Soulful Old Man Sunshine

[H Robinson]

I just cranked this song up recently and I thought "Why on earth didn't they work on this and release this as a single?!"

It's such a good song and with proper promotion could have full well have hit number 1 somewhere.

I love Soulful Old Man Sunshine (or should I say Shunshine), any reasons why they scrapped this?

[The Shift]

Agree wholeheartedly... If they ever had a Number One resting in the vaults this was it.

The topic's been thrashed out many a time here... Search function should reveal all!

[JanBerryFarm]

and then, there is 'The Spirit of Rock and Roll'


.....another 'could have happened, but didnt'. 

[H Robinson]

I just cranked this song up recently and I thought "Why on earth didn't they work on this and release this as a single?!"

It's such a good song and with proper promotion could have full well have hit number 1 somewhere.

I love Soulful Old Man Sunshine (or should I say Shunshine), any reasons why they scrapped this?

IIRC, because of the incorrect saying of word "sunshine" as "shunshine". So Carl asked other bandmates or whomever not to release it in any comp or album but, as you know, it WAS included on Endless Harmony ST.

I myself think the flaw isn't so noticeable and the song definitely was worth releasing in time when it was composed. Very bright & catchy tune indeed! I agree with that it'd be a huge hit single. Who cares about one small word error when the whole song is absolute gem?

If that was the case, wouldn't he have just re-recorded the vocals?

[Jukka]

This song is simply stunning. I can't understand why they never released it. Someone tell me, where exactly does he say "shunshine"? I don't notice it, or at least anything so bad it would prevent the song's release.

Maybe this has already been discussed somewhere, but as we have a new topic here anyway... What did Brian do, what did Rick Henn do? I know Rick arranged the music and Brian arranged the vocals, but who composed the main body of the song? If it was Rick Henn, they guy is a genius. This song is among BB's very finest.

[Jukka]

Oh that. Come on Carl, that's barely noticeable! I'm not native English speaker, though, but in his double-tracking 60's heyday Mike garbled many lines far worse than that.

[WWDWD?]

yeah I always hear that as "Soulful old man shine shine, shine your light.... "
But then it maybe sounds a lil creepy.

[hypehat]

IIRC, Brian and Rick Henn wrote the tune, but Rick did the track session - Brian then took it to the group, who weren't very enthusiastic (the fools!) so after some initial work they junked it. It was in bits and pieces in the vault (like, nothing approaching a finished mix of any of the elements). They assembled it (which apparently wasn't easy) for the 93 box, Carl wasn't happy with his vocal from back then - the flub, mostly - so it waited until Endless Harmony.

Yeah, this would have been insane to release as their first Warner Bros. single. Top ten for sure. It sounds like Stevie Wonder.

[lance]

I love the song but at the time, it seems that the Beach Boys were sort of trying to present a hipper, earthier image, and I'm not sure if a song that jazzy and sunshiney would have been the smash you all seem convinced it would have been.

[hypehat]

I love the song but at the time, it seems that the Beach Boys were sort of trying to present a hipper, earthier image, and I'm not sure if a song that jazzy and sunshiney would have been the smash you all seem convinced it would have been.

BUT IT'S JUST THAT GOOD!


I'll stop drinking coffee for the day, methinks.

[Rocky Raccoon]

This song is simply stunning. I can't understand why they never released it. Someone tell me, where exactly does he say "shunshine"? I don't notice it, or at least anything so bad it would prevent the song's release.

Maybe this has already been discussed somewhere, but as we have a new topic here anyway... What did Brian do, what did Rick Henn do? I know Rick arranged the music and Brian arranged the vocals, but who composed the main body of the song? If it was Rick Henn, they guy is a genius. This song is among BB's very finest.

But if Henn was mostly responsible, that could be part of the reason of why it was unreleased.  At that time at least, Brian was always reluctant about releasing material that he didn't feel was really his.

[Rocky Raccoon]

and then, there is 'The Spirit of Rock and Roll'


.....another 'could have happened, but didnt'. 

I think that just had to do with the growing animosity between the band and Brian/Landy.

[hypehat]

That, and Spirit of Rock & Roll is really bad.

[The Shift]

That, and Spirit of Rock & Roll is really bad.

This.  It doesn't come near SOMS.

