Tony Rivers is an old mate of mine, I believe (but I'm not too sure) that he is indeed a member of this board.
He once introduced me to Bruce Welch (of The Shadows) and i asked who's idea it was for Cliff Richard and The Shads to add 'End Of The Show' to their set in the late 70's , well they both did.
Tony worked for many many years as a Backing Vocalist with Cliff, hey he even did Live Aid (and also performed with Elton at said show)  

Interesting, thanks for sharing!   I should add that Tony went on to form Harmony Grass, which, as the name implies, was more harmony-drenched sunshine pop. RPM also put out a nice digipak of their work.  

"never earlier released"

oh dear... 

Ever heard of Tony Rivers & the Castaways? Close, but no cigar:

http://www.craftweb.org/web/tony/cast.html



Like Castaways, the Denmark-based British band Red Squares also specialized in BB and Four Seasons, with a very good falsetto by the lead singer:



http://www.redsquares.com/DISCOGRAPHY.htm

http://www.redsquares.com/biography.html

The covers on 15 Big Ones were quite inspired. When I read a mention of "Rock and Roll Music", I am just as likely to think BB as I am Chuck Berry. That's no mean feat by them.

Sumahama is really quite lovely, IMO. Better than Shortnin' Bread, at least!

One newish Mike song I really like is Cool Head, Warm Heart.

Fair enough, I take back the Carl comment. I do think I have tried to write balanced and considered posts. It was argued that Mike was the worst at everything, I rate him higher than that. In short, I like ALL nine Beach Boys. Go back and read some of the vitriol in this thread. Yes, some of it is funny, but it is still vitriol. I've been here, what, ten years or more, I never tried to cause strife. Mike Love, not war. 

Well, that's what I am trying to do, give a balanced view. And if you say most members here take the middle ground, more the better. I don't think it's extreme to link to a wiki list of 115 songs, but I'll stop now. Plenty of other things we can all agree on. Peace out. 

If I am inflating Mike's importance, it is to balance things, counter the extreme anti-Mike sentiments. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between these two positions? That is, Mike being better than his rep, but not as good as he himself thinks and what his fans make him be? I am coming across as an uncritical Mike fan, but really, I am neutral about the whole thing. People have different ideas of what constitutes the Beach Boys. I think he was integral to the mix, no more, no less.

Wiki lists 115 songs written, co-written, and/or composed by Mike Love, as of Sept 13, 2016. Have a look. Some pretty good songs on there.
Compare with the contributions of Al, Bruce, David, Blondie, and Ricky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_written_by_Mike_Love

Hard to surpass that level of sarcasm, but consider this: if Mike hadn't been a constant all those years, if he hadn't soldiered on, being the frontman and pitching in with the occasional inspired lyrics and some pretty good songs (fourth best songwriter of the principal nine?) now and then, would we even have this forum here today? Would there even be a Beach Boys, or factions? People talk of Carl being the anchor, but who left the band for two years? Contrast with the man who never quit the band. Who believed in the idea all along. To suggest that Mike only contributed lyrics or songs of value in the beginning is, well, contentious.  I'll keep my SiP, make judicious use of the skip button in doing so, and I'll even order Unleash... just out of curiosity.

GoogaMooga, I agree with you 100% about finding at least something good in every BBs release. There are things I like on SIP, KTSA, Looking Back With Love, Unleash The Love, Going Public, Nascar, Summertime Cruisin, etc... I, like you said, just can't get enough!

Good man!  Nate, now we are two! But "Summertime Cruisin" I am not familiar with, how does that fit into the discography?

I think setting the tapes on fire could fix it.

I'd piss on the burning tapes, just to save them for posterity.

[Masterpiece]

Didja know that Mike's title for the follow-up album was seriously Masterpiece? It seems our friend Dr. Michael Edward Love thought he was making some important music.

He did. He wrote liner notes to SiP, where he made it quite clear that his intention was a summer concept album. We can scoff at that, but that is what he wanted.

But to actually love the drum sounds on the album? I guess some are just kinda meh, ok, inoffensive, but how about the SUPER LOUD, SHRILL SNARE on Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)? Find me a more grating, fingers-on-the-chalkboard distracting drum sound in the whole BBs' released catalog. I dares ya! Do you actually love that specific sound on that song?

I take it this is a rhetorical question and not aimed at me. If you go back and reread this thread, I have repeatedly stated that I dislike the drums on pretty much the whole album. To the point where I sold the US version, initially, only to get the UK one many years later.

