Place to Ask the Bedroom Tapes Author Your Questions

[alf wiedersehen]

After reading both articles, I felt like I had a lot of questions about these tapes. So, I found the author's email and sent him a message asking if he would answer questions. He swiftly wrote back asking where the questions would be published - I told him they would be published here - and gave me the go-ahead to send any questions I had.

So, I'm here to collect some questions that you guys may want to ask. When I get answers, I'll update everything here.

So, uh, ask away!

[pixletwin]

My question:

"What were you hoping would be accomplished by publishing these two articles?"

[urbanite]

Why were you given access to these tapes now?

[Mendota Heights]

What's the most fun thing you can do in a bedroom?

[Wirestone]

How many unreleased songs did you actually listen to?

[rab2591]

Tell him we all said thanks for answering the questions! Great idea to email him.

[bringahorseinhere?]

what are the drawbacks in releasing these songs to the public? not a good enough seller or enough interest? Brother Inc.? Brian?

RickB

[Mikie]

Why did you document so many songs that have been formally released? To make the article more robust and substantial? I understand that you are addressing a general audience. If some of these songs weren't released previously (not just the recently released MIC box set, but the '93 box set and 2-fer bonus tracks) then they have been bootlegged for many years. But I appreciate the little stories behind each one. Thr hardcores here understand that Brian Wilson was not just sleeping in his room during those years. Less productive for sure, but not totally unproductive.

[The Shift]

How many unreleased songs did you actually listen to?

This. ^

How many are booted and already in his collection, and how many (which) was he given special access to in order to write the piece.

What was the impetus for the piece - was he approached by Brian's manager with a suggestion that he write the piece, or was he himself realise there was a story in this eclectic pile of scattered recordings?

[Pretty Funky]

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


Anything else of note?

[Cabinessenceking]

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


Anything else of note?

You gotta be kiddingg


GOLDRUSH

[Shady]

Is there any possibility these recording will ever be released

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

During the 1973 and 1974 songs you've heard, did you notice any changes in Brian's voice?

[18thofMay]

When I come to the USA this year can you give me the key? Or let me in?

[Pretty Funky]

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


Anything else of note?

You gotta be kiddingg


GOLDRUSH

The Yukon I'm guessing!

http://www.pacifictitlearchives.com/index.html

[alf wiedersehen]

Alright, I sent him the first round of questions. We should hopefully see some answers tomorrow.

I apologize if your (entire) question doesn't get asked. I don't want to overwhelm him with our questions.
Do keep them coming, though! I'll send him some more after he answers the first few.

[Quzi]

Based on the article, I'm not sure if he heard them or not but man, I'd love to know how complete the revised Friends tracks are and what type of production styling they have. No lead vocals? No problem, give us versions of the instrumental tracks and then versions with flown in vocals from the Friends album.

[Quzi]

Ooh, if we go for round two of question time, I'd like to know if the alternate version of I'd Love Just Once to See You is a different mix. I always thought those end vocals were a little buried, one would hope if they're the standout in an extended tag they'd be a bit louder, right? Would be even more awesome to hear that it's in stereo - would bridge the sonic stage between Wild Honey and Friends nicely.

[alf wiedersehen]

First bout of answers:

Hi [Bubbly Waves],

Below are my answers.

"Why were you given access to these tapes now?"

Like a number of historians in the Beach Boys circle, I've had access for a while. Official access, I had only one time -- in 2003, when I co-produced a documentary for the Carl WIlson Foundation with Alan Boyd, BRI's official archivist. In non-official ways, I've been privvy, through the years, to a number of unreleased and unpublished recordings. To the non-journalist, this whole notion may seem unbelievable. For those who write for a living, it's quite a natural relationship that the writer develops with those who have greater access than they.

"What was the impetus for the piece?"

I wrote an article for "L.A. Weekly" about a '90s band called Moog Cookbook. It got a great response. The editor of the paper asked me if I had anything else I wanted to write about. I gave him a few ideas and he liked the "Bedroom Tapes" one the best.

"How many unreleased songs did you actually listen to?"

Most of the ones described, not including titles for which tapes have never been found.

"What were you hoping would be accomplished by publishing these two articles?"

To shed new light on Brian WIlson's activity during the period when he was thought to be largely inactive. Taken as isolated cuts on Beach Boys albums or the occassional outtake on boxed sets or bonus tracks, the notion of inactivity still feels correct. Taken as a body of work from a period of six years, it tells a different story.

"Have you been in contact with BRI, Inc. at all about this?"

Yes, I have. Not recently, however. The story is somewhat complicated, but I'll try to keep it simple. I got into "Smile" in the mid-'90s and wrote on many of the early internet mailing lists and message boards. I met collectors like Bob Hanes and Domenic Priore, befriended archivists like David Leaf and Alan Boyd. By the late '90s, I took a special liking to the handful of Brian Wilson cuts on '70s Beach Boys albums and some of the outtakes and started asking questions to see if there was anything more. I asked Priore and he said it was possible, as a number of demos had been bootlegged through the years. It was Priore who told me that Terry Melcher likened Brian Wilson to Aesop in the early-to-mid-'70s and so Domenic and I initially starting calling these unreleased BW works "The Aesop Tapes."

