UPDATED: I met with Alan Boyd last week

[PongHit]

Got to hear a lot of cool stuff...

Yeah, mon — it was a lot to digest so quickly — like gorging yourself at a buffet. A lot of details have already escaped me, and it was just last week.

[rogerlancelot]

Fantastic post, PongHit!

[Jim V.]

I'll try to summarize my BB-related experiences from my trip to LA last week:

Mr. Boyd had messaged me about the Al Jardine record release show at The Roxy on Tuesday night, so I first met Alan there, and was immediately struck by what a sweet, modest, and down-to-earth guy he is. I was with a friend of Alan's who also introduced me to Adam Marsland, Nelson Bragg, Domenic Priore, Mark London, and others.

Alan arranged for us to visit his house on Thursday evening, around 7pm. On the way, we stopped for Indian takeout for dinner. Alan has a cool pad, a cool cat — and there's a gecko living in his house! (Its surface looks like it's encrusted in coarse salt with pepper added.) We chatted while we ate, talked about our mutual interests and mutual friends. I gave him a stack of CDs I had brought for him, and he returned the favor (commercial releases, not CD-Rs).

My memory for details is inconsistent, partly due to flu medications, jet-lag, and lack o' sleep for 2 weeks (not sure I was a great conversationalist), but here are some tidbits I remember:

• Regarding the recently-uncovered GV footage — Alan arranged for it to be acquired when it was discovered — there are 2 silent reels — includes Dennis singing lead.

• Despite the seemingly complete/exhaustive nature of TSS, Alan believes a lot of master tapes have disappeared from the vaults over the years.

• Good news — the band currently seems to be getting along well, especially and notably Brian & Mike.

• Alan's impersonations are indeed hilarious, and eerily accurate! Not just the voices, but mannerisms too; the man is multi-talented.

Then he said had prepared an iTunes playlist for me, consisting of 86 tracks. After the paramedics arrived to resuscitate my ticker, I geeked-out with his headphones and iPad for... a couple hours, I guess. Here are some specifics from my memories:

I believe the dates ranged from circa 1963, the 'Audree tapes,' to 1996, the S&S sessions. Many tracks were familiar titles — things like "Little Bird" with BGV & track (no lead), vocal-only of "Time To Get Alone," and "We're Together Again" with strings — but also many completely unreleased titles. I think all eras were represented, including solo Mike.

"Live Again" is as great as rumored, but not a departure from Dennis's style of the period. "Cuddle Up"/"Old Movie" (2 different tracks/takes) is possibly even moodier and more dramatic/emotional than "Live Again." "Little Red Book" is very cool. "My Solution" is a funny oddity, experimental and interesting — but rough, and ultimately not a terribly important part of the canon; understandably unreleased. Dennis's "Ecology," however, while also experimental and rough, I thought it was of more consequence. Another very cool thing that I hadn't known about is Dennis & Carl's "Barnyard" (no connection to the SMILE tune?). I thought Brian's lead on the 1974 "California Feeling" sounded so odd that I wasn't even sure it was him — Carl's later retake sounds 'right' to my ears. There was an aborted "2,000 Years" string intro/overture for Dennis's "Friday Nights" that contained dated, sitar-sounding elements. Dennis's piano demo of "Be With Me" is a great fly-on-the wall moment. "All Day, All Night" was a highly-repetitive mediation that became "Whistle In." Alternate version of "Add Some Music" is very good, different lyrics. "Walkin'" and "Where Is She?" are SUNFLOWER outtakes. The "Caroline, No" BGV from S&S sessions were shockingly gorgeous, and have a "My Prayer" vibe. And I remember a few live tracks: "Please Let Me Wonder" (1965?), "All I Want To Do," and "Wild Honey" (1972-'73?).

Overall impression: this batch of material demonstrates, once again, the dynamic and diverse body of work our favorite band created. But it requires the painstaking efforts of people like Alan and Mark Linett to mine the archives for nuggets of gold — and I'm convinced they have the BB's integrity in mind; that's their motivation. (The ENDLESS HARMONY film and HAWTHORNE comp. being just 2 examples.)

More specifically, based on this collection, I'm guessing most of the best of the unreleased early/'golden era' material has already been tapped — of course, I'd love to be wrong about this presumption. Aficionados of the later periods (post-SMILE), however, have a lot to look forward to if/when these things see the light of day.

Apparently the music I heard is being potentially considered for a proposed archive compilation, because he asked me which of the tracks stand-out as things that should definitely be released. And Alan is aware of this forum, of course, and reads it occasionally, so our input might have an influence, to an extent.

