Brian Wilson's Secret Bedroom Tapes - LA Weekly 1-30-14

[KittyKat]

If there were that many good songs, the BB would have recorded them. They were desperate for material back then. Carl would have fished the best ones out and finished them.   I doubt it would sell anywhere near what the Smile sessions did. Maybe more like the Hawthorne collection. If they released the '63 collection, though, why not this.

[Jay]

Micky Dolenz has a stash of tapes too, from this same era, and from when his house was an unofficial after-hours hangout (and also a studio) for the Hollywood Vampyres and their cohorts. Micky not long ago said he has tapes of his partying buddies, names like Nilsson, Alice Cooper, Ringo, and I think he mentioned Brian Wilson too, who would visit his in-house recording studio and jam and work on songs. Dolenz's hangout crew was some of the same names mentioned with these BW tapes, and from exactly the same era.

Question for those who would know: Has Dolenz ever been approached about these reels of tape by someone official with an eye toward at least archiving them? He gave the impression they have not been heard by anyone outside, and unfortunately he also kind of hinted that no one would hear them.

A few tracks allegedly from those tapes were uploaded to YouTube about a year or so ago. There was a discussion on here about it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Those tracks have all been bootlegged. They're not of the same quality as "Smile." I have no idea of what motivated that author to write about this like it's some kind of revelation. I don't think he describes Brian in very flattering terms, either, it's actually rather cruel.

Bootlegged where? Thought the bulk of these didn't circulate?

At least some of them are on "Get the Boot," which is supposedly a hard to find four CD set, but not that hard to find.

Get The Boot was 2 discs when it originally hit the fan circle.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Those tracks have all been bootlegged. They're not of the same quality as "Smile." I have no idea of what motivated that author to write about this like it's some kind of revelation. I don't think he describes Brian in very flattering terms, either, it's actually rather cruel.

They most certainly have NOT "all been bootlegged", unless I've missed something: care to list which tracks, and where ? Suggest you take more care in your phrasing in future.

[Mike's Beard]

I very much doubt all 60 odd tracks would ever see a release. As mentioned, if Brian was still knocking out potentially great half finished song ideas so frequently then the band would have had a new album out long before 15 Big Ones. I just hope one or two of the better tracks appear on a possible soundtrack album for the upcoming Brian biopic.

[KittyKat]

Those tracks have all been bootlegged. They're not of the same quality as "Smile." I have no idea of what motivated that author to write about this like it's some kind of revelation. I don't think he describes Brian in very flattering terms, either, it's actually rather cruel.

They most certainly have NOT "all been bootlegged", unless I've missed something: care to list which tracks, and where ? Suggest you take more care in your phrasing in future.

#firstworldproblems

[Andrew G. Doe]

But regardless, I hope there is a lot more than we know of. And hopefully AGD, who was apparently interviewed for this article, could at least be kind enough to say whether he agrees with Alan Boyd and Brian Chidester that there is enough material for a good collection of this stuff.

The question is, is there a market for this stuff beyond the copyright extension exercise that was The Big Beat 1963 ? That is... us. My thinkign is, downloads are the way. Is there enough for a good collection ? I think so, but the notion of a box set is wishful thinking: 60 titles doesn't necessarily translate into 60 reels of tape. I'd lean towards one solid collation of the best stuff, not every last plink, plonk, cough and fart.

Mind, "Symphony of Frogs" demands inclusion due to the title alone ! 

[The Shift]

Another possibility is that BW's people (or maybe the Beach Boys' people) are getting word of this stuff out there to grow its cult status, to build momentum for reworkings/re-recordings if the material as the basis for (a) new album(s).

You know, "Brian Wilson and/or the Beach Boys have completed for release a collection of masterpieces that have lain in a vault for more than 40 years. Fan-clamouring for the legendary Better Get Back In Bed tapes is on a par with that for The Smile Sessions, which finally saw the light of day in 2011. Sources close to the band, including Brian Wilson's producer and confidant Joe Thomas, say the tapes have a real Pet Sounds/Smile feel to them and, once they've been overdubbed with the best backing vocals the band had overdubbed since the Sunflower overdubbing sessions, auto tuned and drowned in reverb, could form the basis of the most important Beach Bous release since Stars and Stripes Vol 1."

[punkinhead]

Those tracks have all been bootlegged. They're not of the same quality as "Smile." I have no idea of what motivated that author to write about this like it's some kind of revelation. I don't think he describes Brian in very flattering terms, either, it's actually rather cruel.

Bootlegged where? Thought the bulk of these didn't circulate?

At least some of them are on "Get the Boot," which is supposedly a hard to find four CD set, but not that hard to find.

Four cd set?
I thought Get the Boot was only two discs.

Unless this is a newer cd set?


Edit- never mind, Andrew beat me to it.   

[Alan Smith]

Fuckin' great news.

Someone transfer those suckers quick; Someone else price-up, print off or upload those puppies - I'm in!

