W i l d H o n e y

[hypehat]

Man, Wild Honey with Blondie is INSANE. He tore the roof off with that number, wish they'd put it as the opening of In Concert....

It's such a weird, groovy little album. Exactly the sort of thing you can imagine some dudes and some beers making in a long hot summer.

[drbeachboy]

Blondie's live performances are ok if you like screaming vocals. It is definitely energetic.

[sockittome]

Getting back to I Was Made, does anyone know why on Earth they didn't use that wonderful tag in the released version?  That was so well done...I mean, the song is not complete without it, IMHO.  And they scrapped it.  Great cover, either way, though.

[ghost]

Jeff,

What boring world do you live in where Wild Honey is not psychedelic? Don't invite me over for a smoke any time soon, \\\.

[ghost]

By the way was reading a book recently. Turns out Wild Honey was on frequent play at Spahn Ranch in the Outlaw Shacks i.e., among the Manson family.

[Shady]

By the way was reading a book recently. Turns out Wild Honey was on frequent play at Spahn Ranch in the Outlaw Shacks i.e., among the Manson family.

Yeah, I read Manson loved it, Jim Morrison too

[Jon Stebbins]

There's a poster on the Hoffman board who takes every opportunity to try to convince people that Smile would have only been 28 minutes, or something like that.  I get the sense that he's really just f***ing with the board, to see whether he can get other people repeating what he says if he just posts it often enough.

This guy is almost certainly doing the same thing.  He figured it would be fun to take essentially an anti-psychedelic album and argue repeatedly that it is in fact psychedelic, then come back a few months later to see if he was able to take anyone in.

I think this is more of a combination tourette's syndrome and narcissistic disorder that disables one's ability to actually recognize and/or admit a severe miscalculation of the true aesthetic of a great piece of art. Knowing, as most of us do, that Wild Honey was, in the context of its 1967 release, an absolute and calculated anti-psychelic statement, the poster continues to insist that black is white because they are not interested in facts or history, but instead feel a need to be noticed and excused by anyone who can find a tiny morsel of the tenuously spun possibility of a trace of validity in the reasoning of the poster's insistence on labeling something that it is most definitely not.

[Mike's Beard]

By the way was reading a book recently. Turns out Wild Honey was on frequent play at Spahn Ranch in the Outlaw Shacks i.e., among the Manson family.

Charlie dug Wild Honey? I wasn't aware of that.

[Micha]

While the songwriting on Wild Honey was to a fairly high standard, the production, performances and the mixing especially on the backing vocals are pretty shoddy.

I wouldn't say the performances are shoddy, but other than that I agree with you. When I first listened to it I thought it's okay, but not great. I think it is the bad sound they got from the home studio equipment and suboptimal production technique. This occured to me when I listened to the live "Aren't You Glad" from the Live In London LP. Listen to that and then to the studio version. The studio version sounds muffled, and the chorus has absolutely no impact there. The live version hints at what this album could have been like if they had still used professional studios. "Darlin'" and "Wild Honey" would have sounded just as good as "Help me, Rhonda", Sloop John B." and "Wouldn't It Be Nice".

And BTW, my favorite songs on Wild Honey are "Darlin'", "Wild Honey", "I'd Love Just Once To See You", and "How I Boogalooed It".

[Loaf]

Getting back to I Was Made, does anyone know why on Earth they didn't use that wonderful tag in the released version?  That was so well done...I mean, the song is not complete without it, IMHO.  And they scrapped it.  Great cover, either way, though.

The modular approach doesn't really work with IWMTLH, imo The edit on Rarities is so jarring that it completely upsets the song.

[buddhahat]

Speaking earlier about Past Masters: I like most of them a lot but they are a "warts & all" experience as that unnamed engineer says. On mine Country Air has some heavy distortion going on. It sounds like maybe the organ was the cause. Any else notice this?

You mean the tearing sound? Isn't that on all versions? Says in the two-fer book it's on the master, but you know what all those two-fer books are like (with the exception of the KTSA/85 one  )

Yeah, that's a good description of the sound. I need to compare it to the 2-fer - I never noticed it before.

I think this buzzing sound was discussed here before. Isn't it just some problem with the organ? I always assumed it was a bit of musique concrete, evoking the buzzing bee from the cover, but I think it's just part of the slapdash, warts and all charm of the album.

[drbeachboy]

I think someone just tacked that section on to the end of the song for Rarities. That piece would have sounded much better as a bridge like on the Stevie Wonder version. Someone on the Net did a mix doing just that, and it fits much better.

