I also one of our local stations getting into Carl's first album a bit. What You Gonna Do About Me and Heaven were in regular rotation there for a few weeks. Another station put Givin' You Up in heavy rotation late summer of 83. Radio sure was a lot different back then, we still had stations being programmed locally by people that actually knew about music.

Yeah!  I think I did hear a song from one of Carl's albums once.  I want to say it was "She's Mine" - something really random.

I was in Binghamton, N.Y. and both "Here Comes The Night" and "Good Timin'" got a lot of airplay there.  My impression at the time was they were fairly big hits.  Was surprised to find out later that wasn't the case.

I think you'll find that where there were Program and/or Music Directors who loved the Beach Boys...we usually found a way to get Beach Boys songs on the air.  We played the single version of HCTN some in Winnipeg and the 12 inch single/long version on the Saturday Night Studio 13 'dance' show.  'Good Timin' was an obvious add.  I also included River Song as an l.p. track when '10 Years of Harmony' was released.  We played 'It's a Beautiful Day' along with 'Get a Move On'/Eddie Money when 'Americathon' was released.'  I reluctantly played the Medley 45 in '81? ... I think it was ... as it was summertime.  Although I was generally more into looking forward with their output.  It was easy to do it in Canada because the number of Beach Boys fans in most cities and towns is HUGE.  [We have good taste. ]  We also played 'Livin' With a Heartache' and 'Keepin' The Summer Alive' in Winnipeg  [Randy Bachman?  Well I guess so!!!  It's his hometown.  Plus 1 he wrote with Carl from his Ironhorse album..'What's Your Hurry Darlin']  'Come Go With Me' too.

Yeah, come to think of it I heard "Keepin' The Summer Alive" a few times on WAAL, which was the "rock" station in the area at the time, so that was something of a coup.  It actually motivated me to go get the LP.  Always loved that tune, cheesy as it is.

I was in Binghamton, N.Y. and both "Here Comes The Night" and "Good Timin'" got a lot of airplay there.  My impression at the time was they were fairly big hits.  Was surprised to find out later that wasn't the case.

I've always enjoyed Jan & Dean as being into satire way before it was a thing.  The DGAF-ness of a lot of their output charms the hell out of me, though in these more PC times it hasn't worn well, understandably.  They have moments ("Submarine Races" and a lot of BATMAN) that are flat-out hysterical, and it helps that they are firmly in on the joke.

Also full props to Jan for being a wunderkind in the studio.  A lot of those productions are quite impressive particularly considering Jan was a medical student at the time.  That said I'm gonna pile on a bit because I've often found his compositions sound very forced and unorganic.  Some of the chord changes he favors - those jarring modulations that come out of nowhere, chord changes that just leap from one place to another without any logical link to one another - are certainly interesting but they never strike me as being very musical.  They often seem haphazard, as opposed to when Brian would go into a different key on a bridge and the hairs would stand up on the back of your neck, and you knew darn well that was by design (not all of them, mind you - "Little Old Lady From Pasadena"'s key shifts are sublime).  I don't know if that makes any sense - it just feels sort of like music made by a brilliant student in a composition class, as opposed to an actual musician, in terms of how the music is put together.  Some of the orchestrations feel that way as well.  I'm probably not making any sense.

I probably rate Jan & Dean slightly higher than most of the folks on this thread but I also firmly agree that their influence has been overstated.

Rivers also recorded his cover of Don't Worry Baby in early 1993 before the GV box set was released, and he said he was already into the Beach Boys and getting into analyzing and learning the songs as early as 1992. He also recorded a version of Surfer Girl during this time, but only the DWB cover has come out officially on his home recordings and demos release some time ago.

Yes, GF.  I was in the room when he played "Don't Worry Baby" for us after he had just finished it, on the multitrack cassette deck they had in their tiny garage.  My bass player was his roommate and we were practicing there throughout that 1992-93 period.  It's possible that our Beach Boys obsession (well, mine) rubbed off on Rivers a little but I can't speak to that.  He definitely was fascinated with Brian and when I met him at that time and told the story, it was the closest he ever paid attention to anything I had to say!

Rivers is and has long been a huge Brian Wilson fan.

The first thing he did with his advance money when Weezer got signed was buy the Good Vibrations box set.  I know because I was there when he brought it home.  He also bought SUNFLOWER on my recommendation (and didn't like it unfortunately).

Voting yes on this.

Someone else's words, not mine.  I think it's closer to SMILEY SMILE.

Check it out if you like:

https://youtu.be/b22-Y8NhVmM

"I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" is pretty brutal to negotiate in terms of the chord sequence.

The hardest song I've ever had to personally work out and learn of the Beach Boys (out of probably 70 songs over the years) was "Long Promised Road," which was Carl's.

It makes sense they'd call him first if Dennis bailed out.  I mean, he'd be the logical person.  He'd only just left.

The original version of "Hey Little Tomboy" during the breakdown.
The 1981 American Bandstand appearance
The 1981 Long Beach appearance
"Summer Of Love" video

The 1980 GMA appearance is up there, but if you squint at it a certain way it's actually somewhat hilarious.  I can't squint at the four examples above in any way.

It's a really interesting question!  And I have a vague recollection of having heard it on the radio at the time (not true of "It's OK" or "Peggy Sue").  It is kind of the lost Beach Boys hit during a period when they didn't really have any.

I think it might be as simple as none of the parties involved has any great affection for it and it never occurred to anybody.