[Loaf]

This is very exciting. I would love a 60-track compilation of Brian's Bedroom Tapes. Include all the released and unreleased stuff in one package. Everything from the 2-minute Meant For You to the moog experiments.

Please!

While we're on the subject, what type of songs do we think might be considering Bedroom Tapes? Would I Went to Sleep count? A Day in the Life of a Tree? My Little Red Book?

[Smilin Ed H]

Can you believe some people here are being negative about this already?

Rhetorical question.

[The Shift]

Can you believe some people here are being negative about this already?

Rhetorical question.

Hope my own posts aren't coming across as negative…  I just don't read in the article any solid evidence that Brian C has heard these all of these tapes, as the implication seems to be. Most of the info is already out there about the unreleased stuff (some of the unreleased stuff is also out there), and there's a lot of second hand info… And the lumping together of several years' worth of material into the phrase "Bedroom Tapes" seems conveniently charged with marketing potential…

Not a bad thing, but there seems like there might be an ulterior motive…

Like everyone else I would love to have this collection in my collection of collections…

[buddhahat]

This needs to be proper vintage or vintage-correct mixes. No Pro Tools edits ... proper analog mixing, etc. It needs to be compiled with care by someone with the proper artistic care and HIP FACTOR understanding.

I share your high hopes but I just don't think presenting the work of this group from a hip perspective, or sticking to authentic period mixing techniques, is on anyone's agenda bar fans like us. The Beach Boys brand always gets in the way and someone has to package the thing in a surboard, a year book, a cheeseburger or somesuch just in case we forgot that the group's glory days were in the early 60s, in America. As an aside this heavy-handed branding really bugs me, as the group is so much more than that brief 3 or 4 year spell. You don't see Beatles products marketed with a huge moptop on the front or Liver birds all over the place - on the recent box sets the Beatles font is enough and the music is allowed to speak for itself - but the Beach Boys are continually reduced to this sort of insipid, tacky, American Graffiti caricature.

That said, if this were to be released it would not be a greatest hits package, but a focus on one corner of the group's history, so perhaps there would be more scope to market it appropriately. In my rant above I overlooked releases such as TSS that were beautifully presented without a surfboard in sight.

And of course this is all pretty moot as no release has been suggested yet but I agree with those that view this as some sort of water-testing, myth-building, pre publicity piece. The article seems custom built to get the Smiley board slavering again.

And every post added to this thread will be a good indicator of our desire for this release so I say let's aim for 100+ pages folks!

[The Shift]

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I wish these had been referred to as "Bedroom Sessions"… sounds far more kinky!

[SMiLE Brian]

I see what you did there John....

[kwan_dk]

"L.A. Weekly recently was granted access to many of these never-before-heard tapes from 1968-1974 - almost 60 titles in all - currently stored at the Beach Boys' archive on Vanowen Street, near Bob Hope Airport in Burbank."

I haven't had the time to read this article yet, but working for a living as a museum curator and knowing how museums, cultural institutions and archives often guard the location of their storage facilities, I'm pretty surprised to see Brian Chidester offering this much info about the Beach Boys archive. Will we see hordes of hardcore Beach Boys fans patrolling Vanowen Street these coming weeks? 

I have much respect for Brian's past writing on the Beach Boys and similar subjects though - can't wait to read this!!!!

[Robbie Mac]

I very much doubt all 60 odd tracks would ever see a release. As mentioned, if Brian was still knocking out potentially great half finished song ideas so frequently then the band would have had a new album out long before 15 Big Ones. I just hope one or two of the better tracks appear on a possible soundtrack album for the upcoming Brian biopic.

You are talking about the band that thought Summer In Paradise and Stars and Stripes were better than "Still a Mystery" and "Soul Searchin'".

[Menace Wilson]

Here's a question: why would Beach Boys Inc. be inclined to release a set of Brian's "Bedroom Tapes" from this era, yet refrain from releasing re-mastered versions of the actual albums from this same period (namely "Friends," "Wild Honey," and "20/20")? 

[guitarfool2002]

Micky Dolenz has a stash of tapes too, from this same era, and from when his house was an unofficial after-hours hangout (and also a studio) for the Hollywood Vampyres and their cohorts. Micky not long ago said he has tapes of his partying buddies, names like Nilsson, Alice Cooper, Ringo, and I think he mentioned Brian Wilson too, who would visit his in-house recording studio and jam and work on songs. Dolenz's hangout crew was some of the same names mentioned with these BW tapes, and from exactly the same era.

Question for those who would know: Has Dolenz ever been approached about these reels of tape by someone official with an eye toward at least archiving them? He gave the impression they have not been heard by anyone outside, and unfortunately he also kind of hinted that no one would hear them.

A few tracks allegedly from those tapes were uploaded to YouTube about a year or so ago. There was a discussion on here about it.

I was posting in that thread, and that led to another thread with all kinds of photos and info about Keith Moon's birthday bash where the shot of Moon and Brian in a bathrobe was taken - thanks for the info, though.  The Moon thread had the same cast of characters that were on Dolenz's tapes.

