Feel Flows box set

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

It's alright JaiGuruDev, I understood the reference.

Regarding the issue of “what can I do to help get this released”, there was a germ of an idea between me and one of the mods on the Beach Boys subreddit about getting people to cover songs from this era and publish/share videos of these covers advocating for Feel Flows' release. I haven't heard back from him in a bit, but certainly there are people here that may be interested in doing that as well, and what better way to show people how amazing this set would be than with the music itself. It may be for naught, or maybe a bombardment of covers could attract some attention. I mean, this (beautiful) cover of Thank Him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-HYZL-zFjA) got the attention of Brian's management and social media and was apparently heard by Brian himself, so who knows. And hey, even if it isn't released this year, with enough songs we can have our own version of the box set by the end of the year

Was already thinking along the same lines...we’re already starting something similar!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I saw Mike Love at a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him about the Feel Flows set or anything.

He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”

I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.

The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

I hope to one day have as much free time as this kid.

Smoke a lot of dope and you'll have it.  😋

Sounds like a plan!



...


Oh wait...dammit... *puts it out*. 😏

[rab2591]

I come in here at least twice a day to check for updates, and I appreciate any that I find - thanks to Howie for trying to keep us up to speed.

I find it interesting to think that any of us who have seriously followed this band for more than a few minutes can actually be surprised by things like this looming catastrophe re: the FF set.  To try to find logical reasons for the hold-up is an exercise in futility.  I agree with those who have posted that the focus should be on “what can I do to help get this released” rather than on “what could be the cause of the hold-up”.

HeyJude has explained in detail that the set is ready to go, like a huge box of candy that’s sitting on a shelf, but one or more of the store owners won’t open the doors...

And it has nothing to do with Milky Ways...

Great post. I can't say I'm surprised, I'm just annoyed at this point.

[Ruby Go Home]

It's to the point where Howie is literally writing "FEEL FLOWS" on Brian's Facebook posts. And yet some people still don't want to believe anything is wrong.

Wow, I had no idea things had gotten that dire. I'm praying for this set to be released soon.

[CenturyDeprived]

I've heard rumblings that Mike has been invited to play some sort of Trump inauguration garbage in the event of a reelection. I could easily see if that invitation was the case, even if it's just something that is a possible thing that could happen for Mike without any guarantees, that Mike would want the current focus if the BRAND to be on the meat and potatoes stuff, for the media to pay less attention to the deeper material, which Mike would view as being incompatible with the "America's Band" image that he wants to project in the media.

The "America's Band" stuff is certainly being played up in the advertisements for the drive-in shows. Not that that slogan is anything new, but it seems more heavily integrated into current promo than I can remember in recent history. I don't see that as being an accident.

That well could be contributing to or causing into this FF block. Vile and disgusting.

It would also very clearly explain why Mike had such a Viagra hard-on to play that Trump Jr. associated trophy hunting show earlier this year without backing down. As I said before, he's long been trying to brown nose Trump to get something out of it in return. Narcissistic turd. And FF could well be a casualty as a direct result of this narcissism and insanity that this pathetic man is inflicting on the legacy.

[PetSmile]

Well, I was scrolling through Fred Vail's FB page, and happened upon an exchange about the unreleased 1970 Country Album.

If I'm not mistaken, it sounds like Fred is saying it will cost too much (about $30k) to fully produce the album, which is fair enough. However, when asked by if he could simply release it as it is, in its original form, he says it's only 2/3 complete vocally, so that's probably NOT an option.

I know I'd enjoy it either way. I thought lots of archival projects are released without being finished...

[terrei]

So we're at "we're not getting Feel Flows because of Trump" now?

[Ruby Go Home]

I've heard rumblings that Mike has been invited to play some sort of Trump inauguration garbage in the event of a reelection.

Where have you heard this?

[BeachBoysCovers]

I've heard rumblings that Mike has been invited to play some sort of Trump inauguration garbage in the event of a reelection. I could easily see if that invitation was the case, even if it's just something that is a possible thing that could happen for Mike without any guarantees, that Mike would want the current focus if the BRAND to be on the meat and potatoes stuff, for the media to pay less attention to the deeper material, which Mike would view as being incompatible with the "America's Band" image that he wants to project in the media.

The "America's Band" stuff is certainly being played up in the advertisements for the drive-in shows. Not that that slogan is anything new, but it seems more heavily integrated into current promo than I can remember in recent history. I don't see that as being an accident.

