SMiLE Sessions box set!

[desmondo]

Thanks are in order I guess. Thanks Phil for the remastered Beatles CDs. Had I not known  that you were instrumental in getting these released I would have changed my opinion in a jiffy of your naysaying ways.  

I'm sure Capitol would be moving much faster if they realised how influential Phil is. I mean…

This from Neil's own website, FYI:

ARCHIVES TEAM WORKS HARD ON VOLUME 2
July 23, 2010
The NYA team, headed by Will Mitchell and Hannah Johnson, is digging through material supplied by numerous sources, including newspapers, writers, fans, bootleg audio collectors and photographers (special thanks to photographer/collector Joel Bernstein). Much work has been done and there is much left to do. Using the template designed by the late Larry Johnson, the whole team is pushing forward.
      Special thanks to audio engineers John Nowland, Tim Mulligan and the team at Redwood Digital for the unbelievable amount of work that has been accomplished so far. Volume 2 promises even more content than Volume 1, with many unreleased tracks.
      Four unreleased albums from this period are being rebuilt and will be available in the NYA Special Release Series. Chrome Dreams, Homegrown and Oceanside-Countryside are the three unreleased studio albums. Also from this period is the unreleased Odeon-Budokan live recording produced by David Briggs and Tim Mulligan. These albums initially will be released in vinyl from analog masters as they originally were created for that format. So now is the time to get your new phonograph player. The new players, built with today's technology, are exceptionally good.

Young's employed people for years to do the job right and that takes time. Same as is happening with TSS. No pressure. I'm in the queue for both sets    

The entire Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young family tree of artists have become "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as far as archival CD & DVD projects are concerned. Most of what they promise never happens. Shall I catalogue these vaporware projects? Here it goes:

Stephen Stills box set
Manassas Box set
CD + DVD-A of the first Stephen Stills solo album
Stephen Stills/Jimi Hendrix jams
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-1974 tour CD/DVD 4-disc set
Neil Young=Homegrown
Neil Young-Chrome Dreams
Neil Young-Oceanside-Countryside
Neil Young-Archives Vol.2
Buffalo Springfield outtakes found on multitrack a few years ago by Atlantic Records
Neil Young-Toast
Neil Young & Crazy Horse-Atlanta 1976
DVD's of Neil Young's video programs "The Complex Sessions", "Weld", "Ragged Glory" & "Freedom Acoustic"

...and there's probably a few more things. I stopped paying attention to these guys and these projects that they briefly float, then abandon. It's not worth expending the effort to complain about these guys. In that respect(releasing what they promise), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are far worse than the Beach Boys.

To be honest that applies to a lot of groups Phil

[seanmurd]

You'll note that there's no discussion(or anguish going on) on the internet concerning Neil Young's "Archives Vol.2". It took ten years(and loads of pressure from Neil's fans, many of whom were turning against him) to finally extract "Archives Vol.1" from Neil. I think that most of Neil Young's fans would agree that it's not worth going through that 10 year ordeal to extract "Archives Vol. 2" from him. Will Reprise Records, Compact Discs, DVD's or Blu-Ray discs still exist in 10 years time? Your guess is as good as mine. My view is that Neil Young's fans were lucky that he let go of Vol.1

If you think Neil released Vol. 1 because of fan pressure, you don't know much about Neil Young!  

Yes, I had a role in the online complaining about the endless games that Neil played over "Archives Vol.1", and I was equally vocal in seeking remastered Beatles CD's. My complaints about the elusive "Smile" box are for the same reasons; to keep public pressure on artist & record label, who are not particularly eager to release the product. Contrary to Mr.Doe's view, I will not see the actual release of a "Smile" box set as a defeat. I will see it as a victory. We should all maintain public pressure on The Beach Boys and Capitol Records.

I don't know about anyone else, Phil, but my issue with you is that you make unsubstantiated statements, and present them as facts. You call the "Smile Sessions" project "troubled" and say that Capitol and the BBs "are not particularly eager to release" it -- but there is NO evidence to support this. (Note: I'm not talking about ANY of the other times SMiLE was rumored to be released; only THIS one, in 2011.) Here's the evidence we DO have:

1. Capitol announced in March that TSS would be released "this year." No other promises were made with regards to release date.
2. Mark Linett (who presumably has signed a confidentiality agreement) was permitted to give a lengthy interview with Billboard to discuss the project.
3. Capitol released a 2-disc 78 rpm "single" of "Heroes And Villains" and "Good Vibrations" in April. A "SMiLE" graphic appeared on the back cover, and an included insert hinted at the upcoming release.
4. Capitol (via MOJO magazine) released the first confirmed tracks from the set -- clearly labeled "From the forthcoming Capitol release 'The SMiLE Sessions'" -- in June.
5. Several of the Beach Boys have spoken about the project, and all of their quotes have been positive, even ecstatic, about the music they've heard.