Here:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=29be468fb57d187e89c97b43d0dc1e5b&topic=14540.msg329104#msg329104

The question is still valid - Micky has a stash of tapes with Brian's recordings, yes a few scraps have come out with Harry and whatnot, but has anyone along the lines of Alan Boyd or another in an official capacity approached Dolenz about the status of the tapes Brian made with Dolenz for archival purposes?

If this article does indeed spur some kind of demand beyond here, I just thought a *hypothetical* release of Brian's recordings from the early 70's would be enhanced by whatever Dolenz has on those tapes of Brian recording in that exact same era.

[guitarfool2002]

Here's a question: why would Beach Boys Inc. be inclined to release a set of Brian's "Bedroom Tapes" from this era, yet refrain from releasing re-mastered versions of the actual albums from this same period (namely "Friends," "Wild Honey," and "20/20")? 

My 2 cents: Such a release would better be geared to the "Brian Wilson" niche of the BB's fan universe. They may be better served for all kinds of reasons to somehow get the rights to them apart from a Beach Boys product, compile them in such a way that the Beach Boys' eventual use of any of these songs is a lesser point than the fact they are Brian Wilson home recordings, and put it out as a specialty kind of item under the name Brian Wilson.

It would sell more targeted to that fan niche, in my opinion, rather than making it a Beach Boys product.

Recall Pete Townshend and his "Lifehouse" tapes, not to mention his other demo releases. A lot of those solo Pete demos became Who classics, yet the home recordings Pete did to demo them and work them out were marketed as Pete Townshend solo works.

Did any hardcore Who fans mind that collections of Who demos from Townshend's home studio were released under Pete's name rather than The Who? The Brian home tapes are basically the same thing, sell them as such.

[The Shift]

I think you're right Guitarfool, with the bio-doc coming out, the saleability of these sessions will soar. If the film's a success, many hip dudes will latch on to the Wilson aspect and lap up music such as this, as the obscure stuff will have an enigma that drives sales. There's always kudos in claiming to like the unreleased material above the hits. Maybe one day kids will be saying "okay yah. Brian Wilson, absolute genius dahling… love his work, very avante garde and cutting edge and oh-so deep…what was his band called again?"

Me? I like the popular tunes like Smile and the rest of that surf stuff…

[guitarfool2002]

I think you're right Guitarfool, with the bio-doc coming out, the saleability of these sessions will soar. If the film's a success, many hip dudes will latch on to the Wilson aspect and lap up music such as this, as the obscure stuff will have an enigma that drives sales. There's always kudos in claiming to like the unreleased material above the hits. Maybe one day kids will be saying "okay yah. Brian Wilson, absolute genius dahling… love his work, very avante garde and cutting edge and oh-so deep…what was his band called again?"

Me? I like the popular tunes like Smile and the rest of that surf stuff…

Me too! My love of the Beach Boys started with an 8-track tape of Greatest Hits part 2 and grew from there, my obsession with the underground aspects of the Beach Boys took hold with the first unreleased Smile material I heard which led to the whole "unreleased" universe that existed outside The Beatles and concert soundboards, and all of it combined led to 2014. And Brian Wilson happens to be one of my biggest influences, yet I rarely listen to his solo albums for pleasure, and prefer his classics from the 60's for pure listening enjoyment.

So a release like this of the "Bedroom Tapes" should it ever happen would definitely go into the collection, but would I listen to it repeatedly? Would I put it on for pleasure listening? I'd reach for "All Summer Long", the "Party" SOT, all of the usual suspects before that. 

I'm just assuming such a hypothetical release would fall into the same category for a lot of us, whether everyone would admit it in public or not...   Essential, but not in the same category as the go-to albums. Therefore, a niche better suited to the "Brian" segments of the fan base.

[Ron]

To be honest when I read this thread, I was dissappointed that they weren't recent songs.  If the songs were decent from the 60's they would have already been released, I'd much rather hear new material from him. 

[Menace Wilson]

Here's a question: why would Beach Boys Inc. be inclined to release a set of Brian's "Bedroom Tapes" from this era, yet refrain from releasing re-mastered versions of the actual albums from this same period (namely "Friends," "Wild Honey," and "20/20")? 

My 2 cents: Such a release would better be geared to the "Brian Wilson" niche of the BB's fan universe. They may be better served for all kinds of reasons to somehow get the rights to them apart from a Beach Boys product, compile them in such a way that the Beach Boys' eventual use of any of these songs is a lesser point than the fact they are Brian Wilson home recordings, and put it out as a specialty kind of item under the name Brian Wilson.

It would sell more targeted to that fan niche, in my opinion, rather than making it a Beach Boys product.

Recall Pete Townshend and his "Lifehouse" tapes, not to mention his other demo releases. A lot of those solo Pete demos became Who classics, yet the home recordings Pete did to demo them and work them out were marketed as Pete Townshend solo works.

Did any hardcore Who fans mind that collections of Who demos from Townshend's home studio were released under Pete's name rather than The Who? The Brian home tapes are basically the same thing, sell them as such.

Sounds plausible to me.