Assuming this Amazon reviewer is the real deal, (Nelson Bragg) it’s embarrassing from someone who was on stage for the tour.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3OXJCLQWE0OOG?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp

Sounds like Nelson!

I actually vote for Roger Christian. The lyrics on "Shut Down" alone are among the best I've ever heard. Van Dyke, Asher, great, but...Take a stock race and turn it into pure poetry? To me, it's fabulous.

I've said it a few times already, but this video is like the nightmare you have after going to be on a full stomach from Taco Bell.

He sure can!!! Thanks for watching!!!

Here's new archival video from the 2006 Carl & Dennis Wilson tribute tour by Adam Marsland's Chaos Band featuring Evie Sands and Alan Boyd. This is "Carry Me Home." Recently a lot of AMCB's live videos have been archived and there will be more, so if you are interested, please subscribe to the YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/Ua9sI7wvB64

This appeared on LONG PROMISED ROAD: SONGS OF DENNIS AND CARL WILSON LIVE. We have roughly 20 copies of this collectible CD left. As part of a selloff, for what amazon charges ($30) you can get this album PLUS 5 great CDs of our original music, including the 2009 double album GO WEST. For $34 you can add another two CDs to your tally. Postage is included!

For more details, just send me a PM, or go to http://www.karmafrog.com/selloffhtml. Enjoy the video! More will follow in coming weeks.

[flat $5 domestic shipping rate and no limit]

I wanted to alert folks on the board that my label is having a CD selloff to reduce stock, with some CDs starting at $1 minimum donation per CD, and there are a number of Beach Boys-related items that are available for a limited amount of time:

LONG PROMISED ROAD - SONGS OF DENNIS AND CARL WILSON, which is going for $30 on amazon, is available for $20. There are 35 copies left.
The last two MOD HIPPIE albums, which feature David Marks (and Probyn Gregory on BIG WOW), are nearly sold out.
The SUMMER CHILDREN album, which has a couple of really cool Beach Boys pastiches on it, only has a handful of copies left.

There are a lot of other albums, my own and other artists', that are available for $1-2 a pop. There is a flat $5 domestic shipping rate and no limit on the amount of CDs. A good chance to pick up LONG PROMISED ROAD before it sells out and try out a lot of new music for next to nothing. My own albums feature such familiar faces as Teresa Cowles (Carol Kaye in L&M), Probyn Gregory, Darian Sahanaja, Evie Sands and Severo Jornacion of the Smithereens.

The details are at http://www.karmafrog.com/selloff.html.

Adam Marsland

This sucks.

I've seen footage (privately, perhaps the Houston one) from a '78 show where Brian is THE bass player, basically. It's a bit shocking to see, and he's also very animated, running around in the back. He was functioning more as an integral part of the band, and he even nailed the tricky bass part on WIBN. Didn't sing much though.

The Houston '78 show is one of the shows in the BB vault; a few bits popped up in "An American Band" and "Endless Harmony" (the latter included that quick shot of an energetic Brian on bass on stage).

These uncut pro-shot shows should be released by BRI, but beyond publishing clearances needed for releasing videos, there are other issues with a lot of the footage like this. It's interesting to *us*, but sometimes pretty tough to see/hear (imagine releasing Brian's *screaming* lead on "Airplane" from the Largo '77 show), and also in some cases the only extant audio on these shows is arguably not of releasable quality (e.g. the Seattle '83 show with audio that sounds like it's coming from an AM transistor radio).

Yeah, I remember seeing another one from that tour where some of the band, Carl in particular are clearly in bad shape. He was playing "The Trader" behind a Wurli looking very hungover, glared at the camera and forcefully gestured the cameraman to get out of his face and shoot elsewhere. Might've been Largo I think? But I think the Brian bass one was probably the Houston one.

Yeah, I think the Carl keyboard moment was "All This Is That" from the Largo, MD 1977 show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tVqBT5I1WE

From what I recall, both nights of a two-night stand were captured on video from Largo in 1977. Only one of the shows circulates and has been for years, and that's the one linked above. I think it's the second of two nights. I think tiny bits of the other show are seen in "Endless Harmony" (Brian in a different shirt at the piano). But both are supposedly in the BRI vaults.

