20/20 through Holland

[Cabinessenceking]

The songs are uniformly great,

Nope, right there. It is an album with a brilliant coat of production sheen, that manages to distract the listener from the fact that it is another mixed bag of tracks spanning a great period of time, not recorded for the same specific project, a third grab into the same bag of master tapes in order to satisfy Warners, who had rejected the band's own intentions, twice over. If ya'll dig the album's final form, send Lenny Waronker a fan letter, then.
I mean, it is fine you all like that album so much and all, and I am happy for you. But I feel that album is grossly overrated by a certain group of Beach Boys fans (as Abbey Road, another phony production effort disguising lack of group interaction and some very mediocre songs) is by most Beatles fans). And those type of fans are generally the same ones who dislike Love You. I think certain people are more into the type of Beatles-influenced sound and production style they think The Beach Boys should have, than a true artistic picture of the band, and Brian Wilson in particular. This also causes substandard, pandering recent solo efforts by Brian to be overrated. The REAL, messy, strange Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, that music gets slated, or given guarded praise, on a daily basis on this supposed fan board. One will get less stick praising Carl And The frickin' Passions than if one openly celebrates any of the classic early music.
The same thing goes on at Elvis message boards. His 70's music gets wildly overpraised, and the proponents of it constantly bray about how much more "mature" Elvis was, how "adult" the Vegas arrangements were than the "juvenile" 50's material such as Jailhouse Rock and Hound Dog. What goes on here isn't any different.

I can agree with that. S.Desper saved that album. I would still consider This Whole World, CCW, Add Some Music and Slip On Through as fantastic songs aside from production. But I see how it saves  'All I Wanna Do' which is made into a great song just from Despers production.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I dunno about that: Here's All I Wanna Do with just two acoustic guitars, no Beach Boys, no great production and it still sound like a damn fine song to me.

http://youtu.be/1TMOwMtdgF8

[Dave Modny]

The other thing that probably fueled my fire with Sunflower at the time of my Beach Boys "flowering" was the simple fact of how damned elusive the record was to find -- new or used -- even by the mid-to-late 70s.

I mean, one could already find bins and bins of brand new cutouts and overruns of 15 BO, LY and MIU in the $1.99 section of my local Peaches Records and Tapes store by 1978 (and even something like a cutout 8-track tape of Surf's Up in 99 cent section!). But Sunflower? Forget about it. Thus, it was the hardest to find, and one of the last of the original albums I tracked down in my journey. So, the search was obviously driving me. Talk about riches at the end of the tunnel! Thank you Record Revolution at Parmatown! The first used record store on the west side of Cleveland, and where I practically lived as a teen!

I also still love that gatefold cover more than any other in the band's catalog as well. I used to stare at that technical (recording) rundown before I even knew what half that stuff meant. And the beautiful, sunny photos? Did the band ever look this youthful and innocent again? "Good Humor" indeed!



PS - Speaking of our Peaches Records and Tapes...Dennis did an "in-store" there around the time of POB.

[Dave in KC]

I still have a sealed vinyl Sunflower that I found in a record store here in KC back in 1976. Paid $4. The record store was owned by Ed Asner's brother. I believe the store was named Caper's Corner.

[Dave Modny]

I still have a sealed vinyl Sunflower that I found in a record store here in KC back in 1976. Paid $4. The record store was owned by Ed Asner's brother. I believe the store was named Caper's Corner.

I love stories like this. I found a sealed copy, as well, at a record show in the early 1980s. And then, foolishly and ceremoniously, proceeded to unseal it. It's sitting right in front of me now. Probably still my best copy. An Artisan cut.

BTW...anyone else noticed the barrage of original issue, US Sunflowers to hit eBay since the new remaster came out? Probably the most I've ever seen there at one time! Good time to grab one on vinyl.

[Sheriff John Stone]

The other thing that probably fueled my fire with Sunflower at the time of my Beach Boys "flowering" was the simple fact of how damned elusive the record was to find -- new or used -- even by the mid-to-late 70s.

