"Sweet and Bitter" and "Out In The Country"

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Sounds to  me like this guy is singing over the bootleg instrumental track of "Out in the country".

A lengthy Google search turned up zero hits on this guy. I think he is doing an impression
of Mike on  "Sweet and bitter". And these tunes are an elaborate hoax. Just a wild guess.

[bgas]

I knew the flakes would come out sooner or later

[Mikie]

Sounds to  me like this guy is singing over the bootleg instrumental track of "Out in the Country". And these tunes are an elaborate hoax. Just a wild guess.

That's what I was thinking a couple of days ago.  I wouldn't be surprised if somebody is having a good laugh over this.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Until Mr. Doe says these are real I'm going to be highly sceptical.

[ontor pertawst]

I noticed in comments, another youtube account named DONNY GOLDBERG is thanking DON GOLDBERG for this litttttle slice of rock n' roll history. A huge coincidence, or has it gone all A SCANNER DARKLY? Muahahhaa...

http://www.youtube.com/user/donnygoldberg123/

I'm cracking up over his New Years Eve song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjq1no6TWV8

There's more of a google trail for that spelling of the name:

http://www.musesmuse.com/forums/index.php?showuser=13562&tab=posts

Brian Wilson in the influences there.

[seltaeb1012002]

I noticed in comments, another youtube account named DONNY GOLDBERG is thanking DON GOLDBERG for this litttttle slice of rock n' roll history. Maybe it's gone all A SCANNER DARKLY.

http://www.youtube.com/user/donnygoldberg123/

I'm cracking up over his New Years Eve song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjq1no6TWV8

There's more of a google trail for that spelling of the name:

http://www.musesmuse.com/forums/index.php?showuser=13562&tab=posts

Brian Wilson in the influences there.

Ha! On his Christmas song, there's a comment from "DonGoldberg5". The f***?

[ontor pertawst]

Sons? clones? Different aspects of the same schizoid personality that sometimes berates itself in a plausible Mike Love impersonation?

ALL OF THE ABOVE?!?!

Even if it's all real, I'm still gonna giggle at that New Year's song.

Ah, here we go... the Rosetta Stone of this mystery... ladies and gentlemen... I give you...

MENUDO!

Wait, no, The Goldbergs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qllShZp5Yqg

Wow, could that be a Don Goldberg that does a plausible Mike Love impersonation?

But wait! It gets more complicated.

Here's the dad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdX_GCFZGSU

Ok, what's the deal here... surely somebody on this board knows this family of Dons, Donnies, Donnys, Donnas, and shut-the-f***-up-Donnies that just happen to play in a band named Surf's Up covering Beach Boys songs.

Former collaborator of Brian's who became a grim Beach Boys cult leader (a Murry Manson, if you will) enslaving an entire family to perform their tunes at Disney resorts instead of being able to play outside with the other kids? Or merely a clever hoax by Don "Donny" Goldberg using his quasi-Love nasal stylings and digital sounding softsynths to attract more youtube hits than his loving odes to a holiday we were fine with just having Auld Lang Syne for? A tortured soul, driven to insanity by the faltering economy and an insatiable appetite for Jon Stebbins books that actually started making him think he worked with the Beach Boys? All these things and more?

[bgas]

are you in California? just call him on the phone and see what he has to say

[ontor pertawst]

Rampant uninformed speculation is more entertaining. But yeah, his number is up there. Anybody wanna ring him up? Maybe we should get ANOTHER Mike Love impressionist to call him and sound really, really pissed off. Threaten lawsuits.

[EgoHanger1966]

Sad to say, we might have been had here. His "New Year's Eve" vocals, which would be from many years after the "Out In The Country"/"Fading Love Song" ones, sound virtually identical. If that's him impersonating Mike on "Sweet and Bitter", that's the best Mike Love impersonation I've ever heard! It certainly is interesting, anyway!

[seltaeb1012002]

Bring on "Brian (chatter)"!

[ontor pertawst]

One day, I too will raise a son to sing like Mike Love.

"WRONG! WRONG! Increase nasality by 20%, you little sh*t!"

[AndrewHickey]

Sad to say, we might have been had here. His "New Year's Eve" vocals, which would be from many years after the "Out In The Country"/"Fading Love Song" ones, sound virtually identical. If that's him impersonating Mike on "Sweet and Bitter", that's the best Mike Love impersonation I've ever heard! It certainly is interesting, anyway!

