Inside Pop Reels

[cutterschoice]

i like the Cannibessence theory... it never occured to me! 

That's brilliant.

There's another similar trick in Cabinessence. The end bit "over and over the crow cries...".
Swap the second half of each line around and it makes more sense:
Over and over the crows cries and hovers the wheatfield
Over and over the thresher uncovers the cornfield

Maybe if Van Dyke Parks explained that to Mike Love (who famously demanded "what kinda doolally, cockamamie lyric is this??!?!?") instead of flouncing off like a ponce, history would've have been very different....

e.g SMiLE would have been completed

I think Van Dyke has assumed the position that a lot of poets do, which is reducing a poem to a bare statement misses the point completely. It's clear, i think, that the lyrics are well thought out and make sense.
Van Dyke avoids explaining them, and usually just claims he doesn't know what they mean.

There's an interview Van Dyke did in 1974 for BBC radio which touches on this. I've been trying to find it. Has anyone heard it, or have a copy?

Even if Van Dyke had sat Mike down and gone through every lyric line by line, I still don't think Mike would be happy with it all.

[runnersdialzero]

I think Mike just needed some drugs, as do we to appreciate this music and put it in the right context.

[Mahalo]

I think Mike just needed some drugs, as do we to appreciate this music and put it in the right context.

I didn't need drugs to appreciate their music or to understand the context; they made me fee lifted without that merda...besides, Mike did drugs.

[Myk Luhv]

Yeah, hasn't Mike admitted often enough that he also smoked a hell of a lot of hash with the rest of the Boys during the Smile sessions as well as during the Smiley Smile and Wild Honey (and probably beyond but I don't know) sessions?

Additionally, I remember someone asking this but I don't know if it was answered and I was curious: Considering Smile is about early American history and that particularly American experience that goes along with it, how much research for this sort of lyric-setting, background knowledge and whatnot was done beyond song excavation?

[runnersdialzero]

Fine, then Mike needed more drugs to better understand Brian's drug music and put it in the proper context.

[cutterschoice]

hallucinogenics will only give you a greater understanding of yourself and a greater appreciation of things you already like. You could've hooked Mike up to a constant drip of LSD and he still wouldn't have gone for Smile. He was bothered about the change of music, less commercial, and his lack of involvement. At least he got what he wanted.

[runnersdialzero]

hallucinogenics will only give you a greater understanding of yourself and a greater appreciation of things you already like. You could've hooked Mike up to a constant drip of LSD and he still wouldn't have gone for Smile. He was bothered about the change of music, less commercial, and his lack of involvement. At least he got what he wanted.

DRUUUUGS.

[Roger Ryan]

Not only that but a near complete print of "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang from 1927 was discovered 2 years ago in Argentina. In Germany they premiered the near complete cut featuring restored footage not seen for 80+ years in March. A blu-ray is due out any time.

Seen the 'new' footage: be prepared to be very disappointed - some of the footage is like looking at the film through a tropical downpour. Here's what I mean:

http://scientific-media.de/showroom/metropolis/

Prepared to be disappointed? No way. True, the found footage is in very bad shape, but it really enhances the content of the film in my opinion. The pacing alone is better and the "new" material clarifies at least one major subplot which was severely under represented in previous versions. Especially for those who have only seen the completely butchered 90 min. version, the almost complete (still missing about three to four minutes) two-and-a-half hour version is a wholly different film.

Anyway, even if the INSIDE POP footage looked as bad as the 16 mm dupe of the METROPOLIS footage, I wouldn't hesitate a second to pay to see it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Not only that but a near complete print of "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang from 1927 was discovered 2 years ago in Argentina. In Germany they premiered the near complete cut featuring restored footage not seen for 80+ years in March. A blu-ray is due out any time.

Seen the 'new' footage: be prepared to be very disappointed - some of the footage is like looking at the film through a tropical downpour. Here's what I mean:

http://scientific-media.de/showroom/metropolis/

Prepared to be disappointed? No way. True, the found footage is in very bad shape, but it really enhances the content of the film in my opinion. The pacing alone is better and the "new" material clarifies at least one major subplot which was severely under represented in previous versions. Especially for those who have only seen the completely butchered 90 min. version, the almost complete (still missing about three to four minutes) two-and-a-half hour version is a wholly different film.

Anyway, even if the INSIDE POP footage looked as bad as the 16 mm dupe of the METROPOLIS footage, I wouldn't hesitate a second to pay to see it.