I mean, one could already find bins and bins of brand new cutouts and overruns of 15 BO, LY and MIU in the $1.99 section of my local Peaches Records and Tapes store by 1978 (and even something like a cutout 8-track tape of Surf's Up in 99 cent section!). But Sunflower? Forget about it. Thus, it was the hardest to find, and one of the last of the original albums I tracked down in my journey. So, the search was obviously driving me. Talk about riches at the end of the tunnel! Thank you Record Revolution at Parmatown! The first used record store on the west side of Cleveland, and where I practically lived as a teen!

I also still love that gatefold cover more than any other in the band's catalog as well. I used to stare at that technical (recording) rundown before I even knew what half that stuff meant. And the beautiful, sunny photos? Did the band ever look this youthful and innocent again? "Good Humor" indeed!



PS - Speaking of our Peaches Records and Tapes...Dennis did an "in-store" there around the time of POB.

You are exactly right, Dave. Many younger Beach Boys' fans don't realize how difficult it was to get a hold of the early BB catalogue in the mid/late 1970's. I had to order Sunflower at the local record store as an import from England, and paid big bucks (in those days) for it. And, boy, did I treat that vinyl with kid gloves!

[Dave Modny]

The other thing that probably fueled my fire with Sunflower at the time of my Beach Boys "flowering" was the simple fact of how damned elusive the record was to find -- new or used -- even by the mid-to-late 70s.

I mean, one could already find bins and bins of brand new cutouts and overruns of 15 BO, LY and MIU in the $1.99 section of my local Peaches Records and Tapes store by 1978 (and even something like a cutout 8-track tape of Surf's Up in 99 cent section!). But Sunflower? Forget about it. Thus, it was the hardest to find, and one of the last of the original albums I tracked down in my journey. So, the search was obviously driving me. Talk about riches at the end of the tunnel! Thank you Record Revolution at Parmatown! The first used record store on the west side of Cleveland, and where I practically lived as a teen!

I also still love that gatefold cover more than any other in the band's catalog as well. I used to stare at that technical (recording) rundown before I even knew what half that stuff meant. And the beautiful, sunny photos? Did the band ever look this youthful and innocent again? "Good Humor" indeed!



PS - Speaking of our Peaches Records and Tapes...Dennis did an "in-store" there around the time of POB.

You are exactly right, Dave. Many younger Beach Boys' fans don't realize how difficult it was to get a hold of the early BB catalogue in the mid/late 1970's. I had to order Sunflower at the local record store as an import from England, and paid big bucks (in those days) for it. And, boy, did I treat that vinyl with kid gloves!

Indeed. That's why I was blown away when I found that 1980 UK CBS/Caribou cassette copy of Sunflower quietly sitting in the budget tape section of a local Gold Circle department store in the mid-80s. Though, that was one of the cool things about that era, in that import *tapes* seemed to find their way into the rack jobbers' distribution chains from time to time (i.e. department stores, etc.). I also remember finding the import, Parlophone 8-track version of "Hollies Greatest" around that same time in the basement of a Higbee's Department Store -- the version having the UK track lineup with the alt. "Yes I Will," and not the budget, green-labeled US Capitol reissue that came out around that time. It made record shopping fun and always an adventure!


I also found the 1980 UK vinyl counterpart of Sunflower around that time (which I just recently sold on the Hoffman board). Cool in that, like the tape and unlike the earlier, black-labeled UK Stateside version and 2-LP Stateside version with SU, it used the *US* track lineup -- minus "Cottonfields." It used the nifty Caribou "deer" label to boot. Pretty wild in that it took us folks in the US until 1990 to get a real, bona fide reissue of the album .


But...I digress.

[Don Malcolm]

Thanks to Time to Get Alone (and those who chimed in) for those comparison lists...am traveling this weekend, so will examine them all in more detail when the "motion blur" comes to a rest. Very interesting lists. Wish we had about ten more of 'em to combine (hint, hint to readers!) as it might "smooth out" some of the intriguing (actually, outright astonishing!!) divergences in what's been posted to date.

And thanks to Alan for those trenchant observations about the BB's--100% on the money with the notion that the group has managed to spawn "mutually incompatible" fan bases, a phenomenon that first came into play with Beach Boys Today and has stayed in force for nearly half a century now. That's still the case as we head into 2013: TWGMTR is just the latest work to reflect this phenomenon.

