Mark Linnett and Alan Boyd … about that ‘68 package -

[Jeff]

Mark/Alan, I’m not sure if you will get a chance to read this, but I’ll take a shot anyway.

First, thanks to both of you for the very, very well-done Sunshine Tomorrow.  Not only was it a great surprise, but it gives us hope that we will get more of these 50-anniversary packages over the next few years.  It was also very encouraging to hear you say at the end of your Rock N Roll Archaeology Project interview that “hopefully next year we’ll be doing the ‘68 package.”  A lot of folks here would certainly echo that.

If in fact there is a ’68 release, it would be wonderful to have “definitive” (to the extent possible) versions of Can’t Wait Too Long and Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River.  We’ve had several releases of both of these songs in various forms, but it doesn’t seem like an attempt has been made to pull everything together to create best-guess final versions.  It’s difficult, of course, when both songs have missing pieces.  But you have a lot of material to work with.

In any case, these two songs are arguably Brian’s most ambitious post-Smile songs.  It would do a lot for his legacy to have a release with the best possible versions of both.

Thanks!

[Jim V.]

Definitely a great idea Jeff.

However, if the absence of this, I guess my definitive version of both with be the versions on Smiley Smile/Wild Honey for "Can't Wait Too Long" and Friends/ 20/20 for "Old Folks At Home/Ol' Man River."

[The_Beach]

Great idea would love too see a complete 68 set of unreleased material!

[Jukka]

All you more history-minded members, what else can we possibly expect from '68 set? The Friends sessions, early 20/20 sessions? What unreleased songs did they do that year? The Letter, what else?

[JK]

However, if the absence of this, I guess my definitive version of both with be the versions on Smiley Smile/Wild Honey for "Can't Wait Too Long" and Friends/ 20/20 for "Old Folks At Home/Ol' Man River."

"CWTL" on the twofer is the one for me as well, repetitions and all. It may lack the brief spoken/sung passage about looking up at the stars (stars) but that's easy to "imagine in".

Another thing----it's preceded there by "THWFOS". The opulent opening of "CWTL" after a couple of minutes of a cappella is quite mind-blowing.

[Wata]

All you more history-minded members, what else can we possibly expect from '68 set? The Friends sessions, early 20/20 sessions? What unreleased songs did they do that year? The Letter, what else?

First of all, we can expect both the whole Friends and 20/20 sessions, since the sessions of the later were over by the end of 1968.

Other stuff we can expect is:
・Early version of All I Wanna Do (Instrumental)
・Early version of Walkin' (instrumental)
・Some of Friends outtakes: My Little Red Book, Our Happy Home, You're As Cool As You Can Be etc
・Live highlights from 1968 (including unreleased live cuts around the era of Live in London- it was recorded in December, 1968)
・The definitive edit of Can't Wait Too Long
・Perhaps 70s remakes of Friends tracks, as related stuff

Overall, these would surely make a pleasant 2CD (or so) collection for us to listen to.

[Wata]

1969 sessions may well be even more interesting, though.

[KDS]

1969 sessions may well be even more interesting, though.

Maybe around the turn of the decade, we can get a legit release of "Landlocked"

[Wata]

1969 sessions may well be even more interesting, though.

Maybe around the turn of the decade, we can get a legit release of "Landlocked"

I hope so.

[Jim V.]

1969 sessions may well be even more interesting, though.

Maybe around the turn of the decade, we can get a legit release of "Landlocked"

Since AGD is no longer here, I'll be the guy that points out that there was never a project entitled Landlocked.

[KDS]

1969 sessions may well be even more interesting, though.

Maybe around the turn of the decade, we can get a legit release of "Landlocked"

Since AGD is no longer here, I'll be the guy that points out that there was never a project entitled Landlocked.

Well, the unreleased circa 1970 album that bootleggers have labelled as "Landlocked"

[Jeff]

All you more history-minded members, what else can we possibly expect from '68 set? The Friends sessions, early 20/20 sessions? What unreleased songs did they do that year? The Letter, what else?

First of all, we can expect both the whole Friends and 20/20 sessions, since the sessions of the later were over by the end of 1968.