In 2001, I started filming a documentary about this whole era and interviewed a bunch of people on camera -- Stephen Kalinich, Blondie Chaplin, Steven Desper, Ricky Fataar, eight or so more. I then cut a trailer for the film. I spoke with Irving-Almo, who owns the publishing to Brian's catalog, and they were willing to license the songs for my film project. The problem was that much of what I wanted for the film was unpublished. I contacted Eliott Lott at BRI and got no answer on the unpublished Brian Wilson material. I contacted Jean Sievers, Brian's manager, as well, and heard crickets there. I changed directions and tried to get inside, which happened briefly with a few film projects and a few tour programmes, which I wrote for BriMel, always hoping to one day get to do the film on the "Aesop Tapes." I did get to interview Brian himself in 2003 for the Carl Wilson Foundation film and he answered several questions regarding "Mt. Vernon and Fairyway," as well as the "Aesop Tapes."

In 2009, I contacted a producer at the BBC and we worked for a year and a half to revive the concept of the documentary, which was renamed, "The Beach Boys: Lost at Sea" (their title, not mine). Both myself and BBC producer Jonty Claypole spoke with Elliott Lott of BRI, but we never procured a commitment from BRI to get the unpublished material needed for the BBC version of the film. Thus, it once again died on the vine. Honestly, I'd sort of buried the whole idea, until Ben Westoff of "L.A. Weekly" offered publish these two overviews of my concept. As we got going, I changed it from the "Aesop Tapes" to the "Bedroom Tapes," because, well, "Aesop" required some inside knowledge, but the name Brian Wilson seemed pretty much synonymous with "bedroom." It was just a cute title, based in Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes." But I think it works.

[Jim V.]

Ok, here's a few questions...

Did he get to hear "Pa Let Her Go Out"? Was it the same track as "Better Get Back In Bed" but just with different lyrics? Or just a demo? And who sang lead?

I notice he wrote nothing about the whereabouts of a possible recording of "Pattycake". Any word on whether one exists?

For the section about "Brian's Jam" did he actually mean "Brian's Tune"? Because he states that "Brian's Jam" was recorded in Colorado, while both Alan Boyd and Andrew G. Doe have claimed it was done in California.

Did he get to hear "Funky Fever"? Because beyond the description of it as a "Spring outtake" there's really no info, which leads me to believe that song might be lost.

And lastly...

Did he get to hear the 1974 version of "Clangin'"? Because while the song is mentioned, I did notice there was no description. Only the stuff about Lennon, Dolenz, Brian and Nilsson, and then the bit about Dolenz having a tape of Brian and Harry jammin' on "Clangin'".

Anyways, it would be super, super awesome if he answered these for me!

[Jim V.]

Based on the article, I'm not sure if he heard them or not but man, I'd love to know how complete the revised Friends tracks are and what type of production styling they have. No lead vocals? No problem, give us versions of the instrumental tracks and then versions with flown in vocals from the Friends album.

Well, this is just an assumption on my part, but keep in mind that the songs were being rewritten with new lyrics supposedly, to make them more palatable for cover versions or something. So I would imagine there would be vocals on these tracks.

However, the interesting thing to me is weren't these supposed to be rewritten lyrics to the earlier stuff? Like "Don't Worry Baby" without the car references and such. Whereas it this project was more focused on the Friends album for whatever reason. Also very interesting that along with "Friends", "Passing By" and "Wake the World" was Dennis' "Be Still". Usually people don't associate Brian with even thinking about the other members songs, so this was interesting.

[Quzi]

Well, this is just an assumption on my part, but keep in mind that the songs were being rewritten with new lyrics supposedly, to make them more palatable for cover versions or something. So I would imagine there would be vocals on these tracks.

I definitely wouldn't rule it out vocals as a possibility, but I can't help but feel that if any of those tracks had a lead vocal by a Beach Boys, we would have at least heard about them long ago. I like Tandyn Almer and wouldn't object to hearing him sing some new lyrics over some trippy moogarama version of Wake the World, but if digital manipulation can get a 1968 Brian Wilson lead on something like that, my ears are at the ready.

Also very interesting that along with "Friends", "Passing By" and "Wake the World" was Dennis' "Be Still". Usually people don't associate Brian with even thinking about the other members songs, so this was interesting.

I thought the same until I remembered American Spring did "Forever". That said, "Forever" is definitely a more commercial song than "Be Still", I wonder what they did with it...

[Niko]

Based on the article, I'm not sure if he heard them or not but man, I'd love to know how complete the revised Friends tracks are and what type of production styling they have. No lead vocals? No problem, give us versions of the instrumental tracks and then versions with flown in vocals from the Friends album.

I wrote Stan Shapiro yesterday and asked if he could tell me anything about the re-written Friends tracks. I'll let you know know what I find out 

[Quzi]

I wrote Stan Shapiro yesterday and asked if he could tell me anything about the re-written Friends tracks. I'll let you know know what I find out 

 

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Thank you Bubbly Waves for facilitating this Q&A. Some very interesting background in this first set of answers. Some insight into the deep and dark underbelly that is BRI.