originals.)

Summer In Paradise to "Strange Things Happen, Lahaina Aloha And Summer In Paradise Could Have Been Wholly Respectable But The Fucking Drum Machine Is So Loud In The Mixes That You Probably Won't Be Able To Hear Them." (I don't hate SIP, or Mike Love, but the band was in such disarray at the time and the lack of creative input from everyone who wasn't Mike or Terry Melcher hampers the record. It seems like a Mike solo album that features three of the other Beach Boys. And, as with 15BO, there's the excessive number of covers. I don't dislike their takes on any of the non-BB songs, they're pleasant enough, but it's rare that a cover song, even by a great artist, is going to be better than the original version by the original artist, and it's a fools errand to even bother recording a version of something that's already had a definitive version done... IMHO.)

   

That brings back some memories. Had the good fortune/great pleasure of seeing The Beach Boys and Chicago (same tour as the videos, 1989) and when both bands took to the stage for the finale, it was absolutely phenomenal! The BBs vocal prowess coupled with Chicago's instrumental chops was truly a match made in heaven (not that Chicago doesn't deliver solid vocals and vice verse where BB instrumentation is concerned, but...). It's almost a shame their in studio collaborations didn't extend beyond Wishing You Were Here and Baby, What A Big Surprise. Amazing show when I saw them together anyway. 

[don't]

... Over and over the crow cries... "screw this; I'm tired of flying."

Nice.

... We just know that the cries of the crow is what causes the uncovering of the cornfield.  It's all in how you interpret the line.

No, we don't know that the cries of the crow actually result in the uncovering of the cornfield. There's no resolution of the matter stated -or even implied- in the song. (Please take that as the abysmal attempt at humor that it was intended to be.)

I personally interpret it as a member of the Crow Nation telling 'em White Folks to get off the land...

Don't know if you're kidding or not or what, but given the nature of some of the Smile material, i.e., a thinly-veiled journey through Americana, this could be true, as it would certainly be part of the story. Interesting.

I don't know what Van Dyke Parks meant, if anything, by the line. What I do know is that it sounds right in the context of Cabinessence. Sometimes that's all that matters. I also know that hearing my neighbor ask the question she did made be think of it. Beyond that, I got nothing.    

[not]

How about topics I'm not interested in seeing addressed in Mike's book?

1) If I never hear the story about he and The Beatles traveling to India in 1968 to meet the Maharishi again, it'd be too soon. (This includes the bit about the song Back In The U.S.S.R..)

2) The substance abuse problems of his cousins. It hasn't happened often, but there have been a few times when he's discussed the topic where (to me) he comes across as somewhat condescending.

3) (or 1A, if you prefer) Anything else to do with TM. I wanna become a practitioner, I'll hunt it down online or locate a qualified instructor locally. We get it: Helps relax and calm you, helps you to focus, helped you stay away from drugs, etc..

(I'm not a hardcore anti-Mike Love type. These are simply topics we've all heard him cover a million times. Time for something we haven't heard about.) 

No of course you're not.    Good to see you drop in now and again, Jerod. :=)

Hey, John!

So, during Live Aid in WIBN, the camera is on Brian for most of the song. Is Bran's mic even on? Can anyone here him in the vocal mix, or is he just miming?

I can kinda hear him. He seems to be at somewhat less than half the volume of whomever (Al?) is doubling him. Why somebody thought it necessary to help him with the lead vocal is a mystery, as WIBN is certainly a song he was still perfectly capable of doing in the mid-1980s, see here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIYFmG7HbBc  (Yes, he's lip syncing on this one, but it's obviously his voice.)

[over and over, uncover the cornfield.]

I don't post often. I'm more interested in reading, learning and finding new BB-related videos on YouTube that I've missed. However, I have an insignificant tidbit that I'd like to share and this is one of the few places on the planet where someone else might appreciate it.