Other stuff we can expect is:
・Early version of All I Wanna Do (Instrumental)
・Early version of Walkin' (instrumental)
・Some of Friends outtakes: My Little Red Book, Our Happy Home, You're As Cool As You Can Be etc
・Live highlights from 1968 (including unreleased live cuts around the era of Live in London- it was recorded in December, 1968)
・The definitive edit of Can't Wait Too Long
・Perhaps 70s remakes of Friends tracks, as related stuff

Overall, these would surely make a pleasant 2CD (or so) collection for us to listen to.

Don't forget the definitive edit of Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River.

[Ram4]

I can't really comment on what a '68 set would be like other than a 2 disc set with Friends material on disc one, plus odd studio sessions and outtakes and then live material on disc two.

But here's something to consider.  What do you want for 1969?  Keeping in mind Sunflower was made up of material from 1969 and 1970, would you prefer a 1969 set with material from that year and a 1970 set with material only from that year, or would you prefer a Sunflower related box set for ALL the sessions (and live material) surrounding the entire album project over 1969-70?  A 1969 set would revolve around 20/20 and a lot of Sunflower sessions (and would be great).  A 1970 set would have Sunflower (Desper spatializer effect?) and those sessions (plus early Surf's Up stuff).  If the plan is to do 50th Anniversary of each year, then we'll just get a 1968 set, 1969 set, 1970 set, etc which is fine by me.  I just always wanted a Sunflower Sessions box - which I could certainly create with material from these sets anyway.  Either way, I think we're going to be happy.

[Jeff]

A 1969 set would revolve around 20/20 and a lot of Sunflower sessions (and would be great).  A 1970 set would have Sunflower (Desper spatializer effect?) and those sessions (plus early Surf's Up stuff). 

The 20/20 sessions actually were completed by the end of 1968.  If the goal is to release material that otherwise would go out of copyright because it had not previously been released, the 20/20 outtakes and session material would need to come out next year.  The songs for what would become Sunflower were recorded in both 1969 and 1970, so presumably a Sunflower-oriented set would need to come out in 2019.

[hideyotsuburaya]

for Friends album 'session highlights' I'd like to hear anything that the old tapes can uncover of Murry Wilson's presence there and then, since he did sing bass on some cuts (mike love thankfully being away in india) and maybe we can recognize him among the studio chatter

and other tracks considered but dropped from the Stack-O-Tracks final line-up

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Personally, I think it makes more sense to keep album sessions with the year the album was released and not the year they were recorded. Or even if the single came out the previous year. Was the Do It Again single released in 68? I would still keep it with the 20/20 material.

[Jeff]

Personally, I think it makes more sense to keep album sessions with the year the album was released and not the year they were recorded. Or even if the single came out the previous year. Was the Do It Again single released in 68? I would still keep it with the 20/20 material.

Again, one big issue is the 50-year copyright.  They lose the rights to material that is not released within 50 years.

[Wata]

.

[HeyJude]

If "Copyright Extension" is still the only impetus to get BRI to do more archival releases, then I will of course continue to take what I can get.

But I really hope they start moving away from an exact chronological/album approach and start looking at what is the BEST material in the vaults to put out there. There are about a THOUSAND outtakes from the 70s that are more interesting than what's left of the 60s. I think a "Sunshine Tomorrow"-type set for Friends/20/20 material would be great, no question. An official release of the mix of "Friends" with the strings would be great.

But I don't want to wait until 2020 for "Sunflower" outtakes, or 2023 for "Holland" stuff, and so on. So hopefully with the new leadership in place we'll see something more than once-per-year copyright extension releases.

[Mr. Tiger]

But I really hope they start moving away from an exact chronological/album approach and start looking at what is the BEST material in the vaults to put out there. There are about a THOUSAND outtakes from the 70s that are more interesting than what's left of the 60s.

Strongly disagree!

[Wata]

All you more history-minded members, what else can we possibly expect from '68 set? The Friends sessions, early 20/20 sessions? What unreleased songs did they do that year? The Letter, what else?

First of all, we can expect both the whole Friends and 20/20 sessions, since the sessions of the later were over by the end of 1968.

