I hate to be a stick in the mud, but a live box set without any studio material whatsoever sounds like something I and many other fans would largely pass on. The ‘76 live stuff with Brian, however, would be great. But even then, I’d probably think it would be better as part of a ‘76-77 box set.

What did Brian contribute to the live band in 1976? Any footage I've seen, he just sits there, hiding behind his piano.

Not 100% sure. His contributions are probably patchy, but definitely not non-existent. I've seen footage where he plays bass, does vocals and in some cases leads, i.e. on Surfer Girl and Back Home. The track Back Home (Live / 1976) on Feel Flows is testament to this, even though his lead vocal is flown-in, unfortunately.

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but a live box set without any studio material whatsoever sounds like something I and many other fans would largely pass on. The ‘76 live stuff with Brian, however, would be great. But even then, I’d probably think it would be better as part of a ‘76-77 box set.

During a BeachBoys Talk interview, Alan Boyd mentioned there's something that was found that would "blow people's minds". It's from Chuck Britz's collection. Whatever it is, I'd hope they are pushing for that to be released some time in the not too distant future.

Maybe it's something Smile-related, in which case they could release it with stereo mixes of Smile.

.

I think that our culture has finally gotten away from the stranglehold the boomer generation had on the history of rock and pop. This has had some dramatic effects. Disco, which I was somehow taught to despise as a classic-rock child of the 90s, is now rightly seen as a path-breaking genre with a far more lasting impact than hard rock. And bands like the Beach Boys are finally coming out of the shadow of how they intersected with popular taste and being seen as artists defined by how they approached their music, rather than by how audiences received it.

Bingo…hindsight really is 20/20 (and So Tough, and Holland, and…). A lot of artists unfairly derided as square have found a new life with Gen Z. Growing up I was made fun of for being a Billy Joel fan, for instance. He’s another artist popular with the younger set. Those who think stuff like this due to stuff like TikTok and Stranger Things (not referring to you GF…I see this a lot and you reminded me of it!) are only partially correct… this is the first generation that has an appreciation of what came before. My generation (Gen X) wouldn’t mark out if we heard an older song on a tv show or movie! If it wasn’t new, it was lame! One of the side effects of it being easy to distribute music these days is that people are generally more educated musically on a informal basis… if someone wants to learn music theory, instead of going to college and hearing a dry course, bring on Rick Beato!  There’s a far greater appreciation of music now , regardless of what grandpa and grandma are saying on the other board.

The funny this is… those pop culture moments are a great introduction…but notice how the newer fans of things end up gravitating towards other things? Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams went viral…but two years on, “Everywhere” is getting hyped. I found out Christine McVie died when my daughter texted me…they were talking about it in her school. Kate Bush was already popular with the younger set before Stranger Things. I can usually tell now when someone from the past is about to get popular again .

As a  side note, this is why A&R reps being too much older than the artists is a horrible idea on this day, but I digress.
 

This also explains why a certain subset of “fans” are acting like complete douche waffles and making personal attacks on those who worked so hard to bring this to the fans 😒

This has already been voiced, as respectfully as possible, but why equate legitimate complaints (from *both* young and old fans alike) about mildly-severely suboptimal mixing/mastering on portions of these recent sets with personal attacks? Hardly any of it resorts to ad hominem.

We're all grateful, but there is distinct and very noticeable over-compression in places, distortion on certain tracks, hiss, bizarre EQ'ing choices, and so on. Makes for an uncomfortable listening experience at times. Don Goldberg's vocals were nixed when this was a chance to give his and BW's song a little justice. Less of a grave mistake, maybe, but still, definitely worth noting.

Oh, and I'm in my early 20s, myself, like many others with grievances, so I'm not exactly a "grandpa" or anything, just someone with ears who wants the absolute best for the Beach Boys' music, above all.

Really cool, Mark. Also, regarding the Sail On Sailor demo, I'd sincerely hope that if it's not released fully, because it's deemed too weird or something, then the musical portions of it at least are presented in some form. That'd be extraordinary, as it's a piece of music history, and the holy grail of unreleased TBBs music.

These albums occupying a space in their catalogue would be a distraction from the actual music; counterproductive to the sheer effort put into restoring their image/working on their legacy, and from a sales point of view, deter prospective fans. It’s not a good idea, dude.

Think about how people get into new music. A lot tend to generalise based on a few listens, and with this music being so far what Pet Sounds, Smile, Friends, Surf’s Up etc. represent, they wouldn’t even imagine the band as capable of producing good/better music of that sort, and look for it, if they saw these albums initially.

Won’t bode well for sales, legacy, image, musical appreciation, or anything for that matter.

BTW, I’m a fan of yours, Giggens. Still, this is misguided.

Extraordinary! Apparently this is the culmination of a lot of research on Domenic's part, so much appreciated. Will probably have to rejig my Smile mix in light of this. Thanks!

Does anyone have the most up-to-date version of this book? If so, I’d really like to know the Smile tracklist as per Domenic Priore. If you have a scan of it that’d be ideal. Thanks!