[Runaways]

But if Henn was mostly responsible, that could be part of the reason of why it was unreleased.  At that time at least, Brian was always reluctant about releasing material that he didn't feel was really his.

hmmmm?

[Rocky Raccoon]

That, and Spirit of Rock & Roll is really bad.

Eh, I don't think it's that bad.  I love the re-recording Brian did for the Hallmark album.  The song itself is pretty good, I hate the "Sweet Insanity" version though even that's better than most of the material on the '85 "comeback" album and any of the new material on "Still Cruisin.'"

[hypehat]

That, and Spirit of Rock & Roll is really bad.

Eh, I don't think it's that bad.  I love the re-recording Brian did for the Hallmark album.  The song itself is pretty good, I hate the "Sweet Insanity" version though even that's better than most of the material on the '85 "comeback" album and any of the new material on "Still Cruisin.'"

Never heard that. Only the SI one...

[Outtasight!]

For me the backing track for SOMS just doesn't quite work with the vocals. They sound slightly out of sync. If it was a more sparse backing track with a more prominent rhythm section it might have worked better. To these ears it sounds like it is; a backing track made by one person and vocals overlaid by another and the two don't quite mesh. Sorry.

[D409]

Funny that this has come up, while looking for something else on The Guardian (UK) site, came across this article - more praise for SOMS ! :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/nov/23/beach-boys-soulful-old-man-sunshine

[Rocky Raccoon]

That, and Spirit of Rock & Roll is really bad.

Eh, I don't think it's that bad.  I love the re-recording Brian did for the Hallmark album.  The song itself is pretty good, I hate the "Sweet Insanity" version though even that's better than most of the material on the '85 "comeback" album and any of the new material on "Still Cruisin.'"

Never heard that. Only the SI one...

http://grooveshark.com/s/The+Spirit+Of+Rock+and+Roll/25vqCN?src=5

[Kirk]

Just out of sheer perversity I love the Brian/Dylan version of "Spirit." It's so wrong it feels right for some reason. Every time I hear it I think how cool it would've been had Brian joined the Traveling Wilburys after Roy Orbison's passing. Never would've happened there at the tail end of the second Landy era, but Brian could have brought some rays of sunshine to that dreadful Wilburys II album.

[Jukka]

For me the backing track for SOMS just doesn't quite work with the vocals. They sound slightly out of sync. If it was a more sparse backing track with a more prominent rhythm section it might have worked better. To these ears it sounds like it is; a backing track made by one person and vocals overlaid by another and the two don't quite mesh. Sorry.

You're kind of right, it is a bit uneven that way (although I personally love it over the top blaring horns), but the actual composition underneath it all is great. And the a cappella chorus hook, which reveals the boys' voices in perfect harmony... My God, sheer beauty.

[buddhahat]

I love the song but at the time, it seems that the Beach Boys were sort of trying to present a hipper, earthier image, and I'm not sure if a song that jazzy and sunshiney would have been the smash you all seem convinced it would have been.

I'm inclined to agree with this.

I like this song but there's something slightly off for me about it. It doesn't sound like a Brian composition to me so maybe this is why it wasn't released as an earlier poster suggested. Then again, it does remind me of some of the songs from the Adult Child era so who's to say it isn't a Brian original. Bascially, I know notheeeng.

[Ron]

I got a question.  Could it be that the version we've heard, wasn't ever completed back in the day?  For instance, maybe they never mixed it properly or something, so the boys never heard it in the beautiful unbelievable oh my fucking god I can't believe they never released this version that we all know and love?  I know about the Carl vox mistake, but hell anybody could have touched that up, they could have even deleted that whole line if they couldn't have taped either a new line or just spliced in something from the other 100 times he says "Sun" in the song. 

Maybe Mark finally mixed it or added the backing track or something and the guys never heard it complete? 

"Spirit of Rock and Roll" is horrible in every form it's been released in.  I DO think with major production work it could be a decent song because the concept is pretty decent.  The proof of this to me is that when you get to the end of the Hallmark version, and they drop the music out to where you just hear the vocal pads, it sounds pretty damn good. 

[Camus]

Am I right in thinking completed multi tracks for this are missing for the verse?  The verse on all versions I've heard is mono.  Did that come from a rough mix?  Hang on, I'll just check AGD's site instead