I meant disappointed in a technical sense, but thanks to that footage - which in some cases is used for maybe one, two seconds - the film is now much more coherent and, as you say, almost a different film in terms of plot and storylines.

[Nile]

(Page 1)

75  (signifying Reel #75)

1. hands to face     CR  angle
     can't see hands  pan to hands in dark
   child Is the Father of man 

2.  Heroes & Villains plays
        Vandyke Parks has been working on lyrics
        sings open country song

        Sunshine


76     Surf's up                  cu (or cw? or au?)  CR
    ->    takes guts to catch wave
          can visualize intervals on piano


77     x piano         Surf's Up
       PB

       Surf's up candelabra shot     CL


78     Scratch  (?)

       Wilson & friends ?   (in house?)


----------------------------------


(Page 2)


83

    1.  engineer
    2.  pan up to Brian
    3.  board
    4.  Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse   
              (Above "who Ran" is the scratched out word "Hooray"
               as if he wasn't sure what the words were.)
    5.  Wilson ?    (judging?!?!)
    6.  Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse
    7.  Do Wa Wa in circle
    8.  Wilson      (shelving?!?!)
84  9.  Let's work on microphone
        boys around mike
        Do wa


85    Brian at piano working out(?)
      Yodelledo
      then group sings at mike


86    Group around mike    Yodelledo
      Playback Yodelledoo's control in b.g.  ("b.g." stands for background?)
      Inside control room Group & Engineer  Da daum(?)  (La daum?)
      Go out into studio   Brian eating cereal  record  da da da da


------------------------------


(Page 3)

 

                Beach Boys


86

   1.  around mike Yodeladeeo    pan to Piano
       Brian walks out frame(?) to outside booth  playback
       walks to control board

   2.  Brian talking ??  (bad pa toheps?!?!)  to engineer
   3.  dark  4/s   listening to playback
       Brian goes to ??  (sirke?!?!) eats, put on headphones
       sing dine dine

  Scratch

87
   1.  control board thru window    track on(?)
         dine dine
         Let's go have some Zen accompaniment
   2.  Brian at piano from behind
       plays chords



------------------------------------


(Page 4)


87   
       engineer thru glass to group in(?) b.g. record da da
       group comes back into room & listens to da da da
       let's go lets have some zen compliment

       Brian at piano from behind    accomp. to Surf's up
       to hands  to face  CL   around to x & back to CL


88     Brian eating
       headphones listening to piano track
       sings lead on(?) thru piano
       1 more time
-->    tone(?) & start again   side view   CL
  ->   start at 2nd verse hung velvet
       misses  the glass
       pickup hung velvet   stop at dove nested
       have echo on me
       pickup again at hung velvet


89  Overdubs
         hung velvet lead on(?)  ??  (jumoles?!?!)  -- let's overdub
        it
         move to CR  side  (?).s. 11(?)   more around behind
         move around to face  CL  he gestures
         he talks while voice go(?)



---------------------------


(Page 5)

        mono mix -  Id like it softer
        let's go to top  is that cool

        LS  CL  overdub
        LS   hung velvet    out sync
        LS  thru control room
         2nd shot  n.g.(?)
          needle
          recorder pan to engineer back to recorder


90
     --> playback engineers bg   Wilson fig.
         fade in(?)
         kneels -- can have muted trumpet go bleep(?)
         move to us(?)   half of Jules
         Brian coat on walks out


Pool

        Bodies toward camera



----------------------------------------


(Page 6)


                     Beach Boys

R88

 1.  Brian eating   sits at piano
 2.  lead on Brian e(?) earphone  singing into mike
 3.  Brian at piano sings  not(?) (nor?)  sleeping(?!)    pan across piano
      Surf's up
      ??  words to back top
         & false starts
         tone(?)

       move to side start again  - go to colonnaded ruins
     "cut again to end verse"
        false start, then humg velvet    c moves to side   
                                                            ("c" is probably "camera")
      "missed it pickup   2nd verse"
      'no I can't do it(?)  - You have echo on me "??  (julimp?!?!)
      2nd verse again


89
    1.  head on "hung velvet    PB
        that's it   let's overdub it
    2.  "Are you hearing yourself now?"   words(?)
         mix it so you can hear both voices "  (boy?)  (tog?  for together?)
         ?? (pans?) back move around
         "go to top"   Take 1
    3.  LS piano   are you sleeping
    4.   "  "   (ditto marks under "LS piano")



------------------------------------------------

(Page 7)


    89
   
   5.  thru booth to Brian
   6.  needle
   7.  recorder spinning to engineer to recorder

90

   1.  Brian listening
        Stretching
   2.  Brian ?   (putting on vocal leads?)

can't see hands  pan to hands in dark
   child Is the Father of man 
- Are we absolutely positive that this isn't the footage seen in "American Band"? Couldn't Dennis be shooting same time as CBS? Cause it sounds quite the same....