Yup, I think you're right! Apologies for my bad recollection.

No apologies needed! It had been so long since I had watched that one, I had forgotten all the weird stuff Carl (and the other guys) did. I remember first seeing the Australia '78 footage where Carl is super toasted, and then at some point after that I saw the Largo '77 footage, from a full year earlier, and was surprised that Carl was semi-toasted at that one as well.

It's pretty stunning then to watch the first 1979 footage of the band and to see Carl 100% sober and in charge of the band. It's one of the reasons it always bugs me when Mike (or others) bring up the "Wilsons doing drugs and drinking." I mean, it's unfortunate he still brings it up unprompted in general regarding any of the brothers, but I also think it's unfair to lump Carl in with the more chronic, long-lasting problems Dennis and Brian had. While I've often heard supposition that Carl continued to drink possibly excessively much, much later in his life, I have to say it NEVER showed in public or on stage post-1978. Professionally, Carl got his s**t together pretty quickly.

If I'd been a Beach Boy, I would have been drunk a whole lot, I can tell you that for free.

I remember hearing LOVE YOU as a suburban teenager for the first time in '81 (which IIRC was the year the Human League came out which is the first time I can think of a band having anything close to the "Love You" sound got played on the radio) and definitely having a WTF reaction to the productive style. I agree with those here who say that there was just no way anything on it would get on the radio in '77. It really was, in its own way, quite a subversive album. Almost an F-you to radio in a way, though I don't think that was the intention.

I can see how someone who wasn't listening to the radio in the '70s might visualize a hit from that album based on what has come since then but just...no way. I can imagine "Honkin'" with the drum intro back in having a "Goin' On"-like run for a few weeks but other than that...no. I'd have an easier time imagining it in the '80s...and it's interesting (though probably irrelevant) that MIU yielded a hit single in 1981. Even that much more radio-friendly production might have been a little too crisp for AM in '78.

I've seen footage (privately, perhaps the Houston one) from a '78 show where Brian is THE bass player, basically. It's a bit shocking to see, and he's also very animated, running around in the back. He was functioning more as an integral part of the band, and he even nailed the tricky bass part on WIBN. Didn't sing much though.

The Houston '78 show is one of the shows in the BB vault; a few bits popped up in "An American Band" and "Endless Harmony" (the latter included that quick shot of an energetic Brian on bass on stage).

These uncut pro-shot shows should be released by BRI, but beyond publishing clearances needed for releasing videos, there are other issues with a lot of the footage like this. It's interesting to *us*, but sometimes pretty tough to see/hear (imagine releasing Brian's *screaming* lead on "Airplane" from the Largo '77 show), and also in some cases the only extant audio on these shows is arguably not of releasable quality (e.g. the Seattle '83 show with audio that sounds like it's coming from an AM transistor radio).

Yeah, I remember seeing another one from that tour where some of the band, Carl in particular are clearly in bad shape. He was playing "The Trader" behind a Wurli looking very hungover, glared at the camera and forcefully gestured the cameraman to get out of his face and shoot elsewhere. Might've been Largo I think? But I think the Brian bass one was probably the Houston one.

Yeah, I think the Carl keyboard moment was "All This Is That" from the Largo, MD 1977 show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tVqBT5I1WE

From what I recall, both nights of a two-night stand were captured on video from Largo in 1977. Only one of the shows circulates and has been for years, and that's the one linked above. I think it's the second of two nights. I think tiny bits of the other show are seen in "Endless Harmony" (Brian in a different shirt at the piano). But both are supposedly in the BRI vaults.

Yup, I think you're right! Apologies for my bad recollection.

I've seen footage (privately, perhaps the Houston one) from a '78 show where Brian is THE bass player, basically. It's a bit shocking to see, and he's also very animated, running around in the back. He was functioning more as an integral part of the band, and he even nailed the tricky bass part on WIBN. Didn't sing much though.

