THE BEACH BOYS 1964 KEEP AN EYE ON SUMMER (follow up to The Big Beat 1963)

[Smilin Ed H]

Not available in the UK ?

[edit]

OHFERFUCKSSAKE !

Try to buy from iTunes - "not available in the UK, changes to iTunes US".

So I do.

"This user ID is invalid in the US, change to iTunes UK".

Never bought from iTunes before, and now, I never will. Bunch of pox-ridden scrofulous shitweasels.

With very small dicks.

FFS

I'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers - again (please). Crazy, when I WANT to buy a copy.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well excuse me again, but why is it £13.99 over here when it's $11.99 (about £7.50) stateside. Oh, of course, it's the cost of shipping it across the Atlantic to Europe.

Seriously, WTactualF ?

I. Do. Not. Believe. This.

"iTunes has stopped working".

OK, anyone, before I explode - how do I get round this ? Nothing in my 'purchased' folder.

[Micha]

Well excuse me again, but why is it £13.99 over here when it's $11.99 (about £7.50) stateside.

Capitalism. Obviously there's more to squeeze out of Britishers than out of Americans.

I wonder whether I can purchase this in Germany, but after this I'm not inclined to try.

[Matt Bielewicz]

I know, Andrew, and I hear ya; the price disparity sucks. (Having said that, read my post above for the UK download link, if you haven't already!)

Depressingly, I guess the answer to your first question is: "because they can charge what they like". With an even more irritating side order of "and we don't care, because we know you'll pay it, especially for a niche release like this".

And even more awfully: they're right. I've just coughed up for it, and I will probably be suckered along into paying for The Big Beat now as well, high on the music (I may hold off on that one until I'm in a less excited frame of mind — ultimately, I really don't NEED a Bob & Sheri release from 1963 and a demo of The Ballad Of Ole Betsy *that* badly). The killer is that with other releases or things that you know will eventually be available as a silver CD, you know there's a chance they'll come out in a sale or be available second-hand for less. But this download-only stuff is ONLY available via iTunes initially, they can charge what they like, there's no other way to obtain it, and you can't get the best price by buying from the US store, because they limit by territory. It's a monopoly and it really, really sucks (...er, isn't this where I came in?).

But I've paid my money, so, yes, I too am guilty of upholding and perpetuating this state of affairs, because I want the music so much...

The thing is - with this release, it IS worth it, even at the UK price. I'm listening to the harmonies and backing track to The Warmth Of The Sun right now, and I reckon that track is worth 14 quid alone! And there are well over 30 tracks on this thing that have never been released in quite this way before, so yes, in this case, I am glad I've paid. But equally - do I wish this was coming out on a silver CD in an uncompressed version? You bet I do. I expect, however, that this material would never have got the go-ahead to be released unless it was as a low-cost download release (no CD manufacturing, no printing - just a comparatively small bill for Alan's time, Mark L's time and studio rental, and to c-man for his sleeve notes).

As you can tell, I immensely dislike download-only releases (my album collection numbers in the thousands, but I have a grand total of just three in download-only format. Well, four now!). But the truth is: if the the low-cost production cost of iTunes-based delivery means that the annual releases continue, and they're all as good as this one, I will be there each December with my 14 quid the minute the tracks hit the iTunes server. You pays yer money, and ya takes yer choice...!

Perhaps, one day when another 10-15 years have passed and all of the cream of the good stuff that could come from these annual copyright releases is out, there will be a boutique box set of all this stuff released on some physical medium (CD will probably be dead by then, but maybe Blu-Ray audio, or its successor if there is one). Or maybe, if the powers that be at BRI realise that we're prepared to pay for this kind of stuff sooner (like, if this 1964 digital compilation shifts decent numbers), there will be a backing track-orientated archival trawl and release sooner. We can but dream...

[The Shift]

Pono? That might be part of a way forward…

[Rocker]

Need this!
I'm also very excited about the live recordings. The boys were a great live act with Brian. After that it took some years before they really rocked again.


EDIT:

Why is the cover for the live shows reversed?

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Im just killing time until 2017 and the remaining Jasper Daily tracks.

[Matt Bielewicz]

Ploughing my way through it now. And, despite all my carping above about the delivery format, it does sound fershenliggen GREAT. Remember the excitement of listening to the SOT releases for the first time, hearing all the little things in the backing tracks and vocals that you'd never been able to make out before? Listening to this is a bit like that - except this time, it's been properly mixed first.

Plus, one thing the SOTs weren't good at was presenting the vocals in isolation. If you were lucky, you could OOPS out the backing track and hear them better, but it was hit or miss whether that would work, and even if it did, the resulting vocals were in mono.

Here, we've got true a capella mixes of some tracks from the original session tapes, and mostly properly mixed in stereo, for what, as far as I know, is the very first time. And it's bloody great. I'm not even done listening yet, and I'm in vocal heaven. Hell, even Wendy, a track I have ALWAYS hated, sounds brilliant in its vocal-only version, because the unadorned singing is just so good.

Ahh... Don't Worry Baby, Hushabye, The Girls On The Beach, I Get Around and of course The Warmth Of The Sun in partial track plus backing vocal mixes or full a capellas: this stuff is just the SOURCE of all known sonic greatness. Even the instrumental backing tracks with the backing vocals can be a revelation. She Knows Me Too Well, for example, when presented this way, allows you to appreciate the song even more than you did already (And I already thought it was terrfic, so...). There are mixes a bit like this on the SOT Today set for this track, but none were mixed as well as this. And the a capella mix... well, it's nothing short of beautiful.

