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Smiley Smile Stuff / 1960's Beach Boys Albums / Re: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
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on: December 15, 2012, 01:41:08 PM
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RE: Agree with you re COW & Winter Symphony, CTIHA is also quite good. But the last, Morning Christmas, is too slow, downbeat & uninspiring, it doesn't sound like Happy Christmas-type tune. And usually that's what I like about Christmas songs, i.e. joyfulness, warmth & feel of holiday & magic. Tastes differ though. - - - - - - - The original Christmas brought much joy but also had more moments of awe and wonder, pain (riding 9 months pregnant on a donkey) and suffering (giving birth in a cold cave) ... not long after followed by a King's decree to slaughter Bethlehem infants in an attempt to eliminate what he thought would be his competition. I love the joy-to-the-world songs (and appreciate Brian's juxtaposition of "let every heart prepare him room" on his cover of the Beach Boys' "Man With All The Toys") but welcome the reflection of those slow, downbeat songs that remind me of why Christmas means so much to so many. Phil A very different perspective on the Christmas Album ~ http://prayforsurfblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-Beach-Boys-All-In-Family-Album.html
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Guesses at the setlist?
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on: February 14, 2012, 02:34:32 PM
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My thoughts for the opening ...
Fred Vail reprising his Concert album introduction of "the fabulous Beach Boys! Meant For You Wake the World Do It Again Friends (maybe a new last verse?) Can't Wait Too Long When I Grow Up to Be a Man
A Set Influenced by Alan -Help Me Rhonda -Sloop John B -Then I Kissed Her -Cotton Fields -Susie Cincinnati -Don't Fight the Sea -Come Go With Me
Carl's Set -Girl Don't Tell Me -God Only Knows -Darlin' -I Can Hear Music -Long Promised Road
Denny's Set -This Car of Mine -Do You Wanna Dance -It's OK -You've Got to Hide Your Love Away -Forever
Bruce -Disney Girls
...
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: 2012 Tour fantasy setlist
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on: December 31, 2011, 08:04:36 PM
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My Top Ten List for the Beach Boys' 50th Anniversary Tour
Beach Boys 50th Celebration Concert Tour - My Top Ten List By Phil Miglioratti None of the Beach Boys have asked me, but if they did, here are a few suggestions for the upcoming tour celebrating their 50 year anniversary as a band: 1) Open with "Meant For You" It is a perfect way to set the stage (pun intended) to send out the core message of the Beach Boys: peace and love. They can play "California Girls" later in the show. 2) Followed by "Friends"A reunion for the fans but more importantly may this tour be a measure of reconciliation for the group that started with brothers, a cousin, a neighbor and a friend. All the lawsuits, power struggles, tarmac fist fights, stolen royalties and more than we fans will never know of, may each be forgiven. Maybe not forgotten but no longer standing in the way of giving the world joy of a live concert by a band of friends. 3) Then rock on with "Do It Again"
This was the perfect tune to re-record. The lyrics beg for a reunion. The texture of the song straddles the surf & street era and the progressive stage of the Beach Boys career. 4) Reprise the band intro from the Beach Boys' Concert album.
