Place to Ask the Bedroom Tapes Author Your Questions

[Mikie]

Chidester use to post on ALL of the boards. Wouldn't be surprised if he's the author here. It's definitely somebody who use to post here that still has an account.

[bossaroo]

  
I'm a little confused. The article states that LA Weekly was "recently granted access" to nearly 60 titles in the Beach Boys archive on Vanowen Street which are described as "a newly unearthed musical treasure trove" ...but the author is now stating that he was only granted official access once in 2003. Correct?

he also states that he has heard "Most of the ones described, not including titles for which tapes have never been found."
the list of songs in the follow-up article total 56 titles. nearly 60, but several of those have already been released, and several others have reportedly never been found.

So how many still-unreleased 68-74 songs are in the archive on Vanowen Street?

[bgas]

Chidester use to post on ALL of the boards. Wouldn't be surprised if he's the author here. It's definitely somebody who use to post here that still has an account.

 Maybe you'd be even less surprised if you actually read the articles and noted Brian Chidester was listed as the author?

[runnersdialzero]

tho light. tho BUTTERy. tho deliciouth.

[Mikie]

Chidester use to post on ALL of the boards. Wouldn't be surprised if he's the author here. It's definitely somebody who use to post here that still has an account.

 Maybe you'd be even less surprised if you actually read the articles and noted Brian Chidester was listed as the author?

Nope, didn't read the whole thing. Nice guess though, wasn't it board smart-ass?

[Jay]

So, it was Carl, in a roundabout away, that supplied the California Feelin' demo that ended up on the MIC box set. Very interesting. It's little revelations like this that remind us why this is and always will be the best source for Beach Boys information. It's also a poignant tribute to him that a recording from his personal collection was used for his band's project.   

[The Shift]

 
I'm a little confused. The article states that LA Weekly was "recently granted access" to nearly 60 titles in the Beach Boys archive on Vanowen Street which are described as "a newly unearthed musical treasure trove" ...but the author is now stating that he was only granted official access once in 2003. Correct?

Suspect we might have to allow for a little journalistic licence for the editor to justify putting the article out there. A 13-year-old limited listening experience wouldn't have sold the piece to as many readers so easily and we might not be discussing the stuff today otherwise.

I wonder if a publication such as ESQ for fans, or Record Collector, might be able to offer a placing for the extended article?

[Ron]

Thanks Bubbly Waves for this. Very interesting.

Not too surprising that BRI don`t want this stuff released.

Yeah, but shocking that BriMel doesn't. Very shocking. But there's still time. In a couple of years...

You're shocked Sheriff? I don't know, I'm not really. At first I did think this whole article was being backed by either BRI or BriMel, but I guess I was wrong. But if you look at this material honestly, there really isn't a whole lot of "there" there. I mean, a lot of the more interesting "Beach Boys centered" material would probably be issued on either reissues of the core albums or maybe a rarities comp like Hawthorne, CA or something. And by "Beach Boys centered" material I mean stuff like "Pa, Let Her Go Out" and also the alternate versions of "Whistle In", "I'd Love Just Once To See You", "All I Wanna Do" and the like.

Then you have the Brian demos and/or solo performances. What do we have available to choose from? I suppose you still got the second, goofier take of "California Feelin'" from 1974, "Lucy Jones", "Awake", "My Little Red Book", the 1975 version of "In the Back of My Mind" and so on. Now this would be a sensible release. If you collect a bunch of these together, maybe throw something previously released on there like the "Don't Talk" demo or "Surf's Up 1967", and put it together and market it nicely, I think it could work.

However, I don't think it would be very intelligent to throw unfinished/instrumental stuff like "Rooftop Harry", "Spark in the Dark" and "Brian's Jam" in the middle of a "Brian demos" type thing. Possibly these would be smart to use on a bonus disc to that set. That I could see working. Truthfully, this is why The Beach Boys need something like Dagger Records (Jimi Hendrix' sister Janie's label that issues material that likely doesn't warrant a full scale commercial release). You could put out albums of jams, backing tracks, and instrumentals for people like us, without confusing the average fan. It really would make sense. And hopefully soon they can figure something out.