Maybe I am just too fanatical, but I can't name a single BB album that doesn't contain at least something of merit. I'll even pull out NASCAR. Solo works, re-recordings, vanity projects, you name it, I can't get enough BB. Call me indiscriminate. I certainly wouldn't go to such lengths with any other band, except perhaps Beatles and Byrds (the three B's in music). Anyway, I think a lot of good points have been raised in this thread. And I still think a decent EP of remixed songs could be extracted from SiP. Of course I'd like to get a Brother years box of unreleased stuff. I have heard of 300+ songs languishing in the vault. But one does not exclude the other. I don't think a latterday comp would damage their legacy any more than what is already out. For one, only diehards like myself would buy it.

I never surfed. Like Brian, I'd be afraid of getting a wipe out and getting knocked on the head. The most I tried was a boogie board. And yes, that was partly due to Beach Boys.

Surfers then and now weren't much impacted by Beach Boys, they'd either listen to surf guitar or "beach" music (summery pop hits), and today's surfers - anyone's guess.

I didn't know about the '82 California Dreamin'. All I have is the one on Made in USA. Is the '82 available on any BB comp? Never heard of the Rock and Roll City OST, either.
I think there may be a few stray tracks like that which I haven't mopped up.

  

Okay, here's my retraction. I concede there's not a whole album hidden there, some of the examples of lyrics posted here are really indefensible, or laughable at best. How about an EP, then. Or a maxi single?    I'll have to go back and listen aqain. Sometimes I let years pass between listens, so much other stuff to cycle through as well. Also, I never really listen intently to lyrics; so long as it flows and is sung well, that's always been my main concern.

The UK version was already an improvement, and the vocals on the album are pretty good. I believe there's an album hidden in that train wreck. If I were Mike, I'd remix the damn thing, even if it had to be for my own money. Mike can afford it, and the label, whichever it was, ought to distribute it. But, Mike's a proud and stubborn fellow, "Looking Back With Love" is still missing on CD.

Realistically, what would it cost to book a studio and a good drummer? That's all it takes. Wipe the old drum track and you're good. Who should he choose as drummer? Hal Blaine would be too old. Is he even alive?

Mike and BRI have got nothing to lose. As it is, it is OOP and out of mind. They have all but dissociated themselves from it, it is an embarrassment to them.

The best song didn't even make it to S&S vol.1

Tammy Wynette's cover of In my Room

that one can be found on a Tammy tribute album, of all places.

I mean, the opinion that there is more encouragement for repeated listens on SIP is based off your own musical tastes. Keeping personal taste out of it, I’d say based on the chart number for SS (and that SIP didn’t even chart), the fact that SIP isn’t even sold anymore (nor does it look like it will be sold) says that the average consumer (and the minds at Capitol) finds less actual content on SIP than on SS...which is why the latter is still sold.

I like chart trivia as much as anyone, but I wouldn't let that inform or dictate my taste. I doubt you do that, either. You use chart performance as an argument. But how then, do you account for the much maligned "Kokomo" being their final #1?  I like "Kokomo", but I wouldn't use its chart-topping status as proof of its quality. What it comes down to is personal taste. You like the debut over SiP, fine. But take out the brash production on SiP, and you are left with some pretty solid tunes. There are three tunes on SS as opposed to twelve on SiP.

Yeah, Bruce & Terry were a great team. I'd also love to hear what Bruce was doing from 72-79. I've heard that he played in a group of California music/Surf legends, with maybe Gary Usher? My memory on this is very fuzzy. Something similar to Dean Torrence's Legendary Masked Surfers group.

He did indeed. I've got a nice Japanese comp by California Music. Very HTF, mind.

Re: SIP being a better album than The Beach Boys debut: I’ll take the realism of Surfin Safari any day over the completely artificial sound of SIP. And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.

What makes a good beach boys album? How about an album with all of the actual band playing on the album. Or an album that actually charts (#32). With Surfin Safari you’re listening to literal kids accomplish something that almost no other kids got to do: play on a rock n roll album for a major record company. It’s so much more than history too - it’s the realism of an actual band getting their foot planted in a new world of music...you can hear the inexperience, Brian is tapping a snare drum with his finger in one song! But it’s real, not a drum machine, not glossy production. SIP is half a band attempting to milk the sound of a hit song by making a half baked effort at songwriting and recording without half of the original members (including Brian Wilson).