Loving some of the out-takes, too. That 'Christmas Eve' track is going straight on the iPod for use in the kitchen over the next few weeks! And I'm not sure I've ever really listened to 'Let's Live Before We Die' properly before (I mean, I have the SOT it's on, but I guess I never focused on it closely). That could have been a beautiful track on Side 2 of Today or on Summer Days, if it had been finished. The performance of the take here is a bit rough, but it hints at greatness, with a really wild chord progression, the sort of thing Brian was living and breathing from 64 to 68.

I'm not a massive fan of live tracks - too often, it seems to me that they're just 'like the studio version, only not as well performed' - but there are some very spirited performances on here and I know that many BB fans like them more than I do anyway, so I expect they will go down well. The Concert out-take versions of I Get Around and Fun Fun Fun are really good performances, giving lie to the idea that the Beach Boys were weak performers in the early days. And for me, a confirmed fan of studio recordings, to say that, they must be good.

Yep. This set is definitely worth 14 British pounds. If you like the Beach Boys, live in the USA and can get it for even less from iTunes USA, there is no excuse for not buying it. It's stellar stuff for the hardcore BB fan. And you wouldn't be here reading this now if you didn't answer to that description so... go forth and listen to it!

[Matt Bielewicz]

Im just killing time until 2017 and the remaining Jasper Daily tracks.

Chin up, Bubba old bean, Ball and Mitt will be along before then!

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

I'd just like to repeat what several others have mentioned in case anyone involved are looking--this is a terrific release and thanks to Alan Boyd and Mark Linett and anyone else involved for making this possible.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

It's cool they did both the standard release AND the live double release with 2 rehearsals as well. Shame I have no money

[Matt Bielewicz]

I'd just like to repeat what several others have mentioned in case anyone involved are looking--this is a terrific release and thanks to Alan Boyd and Mark Linett and anyone else involved for making this possible.

Oh, yeah. A heartfelt 'Amen' to that from me!!!!!!

[bgas]

Thanxx to Dave Beard for pointing the way

I don't  do itunes; in fact I don't remember how I heard the  Big Beat( age) but maybe? I'll find this one the same way eventually

[Micha]

Why is the cover for the live shows reversed?

Just to see if anybody will notice!

[Rocker]

Why is the cover for the live shows reversed?

Just to see if anybody will notice!

 

Do you know if we can get this in Germany?


Ah, wouldn't you love to post the musicians credits to the Wrecking Crew facebook site? 




Btw a picture that I had never seen before from that appearance:

[Matt Bielewicz]

Ah, man. I've never really liked The Beach Boys' take on 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?', and have watched bemused as it has appeared on compilation after complilation, and been trotted out repeatedly at live show after live show, at Brian's shows, at Mike's shows - all over.


But listening to the backing track and stereo mix on this comp, I've seen the light. Forget cowbells, man. This sucker has MORE WOODBLOCKS! And it rocks!

Sorry to interrupt - you probably all knew this already. Back to your advertised programme...

[Micha]

Do you know if we can get this in Germany?

For the moment I can't tell, but I just checked, last year's "The Big Beat" is available as Amazon.de Download since this year's January, so I presume this will be on Amazon January 2015.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

It's $25 in Canada on itunes...

[37!ws]

Little hint: quite often you can find discounted iTunes codes/gift cards. I know here in the US Target often has 20% off sales, and sometimes you'll see discounted gift cards come up on sites like cardpool.com and deal aggregators such as dealmac.com, so if you want to save some money with this stuff, look into it...that's what I did for the Beatles' copyright extension release last year, while people were complaining about the price being $40 for about two CDs worth of material (yet the same exact people didn't blink an eye and spending $25 to $30 for the exact same material on bootleg CDs twenty years prior).

[Matt Bielewicz]

It's $25 in Canada on itunes...

Verily, like the UK price, this too bloweth.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Verily, like the UK price, this too bloweth.

  I think King Lear said the exact same thing.

[Jon Stebbins]

Nice to see that eight of these tracks are sourced from the Beach Boys multi-track reels I had a hand in discovering back in 2008, and so cool that the fans will get to hear more of those session outtakes and awesome stereo versions. Also really stoked about C-Man's informative sessionography. Please use this to settle any arguments about who played on what.

For anyone who doesn't know the back story on the Shut Down Vol 2 tapes I sort of "found" back in 2009, here's a local article on the story... http://www.newtimesslo.com/cover/3164/the-reel-deal/

[EgoHanger1966]

Is there a breakdown of what's new..... i.e what hasn't been sourced from previous releases? Has any of this been lifted from SOT? The Beatles copyright one from last year was pretty much exclusively bootleg copies. Anything copied over from "dubious releases" here or are these all fresh transfers?

[37!ws]

The Beatles' release was definitely NOT "bootleg copies" -- at least not the studio sessions...even with the compression that Apple uses, they sound MUCH better than any boot source I've ever heard (and even the boots are pretty impressive sounding).

[rab2591]

Egohanger, I'm pretty certain these are all fresh transfers. New stereo mixes for pretty much every track and everything sounds a thousand times better than SOT boots.