[ghost]

There's a poster on the Hoffman board who takes every opportunity to try to convince people that Smile would have only been 28 minutes, or something like that.  I get the sense that he's really just f***ing with the board, to see whether he can get other people repeating what he says if he just posts it often enough.

This guy is almost certainly doing the same thing.  He figured it would be fun to take essentially an anti-psychedelic album and argue repeatedly that it is in fact psychedelic, then come back a few months later to see if he was able to take anyone in.

I think this is more of a combination tourette's syndrome and narcissistic disorder that disables one's ability to actually recognize and/or admit a severe miscalculation of the true aesthetic of a great piece of art. Knowing, as most of us do, that Wild Honey was, in the context of its 1967 release, an absolute and calculated anti-psychelic statement, the poster continues to insist that black is white because they are not interested in facts or history, but instead feel a need to be noticed and excused by anyone who can find a tiny morsel of the tenuously spun possibility of a trace of validity in the reasoning of the poster's insistence on labeling something that it is most definitely not.

Look, doc, I've already explained that I am NOT using the word "psychedelic" like you. I am NOT talking about the music scene that they may or may not have been going against. I am talking about the psychedelic PERCEPTION of the music.

And all the proof I need is in my own experiencing of it. Your self-limiting definitions are your own cross to bear, not mine.

if we're going to get into this argument about words, let me just say - "as if"!

[ghost]

Also I think I already mentioned this - if I hear Wild Honey and it's all vibrant color songs, bursting with life and enlightened amusement at life, but someone else hears it as crappy little pop songs - who is really better off? I embrace it & love it, the other dude neglects & hates it. When I first heard the album it didn't have as much appeal. Some time later, it revealed itself. Wild Honey exists beyond the record and the tape and the CD. It's in my brain. It's in my mind. I can just think of it and it's there. I hear it in my head. Wherever I am, I can tune into the Wilson/Love raunchy tunes.

[rogerlancelot]

Getting back to I Was Made, does anyone know why on Earth they didn't use that wonderful tag in the released version?  That was so well done...I mean, the song is not complete without it, IMHO.  And they scrapped it.  Great cover, either way, though.

The modular approach doesn't really work with IWMTLH, imo The edit on Rarities is so jarring that it completely upsets the song.

I think the worst case of editing was on Smiley Smile's "Gettin' Hungry". Way too jarring!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Also I think I already mentioned this - if I hear Wild Honey and it's all vibrant color songs, bursting with life and enlightened amusement at life, but someone else hears it as crappy little pop songs - who is really better off? I embrace it & love it, the other dude neglects & hates it. When I first heard the album it didn't have as much appeal. Some time later, it revealed itself. Wild Honey exists beyond the record and the tape and the CD. It's in my brain. It's in my mind. I can just think of it and it's there. I hear it in my head. Wherever I am, I can tune into the Wilson/Love raunchy tunes.

To each his own!

I once took acid and listened to the Surf's Up album over and over, and to me, it was THE psychedelic album for all-ages.

Maybe we should all give Summer In Paradise another listen!!!

[ghost]

Also I think I already mentioned this - if I hear Wild Honey and it's all vibrant color songs, bursting with life and enlightened amusement at life, but someone else hears it as crappy little pop songs - who is really better off? I embrace it & love it, the other dude neglects & hates it. When I first heard the album it didn't have as much appeal. Some time later, it revealed itself. Wild Honey exists beyond the record and the tape and the CD. It's in my brain. It's in my mind. I can just think of it and it's there. I hear it in my head. Wherever I am, I can tune into the Wilson/Love raunchy tunes.

To each his own!

I once took acid and listened to the Surf's Up album over and over, and to me, it was THE psychedelic album for all-ages.

Maybe we should all give Summer In Paradise another listen!!!

Surf's Up has such abominations as Student Demonstration Time and Lookin' At Tomorrow though... they bring me right out any good buzz I've got going. I want to hear Brian turning into a tree, not Mike Love with a megaphone.

[Mr. Cohen]

So, Jon Stebbins authoritatively knows that Wild Honey was a calculated anti-psychedelic statement? And whom, pray tell, told him this? Brian? Carl? Mike? Dennis? Al? I'm going to guess no on all 5 accounts.

Now, was Wild Honey deliberately Motown/R&B influenced? Yes. Mike Love says as much, claiming that Brian thought of it as his R&B album. Was it deliberately anti-psychedelic? I'll bet you five screaming theremins on the title track that it wasn't. Of course, I'm no authority on the matter. All I know was that Brian certainly was still doing a lot of "interesting" things musically.