It's an excellent remix and Mike's vocal is outstanding.  Hit me right away.

For those wishing for a punchier sound - that's a function of it being a midrange-centered recording.  You put more treble on there and it's just not going to be the WILD HONEY sound.  It's a midrangey record, and that's where the instruments have the most natural sound in this mix.  They've done an incredible job getting the elements in good separation and clarity without screwing too much with the vibe.

The answer's out there...I forget which book I read it in (maybe Leaf's, maybe Gaines), but it's this:  things had gotten too weird for him...and I mean dope-wise, not music-wise. According to one of those books, there was a lot of hashish being smoked in and around the band (not to mention the acid Brian, Dennis and Carl had all apparently dropped), and that wasn't his thing. He's on record as saying Smiley was "brilliant" - he even calls out "W. Woodpecker Symphony" as genius. He proved his loyalty by going to England on a promo trip for "H&V", even though he wasn't on the released version. That's why Bruce isn't on Smiley Smile, or the latter quarter of the SMiLE sessions, for that matter. That's why Brian was at the Hawaii shows and Bruce wasn't: he took a sabbatical until things apparently normalized to the degree that he felt comfortable returning.

Yeah, I think there's no question Bruce was freaked out and uncomfortable with the drug use and general weirdness (quite understandably) but it's still a bit amazing that someone whose status in the group was as uncertain as his was just decided to blow it off.  OTOH, he had his own career and power centers that he could conceivably return to (and in fact did much later), so he probably felt like he would be fine even if he wound up being dismissed.

So what happened?  Had he quit the group or had the group "let him go?" Until they needed him, which they definitely did in Hawaii but he wasn't there?  So from the concert on May 19 Bruce was absent from recording and from the Hawaii concerts until Sept 11!  4 months was like an eternity in the 60s.  What was he doing?

There's a lot of smoke to the proposition that Bruce was basically out of the band, or skating very close to it, during that period.  Recently elsewhere (can't remember which board or thread) a story came up that apparently a nascent version of Three Dog Night (pre-Redwood) was being considered with Johnston has the third member.  It didn't happen, but I would bet it was during this period that it was being considered.  Interesting.

I took the challenge.  I do hear what you're hearing.

Question:  how was this version generated?  Is this some kind of phase cancellation?

came from a Rough Mix of Long Promised Road. And I played around with it on Adobe Audition. I think I could do a much better job of bringing those vocals up

I'd buy that it's Brian mostly on the basis of phrasing...but it's impossible to know how much what we're hearing is an illusion created by artifacts.

I swore once it was Brian doing the falsetto on "Baby Blue" - and my ears are better than most for picking this stuff out - until Alan Boyd played me the solo track and demonstrated beyond a doubt it was Carl...

I took the challenge.  I do hear what you're hearing.

Question:  how was this version generated?  Is this some kind of phase cancellation?

"Oh Darlin'" on the other hand, might be the most boring Wilson-Love co-write I've ever heard. It just is so workmanlike in a bad way. And Carl's vocals are so draggy. And then there's Bruce's cheesy "God Only Knows" callback near the end. Just a total faceplant.

This. 

Though the Wilson-Love "When Girls Get Together" is probably just as boring.  Same album, too.  Hmm.

I'm sure no one who knows me will be surprised to hear that my choice is disco HCTN.

This came up on another thread, but "Crack At Your Love" on BB85.  It's generally considered one of the better tracks on the album but I just can't stand it.  It sounds like a Casio demo.  It lays there and dies.

"Sunshine" is just a two chord bleah that goes on FOREVER.

But my greatest apostasy is "Feel Flows."  It has grown on me over the years - I no longer hate it, I have actually grown to like it - but it sure took a long time to warm to. 

I guess tediousness is a common thread running through all those three songs.

Over the last 35 years I've amassed a pretty decent collection of Beach Boys books. As part of a personal downsizing project (and because I probably have absorbed as much knowledge about the Beach Boys as it is healthy for one person to have), at least some of these books must go. A few are marginally collectible. If you are interested, shoot me an email. I'll entertain offers for individual books or for the whole lot.

I also have Timothy White's "The Nearest Faraway Place."

Moderators:  Feel free to move elsewhere if I have posted inappropriately (I took my best guess)

No, I know what he's talking about.  I saw it at some point.  Mark Linett is in it as well.  It's from '88.  IJWMFTT is a different clip.

Just intensely read your details on Jan's accident. Wow! Lots of info I never knew, such as Jan's car hitting the curb first and then going out of control. I knew about stupid writers saying three people died in Jan's car, always made me angry.

Yeah, myths and misinformation about Jan's car accident have been perpetuated for years.

It's all from a poorly-worded article in the Times, yes?  Something along the lines of "Singer injured, three others killed in LA accidents" - people not noticing the plural.  I'm paraphrasing.

Great track, Adam. And a cool vid, with everyone evidently enjoying themselves.

I particularly like that little organ figure at 0:49!

David's building up quite a head of steam there. Wow.

I'll link it at my other board. Thanks for sharing.

Please do!  Thanks!

The new Mod Hippie video, featuring David Marks, has just hit the 'net...good times!

Link below:

https://youtu.be/EYYxDgEJUWM

The record and video feature David on rhythm and lead, D.J. Bonebrake of X on drums, and Teresa Cowles of "Love and Mercy" fame on bass and vocals.

The album, BIG WOW, features David on six tracks and is available at www.karmafrog.com/store.html.