I really hate to say this, but I kinda feel I have to, as they might see our very valid criticisms and reevaluate things for '72 box set.

There distortion issues (like on DWB's bridge and stuff) and the compression is not acceptable for a Beach Boys release. It's just not on. It's really inconsistent all the way through this set, and there are more poorly mixed tracks than well-mixed tracks, I reckon.

I'm in the target audience for this stuff (early 20s) and I still have major concerns about the mixing/mastering of this breathtaking music.

The music of Brian Wilson is 'kitsch'? That is just laughable. Couldn't be further removed from the truth.

Sorry mate, there is no such "crowdfunding" proposal ongoing, as far as I know. It was mentioned once or twice, but mostly without any real intentions to get things going, by Fred Vail himself, I think. It never went beyond that. I was a little over-enthused and wrote this on his behalf, thinking he had seriously proposed it after just mentioning it to me, by email.

Hopefully it's released as a copyright extension in December or something.

I'd like to say thanks too - staggering! Something in there to delight all listeners.

Looking forward to the whole, but in terms of individual tracks too, I'm most excited about Back Home Live '76; the new Dennis material; Big Sur; Back Home demo; When Girls Get Together and Awake. Not to mention the new album mixes.

Thanks for ensuring it was released guys.

There are no new album mixes

Oh, doesn't make much difference anyways -- great released.

I don't quite understand though -- it gives the full LPs and says "2019 mix" next to them. What are these tracks if not album remixes?? Just wanna know what they are in this case.

It says "2019 master"

Oh, woopsie. Must have confused the 'mix' labels on tracks below with them. Apologies.

I'd like to say thanks too - staggering! Something in there to delight all listeners.

Looking forward to the whole, but in terms of individual tracks too, I'm most excited about Back Home Live '76; the new Dennis material; Big Sur; Back Home demo; When Girls Get Together and Awake. Not to mention the new album mixes.

Thanks for ensuring it was released guys.

There are no new album mixes

Oh, doesn't make much difference anyways -- great released.

I don't quite understand though -- it gives the full LPs and says "2019 mix" next to them. What are these tracks if not album remixes?? Just wanna know what they are in this case.

I'd like to say thanks too - staggering! Something in there to delight all listeners.

Looking forward to the whole, but in terms of individual tracks too, I'm most excited about Back Home Live '76; the new Dennis material; Big Sur; Back Home demo; When Girls Get Together and Awake. Not to mention the new album mixes [EDIT: or rather, 'Masters' to contextualise the set].

Thanks for ensuring it was released guys.

Wait what? Whereabouts can I find these samples? Thanks.

Never mind, FOUND THEM! (Edit).

Overjoyed to hear that there is some good progress! Big musical blessing here folks to lap up. Thanks to Howie and all involved - you've done a sublimely good thing here pushing things along (edited).

Well, I was scrolling through Fred Vail's FB page, and happened upon an exchange about the unreleased 1970 Country Album.

If I'm not mistaken, it sounds like Fred is saying it will cost too much (about $30k) to fully produce the album, which is fair enough. However, when asked by if he could simply release it as it is, in its original form, he says it's only 2/3 complete vocally, so that's probably NOT an option.

I know I'd enjoy it either way. I thought lots of archival projects are released without being finished...

... And does anyone know whereabouts I can check its credits myself too? Thanks.

Guys, anyone have any idea who arranged "Carnival (Over the Waves) on this release? Was it Brian in particular or is this unknown?

There was very legit website of Beach Boys 1980s material that popped up on my feed a while ago, but now I can't find it. Anyone got the link to it? Thanks.

Oh cool, never mind. I found it isolated in the Heroes and Villains master sections. Awesome stuff.

Hey all,

All the Heroes and Villains first verse mixes on this sound really fresh and vast, compared to the mix on the Smile Sessions.

I tried to edit the first verse onto the Smile Sessions mix, but it crossfades into the dixieland section on Syd's mix, so it's not possible.
Are there any ways around this? Is it possible for someone to isolate that verse and put it in front of the Smile Sessions H&V mix?

Thanks.

Alan and Mark ought to chuck into a Sunflower Box Set the '70 Country Album, that is if there will be one. It's an entire album of unreleased 70s backing tracks, with some vocals.

The only difficulty with this, is that Fred is quite adamant that it should be done in Nashville, and done properly, which is fair. Surely that's not an issue
for M&A, if they're serious about Brian's music, which of course they absolutely are -- no doubts there!

But I suspect that if Fred's not encouraged, he'll never see it through, as he's even said that perhaps it's best left a mystery album in the Brian canon, which I
find completely unthinkable. One of the points to these releases, is for some fairness to the Beach Boys, some justice I suppose.

My favorite BB's album. Hope for a physical release here too...such a disappointment on the download only crap from '68.

Hmm, I thought the download-only releases served just fine -- better than fine -- perfect. But hey, guess I'm just modern as heck

Still, that debate isn't quite key here. I'm wondering what this announcement is, and hoping it's a summer thing. Logic says a December release wouldn't be
advertised as early as summertime, I think.