[/quote]

Why american secret services aren't on this case?
This would be mindblowing, BW and the Boys in the studio on 15th December 1966??
Why oohh why?

[Kurosawa]

hallucinogenics will only give you a greater understanding of yourself and a greater appreciation of things you already like. You could've hooked Mike up to a constant drip of LSD and he still wouldn't have gone for Smile. He was bothered about the change of music, less commercial, and his lack of involvement. At least he got what he wanted.

His lack of involvement was his biggest issue, IMO. Being less commercial didn't stop he from doing Smiley Smile and it's way less commercial than SMiLE. That's why the "f-with the formula" story never made any sense-Smiley doesn't just f- with it, it smashes the formula to a million bits and throws it out the window. "Little Pad" is more drugged out than anything on SMiLE to me.

And I've never gotten high and just a little tipsy once and understand plenty of music that people say you need to be high to get, so yeah, Mike did not need drugs to get into SMiLE. What he needed was to feel involved and needed, and he didn't. What happened with VDP was probably in part something that had been building for years over Brian writing with other people. Heck, Mike doesn't like it that Brian writes with Joe Thomas now, and he is as MOR as you can get.

[ash]

This remains the holy grail of Beach Boys history as far as i'm concerned. Unless Brian and Van Dyke made composing demos at home. Re-reading it for the umpteenth time and just trying to imagine all those missing bits, aarrghhh.
It hasn't been confirmed destroyed has it ?  I think the last news was trail cold . Some room for optimism at least. Maybe as digitisation of film archives etc.. continues  this or the sound reels (were they separate?) will surface one day.

[Bicyclerider]

Indeed it's hard to tell what Brian is singing on the first line. One other option I came across somewhere was "freshnin' air around my head...". I don't know if that makes sense, but to my ears it sounds quite good.

It does make sense . . . Air that freshens is "freshening air" which when you sing it and swallow the g is "freshenin' air."

[Bicyclerider]

Going back to the reels  . . . I'm wondering if the numbers correspond to the order of recording or if they were numbered afterwards.  Because all the stories report that after the December 15 session that "went badly" with Brian recording the Surfs Up demos in pieces, Oppenheim cajoled Brian to sing it all the way through on his home piano with the candelabra, which was used on the special.  Yet that reel is 75 while the demo is 88-89.

Also it's curious that "open country" and great shape appear to still be part of Heroes at this time - AFTER the track list showing Shape as its own song was submitted to Capitol.  This takes place at Brian's house "heroes and villains playing" means an acetate?  Or a tape of the verses?  Then Brian sings Shape to show it goes next?  Then he sings Sunshine - as another song or was he thinking of using MOS as a fade to the song? 

We can only hope this footage is discovered in a tape vault somewhere while we are still here to see it.

[thetojo]

In 13 months time these should be ripe for release under the copyright extension release program!!

[Andrew G. Doe]

... except Capitol doesn't hold the copyright.

[37!ws]

Doesn't matter who holds it: if it expires, it expires.

[Cool Cool Water]

We can only hope this footage is discovered in a tape vault somewhere while we are still here to see it.

Let's hope so. It deserves to be released now, if it still exists in vaults that is, as it'll be better than the recently released GV studio footage and arguably anything before footage related for hardcore fans.

[CenturyDeprived]

We can only hope this footage is discovered in a tape vault somewhere while we are still here to see it.

Let's hope so. It deserves to be released now, if it still exists in vaults that is, as it'll be better than the recently released GV studio footage and arguably anything before footage related for hardcore fans.

Less historically important, but perhaps the next most important piece of studio BB video footage which exists, but has never been seen in good quality, and must one day be seen in proper quality, is the Our Team MIU documentary footage.

[Andrew G. Doe]

If the reels exist anywhere, and it's a big if, it would be in the Oppenheim family archives. They were approached several years ago. No response.

[Jay]

If the reels exist anywhere, and it's a big if, it would be in the Oppenheim family archives. They were approached several years ago. No response.

Maybe it's worth giving it another chance?