That's not too bad for five months of "no" activity, as you accuse -- and it's not even counting the anecdotal evidence (Facebook updates, tweets, etc.) that has confirmed that work is ongoing, things are being worked out, everything's moving forward. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I was hoping for a second announcement in July, and the waiting for a release date and a tracklist have become a daily distraction to me. I wish they'd just let us KNOW already, so I can go about my business without thinking about this every 10 minutes.

But you see, I understand that this is MY problem, not Capitol's. They promised TSS "this year" and as of today they have done NOTHING to indicate that this won't happen. So even though I wish they were being a little more interactive about this, I am willing to wait some more. You, on the other hand, not only deride Capitol (and the BBs) with absolutely no evidence other than your own interpretation, you also insult those who ARE willing to be patient. You call such people "dreamers" and sneer that if the box doesn't get released this year, we'll "keep on dreaming" in 2012, passively accepting whatever happens without even a sheepish little bleat.

Well, you're WRONG, Phil. You may be wrong about several things -- AGD will cover that -- but this "dreamer" can tell you definitively that I will be quite pissed if 2011 comes and goes and "The Smile Sessions" isn't released. I think most people here would be, especially if it happens (or doesn't happen, rather) with no word of explanation from Capitol. Being patient and understanding of what Capitol is trying to do here doesn't make us mindless idiots, and that is what you are implying when you call us "dreamers." Thanks for all your "hard work" keeping the heat on Capitol, but I don't think you're accomplishing a damn thing, any more than I am by posting this.

Thanks for reading. I'll be able to read and ignore your ravings for a few more weeks now. Carry on.

[Shady]

Phil should go to the BB.com, that has a good 30 thousand members

Most don't what what SMiLE is though  

[pixletwin]

What really bugs me is when they say there are thousands of angry fans that capitol is pissing off. Was there a mass rally somewhere that went unreported? What did I miss? Where are they, these thousands of angry fans upon who Capitol is unleashing such disrespect? ? I count about 3 guys. Maybe only 2. At the most. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Thanks are in order I guess. Thanks Phil for the remastered Beatles CDs. Had I not known  that you were instrumental in getting these released I would have changed my opinion in a jiffy of your naysaying ways.  

I'm sure Capitol would be moving much faster if they realised how influential Phil is. I mean…

This from Neil's own website, FYI:

ARCHIVES TEAM WORKS HARD ON VOLUME 2
July 23, 2010
The NYA team, headed by Will Mitchell and Hannah Johnson, is digging through material supplied by numerous sources, including newspapers, writers, fans, bootleg audio collectors and photographers (special thanks to photographer/collector Joel Bernstein). Much work has been done and there is much left to do. Using the template designed by the late Larry Johnson, the whole team is pushing forward.
      Special thanks to audio engineers John Nowland, Tim Mulligan and the team at Redwood Digital for the unbelievable amount of work that has been accomplished so far. Volume 2 promises even more content than Volume 1, with many unreleased tracks.
      Four unreleased albums from this period are being rebuilt and will be available in the NYA Special Release Series. Chrome Dreams, Homegrown and Oceanside-Countryside are the three unreleased studio albums. Also from this period is the unreleased Odeon-Budokan live recording produced by David Briggs and Tim Mulligan. These albums initially will be released in vinyl from analog masters as they originally were created for that format. So now is the time to get your new phonograph player. The new players, built with today's technology, are exceptionally good.

Young's employed people for years to do the job right and that takes time. Same as is happening with TSS. No pressure. I'm in the queue for both sets    

The entire Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young family tree of artists have become "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as far as archival CD & DVD projects are concerned. Most of what they promise never happens. Shall I catalogue these vaporware projects? Here it goes:...

No - no need. Because they are CSN (and sometimes Y), dealing with projects spread over many labels and many years, not The Beach Boys, who have OK'd the release of roughly a year's worth of sessions for one label. Totally misleading comparison. It's on a par with saying "all humans walk on two legs, all ostriches walk on two legs, ergo ostriches are human". Just because Neil is taking decades to get promised stuff out has no bearing whatsoever on what's happening now, and for you to even hint at any correlation indicates to any reasonable sentient being the shallowness of your argument. Bill Tobleman might have spouted some ripe old tosh, but at least his notions were based on years of in-depth research and he was man enough to hold his hands up when a central bastion of his theory - the Surfin' Saints article - was proven to be without foundation. Your research seems to consist of "well that's what happened with CSNY and The Beatles so obviously the same applies here" and your theory boils down to "nothing's being said, therefore nothing's happening". Seriously, the International Flat Earth Society could - and did - rustle up a much more convincing body of evidence to support their claims.