"And now, from Hawthorne, California, to entertain you tonight, with a gala concert and a recording session, the fabulous Beach Boys!" Fred Vail, back then a teenager brash enough to promote a concert and bold to couple it to a recording that became the first live concert album of a rock group to hit #1 on the charts, is the perfect choice to bring them onstage. 5) Honor David Marks
Give him a guitar solo on "Break Away" so we can hear what the original 6 would have sounded like had he not been dismissed from the band. The guitar solo inserted for the single version of this song sounded forced and unrelated to the feeling and flow of this great Brian Wilson song. Maybe David can fill that break with a Beach Boys inspired sound. Murry Wilson may have been greedy (when he engineered David's departure) and David may have been immature in his too-quick reaction to Murry's taunts but it is not too late to make the song a more complete Beach Boy tunes. 6) Keep the break in "Little Girl I Once Knew"
No general managers worrying someone may change from their station when you go into that glorious break - Give us the full song, silence and all! Every second of it! Just like Brian imagined it. 7) "'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson"
Few listeners realize this album-filler, though not an example of a Beach Boys classic, is a grand example of Brian Wilson's understanding of humor and how it can augment the rock ethos. And now, almost a lifetime later, our naivete when first listening to "Our Favorite Recording Sessions,'' and "I'm Bugged at My Old Man" has given way to the realization of how revealing the Love vs Wilson banter was and how painfully accurate was the "I'm Bugged" story-line. I'm not suggesting they perform this cut onstage .. I'm hoping Mike, who has identified his humor as sarcastic, will stay away from anything that sounds sarcastic or causes Brian to feel fear or hurt. I'm not picking sides, just hoping everyone stays with the positivity that Mike preaches in his interviews. 8) Dennis and Carl, please
Bring more than their memory by reminding us of how "Do You Wanna Dance" was a great Dennis lead and how Carl's voice on "God Only Knows" is considered one of the best in rock and roll history. Let their recorded voice take the lead while they are shown bigger than life on a video screen and as the band plays and sings live. They did it for Elvis; why not the most energizing rock band of our time? 9) The Alan Jardine Album
Most of the night will be Brian Wilson - Mike Love tunes (Amen!) but how about a set of songs on which Al sang lead or pushed to the forefront? "Help Me Rhonda" (a #1 hit), "Sloop John B" (Brian took his good idea and turned it into greatness), "The Times They Are A-Changin" (...yet, here are the Beach Boys on world tour!), "Cotton Fields" (Alan's version, please), "Then I Kissed Her" (his lead helped Brian out Spector, Spector), and "Susie Cincinnati" or "Come Go With Me" or Heroes & Villains, or ... 10) "Love & Mercy"
What would it be like to end the concert with the Beach Boys semi-circled behind Brian at the piano singing "Love & Mercy" as the closing hymn, I mean song. A fitting benediction to what will be an amazing live experience and what was an unparalleled career bringing joy to millions across the globe and generations. P.S. I need your help identifying the 50 heroes & villains who shared the lives and shaped the careers of the Beach Boys - Cast your vote and share your comment http://prayforsurfblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/50th-anniversary-50-beach-boys-heroes.html
•200+ rare Beach Boys videos @ http://www.youtube.com/BB45s •Visit http://www.PrayForSurf.net for more "stuff"
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: BBsTV article Part 2
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on: July 02, 2010, 07:42:45 PM
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Ian, these articles are an important piece to documenting the history of the Beach Boys, a task desperately needed. Thank you for having the passion and professionalism to get this dimension of their story told. More to come, we hope?
Phil PrayForSurfBlog . blogspot.com
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Beach Boys: The Essential Interviews
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on: February 19, 2010, 06:05:18 AM
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It is a compilation of interviews that were published in the US, England and, possibly, Australia (I am out of town and do not have my copy with me to verify) -- several were new to me. I am only half way through but the reading (and rereading) experience is like reliving life in Beach Boys Nation in the 60's and 70's. Contemporaneous dialog about the significance of Pet Sounds, conjecture about SMiLE (its meaning and anticipated future release), analysis of the Wild Honey album (both its music and motivation), plus comments from the BBs (such as Mike declaring he would never think of recording a solo album) make this much more than a stroll down memory lane. I especially enjoyed the complete interview from which came Tony Asher's "musical genius, amateur human being" quote (several new-to-me and surprising statements about his working relationship with Brian).
I was hoping for visuals of the original publications but, other than the cover, no reproductions or photos.
Looking forward to the second half.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Revelations and 'new' discoveries in BB music!
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on: January 22, 2010, 04:52:45 PM
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As mentioned above, the GV vocal edits, with Brian and Carl trading lines, really surprised me. I must have head that song a thousand times, closely too, without noticing it.