The Houston '78 show is one of the shows in the BB vault; a few bits popped up in "An American Band" and "Endless Harmony" (the latter included that quick shot of an energetic Brian on bass on stage).

These uncut pro-shot shows should be released by BRI, but beyond publishing clearances needed for releasing videos, there are other issues with a lot of the footage like this. It's interesting to *us*, but sometimes pretty tough to see/hear (imagine releasing Brian's *screaming* lead on "Airplane" from the Largo '77 show), and also in some cases the only extant audio on these shows is arguably not of releasable quality (e.g. the Seattle '83 show with audio that sounds like it's coming from an AM transistor radio).

Yeah, I remember seeing another one from that tour where some of the band, Carl in particular are clearly in bad shape. He was playing "The Trader" behind a Wurli looking very hungover, glared at the camera and forcefully gestured the cameraman to get out of his face and shoot elsewhere. Might've been Largo I think? But I think the Brian bass one was probably the Houston one.

LONG PROMISED ROAD: SONGS OF DENNIS AND CARL WILSON is a live album I did with my band, including Evie Sands and Alan Boyd, back in 2005. It's temporarily back in print as a specialty item, but is going on amazon for $40 currently. You can see a clip of "River Song" here: https://youtu.be/Pz3B5tLyRw8

I've also done many albums as an original singer/songwriter that have gotten some praise. The music covers power pop, soul, punk, roots, and even later exotica. You can sample some of it on youtube or hear it in the background of my YouTube show ADAM WALKS AROUND https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn6NZhzPVT0

As part of transferring my life to Asia, I am making a limited offer to folks in the Beach Boys community: all of my last 9 albums (10 CDs in all, since one is a double) including LONG PROMISED ROAD, for $37 including postage. So it's less than on amazon AND you get 8 albums of original music thrown in - most of which is not currently on Spotify or iTunes.

I have, roughly, 20 of these packages. When they're gone, they're gone.

This is open to domestic U.S. only, however if you are overseas I'm open to honoring this deal if we add in extra for the international postage.

If you are interested, send me a PM here and I will tell you how to order.

Thanks all!

I've seen footage (privately, perhaps the Houston one) from a '78 show where Brian is THE bass player, basically. It's a bit shocking to see, and he's also very animated, running around in the back. He was functioning more as an integral part of the band, and he even nailed the tricky bass part on WIBN. Didn't sing much though.

I'm very anti-autotune/pitch correction for a variety of reasons I won't get into, but taking a step back from my own personal preferences, the best analogy is CGI in a film. Does that effect blend in seamlessly, or is it so obviously done that it takes you out of the film entirely like a cheap process shot of a giant lobster in a '50s sci-fi flick? There are many gradations in between and even I would agree there are times that you just can't get the performance and to leave it uncorrected would take you out of the song just as egregiously (though there are ways to get around this other than pitch correction).

I have a lot of trouble with TWGMTR (the album, not the song, which I like a lot) because the processing "takes me out of the movie" as it were, especially on those later tracks which are otherwise very good. I also thought the album was very lacking in top end, and at one point I took the album and remastered it myself, and discovered that when you added in more top all the processing just flew out and became blatantly obvious. So there's a sort of back door effect in that way as well - it's going to affect the overall balance of the EQ and how much spread you can get away with. I remember NPR did a segment where they played something from TWGMTR and WIBN back-to-back and the former really suffered by comparison....very thin and dull, relatively speaking, by contrast to the older track.

I did know Gary, though not nearly well enough to know the struggles he was going through. I wish I had known, because I've gone through some of the same inner struggles, found some solutions to them, and I would have shared them gladly with him. It may not have done any good - probably not - but I really wish I would have had the chance. I had no idea he took his own life, though I understand very well why a fulsome amount of love and respect were not enough to fill that hole, and that the things that had kept him going for so long were no longer sufficient. I get it, completely.