I'm outside yesterday morning having my pre-get ready to go to work cigarette. One of my neighbors, a woman in her early 50s, tends her granddaughter (who's three-ish) during the day while her daughter's at work. She and her granddaughter are outside in their backyard, don't know what they're doing, doesn't matter. Perched in the tree in their backyard is this crow that's squawking away as crows will do. I hear the woman ask her granddaughter, "What does the crow say?" (Do I even have to finish this?) I don't say it aloud, but it runs through my head: "The crow says, over and over, uncover the cornfield."

I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys or anything.

As you were.   

[should]

...and Carl's guitar solo is exciting.

I told a non-fan buddy years ago that "I Get Around" features "the greatest guitar solo ever recorded." He immediately listed a dozen or so other guitar solos that he regarded as superior. It occurred to me later that I misspoke. What I should have said is that the guitar solo in "IGA" is set up brilliantly by the preceding chorus and that it then takes the song perfectly into the key change (up a half step) of the third/final verse and choruses. Sure, the solo itself may not be amazing from a technical perspective but it helps direct the song so perfectly that the point is moot.

"IGA" seems to me to be proto-proto-punk, instrumentally, but it isn't heavy metal. That overdriven baritone guitar (a similar sound is also featured in "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Little Honda") that chugs along throughout the song gives it an edge that just screams early punk rock. And that electric harpsichord that's in there... it's quite prominent in the mix of the track on the 30th anniversary box set "Good Vibrations"... disc five, I think... is just played balls to the wall, too. Love it!

[no reason]

I'm sorry, but this bit had me :

"...he could not see any reasons for the concert being called off."

Really? There's no reason for an American pop group to cancel a concert in the Middle East?

Yep. Truly baffling that they would cancel the show.

[clusterfuck of wasted time and squandered opportunities]

This interview with Al only serves to remind the world what an absolute clusterfuck of wasted time and squandered opportunities the last 20 years of Beach Boys' history is. They've spent more time in court with one another or being insulated from one another by a gaggle of managers, handlers and attorneys than they've spent onstage or in the studio... and what has it gotten them? Nothing. It's just sad, you know? What is is certainly amazing and nothing to be sneezed at, but... looking at what might have been...

[flatly unnecessary,]

I have trouble picking out individual voices in the harmonies on this album because of all the Godforsaken Auto-Tune. It sucks the life and nuances out of the vocals and makes everybody sound like a freaking android. It's meant to be used as a tool to smooth over a note here and there in otherwise acceptable/good/great takes. It isn't supposed to be an end unto itself. Unfortunately, somebody involved in the production of the album (I suspect Joe Thomas, or one of the lawyers/executives at Capitol who know nothing about good music and couldn't care less about such) thinks it's the modern equivalent of a good echo chamber. Furthermore, considering the way that The Beach Boys have tracked their vocals since 1963, i.e., doubling, tripling and even quadrupling the parts, the use of Auto-Tune is flatly unnecessary, as the aforementioned, tried and true production techniques create a natural form of Auto-Tune, psychoacoustically (yes, that's a real word) speaking.

Something else about the vocals on the album in question: The unfortunate absence of Carl Wilson.

It doesn't matter how many walls of Foskett and Brian you insert into the vocals, the missing -and arguably most crucial- element in the vocal blend cannot be compensated for. I've long understood that Carl's voice was (more often than not quite literally) the center of the vocal blend but it wasn't until this album came out that I truly appreciated this fact. Doesn't matter how the parts are arranged either, the richness that Carl's voice brought to the stack is simply gone. Even if all non-Beach Boys (and the Auto-Tune) were removed from the album, the blend would still not be right. (Since this is the Internet, I'll now say what I shouldn't have to: Please refrain from snarking that Carl's absence can't be helped -I'm just making an observation here.) 

[thank you!]

Mr. Desper,

Just wanted to add my sincere appreciation of your work on the SWD study videos to the proper thread on this forum.

Watched all of the presently available videos for the first time a night or two ago and was absolutely mind-blown by the sonic clarity of the material, and even more enthralled by what I learned about the production of each of the tracks.

Really looking forward to the forthcoming videos re: the "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" albums.

Again, thank you! 

[At all.]

"Pet Sounds".