Back in the days of "Napster", Brian was one of the people who spoke out against it.  He basically said that as an artist, he doesn't want unfinished music out there that isn't the way he wants people to hear it (I guess he was talking about bootlegs being spread around on there).

so personally, I think he's pretty against releasing unreleased stuff.  Of course they've released all kinds of unreleased stuff over the years, but Brian hasn't really solo.  I think he reserves the right to keep stuff locked up, and rerecord it litearlly 30 years later or whatever.

[Ron]

 
I'm a little confused. The article states that LA Weekly was "recently granted access" to nearly 60 titles in the Beach Boys archive on Vanowen Street which are described as "a newly unearthed musical treasure trove" ...but the author is now stating that he was only granted official access once in 2003. Correct?

he also states that he has heard "Most of the ones described, not including titles for which tapes have never been found."
the list of songs in the follow-up article total 56 titles. nearly 60, but several of those have already been released, and several others have reportedly never been found.

So how many still-unreleased 68-74 songs are in the archive on Vanowen Street?

It's called, poetic license.  Nobody's going to say "10 years ago, I got to hear a bunch of songs that you can find on bootlegs floating around the internet, and a few pretty unconsequential ones that weren't even good enough to get bootlegged"

Instead you get "Recently unearthed a treasure trove of 60 unreleased gems from the genius Brian Wilson"

[Sheriff John Stone]

Thanks Bubbly Waves for this. Very interesting.

Not too surprising that BRI don`t want this stuff released.

Yeah, but shocking that BriMel doesn't. Very shocking. But there's still time. In a couple of years...

You're shocked Sheriff? I don't know, I'm not really. At first I did think this whole article was being backed by either BRI or BriMel, but I guess I was wrong. But if you look at this material honestly, there really isn't a whole lot of "there" there. I mean, a lot of the more interesting "Beach Boys centered" material would probably be issued on either reissues of the core albums or maybe a rarities comp like Hawthorne, CA or something. And by "Beach Boys centered" material I mean stuff like "Pa, Let Her Go Out" and also the alternate versions of "Whistle In", "I'd Love Just Once To See You", "All I Wanna Do" and the like.

Then you have the Brian demos and/or solo performances. What do we have available to choose from? I suppose you still got the second, goofier take of "California Feelin'" from 1974, "Lucy Jones", "Awake", "My Little Red Book", the 1975 version of "In the Back of My Mind" and so on. Now this would be a sensible release. If you collect a bunch of these together, maybe throw something previously released on there like the "Don't Talk" demo or "Surf's Up 1967", and put it together and market it nicely, I think it could work.

However, I don't think it would be very intelligent to throw unfinished/instrumental stuff like "Rooftop Harry", "Spark in the Dark" and "Brian's Jam" in the middle of a "Brian demos" type thing. Possibly these would be smart to use on a bonus disc to that set. That I could see working. Truthfully, this is why The Beach Boys need something like Dagger Records (Jimi Hendrix' sister Janie's label that issues material that likely doesn't warrant a full scale commercial release). You could put out albums of jams, backing tracks, and instrumentals for people like us, without confusing the average fan. It really would make sense. And hopefully soon they can figure something out.

Back in the days of "Napster", Brian was one of the people who spoke out against it.  He basically said that as an artist, he doesn't want unfinished music out there that isn't the way he wants people to hear it (I guess he was talking about bootlegs being spread around on there).

so personally, I think he's pretty against releasing unreleased stuff.  Of course they've released all kinds of unreleased stuff over the years, but Brian hasn't really solo.  I think he reserves the right to keep stuff locked up, and rerecord it litearlly 30 years later or whatever.

I think Brian can be, um....influenced to release the stuff. No re-recording is necessary, but, since you mentioned re-recording, if there was ever an artist who would be open or, again, influenced to re-record material, Brian is our boy!

[LeeDempsey]

 
I'm a little confused. The article states that LA Weekly was "recently granted access" to nearly 60 titles in the Beach Boys archive on Vanowen Street which are described as "a newly unearthed musical treasure trove" ...but the author is now stating that he was only granted official access once in 2003. Correct?

he also states that he has heard "Most of the ones described, not including titles for which tapes have never been found."
the list of songs in the follow-up article total 56 titles. nearly 60, but several of those have already been released, and several others have reportedly never been found.

So how many still-unreleased 68-74 songs are in the archive on Vanowen Street?

