Favorite Bonus Tracks on Two-fers

[harrisonjon]

1) Celebrate the News

2) I'm So Young (flute version)

3) Old Folks At Home/Ol' Man River (would love to hear the arrangement live)

4) Let Him Run Wild (stereo, alternate take)

[Adult Child]

I only have the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey and Friends/2020 twofers.

1. We're Together Again
2. Walk On By
3. Can't Wait Too Long
4. Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River

[Matt H]

1. Celebrate The News
2. All Dressed Up For School
3. Walk On By
4. California Girls - Track

[RangeRoverA1]

"Little Saint Nick" to the "Drive-In" melody
"Old Folks at Home/ Ol' Man River"
"Don't Back Down" alternate

[guitarfool2002]

Hands down...the Chuck Britz "single mix" of Heroes And Villains. Getting that out officially was epic.

Same 2-fer "Graduation Day" from Hawaii '67. Brian channeling Bob Flanigan and nailing the Freshmen sound. Terrific.

[Jukka]

SmileyWild and Friends20 - sometimes I even feel those two bonus sets are their two best albums. If they were albums.

[Hickory Violet Part IV]

Hands down...the Chuck Britz "single mix" of Heroes And Villains.

God yes! I bought the twofers as they were released  (a month or so apart if I remember) I was SO excited to get the SS/WH one as I was sure there would be some Smile material on there. Had to travel to another town to get it as they didn't have it where I lived. I had to track it down. I remember shrieking in HMV as I read the tracklisting and saw H&V alternate version and Cant wait too long (which was still considered a Smile track prior to this releaee). All those poodle permed Megadeth fans must have wondered what the hell was going on.

Had to take it to my girlfriends house as I didn't have  a CD player yet.

The excitement had built to fever pitch.

That version of H&V, wow. It certainly lived up to expectation and the promise of Smile. Hearing the familiar verses in a unfamiliar way, then the Cantina section coming in. Wow.......

Its hard to appreciate now, but this was the first new Smile material to come out since Surfs Up. It was  major event. It certainly lives as a  very fresh memory for me.

I miss life before the internet.

[Jay]

Hands down...the Chuck Britz "single mix" of Heroes And Villains.

I miss life before the internet.

Ah, yes....I know that dilemma well. On one hand, you have researchers and archivists on your "friend list" on Facebook, and all the boots and out of print cd's and albums at your beckoned call. One quick click on e-bay or Amazon is all it takes to buy something. On the other hand, it takes away from the "experience" of searching for something.  There is something about sitting on the floor of a used cd and album store, and spending three hours looking through an unorganized mess only to find that gem you've been searching over a decade for. I remember a time in pre-internet days where you didn't know a recording had circulated(or even existed) until you bought it yourself on a cd you happened to find accidentally.

[JK]

All the bonus tracks on the SS/WH 2fer but most of all "THWFOS" and "CWTL".

I still remember the first time I heard "CWTL" kick in after its a capella predecessor. It was like entering an entirely new world. It still sounds that way!

[guitarfool2002]

Hands down...the Chuck Britz "single mix" of Heroes And Villains.

I miss life before the internet.

Ah, yes....I know that dilemma well. On one hand, you have researchers and archivists on your "friend list" on Facebook, and all the boots and out of print cd's and albums at your beckoned call. One quick click on e-bay or Amazon is all it takes to buy something. On the other hand, it takes away from the "experience" of searching for something.  There is something about sitting on the floor of a used cd and album store, and spending three hours looking through an unorganized mess only to find that gem you've been searching over a decade for. I remember a time in pre-internet days where you didn't know a recording had circulated(or even existed) until you bought it yourself on a cd you happened to find accidentally.

I'm nostalgic for those days too. I remember getting a Boston phone book and calling the video rental shops looking for a copy of "An American Band", because it was out of circulation and unavailable   . Then there was Goldmine and Discoveries with all those listings and "send SASE for list" ads. I went through a lot of stamps. Beatle zines, record shows (where if you didn't have the cash, the less upstanding 'dealers' had cassette copies that ran a few ips too fast of the latest CD bootlegs, better than nothing.), the cool shops that had the actual silverdiscs for 25 bucks a pop. All that stuff - good times and the search was as much a part of the fun as finding what you were looking for. Navigating the Boston T to find certain shops, then there was one where the upstairs had the bins and if you went into their basement, it was literally stacks and stacks of LP's and 45's scattered around. Overwhelming. There was a shop around the corner from where I lived which would take in stacks of vinyl from people, and one morning I went there as they were opening. A stack of vinyls was on the counter, the guy said "help yourself" to my buddy and I, they weren't going to be putting them in the racks. It was mostly all original 60's and early 70's vinyl, I guess just not as high-quality condition wise as what the shop wanted to stock, so we helped ourselves. Multiple copies of original Rubber Soul pressings and other Beatle Capitol albums, 5th Dimension, Tim Hardin, I think BB's Greatest Hits vol 1 was in there, etc. Unreal. What a gift.