[Dave in KC]

I still have a sealed vinyl Sunflower that I found in a record store here in KC back in 1976. Paid $4. The record store was owned by Ed Asner's brother. I believe the store was named Caper's Corner.

I love stories like this. I found a sealed copy, as well, at a record show in the early 1980s. And then, foolishly and ceremoniously, proceeded to unseal it. It's sitting right in front of me now. Probably still my best copy. An Artisan cut.

BTW...anyone else noticed the barrage of original issue, US Sunflowers to hit eBay since the new remaster came out? Probably the most I've ever seen there at one time! Good time to grab one on vinyl.

Dave
Sounds like you are from Cleveland. So am I. My fav girlfriend lived in Parma(1971). Shopped at Higbee's with my mom all the time in Public Square. Doo-Dah, who also posts here, has many old Cleveland stories. I was weened on WMMS back in the day. Indians on the lakefront on a Summer night. Browns in a blizzard. That Beach Boys show at Cleveland stadium in 1974. Set a world record at the time for most amplification. REO Speedwagon and Joe Walsh?

[Dave Modny]

I still have a sealed vinyl Sunflower that I found in a record store here in KC back in 1976. Paid $4. The record store was owned by Ed Asner's brother. I believe the store was named Caper's Corner.

I love stories like this. I found a sealed copy, as well, at a record show in the early 1980s. And then, foolishly and ceremoniously, proceeded to unseal it. It's sitting right in front of me now. Probably still my best copy. An Artisan cut.

BTW...anyone else noticed the barrage of original issue, US Sunflowers to hit eBay since the new remaster came out? Probably the most I've ever seen there at one time! Good time to grab one on vinyl.

Dave
Sounds like you are from Cleveland. So am I. My fav girlfriend lived in Parma(1971). Shopped at Higbee's with my mom all the time in Public Square. Doo-Dah, who also posts here, has many old Cleveland stories. I was weened on WMMS back in the day. Indians on the lakefront on a Summer night. Browns in a blizzard. That Beach Boys show at Cleveland stadium in 1974. Set a world record at the time for most amplification. REO Speedwagon and Joe Walsh?

'Tis true. I'm a lifelong "Parmanian" -- born and raised here. Save for a short stint in Streetsboro, and my first house in Old Brooklyn.

[Bicyclerider]

I can agree with that. S.Desper saved that album. I would still consider This Whole World, CCW, Add Some Music and Slip On Through as fantastic songs aside from production. But I see how it saves  'All I Wanna Do' which is made into a great song just from Despers production.

The problem is what songs you think are great or average are not the same as everyone else's - they're just your opinions.  For example, I would rank as great songs Slip On Through, This Whole World, It's About Time, All  I Wanna Do,  Forever, Our Sweet Love, Cool Cool Water, good songs Add Some Music, Got to Know the Woman, Deirdre, average songs Tears in the Morning and At My Window. 

There should be universal agreement that Desper's production further elevates the album and helps make it into a more unified artistic statement.  But I would disagree that songs like I Just Got My Pay (the lyrics make Our sweet Love seem genius in comparison), or Good Time would have improved the album.

[Micha]

The REAL, messy, strange Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, that music gets slated, or given guarded praise, on a daily basis on this supposed fan board.

So good we have you on this board to tell us what the real Brian Wilson is and those of us who like the wrong albums finally know the truth. Believe it or not, until now I thought Sunflower was great and Love You nearly unlistenable, and everybody not sharing that opinion was utterly wrong.

And how about a thread for one of the really burning questions left to tackle in BB-land: "Marcella" vs. "I Just Got My Pay"??

"I Just Got My Pay"!!! "Marcella" sounds punchless musically and pointless lyrically to me. "I Just Got My Pay" is way more fun.

[I. Spaceman]

The REAL, messy, strange Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, that music gets slated, or given guarded praise, on a daily basis on this supposed fan board.

So good we have you on this board to tell us what the real Brian Wilson is and those of us who like the wrong albums finally know the truth. Believe it or not, until now I thought Sunflower was great and Love You nearly unlistenable, and everybody not sharing that opinion was utterly wrong.
 

You're welcome.