[as well as the otherwise unheard instrumental "Hawthorne Blvd."]

*
* Brian played bass on the "Lei'd" version of "Sloop", as well as the otherwise unheard instrumental "Hawthorne Blvd." 

I've heard it. It's really not all that interesting.

If it is true, my opinion is the same as everyone else's-disgusting.
However, people have been known to lie in order to sell a book or turn a quick buck. She isn't exactly the most reliable person in the world-it wouldn't surprise me if it's all bullmerda. Yeah, it would be terrible if she was lying about her dead father to sell a book, but money does weird merda to people.

Well, she hasn't had money since 1985, so I could see her lying to sell more copies. On the other hand, if it's true, she might be revealing it just because John's dead, which is just as disgusting.

Not much happening in BB land at the moment is there?

She was 'offered' to Mick Jagger by her dad I read somewhere. What a guy.

More like Mick pretty much raped her. John Phillips left the room to get more drugs(or something like that), and Mick locked the door, turned to Mackenzie and said "I've been waiting for this since you were ten".

I gew up on Jan and Dean as well as The Beach Boys. My cousin and I were surf music freaks. I have great memories of us listening to them. Jan's death hit me like a brick to the face.

On a side note; the "Save For A Rainy Day Theme" is probably the all time greatest "lost" instrumentals/"themes" of the 1960's or any other era.

If a Mike Love book or documentary would be named after a Beach Boys song, this one would be interesting:

"Love Is A Woman (And Other Shocking Confessions)"

"I dedicate this song to all the girls....even you Micheal". 

Winter Symphony just might be the most overlooked, or unknown, song that Brian was ever involved in. Even if it copies Macarthur Park almost note for note. 

Thats basically the Merv Griffin show saying, we like your old sound so we'll just play the original studio recording over your voices.

No, it isn't that at all. The Merv Griffin show didn't decide to release that medley as a single. The Beach Boys, their label and/or their various representatives did. The Merv Griffin show booked them through the band's own promotional efforts of their own (however unfortunate) release.

As for their old sound, well, the Griffin show audience was in line with the band themselves and pretty much the rest of the world by that time, preferring the old hits to anything new. (Beach Boys Medley hit #12 on the Billboard charts according to Andrew Doe's site.) Let's be honest, by this time the band abandoned new music. The last gasp at such a thing was Light Album, several years before this performance. Their most recent album at this time was the decidedly retro Keepin The Summer Alive, and while their next one, The Beach Boys had modern production, most of the tunes were even more nostalgic. They were a jukebox by this time. Merv Griffin's show had nothing to do with that.

And, the actual album that was being promoted on The Merv Griffin Show with that performance (Merv displays the album) is Ten Years Of Harmony. The Beach Boys Medley isn't even on that album! The group showed no faith in the Ten Years Of Harmony material to perform a song from that album. And, when they did choose a single from Ten Years Of Harmony, with all of those "creative" early/mid 70's tracks, it was......"Come Go With Me".

They performed one song from the album at the Merv Griffin show, it was Lady Lynda.

Do you have it? Can you post it?

I used to have it, but some fellow lost it.

That's to bad. It would have been interesting to hear them live on TV without Carl.

If I read this right, one of the "ten albums" originally issued in mono is the White Album, which came out in mono in Europe and for years was a hard-to-find piece of vinyl.   Assuming it's to be included in the "mono box set", that will be a great addition to the digital world, as the mono mix is strikingly different in many ways from the version everyone's heard over the years.

I can't wait to finally have a good quality mono mix of Helter Skelter. 

You don't get Abbey Road, Let It Be or Yellow Submarine in the mono boxset, because they weren't mixed in mono

Why wouldn't they just mix them in mono for the box set?

I'm slightly confused. The info on the mono box set says it will have 10 of their albums. Does that mean we are not getting the complete Beatles catalouge in mono, or at least on the mono box set? Also, if you get both the mono and stereo box sets, will there be a need to still get each individual cd? I mean, will the cd's in the stereo and mono sets have the same deluxe packaging? I'm quite obsessive sometimes....

Even with the picture being fairly small and taken at a weird angle, you can still see how old he looked by then.