Take "Darlin'", for example. It's a straight R&B track, right? Yep, txcept they'll be those weird moments where you'll hear, say, a heavily reverbed horn low in the mix, which is then doubled by a heavily reverbed vocal that's also low in the mix (starting listening closely about 57 seconds into the song). Eventually, it gets to the point that you can't even distinguish the two from each other. Those are the same kind of tricks Brian was pulling on songs like "Wind Chimes" (check the bridge) a year earlier. It's the same Brian, man.

Wild Honey wasn't an attempt to be a psychedelic, but I don't think Brian was shying away from psychedelic influences if he was feeling it. The closing track is "Mama Says" from Smile's "Vegetables", right?

[oldsurferdude]

There's a poster on the Hoffman board who takes every opportunity to try to convince people that Smile would have only been 28 minutes, or something like that.  I get the sense that he's really just f***ing with the board, to see whether he can get other people repeating what he says if he just posts it often enough.

This guy is almost certainly doing the same thing.  He figured it would be fun to take essentially an anti-psychedelic album and argue repeatedly that it is in fact psychedelic, then come back a few months later to see if he was able to take anyone in.

I think this is more of a combination tourette's syndrome and narcissistic disorder that disables one's ability to actually recognize and/or admit a severe miscalculation of the true aesthetic of a great piece of art. Knowing, as most of us do, that Wild Honey was, in the context of its 1967 release, an absolute and calculated anti-psychelic statement, the poster continues to insist that black is white because they are not interested in facts or history, but instead feel a need to be noticed and excused by anyone who can find a tiny morsel of the tenuously spun possibility of a trace of validity in the reasoning of the poster's insistence on labeling something that it is most definitely not.

Exactly-it was a return to basics for Brian-some of the  reviews for the album basically agreed.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Brian said anything that's happening is psychedelic. Wild Honey wasn't happening. Ergo, it's not psychedelic.

Q, E and... what's that other one ?  Oh yeah - D. 

[Sam_BFC]

It got to number 24 in the US charts.

The Zombies Odyssey and Oracle got to about number 90.

Which was the more happening? 

[Mr. Cohen]

And Wild Honey charted higher than Smiley Smile.

[ghost]

There's a poster on the Hoffman board who takes every opportunity to try to convince people that Smile would have only been 28 minutes, or something like that.  I get the sense that he's really just f***ing with the board, to see whether he can get other people repeating what he says if he just posts it often enough.

This guy is almost certainly doing the same thing.  He figured it would be fun to take essentially an anti-psychedelic album and argue repeatedly that it is in fact psychedelic, then come back a few months later to see if he was able to take anyone in.

I think this is more of a combination tourette's syndrome and narcissistic disorder that disables one's ability to actually recognize and/or admit a severe miscalculation of the true aesthetic of a great piece of art. Knowing, as most of us do, that Wild Honey was, in the context of its 1967 release, an absolute and calculated anti-psychelic statement, the poster continues to insist that black is white because they are not interested in facts or history, but instead feel a need to be noticed and excused by anyone who can find a tiny morsel of the tenuously spun possibility of a trace of validity in the reasoning of the poster's insistence on labeling something that it is most definitely not.

Exactly-it was a return to basics for Brian-some of the  reviews for the album basically agreed.

Let The Moon Glow is back to basics? Sounds like Brian Wilson progressing as a songwriter to me. And Mike Love.

[monicker]

I love Wild Honey so much. It’s an album on the verge of exploding, it’s so full of energy. All the songs are great and it works so well as an album. If i had to single out one song, it would be Aren’t You Glad, that song is heaven. I even LOVE How She Boogalooed It. Don’t get why that song is so hated (then again, one of my favorite BB songs of all time is Take A Load Off Your Feet) .Carl’s vocals on this album are the last time he sang to my liking, which is sad, but at the same time, makes all his leads that much better to me. 

Question: does anyone know what in the world is going on in the first four bars of the organ solo on the title track? How was this sound achieved? It sounds as if the organ is threatening to self destruct itself by implosion. Then Bruce just casually knocks off the best solo of his life.

Wild Honey is glorious.

[ghost]

Question: does anyone know what in the world is going on in the first four bars of the organ solo on the title track? How was this sound achieved? It sounds as if the organ is threatening to self destruct itself by implosion. Then Bruce just casually knocks off the best solo of his life.

Wild Honey is glorious.

Oh, that's just Bruce blowing your mind sky high. Rumor has it he had a J dangling from his lips while playing that trippy little number.