By this point, Alan's friend was exhausted, and so was I, it was a long night, so we split at about 1am. Alan walked with us out to the car — invited me back next time I'm in LA — and, while in the street, 'performed' a snippet of Jan interviewing Brian; a sidesplitting and perfect ending to an unforgettable night.

Wow, thanks for all that info Ponghit. And if you don't mind, could you give us some more details on "Where is She" or the 1974 "California Feelin'"? How "complete sounding" is "Where Is She"? Releasable? How does Brian sound on it? And with "California Feelin'", I know the vocal overall seemed weird to you, but overall was it a good performance? Would you consider this release worthy either? How about "All Day, All Night"? Is it SMiLE era or Smiley Smile era? Any other late '70s or early '80s Brian songs?


And most importantly, did Alan seem to be hopeful about these archive releases? Or at least hopeful that we'd get a nice chunk of unreleased material on the box set? Once again thank you so much for all the info!

[Shady]

Wow, god bless guys like Alan

They make it all possible

[Alan Smith]

Wow, god bless guys like Alan

They make it all possible

Totally agree.

And guys like Ponghit for sharing the love - thanks, Ponghit!

[PongHit]

could you give us some more details on "Where is She" or the 1974 "California Feelin'"? How "complete sounding" is "Where Is She"? Releasable? How does Brian sound on it? And with "California Feelin'", I know the vocal overall seemed weird to you, but overall was it a good performance? Would you consider this release worthy either?

I took some notes on my phone to help me remember things. All I wrote about "Where Is She?" is that it was 2 & a half minutes, and was marked as an 'edit.' I guess it didn't knock me out, I don't really remember much else about it.

The track of the 1974 "California Feelin'" sounded OK to me, but BW's vocal sounded…. 'jokey,' if you know what I mean, like he was just laying it down for the lyrics, not even trying to sing it normally, so I guess maybe I wouldn't consider it good for a proper release.
 
 

How about "All Day, All Night"? Is it SMiLE era or Smiley Smile era?

Guess it must be SMILEY or it would have been on TSS, right?
 
 

Any other late '70s or early '80s Brian songs?

Yeah, several rough LOVE YOU era things. Others too, but I'm not sure if Brian wrote them or not.

did Alan seem to be hopeful about these archive releases? Or at least hopeful that we'd get a nice chunk of unreleased material on the box set?

Can't really say, sounded to me like all these decisions were in-progress — not much decided for sure yet — only 'possible,' 'hopefully,' and 'maybe.'

[PongHit]

Wow, god bless guys like Alan
They make it all possible

For the first time in my life, I wish this was Facebook so I could press the 'LIKE' button on the above comment.

[Jaspy]

Thanks for the update and asking the GV film question.

Dennis singing lead, what could that be?
A part of GV? Or something different?

And it's cool to read your 'sober impression' (hope that was English) of Brian's 1974 "California Feelin'" demo lead
after it was described as one of his best leads on this board, as a deeply soulful gospel rendition.

[Dunderhead]

Really good post, gets me feeling excited about a new cd. Sounds like they're not going for a boxset, but probably more of a Hawthorne volume 2 or something. Which is a shame. Though we keep hearing that all of the major stuff has been released, there always seems to be another 100 tracks down the pipe. Was "I'm Going Your Way" on there? That's a must release for me. "Sound of Free" should be reissued. Al's earlier version of "Santa Ana Winds" should be shortlisted as well. A deluxe 15 Big Ones is a release I'm really hoping for though, with the regular mix, Brian's original mix, and all the unreleased tracks from those sessions. There are still some good things that haven't been put out from Adult/Child and the piano demos that Brian did for Love You are essential imo.

If Alan stumbles on this post: I'm not really thrilled about instrumental/vocal only tracks. I don't mind them, but I don't think we need a Time To Get Alone vocal only track. I love the song don't get me wrong, but if it's in competition with any of the stuff mentioned above, I'd rather it be left off considering the backing vox is already isolated on the Hawthorne version of the song. Just based on things that have been booted, there's a enough unreleased songs and demos to make a pretty substantial release, and that's not even counting the stuff that only you have access to. If you're going to do a commemorative release just go all out, pedal to the metal don't hold anything back.