I've made this offer once before, and I'll make it again: you lay off the "not gonna happen" lament every few hours and I'll stop pointing out exactly why your notions are, to be charitable, idiotic. In fact, your maintaining a low profile for a while might be a good idea. Consider.

[PhilCohen]

My complaints about the elusive "Smile" box are for the same reasons; to keep public pressure on artist & record label, who are not particularly eager to release the product.

While you're online, can you share with us fellow members your evidence to back your claim that Capitol isn't eager to release this boxset? And also the evidence to back your claim that this boxset is "troubled"?

Sorry, this question has been asked several times before, but you've been too busy spouting off your mundane recapitulatory barrage of negative posts that you've seemed to have missed/ignored this question entirely when asked previously.

If answered I hope it clears up a lot of the angst around here.

Let's contrast EMI's promotional effort on the upcoming Pink Floyd CD's & Box sets versus the anti-promotion of The Beach Boys "Smile Sessions" box:

Pink Floyd:
1.EMI announces firm release dates for the individual CD reissues, vinyl reissues Plus 2-CD "Experience" editions and Deluxe "Immersion" box sets of "The Dark Side of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here" & "The Wall"
2. EMI reveals complete tracklistings for all projects except the "Immersion" box set of "The Wall"(the discs 3 & 4 of that 7-disc set haven't been finalised).
3. EMI plays some of the unreleased tracks from the "Immersion" series at a press conference in L.A.
4.Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason does numerous online & print interviews, discussing the outtakes, and other unreleased materials that will appear in future "Immersion" series titles.
5.Engineer/compiler Andy Jackson does online interviews to discuss his work on the remasters and vault projects.

The Beach Boys:
1.Capitol announces "The Smile Sessions" in March 2011, giving no release date or any information about the contents.
2.Mark Linett does one(not particularly revealing) interview
3.Capitol, BRI & The Beach Boys gag all the box set participants with confidentiality contracts.
4.A vinyl single of two already released takes(one of them slightly modified on Protools) is given away with a UK magazine
5.Almost 6 months later a wall of silence is being maintained.

The promotion and certainty of the Pink Floyd projects versus the anti-promotion and uncertainty of the Beach Boys project. This makes it clear where EMI's priorities reside.

[Heysaboda]

[This is the first post I've found offensive.....

This is the first post I've found offensive.....

[Dunderhead]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

[Andrew G. Doe]

...and had a secret phone call! It was long! Maybe somebody on this board knows about the boxset... others are watching!

A phone call so secret I mentioned it, and its contents, in a public forum. Gee, I'm soooooooo good at this secrecy stuff.  

As for folk on this forum knowing about the box, well, call me reckless but I'd bet the college fund, the farm and the contents of Grampy's mason jar that c-man might have a passing knowledge of what's going on... and I do believe that one Mr. Reum might have an inkling too. There's at least one other too. But, as you say, you've been away for a few months.

Do I know anything, about anything ?  Maybe I do... but were I to admit same, then suddenly any sources I may have would become former sources and at a speed you wouldn't believe. So you'll excuse if I refrain from telling you in detail what Brian and I discussed Sunday afternoon. Could just have been a social call, shootin' the breeze. (and you know the scary thing ? Someone will read this nonsense and think "clever bastard, he's double bluffing...").

[Andrew G. Doe]

1.EMI announces firm release dates for the individual CD reissues, vinyl reissues Plus 2-CD "Experience" editions and Deluxe "Immersion" box sets of "The Dark Side of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here" & "The Wall"

True... but do we know how long they'd been working on that program before the announcement ? I'd heard rumbles about it well over a year ago. Plus, the bulk of all the albums consist of existing masters and mixes: Mark & Alan began this project looking at a stack of 35/40 hours worth of raw session tape.

4.A vinyl single of two already released takes(one of them slightly modified on Protools) is given away with a UK magazine

My man, if you're going to cite examples like this, it helps to get your facts right: both sides of the single have been "modified", and rather more than slightly. Aside from anything else, both tracks have been remastered from the original session tapes.

[drbeachboy]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him. He's been asked dozens of times, but ignores all requests. He's worse than Mike Love at a Beach Boys concert.

[rab2591]

Phil, I asked for evidence, not speculation. Because two completely different boxsets have different marketing campaigns, this is your 'evidence' that the SMiLE boxset is troubled?

Because Capitol hasn't released probably the only one unreleased track they've found, this means Capitol isn't eager to release the set?

Read Sean Murdock's post above to get a grasp on what has been done so far.

Capitol wants to make money. Clear and simple. They probably want this thing released more than we do.