The guy was just a complete mensch. Besides his work with Rhino, everybody in the independent music community owes him a huge debt as a patron. He supported many of us fulsomely and wholeheartedly and singlehandedly kept a few bands going through some tough times. He was just a very, very good man. Although he was, as I've already said, a casual acquaintance - I wouldn't quite presume to have called him a friend, because he had so many - this news has hit me harder than many other similar recent events. His loss will be keenly felt.

Thank you for the very insightful and illuminating post to help us better understand what happened.

Just posted: a new video/single from MOD HIPPIE, "Cricket LaRue," featuring a lot of cool footage from the swingin' '60s Cambodia music scene, plus wall to wall Fender guitar riffing by David Marks. D.J. Bonebrake of X is on the drums.

What do you think?

https://youtu.be/ODsi2VGcMfg

I had dinner with David just prior to leaving the U.S. again (mid-November). I can say he was in good health and spirits at that point...hopefully all is still well.

I heard some of this stuff, years ago. I remember "Bucks" was kind of cool in that it had an enthusiastic Mike vocal and sort of rocked in an early '80s kind of way, but it also didn't sound like a Beach Boys song at all. My memory is very very vague but I want to say it had a less fast-paced "The Heat Is On" kind of thing going on. (I know that song came later, just reaching for a comparison)

Don't forget that there was a whole bunch of unused stuff from KTSA too. "Smokey Places" had a decent Brian vocal and Carl's interpretation of "I'll Always Love You" could easily have been an MOR hit in '80-'81 - though like "Bucks" its commerciality is offset by the fact that it doesn't sound like a Beach Boys song, just a random commercial song from that era. The KTSA outtakes weren't amazing, but I think they were superior in quality (at least production-wise) to most of what came after.

Me, I'd open the album with "Drip Drop" and go from there. But I'm weird.

Do you recall if the lyric "Bucks" was in reference to money? That's what I would assume.

Yeah, I believe it was. Literally the only thing I can remember clearly about it is Mike saying in the refrain "and that's BUCKS!" and there was a delay effect on the vocal. And as I said, it had that kind of Glenn Frey/Huey Lewis generic early '80s rock 'n' roll thing going on (except that it came earlier, again, just reaching for a very inexact comparison). I don't think there were any background vocals or evidence of group participation on it at all. It didn't sound like a BBs track at all but I remember thinking for a Mike solo track it was pretty decent.

I heard some of this stuff, years ago. I remember "Bucks" was kind of cool in that it had an enthusiastic Mike vocal and sort of rocked in an early '80s kind of way, but it also didn't sound like a Beach Boys song at all. My memory is very very vague but I want to say it had a less fast-paced "The Heat Is On" kind of thing going on. (I know that song came later, just reaching for a comparison)

Don't forget that there was a whole bunch of unused stuff from KTSA too. "Smokey Places" had a decent Brian vocal and Carl's interpretation of "I'll Always Love You" could easily have been an MOR hit in '80-'81 - though like "Bucks" its commerciality is offset by the fact that it doesn't sound like a Beach Boys song, just a random commercial song from that era. The KTSA outtakes weren't amazing, but I think they were superior in quality (at least production-wise) to most of what came after.

Me, I'd open the album with "Drip Drop" and go from there. But I'm weird.

Here's my assumption on why they had Mike sing "Good Timin'" on this appearance:  notice that Dennis is missing. Dennis was given the lead for that song when they played three nights at Radio City Music Hall in early March to launch the L.A. (Light Album). Although at the time, Dennis said something like, "Carl's too shy to sing it", I think the real reason is that Carl was handling the essential high falsetto background part (which he also sang on the record, in addition to the lead - although he had wanted Brian to sing the lead). This Easter Seals show was soon after that, as was their appearance on the Midnight Special, and although they didn't do the song there, they did rehearse it - again with Dennis on lead. By May, Carl was singing the "Good Timin'" lead live, even when Dennis was present. So I can only assume that by that point, Bobby Figueroa had practiced and stretched his voice out enough to where he could take over that falsetto part, and let Carl assume the lead, as he did on record. That's the only thing I can think of that makes sense, as neither Dennis nor Mike sang the lead particularly well.