Maybe I'm misreading the info in this thread, but it'll be a shame if there isn't a full on reissue of all the albums. It's been over 10 years since the twofers last got issued. Beach Boys fans have honestly been lucky up until this point that the releases have been so economical, but I'm ready for some deluxe editions. I've been suggesting this for a while, but I still think the best way to go would be something like they did for T.Rex, where alternate albums were made, given different covers and titles and styled as sort of alternate reality could have been albums. The Beach Boys are just begging for that treatment.  Fans here are constantly resequencing albums, and it's no secret that a good number of BB albums didn't utilize the best songs available. Surf's Up could have been an easy 10/10 LP with some tweaks. C&TP and Holland could have been a killed double album as well. I call my version "Leaving This Town" and utilize live versions of Marcella, Leaving This Town, and a couple of others, it's really epic when assembled this way. Holland's only flaw imo was that it wasn't a double album, it was just too sprawling and gigantic to be contained on a single disc. 15 Big Ones could go from being one of the worst (in some people's opinion, not mine) albums to one of the best with a new mix and an alternate tracklist ditching the original songs in favor of stuff like "Sea Cruise". I'd also love to hear the final three albums before Dennis died presented in a new light, the earlier "Santa Ana Winds" makes me hopeful that much better LPs could have been prepared, and Mark should be allowed to go back to the masters and mix the things from scratch.

I'd love for something really creative like that to be done. The problem with The Beach Boys is that lots of the best material isn't upfront in the band's catalog. It's really hard for the average listener to break into them because appreciating a lot of the regular albums as released is hard, and it's only when you start getting a sense of what could have been that you have an ah-ha moment and figure out how awesome they are.

[Jay]

So, now we know that silent fil Dennis singing Good Vibrations exists. Now if we could just find the audio recording of it.

[hypehat]

So that all sounds fucking cool as the proverbial. Hopefully the best stuff comes out! I am also intrigued by the Carl/Dennis 'Barnyard'. Did you have any notes for that?

[The Shift]

What a great experience ponghit…

I'm greedy  -  I have no opinion about what they should release, as long as they do release stuff.  I trust folk like Boyd to make the right choices on our behalf, as it were - they're astute fans, we share the same cravings.

[lee]

I'd love to hear a vocal only version of Time To Get Alone.

[PongHit]

Dennis singing lead, what could that be?
A part of GV? Or something different?

I'm under the impression both reels were shot during GV sessions, no other songs.
 

it's cool to read your 'sober impression' (hope that was English) of Brian's 1974 "California Feelin'" demo lead
after it was described as one of his best leads on this board, as a deeply soulful gospel rendition.

It's only my opinion — maybe I'd feel differently if I heard it again? BTW, the 1974 demo was also marked 'edit,' and there were 2 other versions with Carl on lead: 'remix, no drums,' and 'a cappella.'

[PongHit]

Sounds like they're not going for a boxset, but probably more of a Hawthorne volume 2 or something.

I don't think any details of this nature have been decided upon. He did NOT say, 'Here's a batch of material we're building a release from.' In fact, at first he had forgotten to include "Live Again," and added it later, as one of the last things I heard that night — so obviously he just threw together the playlist that day, with no particular purpose in mind (except to generously entertain my ears).
 
 

Was "I'm Going Your Way" on there?

No, unless it's also known by another title(?) But, again, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be considered for release — only that he didn't include it in this particular playlist.
 
 

I'm not really thrilled about instrumental/vocal only tracks.

I see your point, but some of them are priceless to me, and deserve a legit release.

[PongHit]

So, now we know that silent fil Dennis singing Good Vibrations exists. Now if we could just find the audio recording of it.

I guess it's possible there never was an audio recording of Dennis attempting it; somewhere in the studio chatter on TSS they say they need to shut off the camera while recording audio.

[PongHit]

I am also intrigued by the Carl/Dennis 'Barnyard'. Did you have any notes for that?

I remember being impressed by it. It may not have been 100% polished/finished-sounding, but definitely struck me as releasable, for sure. In parentheses after the title it said, "Dennis & Carl." I think it was from 1974, and I think Alan told me Ricky was also involved somehow. I also think it has a mellow, slightly psychedelic vibe, and lyrically there is a pastoral theme, obviously. But, like I said, I couldn't discern any connection to the SMILE song with the same title.

[PongHit]

I have no opinion about what they should release, as long as they do release stuff.  I trust folk like Boyd to make the right choices on our behalf, as it were - they're astute fans, we share the same cravings.

'LIKE'

[PongHit]

I'd love to hear a vocal only version of Time To Get Alone.

It's excellent, even among all the unreleased titles, this was a highlight for me — TTGA is one of my favorites — not just BB songs, but from anyone.