I was 14 the first time I heard it and I could appreciate the musical sophistication but I just could not relate to the lyrical themes. At all.

Fast forward a year (in which a lot can -and did- happen) to the next time I listened to it -and it was the difference between night and day. It all made perfect sense to me.

Also took me a while to warm up to the albums "Wild Honey" and "Friends" but now I regard them as fantastic components of my favorite BB era (1965-1973).

[so miniscule]

This one is so miniscule that I doubt it warrants mentioning... I also don't know if it was a deliberate tip of the hat (or whose idea it was if that's the case) or just coincidence, but I can't help thinking that the sole vocal part at 3:28 on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mky-UhxUKoM

Was lifted directly from 0:16 of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amDo-KqUjpA

I like to think it was intentional but that's pure speculation on my part.

[Absolutely fantastic!!!]

I also want to start reading some books about them.  There are so many of them and I obviously won't read them all.  So if you had to pick three, what would you choose?

COMMENT:  It is fans such as yourself for whom I built the study-videos now on my website, and others pending. It may take some time, like reading a book, but watch and listen to the songs outlined. You will gain insight and understanding about how some songs are created and put together -- all the while being entertained. I would encourage you to conform your listening position to your speakers as illustrated in the video. This will give you the best spatial perspective --- and it's all fun!

Beach Boy Study-Videos >>> http://swdstudyvideos.com

Welcome to Good Listening, ~Stephen W. Desper

I don't know how I managed to miss this! Watching the videos right now. Absolutely fantastic!!! Will also have to pick up the book sooner rather than later... and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming videos re: the "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" albums (two of my top five favorite BB albums)! Wow... just wow. Thank you, Mr. Desper.

[utter abandon,]

Everyone should have a cool uncle. God knows I have one.

Summer of 1984 said uncle got wind (probably from my Dad) that I was seriously liking the Beach Boys' songs that showed up regularly on a nationally syndicated (U.S.) radio show of the time -hosted by the late Dick Clark- called Solid Gold Saturday Night. Truth is, because of said program, I was violating the rule about not liking your parents' music with utter abandon, but something I couldn't truly define then (or now) really hit me with The Beach Boys. Anyway, said uncle did a compilation on cassette for me that drew heavily from "Endless Summer" and "15 Big Ones".  He also snuck in some Everly Brothers and assorted one-hit wonders from the '60s and '70s on the end of the cassette. Thought my parents would kill me by the first of the following year as I listened to that cassette almost endlessly for several months after I got it.

Attended my first BB concert in March of 1985. It was a benefit show for the Special Olympics and was held in the local symphony hall. Place is made to be favorable to live classical music and, needless to say, having a pop/rock band play in there was awesome. My ears rang for about three days. At some point during the show, Mike Love mentioned that the recording of a new album was wrapping up and it should be released later in the year...

So, technically speaking, the first BB album I actually bought was 1985's "The Beach Boys". Yeah, I know, I know. However, at 14, to see new music from a band that was topping the charts before I was even alive, and one whom I absolutely idolized to boot... well, it made that album go down a whole lot easier. (I like a decent chunk of the album to this day but still wish for better -meaning not Steve Levine- production and arrangements.)

Thus began my five year mission to seek out and acquire all studio and live albums (usually on vinyl because I liked the bigger images and liner notes) recorded by the band, as well as all solo albums by its members. I'd read that many were out-of-print and would probably never see re-release. I lose track of the order now, but "Sunflower", "Surf's Up" and "Holland" became akin to the Holy Grail in terms of actually finding copies of each. Finally tracked all of them down... some were original issues that were used and in G or VG condition, some were the 1980s reissues that omitted a couple tracks... didn't matter to me, just wanted more, more, more of The Beach Boys... the last one I found was "Keepin' The Summer Alive"... just in time for the 1990 reissues from Capitol of their entire catalog to come out. Heh. Bought them all again on cassette because I was worried the vinyl copies wouldn't last forever. (I bought them all yet again in 2000 when the remastered Brother Records/Capitol two-fers came out on CD. I've resisted the latest reissues though, much to my wife's relief. )