This is my thinking as well. I also think the band couldn't handle the (overdubbed by Carl and Bruce) verse vocal parts without him, so Carl delegated the lead to someone else. They really struggle on the backup vocals on the later versions with Carl singing lead.

This just showed up. Don't know if it's made the rounds before but I hadn't seen it.

Mike on lead vocals for "Good Timin'."

Bruce plays guitar.

Brian tries out a little freestyle vocal improv in spots (end of "Good Vibrations") and looks very bored for the camera.

Classic Carl reax to a bad falsetto note at 6:12.

https://youtu.be/GJ72t7tsAOc

Mod Hippie's third album WANNABE NOBODY is out. You can hear the whole album online here:

https://soundcloud.com/user-957656088/sets/mod-hippie-wannabe-nobody

As with Mod Hippie's last album, David Marks plays on most of the record, specifically tracks 2-5 and 8-9. There's also some Beach Boys-esque flourishes on some of the tracks, particularly the end of "Saturday Show" (the opening track).

The album is available as physical (with eight-page lyric booklet) and download here:

www.karmafrog.com/store.html

Wow, awesome Adam - so great to have you back!  

So now the next logical question - do we think Al sings on the released (Candix single) version of "Surfin'"?  From the rehearsal tapes, we know he was not involved at that early stage (Brian threatens to get Al to replace a hiccupping Dennis), but he was obviously there for the master session, playing the upright bass. But does he sing on it?

Ooh interesting question. OK, I go into this with some bias in that I have a hard time believing that Brian would have Al on the session and NOT have him sing. We also know that Brian would occasionally have Dave reinforce Dennis' part. But Al isn't immediately obvious in the vocal blend.

So listening through "Surfin'" first of all obviously it's not a very clear recording. You're basically hearing a four part harmony but two of the parts are much louder - Mike's and the middle of the triad which sounds very like Dennis (not unusual for Dennis to stick out of the blend on the early records). The other parts of the harmony are pretty faint but it sounds like Carl on the bottom of the triad and Brian on the top which wouldn't be unusual (Dennis getting the simplest harmony as usual). So that's four.

However, some interesting spots in the song make me think Al is there.

Listen at 1:00 as one of the harmonies briefly pops out as one of the singers projects while he's running out of air. What's that we hear? Vibrato! Brian, Carl and Mike never used it. Dennis did, but this sounds very NOT Dennis. It doesn't sound like a Wilson at all. I can't say it sounds LIKE Al, but it does not sound UNLIKE Al, and I don't think it's any of the other guys. And Al uses vibrato quite a bit when singing lead.

Now listen to the bottom of the triad (it's an A) at 2:04-2:05 where it goes "only way for me." The "for me" sounds like Al, though if so it's a little odd for a reason I'll get into below.

The tell here is the "Surfin'" chorus. The middle part is much louder than the other two to the point that it's hard to tell if the other two parts are there, though it rings like a three part and if you listen carefully you can discern the other two parts.

But more to the point, the reason that part is so loud is it's doubled. There's two guys on the same note. I can hear it best on the first chorus. The double is tight, but it comes apart slightly in a few spots.  So that's five guys. Which gives you Brian on top, Dennis and a mystery double on the middle, Carl on the indistinct low harmony, and Mike on the bass.  

Sounds like Brian had Al double Dennis at least on the choruses, or it may be that Al doubles Dennis throughout but he was just more confident on the chorus note since it was more obvious. The only thing about that that's weird is if it's Al at 2:04 he's on the lower harmony and Carl's doubling Dennis at that point. So it may be that's a false ID and it's really Carl on that note (since it would require either an arrangement change or them both to mess up their part at the same time).

You can also hear the double pretty clearly on the ending "ooo". On the middle harmony one of the singers enters flat and the other doesn't, and when that little flourish "oo-oo-ooh-oo" breaks off it's only one singer (Dennis I'd guess) doing it but the triad doesn't come apart.

So I'd wager it's (top to bottom) Brian-Dennis+Al-Carl-Mike.

[duplicate post - the board is malfunctioning as I'm trying to edit typos]

[duplicate post]