[Amanda Hart]

Was "I'm Going Your Way" on there?

No, unless it's also known by another title(?) But, again, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be considered for release — only that he didn't include it in this particular playlist.
 
 

I'm not really thrilled about instrumental/vocal only tracks.

I see your point, but some of them are priceless to me, and deserve a legit release.

"I'm Going Your Way" has also been listed on bootlegs as "California Slide" so maybe that's how Alan had it. That's a great song that definitely should be considered for an archival release. I'm also more in favor of never before heard material being released over instrumental/vocal only tracks, but some are okay, because they do have value and help you see things in a different light.

I have to say I am probably most interested in demos, though. The Love You demos are great and the ones you mention from your listening session with Alan sound amazing. What I would like to see for an archival release is a mix of unreleased songs, demos and live tracks with a few choice instrumental/vocals only or sessions. The only thing that I wouldn't want on a release like this are remixes of already released tracks. Keep the "from the vaults" type releases that way and save the remixes for compilations or album re-releases. From a business perspective that probably makes more sense anyway, since it would give completists like us incentive to buy a hits-type package we wouldn't purchase otherwise.

[PongHit]

"I'm Going Your Way" has also been listed on bootlegs as "California Slide" so maybe that's how Alan had it.

Nope, the only 'Californias' I heard were the 3 'Feelings.'
 
 

The Love You demos are great and the ones you mention from your listening session with Alan sound amazing.

The following is probably not all of the LOVE YOU stuff on the playlist, but from my notes:

"Lazy Lizzle" (Edit)
"Love Is A Woman" (1976 ruff - Al Lead)
"Marilyn Rovell" (1976 Ruff)
"Sherry She Needs Me (1976 Ruff)
"Solar System" (Track Only)
"We Gotta Groove" (Remastered)
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (1976 mix…)

[Amanda Hart]

The following is probably not all of the LOVE YOU stuff on the playlist, but from my notes:

"Lazy Lizzle" (Edit)
"Love Is A Woman" (1976 ruff - Al Lead)
"Marilyn Rovell" (1976 Ruff)
"Sherry She Needs Me (1976 Ruff)
"Solar System" (Track Only)
"We Gotta Groove" (Remastered)
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (1976 mix…)

Of those I would probably say that "Sherry" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" should make the cut for a release. The demo for "Airplane" is also pretty good. I'm in favor of highlighting demos from all eras though, not just Love You, but there's a lot from that period, so it's probably a good place to start.

[guitarfool2002]

Neat information!

About that GV studio film, two reels of silent film equals what we've seen excerpted so far: One instrumental session at Western, one vocal session at Columbia. The tidbit about showing Dennis singing lead on film is a neat tease: I always thought this was a put-on or something, with a related story about him not being able to sing it because he had a cold the day of the session...but if there is film of him cutting a lead vocal, was that the day of his cold? Interesting stuff.

I was hoping we'd hear the origins of that film, namely why was it shot in the first place and what was it going to be used in or for? Promo clips, like the "firehouse" film?

And will there be any efforts to release the full reels of film? Hell, I'd pay money to see the full silent reels just as they are! Maybe that will happen soon.

[hypehat]

The following is probably not all of the LOVE YOU stuff on the playlist, but from my notes:

"Lazy Lizzle" (Edit)
"Love Is A Woman" (1976 ruff - Al Lead)
"Marilyn Rovell" (1976 Ruff)
"Sherry She Needs Me (1976 Ruff)
"Solar System" (Track Only)
"We Gotta Groove" (Remastered)
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (1976 mix…)

Of those I would probably say that "Sherry" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" should make the cut for a release. The demo for "Airplane" is also pretty good. I'm in favor of highlighting demos from all eras though, not just Love You, but there's a lot from that period, so it's probably a good place to start.

Seconded - You Lost That Lovin' Feelin' is one of my fave BB unreleased tunes, such a great production.

Ponghit, that track sounds like a dream tbh - A Dennis and Carl collab in '74! Mellow, pastoral, slightly psychedelic! Ricky! And I'd never heard of it before, so always a plus. 

[Jon Stebbins]

My impression of "Barnyard" was that it was a bit bland compared to Dennis' other material from that period. Knowing it was a DW/CW collaboration from '74 might have had my expectations too high, and I haven't heard it in a few years so maybe I'd have a different opinion now. But hearing it for the first time along with things like "Holy Man" and "C*cktails", it seemed to pale in comparison.