No idea as to how accurate his claims are, but that's *definitely* Mike singing on Sweet And Bitter. No way it could be anyone else.

[ontor pertawst]

Did you check out the videos of Donny singing Mike Love leads?

[EgoHanger1966]

Sad to say, we might have been had here. His "New Year's Eve" vocals, which would be from many years after the "Out In The Country"/"Fading Love Song" ones, sound virtually identical. If that's him impersonating Mike on "Sweet and Bitter", that's the best Mike Love impersonation I've ever heard! It certainly is interesting, anyway!

No idea as to how accurate his claims are, but that's *definitely* Mike singing on Sweet And Bitter. No way it could be anyone else.

I'd agree but something is really not right here.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm on the fence. But it is entertaining.

Three things bother me. First, Brian playing bass? Did he, could he still do that competently enough for that song. Second, JUST Brian and Ricky Fataar went into the studio together? Just those two Beach Boys? Did Brian even know Ricky? And third, this guy's taking a chance if he is impersonating Mike and advertising it as being Mike. Certainly he must be familiar with Mike's propensity for (cough) litigation....

[bgas]

You guys keep it up; it's nice to have something to laugh about.
I think the tracks are legit, waiting to be proved wrong

[ontor pertawst]

The guy is such a huge Beach Boys fan that he has a band named Surf's Up that covers their music, got his whole family to sing their music, has a son who does Mike Love voices, and yet never did anything with these recordings before, talked with anyone online about them, or even mentioned he was a former collaborator of Brian's in chintzy PR videos for his Beach Boys Distant Family and Friends Band? Doesn't add up, now does it. A Beach Boys fan of that intensity you would think would have some crappy geocities page from the dark ages of the net waxing poetic about "that time I worked with Brian." Would be milking his distant connection for all it was worth. Would've been interviewed somewhere. Would have one of the crazy BB fans on here nodding at the mention of his name... would at least trigger an anecdote or two!

Plus, if they did have an outside songwriter... that Brian wanted to "write us a hit" .... with Desper engineering... why the hell would the songwriter get custody of the multitracks? Plus, at that point Desper would be on tour with Zappa, right?

Of course, if someone would vouch for him I could believe it. Anybody? It's hilarious regardless. 2013 is gonna be fun.

Ok, Don/Donnie/Donny. Show yerself! You know he's reading this.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Ok, Don/Donnie/Donny. Show yerself! You know he's reading this.

I wish Steve Desper was reading this.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Did you check out the videos of Donny singing Mike Love leads?

Yup!  The vocal is slightly sped up to make it sound a little more like the Lovester.

I imagine if you compare Al's vocal on "Out in the country" to Goldberg's you'll find the lyrics were changed - thus the credit "Wilson/Goldberg".

[EgoHanger1966]

Anyone have a picture of an early 70s Brian autograph to see if it matches up with the one with the "write us a hit!" inscription as shown in the Fading Love Songs video?

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Anyone have a picture of an early 70s Brian autograph to see if it matches up with the one with the "write us a hit!" inscription as shown in the Fading Love Songs video?

The autograph may be real.  "Hey Brian, I'm a songwriter, here's my tape.  Can I have your autograph?".

[Don Malcolm]

Curiouser and curiouser. We need AGD here for his special application of Occam's Razor...

What's odd is that the family band footage gives off no clue that there's any inclination toward the non-mainstream side of the BB's oeuvre.

I don't think the kid (Donny) sounds all that much like Mike in the videos--he's semi in the pocket, but at no point does he get close to the vocal sound that we're hearing on "Sweet and Bitter." I mean, that really does sound like Mike taking a once-through.

However, the timeline seems shaky...was this guy a "prodigy" in 1970-73? That picture of what purports to be a "young Don Goldberg" looks like someone who was maybe 17-21 years old. If it's actually from that time, that would make him close to sixty now. The dad in the videos doesn't look sixty, so those have to be old--maybe about ten years or so.

Nothing like a little surrealism to usher in the New Year, eh, Ontor??

[bgas]

Anyone have a picture of an early 70s Brian autograph to see if it matches up with the one with the "write us a hit!" inscription as shown in the Fading Love Songs video?

While you're surveying the picture, what is written on the right side at the top?  That's not in any of the copies of the photo I have

[DonnyL]

The "strings" during the solo seem to be a recent addition.

sounds a lot like a Chamberlin to me ('3 violins' tape).

I like this one quite a bit. The others are growing on me. I'll buy it !