Mike’s new PBS special (and an interesting new BBs compilation)

[rab2591]

Holy hell....that looks like Bob Ross  tried to paint a portrait of Penn &  Teller using watercolors while tripping on shrooms.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

[“Big Daddy”]

My initial report upon listening to the Beach Boys disc:

The ’80s tracks sound good. The version of “Summer In Paradise” is the Wembley version. And as for the a cappella “All Summer Long,” it’s just an edited version of what was released on Keep An Eye On Summer (none of the intro matter).

For the curious, there’s information on all five discs of the CD set on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/label/1082964-Beach-Music-Classics.

[HeyJude]

I at least feel better that Mike's *two* re-recordings, "Surfin' USA" and "Do It Again", are not on the BB disc but are found within the other four discs of "Beach Music Classics."

I would imagine perhaps some other BRI shareholders wouldn't have wanted Mike solo tracks mixed in with BB tracks, especially when, unlike say Brian's "California Feelin'", Mike's tracks are old BB hits.

Would be interesting to hear the mastering on the "Still Cruisin'" tracks on this new CD, though I think that stuff was recorded and mixed sounding a bit thin. The actual mastering on the original 1989 "Still Cruisin'" CD is actually fine, so I would guess the main thing on the new CD might be that everything is of course mastered louder.

I still think it's beyond odd that Mike needed to re-record "Do It Again" *again*! What's next? A re-imagining of "Goin' to the Beach?"

Would be cool if someone could throw those two Mike re-recordings up on YouTube to hear.

[Jim V.]

Would be cool if someone could throw those two Mike re-recordings up on YouTube to hear.

I sure would be interested to hear those two recordings as well.

Especially interested to hear how Mike comes off on these as his voice has been thinning a bit lately and it might be harder for him to get that sound he got on the original versions of these tunes.

[HeyJude]

I'd be curious to know if that Michael Lloyd guy, who produced last year's "Alone on Christmas Day", produced these two BB re-recordings. That Christmas track was over-processed and way too wet, and had either autotune or some sort of vocal processing on Mike's voice.

I thought even the full BB re-recording of "Do It Again" from 2011 was only marginally interesting; it really had more to do with seeing and hearing them together again. I can't imagine another re-recording, this time without Al or Brian (and who knows if Bruce is even on Mike's new recordings; he doesn't even seem to often get involved in Mike's recording projects), and presumably with as many if not more Fosketts than the 2011 version, would sound anything but less interesting.

[SMiLE Brian]

Mike loves to "do it again" again and again.....

[Eric Aniversario]

Are the re-recorded tracks the same as on the 1996 catch a wave promo CD that Mike released?

[“Big Daddy”]

Are the re-recorded tracks the same as on the 1996 catch a wave promo CD that Mike released?

No, the re-records are pretty recent. Mike sounds somewhat robotic à la “Alone On Christmas Day” but in general very good. The recordings rock more and sound more full than the Baker recordings. And you can pick out Jeff and Bruce’s voices in the background.

[Jim V.]

Are the re-recorded tracks the same as on the 1996 catch a wave promo CD that Mike released?

No, the re-records are pretty recent. Mike sounds somewhat robotic à la “Alone On Christmas Day” but in general very good. The recordings rock more and sound more full than the Baker recordings. And you can pick out Jeff and Bruce’s voices in the background.

Yeah, the re-records are definitely fuller than the Baker recordings. Definitely hearing Bruce on the "hey-now" part of "Do It Again" although I don't hear him on "Surfin' U.S.A."

I'll have to respectfully disagree on the robotic thing though Mr. Big Daddy. I don't hear robotic as much as I hear an older Mike who's voice just simply isn't as strong as it used to be, so it's a little wavery. However, I much prefer his vocal on these 2 songs to most of the vocals on the Baker material.

[“Big Daddy”]

I'll have to respectfully disagree on the robotic thing though Mr. Big Daddy. I don't hear robotic as much as I hear an older Mike who's voice just simply isn't as strong as it used to be, so it's a little wavery. However, I much prefer his vocal on these 2 songs to most of the vocals on the Baker material.

I guess I misspoke; Mike’s voice is natural sounding, but you can tell at points is being autotuned/processed/what have you. More noticeably on “Surfin’ USA.”

[Eric Aniversario]

If these were available digitally, I'd definitely buy them.

So for those who've heard them: what's better: the 2012 C50 do it again, or the Mike Love 2016?

[Jim V.]

If these were available digitally, I'd definitely buy them.

So for those who've heard them: what's better: the 2012 C50 do it again, or the Mike Love 2016?

In my opinion C50 is one hundred times better. The C50 version sounded like THE BEACH BOYS which is huge of course, and also I thought the production was good. I thought Mike and Brian both sounded really nice on it too. Mike's solo version....I can say I do like hearing Bruce loud and clear on the "hey now" part, but overall I think Mike's voice is weaker than the C50 version and the overall sound is demo-ish.

[Eric Aniversario]

If these were available digitally, I'd definitely buy them.

So for those who've heard them: what's better: the 2012 C50 do it again, or the Mike Love 2016?

In my opinion C50 is one hundred times better. The C50 version sounded like THE BEACH BOYS which is huge of course, and also I thought the production was good. I thought Mike and Brian both sounded really nice on it too. Mike's solo version....I can say I do like hearing Bruce loud and clear on the "hey now" part, but overall I think Mike's voice is weaker than the C50 version and the overall sound is demo-ish.

Thanks! I'll wait for this to pop up on eBay or something, but definitely not going to go out of my way for it! I used to be a completist with officially released stuff, but I'll have to settle with being a 99%ist instead.