Dennnis old I've never seen a single picture of Dennis looking old. You've got to be kidding! Even with all the drugs and drinks, he looked pretty good for a almost 40 years old I think. The only pics I know where he looked kinda strange are the ones from 83 with his sons.

Somebody a few months ago on here posted some pictures of the group at some kind of press conference with Dennis that seems to have been sometime in 1983. Dennis looked like he was in his 60's.

I was listening to the tracks for the unreleased 1977 Christmas tracks last night. Is it just me, or does the sound quality and mixing suck? Why is the sound so bad? I especially noticed it on the Christmas versions of Loop De Loop and Kona Coast. They sound really muddy. There's no "life" in them.

Bear in mind that some of the 1977 sessions were remixed using the Spatialiser for the 1998 reissue, to wit "Santa's Got An Airplane", "Melekalikimaka" (also a different recording in parts) & "Bells Of Christmas".

Um....what's a Spatialiser?

It would've been a great album indeed, I heart the Paley sessions; in my mind it's the best thing (along with TLOS) that's Brian's done since 1977 by far.

I'll one up that. It's Not Easy Being Me and Getting In Over My Head are Brian's best songs since Wonderful, and Caroline, No.

Just as an aside, I remember an interview where Al was asked about Shawn and he just broke out in a big grin and said "Shawn was Mike's daughter" as if he had no doubt on the subject at all.

I wonder if that's what caused the falling out between him and Mike? 

I wonder how Mike treated Gage? I mean, at least when Dennis was still alive. Did Mike accept him as a grandson?

Still doesn't, officially. During her life, Mike never publicly accepted that Shawn was his daughter: I believe the closest he came was in the early 80s when she was backstage with Dennis, and he remarked "no daughter of mine takes drugs".

That's cold. The absolute least he could have done was treated Shawn and Gage as family. For Gage's sake.
 
Was it Shawn that died, or her mother? I've heard conflicting stories. I remember in the Steven Gaines book it was mentioned that Shawn was pretty sick with cancer. That was way back in, what, 1983?

That is possibly the scariest picture I've ever seen of the group.  Mike and Carl are(most likely unknowingly) giving off a weird manson vibe.

*edit* I have just now noticed that hairy figure between Al and Mike, after having already looked at this picture a number of times. I may have nightmares tonight....

Years ago I was told that this was the last picture of Dennis....

Even with the picture being fairly small and taken at a weird angle, you can still see how old he looked by then.

I was listening to the tracks for the unreleased 1977 Christmas tracks last night. Is it just me, or does the sound quality and mixing suck? Why is the sound so bad? I especially noticed it on the Christmas versions of Loop De Loop and Kona Coast. They sound really muddy. There's no "life" in them.

I like food. 

I love the guy in the background going crazy on the cymbals. 

I have always wondered how much of this was actually "live". Almost the entire thing sounds like it was pre-recorded in a studio. Especially the backing vocals on SOS. There is not a single song where the music itself actually sounds live.

On a side note; I absolutely LOVE the part where Brian was obviously supposed to kiss the women on the cheek(who gave him a Lei) but he does a full on kiss instead. 

Not watching it at the moment, but is it "toca la guitarra"? That's play the guitar.

"Toque la guitarra".

Thanks guys!  The first time I heard Mike say that, I thought the "guitarra" part sounded like "da da". I think you guys know where I'm going with this.  Anyway, the first time I heard it, I nearly fell off my bed. 

There is something I've been meaning to ask about the Knebworth show and keep forgetting. Right after the "sunny down snuff I'm alright, by the...." Mike says something right before the music starts up again. Does anybody know what he says? He says it in almost all of the Heroes and Villians performances from around that time.

I've never seen that video before.  To my ears Dennis slows down quite a bit on the second verse...

To my ears, too. It almost made the song totally break down. I wonder if the audio is the "raw" version in that clip? Somebody(Al?) sounds flat.

And yes, Brian & Diane had a relationship that lasted, to the best of my knowledge, from about 1966-1977. When interviewing The Honeys in the UK in the early 80s, I asked Diane if "My Diane" was really about her, and she confirmed it was. Marilyn, sitting next to her, nodded. The guy who was interviewing them with me fell off his chair.