That well could be contributing to or causing into this FF block. Vile and disgusting.

It would also very clearly explain why Mike had such a Viagra hard-on to play that Trump Jr. associated trophy hunting show earlier this year without backing down. As I said before, he's long been trying to brown nose Trump to get something out of it in return. Narcissistic turd. And FF could well be a casualty as a direct result of this narcissism and insanity that this pathetic man is inflicting on the legacy.

This post. It's a beautiful work of art. The way we start with a rumour, and manage to extrapolate into pure disgust over this scenario we've just invented. It's magnificent. Let's just stop the thread now and bask in it's glory for a week or two.

[SMiLE Brian]

That you, Mike?

[CenturyDeprived]

I've heard rumblings that Mike has been invited to play some sort of Trump inauguration garbage in the event of a reelection. I could easily see if that invitation was the case, even if it's just something that is a possible thing that could happen for Mike without any guarantees, that Mike would want the current focus if the BRAND to be on the meat and potatoes stuff, for the media to pay less attention to the deeper material, which Mike would view as being incompatible with the "America's Band" image that he wants to project in the media.

The "America's Band" stuff is certainly being played up in the advertisements for the drive-in shows. Not that that slogan is anything new, but it seems more heavily integrated into current promo than I can remember in recent history. I don't see that as being an accident.

That well could be contributing to or causing into this FF block. Vile and disgusting.

It would also very clearly explain why Mike had such a Viagra hard-on to play that Trump Jr. associated trophy hunting show earlier this year without backing down. As I said before, he's long been trying to brown nose Trump to get something out of it in return. Narcissistic turd. And FF could well be a casualty as a direct result of this narcissism and insanity that this pathetic man is inflicting on the legacy.

This post. It's a beautiful work of art. The way we start with a rumour, and manage to extrapolate into pure disgust over this scenario we've just invented. It's magnificent. Let's just stop the thread now and bask in it's glory for a week or two.

Someone on social media stated they heard some Mike/Trump related stuff this hinted at in some radio interview. Until I actually hear such an interview with my own ears, it would remain just a rumor, yes. And even if Mike straight up says he'd gonna play some Trump event, correct, that doesn't conclusively *prove* that the event is why the FF block is happening. I stand by my assumption that some sort of branding crap dispute is probably playing into Mike's mindset, and if there ever was a time that he'd want to keep the meat and potatoes type of mindset at the forefront of peoples' minds, and keep the "AMERICA'S BAND" ideology with him in the forefront, in the media's eyes, well this time in history would quite possibly be such a time. Most especially if the eyes of the world have the potential to be on MIKE LOVE in a massively huge way should this in fact be the case.

Not that the deeper material was ever particularly compatible with the America's Band flag waving stuff - this goes back to the great divide of the schism between the branding of this band for example in the early 90s, with fans seeing Summer in Paradise peddled as new BBs product just as the band's reputation for Pet Sounds is climbing, or Mike pushing Uncle Jesse and Mark McGrath in our faces just as Sunshine Tomorrow is making a splash. It's always been a big problem, trying to reconcile the branding.

I think Mike wants as many low information BBs fans as possible to drown out any and all dissenters, and I could easily see how someone who values what Mike seems to value would find it beneficial to his warped version of the brand to NOT have this other stuff (which he is often not at the forefront of), to be a BIG DEAL in the media's mind these days. Just look at when the not-Mike-centric Pet Sounds just hit #2 on the Rolling Stone list, Rolling Stone threw Mike under the bus in the 1st paragraph. He's a joke, and all he has to keep feeding his ego is to keep ad naseum pushing his limited version of the brand.

I remain purely disgusted by Mike having played that trophy hunting show, by his overall general support of Trump, and I remain convinced that he's brown-nosing to Trump for some reason(s). If you think some of the assumptions and extrapolations that I've made from this are off-base, well that's certainly your right. I'm not stating anything as fact, and I'm allowed an opinion just as much as you are. Until we know for sure what's going on here, every single thing is a rumor at this point, including people trying to claim that it's not Mike and that it's not at least in part an overall branding dispute. Those are rumors just the same.

At minimum I believe that a person who is as short-sighted, deluded, and narcissistic as to play a Trump-adjacent trophy hunting show would be more likely to be the type of person to believe that some short-sighted, deluded, and narcissistic reasons for junking this set are the right course of action.