[hypehat]

Phil, the Pink Floyd comparison is bogus. They are reissuing mastertapes of finished records. There is a hard and fast line as to what those records are, there are definite outtakes, alternate mixes, and they know what is on those albums and what isn't.

Smile isn't a finished album. There is no sequence, not just to the album itself, but to many of its songs. No definitive tracklisting. As Mark Linett said, Capitol have 30 hours (possibly more) worth of sessions, and a handful of mixes, acetates, and comp reels which may or may not have been the 'real' sequence of the handful of tracks they exist for. 30 HOURS. There are missing vocals, excluding certain tracks from being placed in a single disc album, which is one of the ends of this project.

Think about that for a second. They have to turn 30 hours of tapes and several unfinished songs into a listenable sequence without much of a clue of how it's going to fit together, bar BWPS. They have so much work to do.

Do you refuse to acknowledge this? Marks interview is very revealing in the sense that he constantly mentions how much there is and how much work he hasn't done yet. But you'll probably just ignore this post anyway. So whatever.

[PhilCohen]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him.  

....and, if Andrew Doe would back up the claim that he has connections to "inside information", by sharing that information with the public.

[hypehat]

 

[Dunderhead]

well you expect phil to have evidence, so how about some from the other side.

[pixletwin]

well you expect phil to have evidence, so how about some from the other side.

AGD has plenty of credentials. Just google his name. That's good enough for me... Now googling Phil Cohen on the other hand...

[Shady]

well you expect phil to have evidence, so how about some from the other side.

AGD has plenty of credentials. Just google his name. That's good enough for me... Now googling Phil Cohen on the other hand...

It's not pretty

[Andrew G. Doe]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him.  

....and, if Andrew Doe would back up the claim that he has connections to "inside information", by sharing that information with the public.

Sure Phil, destroy over 35 years of researching and building sources, reduce any standing and reputation I may have in the BB fan world to nothing and compromise the position of anyone who may have provided me with any such information just to satisfy your curiosity. I cannot believe you said that. I've had more intelligent requests from a fern. I've had dealings with some complete fools in my time, BB-related and otherwise, but you, sir, are without doubt the most brainless individual I've had the misfortune to encounter.

[Andrew G. Doe]

well you expect phil to have evidence, so how about some from the other side.

AGD has plenty of credentials. Just google his name. That's good enough for me... Now googling Phil Cohen on the other hand...

With either hand is a disturbing enough notion. 

[PhilCohen]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him.  

....and, if Andrew Doe would back up the claim that he has connections to "inside information", by sharing that information with the public.

Sure Phil, destroy over 35 years of researching and building sources, reduce any standing and reputation I may have in the BB fan world to nothing and compromise the position of anyone who may have provided me with any such information just to satisfy your curiosity. I cannot believe you said that. I've had more intelligent responses from a fern. I've had dealings with some complete fools in my time, BB-related and otherwise, but you, sir, are without doubt the most brainless individual I've had the misfortune to encounter.

My curiosity? Actually the curiosity of all of the people who wanted to buy this box set.

[hypehat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Cohen

eh, you think he'd be a little smarter and all.

Phil, why don't you read AGD's post again. And if you find yourself still asking that question, read it again. And if you still....

[The Heartical Don]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him.  

....and, if Andrew Doe would back up the claim that he has connections to "inside information", by sharing that information with the public.

Sure Phil, destroy over 35 years of researching and building sources, reduce any standing and reputation I may have in the BB fan world to nothing and compromise the position of anyone who may have provided me with any such information just to satisfy your curiosity. I cannot believe you said that. I've had more intelligent responses from a fern. I've had dealings with some complete fools in my time, BB-related and otherwise, but you, sir, are without doubt the most brainless individual I've had the misfortune to encounter.

My curiosity? Actually the curiosity of all of the people who wanted to buy this box set.

Phil -

please subtract me from your 'all of the people'. I never asked AGD to make public any private information, and never will. Your remark is certainly not representative of me.

[Dunderhead]

Ah ok, so Andrew doesn't need facts. Okay, I was just checking.

[Mike's Beard]

people at this point are really just projecting onto Phil.

If Phil would back up his claims, people would lay off him.  

....and, if Andrew Doe would back up the claim that he has connections to "inside information", by sharing that information with the public.

Sure Phil, destroy over 35 years of researching and building sources, reduce any standing and reputation I may have in the BB fan world to nothing and compromise the position of anyone who may have provided me with any such information just to satisfy your curiosity. I cannot believe you said that. I've had more intelligent requests from a fern. I've had dealings with some complete fools in my time, BB-related and otherwise, but you, sir, are without doubt the most brainless individual I've had the misfortune to encounter.

Andrew can you please create an account for your fern on this board? It may very well have more intelligent things to post than Phil.