Other stuff we can expect is:
・Early version of All I Wanna Do (Instrumental)
・Early version of Walkin' (instrumental)
・Some of Friends outtakes: My Little Red Book, Our Happy Home, You're As Cool As You Can Be etc
・Live highlights from 1968 (including unreleased live cuts around the era of Live in London- it was recorded in December, 1968)
・The definitive edit of Can't Wait Too Long
・Perhaps 70s remakes of Friends tracks, as related stuff

Overall, these would surely make a pleasant 2CD (or so) collection for us to listen to.

Don't forget the definitive edit of Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River.

Yep, maybe.

[HeyJude]

But I really hope they start moving away from an exact chronological/album approach and start looking at what is the BEST material in the vaults to put out there. There are about a THOUSAND outtakes from the 70s that are more interesting than what's left of the 60s.

Strongly disagree!

To each his/her own of course, but there are at least a dozen or more tracks on that "Brother Proposed Bonus Tracks" CD set that interest me more than *another* edit of "Can't Wait Too Long", or "My Little Red Book", and so on. I love all of the tracks of course, and I absolutely support a 68/69 set.

But a demo of "'Til I Die", an extended version of "This Whole World', a pristine mix of "Carry Me Home", and alternate version of "4th of July", and many other tracks need a release and interest me more. Let's also remember that those "Proposed Brother Bonus Tracks" were probably compiled in 1999 or 2000 or so, and there are surely even more things that have been uncovered since then.

But hopefully BRI will put it *all* out, and then we won't have to debate which era deserves an archival release more.

[Wata]

But I really hope they start moving away from an exact chronological/album approach and start looking at what is the BEST material in the vaults to put out there. There are about a THOUSAND outtakes from the 70s that are more interesting than what's left of the 60s.

Strongly disagree!

To each his/her own of course, but there are at least a dozen or more tracks on that "Brother Proposed Bonus Tracks" CD set that interest me more than *another* edit of "Can't Wait Too Long", or "My Little Red Book", and so on. I love all of the tracks of course, and I absolutely support a 68/69 set.

But a demo of "'Til I Die", an extended version of "This Whole World', a pristine mix of "Carry Me Home", and alternate version of "4th of July", and many other tracks need a release and interest me more. Let's also remember that those "Proposed Brother Bonus Tracks" were probably compiled in 1999 or 2000 or so, and there are surely even more things that have been uncovered since then.

But hopefully BRI will put it *all* out, and then we won't have to debate which era deserves an archival release more.

Agreed.

[Pet Sounder]

Mark and Alan,

Yes - thank you so much for all that your hard work has given us over the years!  Sixteen years ago, on my 16th birthday, I received a copy of The Pet Sounds Sessions.  That green rectangle box has been the gift that keeps on giving!

If things do work out for a '68 release, can you empty the vaults of all things We're Together Again?  Backing track, piano track, vocals only, previously unreleased mixes, etc.  That would be a dream come true!

One more thing - if by chance we get any more releases pre-'68, is there any way more session excerpts and/or a full backing track for The Little Girl I Once Knew would ever surface?  I know something weird went on with the backing track (part of it was erased by a comedy skit?), but anything close would be greatly appreciated.  The 2 tracks on Hawthorne, CA shot that song into one of my top 5 favorites of all time.

Once again, thank you so much for all the joy your work has brought to my life!

[Dove Nested Towers]

But I really hope they start moving away from an exact chronological/album approach and start looking at what is the BEST material in the vaults to put out there. There are about a THOUSAND outtakes from the 70s that are more interesting than what's left of the 60s.

Strongly disagree!

To each his/her own of course, but there are at least a dozen or more tracks on that "Brother Proposed Bonus Tracks" CD set that interest me more than *another* edit of "Can't Wait Too Long", or "My Little Red Book", and so on. I love all of the tracks of course, and I absolutely support a 68/69 set.

But a demo of "'Til I Die", an extended version of "This Whole World', a pristine mix of "Carry Me Home", and alternate version of "4th of July", and many other tracks need a release and interest me more. Let's also remember that those "Proposed Brother Bonus Tracks" were probably compiled in 1999 or 2000 or so, and there are surely even more things that have been uncovered since then.

But hopefully BRI will put it *all* out, and then we won't have to debate which era deserves an archival release more.

Add to these the "I've Got A Friend" instrumental track languishing in the vaults.