[HeyJude]

I have no idea if Mike would play a future Trump event (wouldn't surprise me of course), but the hold up on "Feel Flows" has nothing to do with anything related to that. Nothing to do with Mike's tour or live shows.

Mike has been supportive of a vile person/politician for over four years now, during which we've had numerous archival releases focusing on "non-hit" material/eras.

As I've said, the core reason for all of this is so specific that it's virtually un-guessable.  Obviously, within any possible reason for such things, you could extrapolate it to the myriad of BRI/BB political BS over the years, and the stubborn nature of some folks, and since we can't literally bore into these peoples' heads, we can't ever know for sure exactly what reasoning (or lack thereof) is going on in their heads. But, ultimately there is a very real, obvious thing happening behind the scenes, and it is being used to justify holding up this set.

As I've said, when or if people finally hear what it's all about, they'll probably all look at the resulting decision to delay this set and think "huh? why?". The core reason is very specific, and an obviously weighty/serious thing all on its own. The issue is that to most folks in the know, it isn't actually a reason why "Feel Flows" would actually need to be delayed at all. The *thing* going on behind the scenes isn't crazy or unreasonable. What's driving people nuts is that certain folk or folks are saying because of that *thing*, the set shouldn't come out right now. Most would look at the situation (in my opinion) and say "What does that thing have to do with putting this set out?"

That's why it's so frustrating, but also (as I've said many times) why I think folks have still seen a scenario where the set can come out, because the reason for the delay is not some sort of unavoidable, prohibitive reason. Those delaying the set could give the go-ahead today. And I hope they do. And even after all of this kerfuffle, I think they'd still be the hero/heroes for doing it.

[Ruby Go Home]

Is it possible that Melinda could be behind this? Sunflower and Surf's Up are considered to be some of the best group albums, with everyone getting a chance to shine. This goes against the "Brian is the sole genius of the Beach Boys" narrative, so I could see Melinda having a problem with a box set covering this period. From Mike's book, we know she interfered with the C50 tour by changing a setlist and ordering five autotune devices. If she can do that, it seems likely she can get a box set delayed.

Maybe she doesn't like the tracklist. There may not be room for both 'Til I Die (track and backing vocals) and Student Demonstration Time (alternate vocal take) and I could see her lobbying for the former.

I'm just speculating and there's no evidence for this, but it seems plausible to me.

[CenturyDeprived]

I have no idea if Mike would play a future Trump event (wouldn't surprise me of course), but the hold up on "Feel Flows" has nothing to do with anything related to that. Nothing to do with Mike's tour or live shows.

Mike has been supportive of a vile person/politician for over four years now, during which we've had numerous archival releases focusing on "non-hit" material/eras.

As I've said, the core reason for all of this is so specific that it's virtually un-guessable.  Obviously, within any possible reason for such things, you could extrapolate it to the myriad of BRI/BB political BS over the years, and the stubborn nature of some folks, and since we can't literally bore into these peoples' heads, we can't ever know for sure exactly what reasoning (or lack thereof) is going on in their heads. But, ultimately there is a very real, obvious thing happening behind the scenes, and it is being used to justify holding up this set.

As I've said, when or if people finally hear what it's all about, they'll probably all look at the resulting decision to delay this set and think "huh? why?". The core reason is very specific, and an obviously weighty/serious thing all on its own. The issue is that to most folks in the know, it isn't actually a reason why "Feel Flows" would actually need to be delayed at all. The *thing* going on behind the scenes isn't crazy or unreasonable. What's driving people nuts is that certain folk or folks are saying because of that *thing*, the set shouldn't come out right now. Most would look at the situation (in my opinion) and say "What does that thing have to do with putting this set out?"

That's why it's so frustrating, but also (as I've said many times) why I think folks have still seen a scenario where the set can come out, because the reason for the delay is not some sort of unavoidable, prohibitive reason. Those delaying the set could give the go-ahead today. And I hope they do. And even after all of this kerfuffle, I think they'd still be the hero/heroes for doing it.

Thanks, HJ. I guess I'm about as good as guessing the reason as Mike is at writing a listenable song these days. I'm quite *glad* it's not for that specific reason I speculated, glad to be wrong about that.  Because that would seem to be an unmovable obstacle. Maybe this obstacle can still be moved.