I get that a couple people somehow actually like SIP, but calling it better than an actual original Beach Boys album? That’s a huge stretch.

You argue your case well, and I understand where you are coming from. Obviously, the three good/outstanding hits on SS are better than anything on SiP. But my point is that's all you get on SS. The filler may be fun, if you are into history and tracing the evolution of the band, but once you are over that, there's little to encourage repeat listens. I am not a big fan of SiP. I sold the USA version back then, because I couldn't stand the brash drum sounds. Then years later, I got the UK edition second hand, a slight improvement, at least enough for me to keep it. Consider this, every track on SiP is at least listenable. I personally feel it's a better deal to get 12 passable tracks than three good ones and nine fillers. That's just me. Song for song, there's more on offer on SiP. Better batting average.

What makes a good BB album, never mind a real BB album?

Let's go back to 1962 and the first Capitol album. Sure, it has its place in history, and it is 100% a BB album. But let's be honest here, it has three outstanding tracks and a lot of filler. That's how albums were made in those days, especially debuts. I am a hardcore fan and love the early days, but truth to tell, I have played Still Cruisin' and SiP more than that first album. Simply because they are better albums.

And I am the only person I know that likes the Fat Boys collaboration. Whoever else bought the single and helped it chart at #12 on Billboard, well, they have to step forward. I know I am not alone here... 

Four songs by Bruce and Terry on this late in the game album by Terry's mother, Doris Day:

There is an undeniable thrill upon hearing the delectable voice of Doris Day once again. Technically flawless, infallibly seductive in tone, it's hard to think of another singer of her era who offers the listener such unadulterated pleasure.

Among the 12 tracks here are reminders of her work in the 1950s and 60s, with three numbers sourced from the period when she was at her zenith. Listen out for the manner in which Day caresses the words of the meltingly beautiful song My One and Only Love, accompanied sympathetically by the Andr� Previn Trio. Elsewhere, she brings a lifetime's experience to bear on Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries, and her version of Hurry, It's Lovely Up Here, a song from the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - where the heroine, blessed with powers of extra sensory perception, discovers that she can make plants grow - is immediately lovable.

These titles are interspersed with the raison d'etre for this sort of release: a batch of previously unreleased titles. Four of them are co-written and produced by her late son, Terry Melcher. Sony don't reveal when they were recorded, but one of them, The Way I Dreamed It, was published in 1985 - meaning Day would likely have been in her 60s at the time of its recording. Her voice may have lost some of its lustre in the intervening years, but there's no doubting the sincerity of her interpretations.

Bringing us right up to date, Doris has recorded a short but moving tribute to Terry, who died in 2004 - she dedicates a favourite film song of hers, My Buddy, to him. Terry features on Happy Endings, his strong voice suggesting he could have enjoyed a successful recording career as a singer - a side to his talents which never really got going - on top of his achievements as a record producer (notably, he produced one of his mother's greatest hits, Move Over, Darling).

Four of the previously unreleased songs are written by Terry with Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys. The cheery Heaven Tonight exudes much of the pair's joie-de-vivre in its sunny arrangement, while My Heart is a particularly poignant piece; throughout, Day adapts her voice to the more contemporary song styles with effortless ease. She made a unique contribution to the 20th century through the era of the big bands, then movies and recordings. The warmth and charm of her artistry, which transcends the passage of time, live on in this thoughtfully compiled release.

Al was going to be sacked anyway. David was originally going to rejoin in 97 as Al's replacement, not Carl's.

I thought Al quit of his own accord. David did join briefly, but then he had the hepatitis to struggle with.

Twenty years ago we lost Carl Wilson, and the Beach Boys splintered into factions. Carl had been the mediator, with the voice of an angel. Since his passing, his leads have been meted out to whoever was capable.

If only they had hired Christopher Cross, no-one has a vocal closer to Carl's than Cross. Wasn't he mooted as a successor at some point?

Had Cross joined, Al might have stayed, and it would have been easier to cajole Brian into the group again. They would have gotten over SiP and Stars and Stripes, and gone ahead with more group efforts like Still Cruisin' before.

Instead we got the traveling oldies jukebox and Brian's Wondermints.

Christopher Cross:

“Brian Wilson’s writing was a big influence on me and Carl Wilson was my No. 1 vocal influence growing up. Years later, we became very close.  Carl sang on my second album (1983’s Another Page), and we did a lot of touring together and vocal sessions for other artists. He’d always say, ‘We make a nice sound’—I just treasure that.”