...I do not have a musician's ear but somehow I picked that out the first time I heard it on the radio (43+ years ago!). My best high school friend happened to be visiting California (we lived in Illinois) at the time of the release and somehow he managed to talk with Brian on the phone who verified the lead vocal trade-off with Carol.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Murry's eight page letter
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on: October 29, 2009, 04:02:12 PM
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Gees bloody wizz! :o
No wonder the Wilson clan was so screwed up!
- - - -
And, to my amazement, their father (aka, Reggie Dunbar) is a co-writer of Break Away! How'd that happen? I find it hard to believe he had a significant role in the writing of lyrics or composing of the music though Alan and Carl talk about his involvement ("he helped voice some of the parts" (Hawthorne CA )). Might this be a sign of forgiveness/reconciliation?
All I've got is speculation; anyone have reliable info?
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: What do YOU think the Train and Barking Dogs mean?
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on: October 06, 2009, 07:14:17 AM
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As a listener, I experience the train moving past me while I am stationary, my pet dogs at my feet in a rural America setting (precursor to SMiLE?). The sound of a train in the distance always evokes anticipation; the sound of the train moving past and away, a sadness that something good has quickly gone by. To me, it is a bittersweet ending to the greatest pop album of all time. I stand in stunned silence as to the amazing sounds that have come and gone; my pets' sounds become accolades to the great Pet Sounds.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Let Him Run Wild
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on: July 25, 2009, 11:23:39 AM
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"This track is really the "Summer Days" link to Pet Sounds...it's really one of the few tracks on that album that foreshadows what Brian would do later..."
One of the factors in Brian making the transition from Today! and Summer Days was a change from Mike's approach to lyrics to Tony Asher's. It would be interesting to hear some of the BW/ML songs that had the BBs singing about cars and beaches with Asher or Parks themes. The instrumental sound of, say Salt Lake City, without the ice-pick lyrics would only add to Brian's acclaim. SLC (and others) is a great song but will forever only be thought of as a fun BB tune.
I'm not sure Brian or those of us who listened to rock music back then would have been ready for a Pet Sounds quality lyric to any of his earlier tunes but I think the surf-sand-street topics kept BW/BB songs in the summer-and-fun genre much longer than they should have.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / 1960's Beach Boys Albums / Re: Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
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on: July 02, 2009, 03:50:36 AM
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One of their Top 4-5 albums ... How good might it have been if Brian had given it the intense focus that he gave to Pet Sounds and SMiLE ... at the time it seemed like Summer Days was a requirement he had to get out of the way; another "summer" album. A fabulous collection of tunes.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Your ideal BBs setlist
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on: June 19, 2009, 02:22:24 PM
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I'll respond to a revised version of the question - "If you won a contest and could select 5 songs that the Beach Boys would perform live, what would they be?"
For me: 1. Little Girl I Once Knew 2. Break Away 3. She Knows Me Too Well 4. Wake The World 5. You're So Good To Me
(not enough time to construct a 30 song set list ...)
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Breaking Point In Their Career?
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on: June 18, 2009, 06:32:46 PM
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Observation on Do It Again -
Interesting release of singles around that time: >Friends / Little Bird (1968) - Dennis's "single" (B side) - One of the most creative, haunting Beach Boys songs; certainly to that point >Bluebirds Over the Mountain / Never Learn Not to Love (1968) - Bruce's single: a Disney Girls nostalgia trip (another Dennis B side) >Do It Again / Wake the World (1968) - Mike's single: Let's recreate the past (Brian's B side looks for a new day; a new start) >I Can Hear Music / All I Want to Do (1969) - Carl's single: Homage to brother Brian; a Spectorian song and sound (another Dennis B side) >Breakaway / Celebrate the News (1969) - Brian's single: Good-bye Capitol but also -- I need to be free from my role as a Beach Boy (another Dennis B side) >Cotton Fields /The Nearest Faraway Place (1970) - Al's single: Folk City! here we come, again.
As each group member began to produce music, it is interesting to see the path they each took. IMHO, totally within character. And the end of Brian Wilson's Beach Boys. The Beach Boys were now individuals writing and even producing but only singing (usually) as a unit.
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