It's called, poetic license.  Nobody's going to say "10 years ago, I got to hear a bunch of songs that you can find on bootlegs floating around the internet, and a few pretty unconsequential ones that weren't even good enough to get bootlegged"

Instead you get "Recently unearthed a treasure trove of 60 unreleased gems from the genius Brian Wilson"

I was just writing something similar... The last time I was in L.A. I got to spend an evening with Alan Boyd, and he allowed me to put on a pair of headphones and listen to digital reference files of a number of tracks -- including some of those described here.  Not a unique occurrence for folks who have spent years collecting, researching, and writing about the Beach Boys, and who know Alan well.  

So you could say I was also "recently granted access to selections from the Beach Boys' unreleased catalog stored at Vanowen Street."  The imagery of walking into a room with walls of master tapes, and a Studer 2-track, a Scully 4-track, a 3M 8-track, an Ampex 16-track, a mixing console, a McIntosh tube preamp/amp, Advent studio monitors, and a tape engineer at one's disposal is just that -- imagery.  But that imagery makes for a much better print article than "I got to listen to FLAC files of a bunch of songs on a laptop."  Just sayin'...

Lee

[KittyKat]

It's called bad journalism. Poetic license didn't used to be okay, but I guess it is for the Internet age.

[bgas]

Ahh, time is relative. What's a few years in the overall scheme of things?

[superunison]

Question for the author, since I couldn't get a response in another thread:

Regarding "Our Happy Home" and  "You're As Cool As Can Be," do either of these titles refer to the track "Unknown Instrumental (Rehearsals)" on Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 20 - Friends, 20/20, and Odds & Ends??? The description in the article of Happy Home could apply to this track...

Or perhaps someone on the board has another title for this short instrumental...

[Pretty Funky]

"Was there anything else of note at the Beach Boy archive that you visited?"

I only visited for two days in 2003. I took pictures of tapeboxes and Alan Boyd and I chose a few masters that we thought might be of interest for the Carl Wilson Foundation documentary. During that time, Gina Wilson, Carl's widow, sent back a few tapes that Carl had in his home at the time he passed. No one knows why Carl had them, but they were the 1974 demos of "California Feelin'" and "Lucy Jones." That was a total thrill.


and...

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.

The question of 'anything else of note' was mine and although I have no idea, both above statements could be correct. I read it to be yes, he went to the facility with Alan Boyd on a CWF related visit only, however subsequently he was entrusted to hear some of the tapes in that facility (the bedroom tapes) only years later.

[Jim V.]

Hey Bubbly, I don't know if you are still in contact with Mr. Chidester, but if you are, I still have a few questions, so.....

Did you hear "Lucy Jones"? If you did, does Brian sing a substantial part of the lead, or is it mostly Stephen Kalinich? Also, what's the vibe of it? More '"oldie"-ish?

About how long was "Pa, Let Her Go Out"? Was it just a miniature little section, or a few minutes long? Enough to be considered a "song"?

The version of "Our Sweet Love" with the "solo vocals" by Brian is just the version with him at the end right? Not actually singing any kinda lead, right?

I know the tape is missing, but do you have any confirmation that "Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin'" is just another name for "Gimme Some Lovin'"? And also while we're at it, did you interview David Sandler at all for all of this? I'm sure he'd be pretty helpful on all of this stuff.

[alf wiedersehen]

I'll be sure to ask him your questions.

I was in contact with him yesterday, asking about the "Untitled Instrumental" on UM 20 (superunison's question).
I haven't got a response about it yet, but when he responds, I'll send him your questions.

[Jim V.]

I'll be sure to ask him your questions.

I was in contact with him yesterday, asking about the "Untitled Instrumental" on UM 20 (superunison's question).
I haven't got a response about it yet, but when he responds, I'll send him your questions.

Thank you so much.  You've really done quite a service for the board in communicating with Mr. Chidester.

[Myk Luhv]

I have a question for the author as well: If you recall, did you find anything noteworthy regarding Brian's seemingly new-found interest in, emphasis on, and shift towards composing on analogue synthesizers during this period that these tapes might shed light upon?

It seems to me it was around the time they began recording what would eventually be reconfigured for release into Sunflower that Brian had already been experimenting with synthesizers and having them -- rather than keyboards -- be the bedrock for his tracks with increased frequency. I find that shift just as interesting as when he began composing primarily on keyboards rather than guitars (The Beach Boys Today! seems to be where this was most obviously introduced sonically). Any further info about this kind of stuff would be very interesting to hear about should there be anything worth mentioning!

