WIBNTLA Reviews

[Jon Stebbins]

Said it many years ago upon first listen, and I'll say it again today...this is the best Dennis lead vocal of his career. Solid proof the dude could sing his ass off...and in a distinctly textured way that no one else in the band could duplicate. The song is good enough to be a great showcase for this vocal, but i wish he'd had more leads while his voice was so strong. 1970 - 71 is the peak period for him vocally, so nice we have another example.

[Emdeeh]

I heard WIBNTLA, many years ago, at Alan Boyd's place. Dennis is awesome.

[Shady]

This is incredibly frustrating and I don't want to hear it illegally.

A smiley smile break is needed till I get my box set 

[Dunderhead]

This is incredibly frustrating and I don't want to hear it illegally.

A smiley smile break is needed till I get my box set 

One of us. One of us. One of us.

[leggo of my ego]

This is incredibly frustrating and I don't want to hear it illegally.

A smiley smile break is needed till I get my box set 

  Man up, Shady - you can hang in there - i am in the same boat with you 

[Heysaboda]

This is incredibly frustrating and I don't want to hear it illegally.

A smiley smile break is needed till I get my box set 

  Man up, Shady - you can hang in there - i am in the same boat with you 

my box set is still 4 days away 

(gnashes teeth) (pulls hair)

How is it that the USA lags behind in distribution?  aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Jason]

'MURICA! f*** YEAH!

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

I'm not sure when I'll be able to afford the box set, so I went ahead and listened to it.

Would've been great on Surf's Up LP. Not quite up to the hype, but still very, very good. It's truly amazing a song this good has been in the vaults for 40 years. Most bands would've made a career on a song like this, and for our boys, it's gone unheard for all this time. Crazy.

Relieved to finally hear it.

[Paulos]

That was absolutely fucking incredible. Goosebumps, tears, the lot. Bless you Dennis Wilson and bless whoever was responsible for finally getting this song released.

[b00ts]

Hi Paulos!! Good to see you here! Glad you like the track.

With all the hype over the years, it is tough for anything to stand up to the expectations set for this song... but WIBNTLA is quite beautiful and would have been a perfect end to the first side of Surfs Up.

I love the doubled Moog bass and Fender bass, much like in other songs on this album - and the flutes seem to quote the arrangement of "Feel Flows." The overall unique, murky Surfs Up production is so cool to hear once again so many years later.

Does anyone know why there are clicks and pops on the song - was it sourced from an acetate? And if so, how did they plan on making the 5.1 version for the Surfs Up DVD-Audio?

What a shame that this didn't make it onto the album!

[acedecade75]

There has been so much hype about this song, but I see why.  The very first listen honestly brought tears to my eyes.  It's kind of hard to explain until you actualy hear the song.  Dennis captures so much emotion in this piece.  It's brilliant!!

[DonnyL]

Ok, here's to my ears how the 1971 Surf's Up album should have been. The addition of the 3 missing Dennis songs and the subtraction of 'the feet song' turn it from a flawed masterpiece into THE masterpiece of their careers for me.
I tried to jumble stuff around a bit more but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to split the final 3 Brian songs up in a way that worked. Also after hearing WIBNTLA for the 5th or 6th time I feel it could have quietly ended at the 3:46 min mark without losing any impact, it also then flows well into Lookin' At Tomorrow.

PS, anyone who complains about STD being included will be pistol whipped.

Dont Go Near the Water
Long promised road
Lady
Disney Girls
Student Demonstration Time
4th of July

Feel Flows
WIBNTLA (with a tasteful fade at the 3:45-3:47 minute mark)
Lookin' At Tomorrow
A Day in the Life of a Tree
'Till I Die
Surf's Up

I'm not sure where I got this tip, but I think '4th of July' was supposed to segue into 'Long Promised Road'? In fact, if you merge the end of 'Don't Go Near the Water' to '4th of July' to 'Long Promised Road', it sounds like it was supposed to be! You notice that '4th of July' fades in and out kind of strangely, I always thought it might have been spliced out of an early version or something.

I think it would have gone something like this:

1 Don't Go Near the Water
2 4th of July
3 Long Promised Road
4 Take a Load Off Your Feet
5 Disney Girls
6 Student Demonstration TIme

7 Feel Flows
8 Lookin At Tomorrow
9 A Day in the Life of a Tree
10 Surf's Up
11 Till I Die
12 Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again

[pixletwin]

After listening to this for the 14th time or so ( ) I think what I love best about this is Dennis' soul singing and being totally just balls out at moments. Definitely Dennis' best pre-POB work. What surprised me most was that Dennis seemed to be looking forward than back in how he approached the production of this song. I hear more similarities to POB than, say, Forever. It far more dynamic and interesting than his previous attempts. POB in embryo, if you will.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Hi Paulos!! Good to see you here! Glad you like the track.

With all the hype over the years, it is tough for anything to stand up to the expectations set for this song... but WIBNTLA is quite beautiful and would have been a perfect end to the first side of Surfs Up.

I love the doubled Moog bass and Fender bass, much like in other songs on this album - and the flutes seem to quote the arrangement of "Feel Flows." The overall unique, murky Surfs Up production is so cool to hear once again so many years later.

Does anyone know why there are clicks and pops on the song - was it sourced from an acetate? And if so, how did they plan on making the 5.1 version for the Surfs Up DVD-Audio?

What a shame that this didn't make it onto the album!

No, they've got the 16 track, and certainly no clicks and pops on the various mixes I've heard.

[Robbie Mac]

This might well be Dennis Wilson's finest hour as a member of the Beach Boys.

How anyone can underrated this is beyond me.

[TV Forces]

Very moving song.  Happy it is now available.
Dennis sure had the gift.
I never thought SMiLE would come out almost a decade before this track did.

[Mike's Beard]

I'm not sure where I got this tip, but I think '4th of July' was supposed to segue into 'Long Promised Road'? In fact, if you merge the end of 'Don't Go Near the Water' to '4th of July' to 'Long Promised Road', it sounds like it was supposed to be! You notice that '4th of July' fades in and out kind of strangely, I always thought it might have been spliced out of an early version or something.

I've just mentally ran the songs through my head and I think you could be onto something.

[pixletwin]

Are you talking about the weird tone the very first second of LPR?

[Bill M]

For me, the song even exceeded it's expectations.  I'd like to hear the guitar a bit hotter in the mix during the instrumental break, but that's no biggie.  And yes, there are a few minor clicks & pops in there.  The "noodling" at the end is awesome.  These are exciting times!

[Mike's Beard]

Are you talking about the weird tone the very first second of LPR?

The opening chord of LPR blends very nicely with the flute fadeout of 4th of July.

[pixletwin]

Hmmm. Well I hope soniclovenoize tackled Surf's Up/Landlocked for his "Albums that never were" blog. I would love to hear him try to join those two tracks the way DonnyL described.

[KokoNO]

So, what is now the best remaining track to not have had an official release (or any release)?

[pixletwin]

I reckon Carry Me Home is now the one I hear about most that is not on any official release.

[Mikie]

........and 'Big Sur'.   And 'I've Got A Friend'.

[The Dumb Angel]

WIBNTLA was worth the wait and definitely lives up to the hype. No doubt that Denny is other genius of the Beach Boys.