Getting a bootleg dub of Let It Be on VHS for Christmas 1989...that was cool!

But I can say that i shared the experience of hearing Heroes that first time when the "Cantina" section started up...That was a moment which could be called enlightenment mixed with ecstasy mixed with jaw-dropping awe. I couldn't get over the beauty of those first few bars and the melody Brian was singing. Knocked me out, changed me forever. I still have been trying to figure out how one goes about creating such a song that ebbs and flows and changes like that unused mix of Heroes had done so well.

[EgoHanger1966]

"I Do" - such a knockout track.

[guitarfool2002]

SmileyWild and Friends20 - sometimes I even feel those two bonus sets are their two best albums. If they were albums.

That's a good point, some of the 2-fers made great standalone "new" albums in a way, especially when the albums themselves were more like bookends from the same era. I'd add the Today/Summer Days CD to that list. And later, it was great to have available the Sunflower/Surfs Up 2-fer where you could have all of those great Stephen Desper mixes together on one disc. Some fans disagree with the repackaging, but I thought the 2-fer series both Capitol and Brother were great products for fans even if the original vibe of having a single album wasn't there. I also think when they reverted back to single-disc reissues, it was a rip-off in terms of fans buying them. You would pay nearly the same for a half-hour of Wild Honey as fans just before had paid for well over an hour of Smiley Smile/Wild Honey complete with incredible bonus tracks.

[Watch a Cave]

No doubt about it.. the Heroes & Villains alternate single mix!  Holy hell did that blow me away.  To this day it is the definitive version for me, and I think it blows away all other versions.  At the time I hadn't heard any booted Smile stuff so my jaw dropped during the Cantina section and the fade at the end of the song.. oh my God that fade!!!  Overall it has a special "edge" to it that I feel is lacking in the official released version from 1967.

I also immensely enjoyed the Good Vibrations sessions.

LOVED All Dressed Up For School!  How was this not finished and released?  Totally rocks and should have been a single!

[SMiLE Brian]

Stereo Pet Sounds!

[Hickory Violet Part IV]

I remember, back in the 80s when I was discovering each Beach Boys album, when most were out of print and I had to hunt them down, every song was a bonus track.

Still regret selling all those hard sought out LPs when the twofers came out. Bad decision, most were the original monos.

But yes, the way those twofers were presented are still my definitive way of listening to those albums. A great rerelease package which heralded the rediscovery / reassessment of the Beach Boys

[SMiLE Brian]

The twofers are great, they were quite a novel way to present the BBs huge catalog in an organized way to new listeners.

[thorgil]

For me, too, the alternate H & V mix. As great as the rest of the song is, the Cantina section and the "Barnshine*" fade are simply sublime. I wonder what would have happened if THAT had been the 1967 single, though I guess it would have been "understood" even less. The world was not ready for such things. Now it's even less ready.
Close second, "Can't Wait Too Long".

* I'm not really sure if it's the correct name, but I love it... Barnshine, gives so much the idea.

[the captain]

Call me boring, call me a sheep seeking a herd, but there we have it: H&V.

[KDS]

I did like the alternate version of Let Him Run Wild on the Today / SDSN.

Also, though not rarities, I like that non album singles (ie. TLGIOK, Be True to Your School (Single), and Breakaway) were included.

[SloopJohnB]

"I Do" - such a knockout track.

I'll second that! Amazing track. It's a shame it wasn't released in the 60's.

[CenturyDeprived]

"I Do" - such a knockout track.

I'll second that! Amazing track. It's a shame it wasn't released in the 60's.

I love "I Do" also; very underrated track.

"I Do" seems like the chorus comes up in the song quicker than in any other BB song I can think of; can anyone think of a chorus that is first heard in a song faster than this one?

[Scaroline No]

I Get around starts with the chorus!

[CenturyDeprived]

I Get around starts with the chorus!

True dat   I guess my question was about a song that doesn't actually start with the chorus, going into a course as fast as this one does...

[Gertie J.]

dance dance dance ?

[CenturyDeprived]

dance dance dance ?

Yeah, that's definitely another!

(To bring it back to the topic of the thread, the alternate Dance, Dance, Dance rules the school too.)