[Jay]

I also wonder if he could shed any light on what A Day In The Life Of A Tree sung by Dennis would sound like. Was his lead vocal on it the "unique factor" of it? Or was the recording of the entire song itself significantly different to what ended up being released on the Surf's Up album?

[Jim V.]

It seems to me it was around the time they began recording what would eventually be reconfigured for release into Sunflower that Brian had already been experimenting with synthesizers and having them -- rather than keyboards -- be the bedrock for his tracks with increased frequency. I find that shift just as interesting as when he began composing primarily on keyboards rather than guitars (The Beach Boys Today! seems to be where this was most obviously introduced sonically).

I find your question interesting about the synthesizers, but about the composing being done on "primarily guitars" earlier, I don't think that is true. I'm pretty sure Brian nearly always composed primarily on the keyboard. Although apparently "Melt Away" grew out of a bass line or something, and supposedly some early stuff.

[Myk Luhv]

It seems to me it was around the time they began recording what would eventually be reconfigured for release into Sunflower that Brian had already been experimenting with synthesizers and having them -- rather than keyboards -- be the bedrock for his tracks with increased frequency. I find that shift just as interesting as when he began composing primarily on keyboards rather than guitars (The Beach Boys Today! seems to be where this was most obviously introduced sonically).

I find your question interesting about the synthesizers, but about the composing being done on "primarily guitars" earlier, I don't think that is true. I'm pretty sure Brian nearly always composed primarily on the keyboard. Although apparently "Melt Away" grew out of a bass line or something, and supposedly some early stuff.

Ah, well, I am assuming that their early songs sound a lot more guitar-driven until you get to Today!... where the shift in emphasis (maybe that's more what I'm getting at than his composing on or for) is much more obviously a keyboard-based sound rather than focusing on guitars per se.

[Jim V.]

It seems to me it was around the time they began recording what would eventually be reconfigured for release into Sunflower that Brian had already been experimenting with synthesizers and having them -- rather than keyboards -- be the bedrock for his tracks with increased frequency. I find that shift just as interesting as when he began composing primarily on keyboards rather than guitars (The Beach Boys Today! seems to be where this was most obviously introduced sonically).

I find your question interesting about the synthesizers, but about the composing being done on "primarily guitars" earlier, I don't think that is true. I'm pretty sure Brian nearly always composed primarily on the keyboard. Although apparently "Melt Away" grew out of a bass line or something, and supposedly some early stuff.

Ah, well, I am assuming that their early songs sound a lot more guitar-driven until you get to Today!... where the shift in emphasis (maybe that's more what I'm getting at than his composing on or for) is much more obviously a keyboard-based sound rather than focusing on guitars per se.

That I agree with. A lot of the earlier things were more "guitar rock" whereas a lot of the stuff from like 1965 and after really weren't.

[bossaroo]

The version of "Our Sweet Love" with the "solo vocals" by Brian is just the version with him at the end right? Not actually singing any kinda lead, right?

not according to his description:

"Our Sweet Love" (early version)  - Wilson's early version of this tender Sunflower ballad features his own solo vocals over a basic piano and drum track, which brother Carl Wilson later fleshed out by adding strings and harmony vocals.

[LeeDempsey]

The version of "Our Sweet Love" with the "solo vocals" by Brian is just the version with him at the end right? Not actually singing any kinda lead, right?

not according to his description:

"Our Sweet Love" (early version)  - Wilson's early version of this tender Sunflower ballad features his own solo vocals over a basic piano and drum track, which brother Carl Wilson later fleshed out by adding strings and harmony vocals.

I do believe that this is referring to the version that has appeared on collector's tapes (and the "Get the B**t" compilation) -- which has piano, drums, bass, and a very minimalist string quartet arrangement, along with Brian's wordless scatting vocals and oohs from beginning to end, and Brian's alternate "Love you baby, and I can tell you that-a our sweet love is, just like-a honey our sweet loooove" lead vocal on the ending.  Chidester never refers to a complete Brian lead vocal, just "solo vocals" -- which this version has plenty of.  Carl would later take this, and add his lead vocal, group harmonies, more strings, guitar, and percussion, to finish it off -- and in the process also bury most of Brian's vocals in the mix.

Lee