If the tracklisting cannot directly be leaked, maybe someone from near the top indirectly hinting at the reason for the holdup could help things. Or maybe they'll simply leak out a hint out of pure spite, just to piss off the person killing the box, even if it amounts to no change. I sometimes wonder when someone near the top will just go full on charred earth and let it rip, finally having had enough, freely speaking their mind about their opinions about band stuff mainly pertaining to one particular avoider of fucking with the formula. Unrelated to FF, I think something like that is bound to happen at some point. It *almost* happened with Rocky, until someone obviously got to him. As has been seen with Trump, sometimes people break NDAs because they are just fed up. 

To say the situation of this box being potentially killed for some nonsense is a frustrating and heartbreaking situation as a fan would be a gross understatement. Someone needs to be a hero. I still think someone can pull a heroic move in this. I'm still optimistic. Once again, laugh all you want, but Stamos could be that guy. And there are probably others in or adjacent to the organization who could help too, if they cared enough or were incentivized to.

[Tom]

HeyJude - it seems like you know what the 'thing' in question is - is there any reason you're obliged not to share it?

[CenturyDeprived]

Is it possible that Melinda could be behind this? Sunflower and Surf's Up are considered to be some of the best group albums, with everyone getting a chance to shine. This goes against the "Brian is the sole genius of the Beach Boys" narrative, so I could see Melinda having a problem with a box set covering this period. From Mike's book, we know she interfered with the C50 tour by changing a setlist and ordering five autotune devices. If she can do that, it seems likely she can get a box set delayed.

Maybe she doesn't like the tracklist. There may not be room for both 'Til I Die (track and backing vocals) and Student Demonstration Time (alternate vocal take) and I could see her lobbying for the former.

I'm just speculating and there's no evidence for this, but it seems plausible to me.

If you think that's plausible, how do you reconcile the recent multiple social media posts from Brian's account celebrating the anniversaries of both Sunflower and Surf's Up, also posting live video of the song FEEL FLOWS from the recent tour, which is a red letter glowing dog whistle hint (to me, and to many others) that Brian is on Team Feel Flows Box Set.

I find it extraordinarily hard to believe that Melinda would be oblivious to this, and would just randomly have those posts approved, keeping the FF box set's music in the minds of Brian's followers, while Mike's social media remains 100% silent about anything whatsoever pertaining to that era or those anniversaries.

Brush all this off as a complete unrelated series of coincidences? Maybe you might do that, but I don't think that's at all likely. That's some solid circumstantial evidence to me that Melinda isn't saying "let's not release it, and instead, let's sh*t on the legacy of Brian's late brothers and keep their music locked up". No way.

I will say, that I take Brian's social media's notable omission of Mike in the post about the various members' contributions to Surf's Up as an obvious intentional f*ck you to Mike, and that shows that there are obvious issues with those 2 camps. If Mike would be holding up the set for some unrelated petty crap, I could easily imagine that deeply pissing of Melinda, whose husband already went through what must have been some soul-searching interviews talking at length about his late brothers and their music, in prepping for this box set.  

It's already been debunked earlier in this thread by people who would know that it's NOT a content issue quibbling about 1 or 2 given songs that's holding this up. And unless I'm mistaken, it appears to be heavily alluded to - again, by those would know - that it's not pertaining to liner notes either. So there appears to be actual evidence that it's NOT what you've suggested.  

[Join The Human Race]

Been flowing along this thread but haven't posted until now. It is frustrating but I'm just being patient. I want more unreleased things out there; what BB fan wouldn't? But there is already so much wonderful music out there in just their catalog alone, I'm trying not to let the bad vibes and speculation get me down.

[Don Malcolm]

If there is a vaild reason for the 180 on FEEL FLOWS, it would be a simple matter for the band to explain it to people. (That hasn't happened, of course.)

The "mob wife" contingent might get their noses out of joint about my assertion, of course, insisting that the band can do whatever it wants without telling anyone anything, but such a stance suggests that the Big Mob Wife (aka Mr. Suppressive Personality) actually KNOWS what's going down (and who is respnsible, and why) and is playing another weird psychological game over in St. Elba-land.

Since Brian gave extensive interviews for FEEL FLOWS, the chance that Melinda is now vetoing it is less than minuscule. What is hard to figure, however, is exactly why such a stealthy approach to this situation seems to be needed from those on the inside.

All of the above can simply be set aside, however--in the absence of concrete knowledge, all we can really do is continue to press for further info, continue to encourage the parties to resolve their differences and release FEEL FLOWS as originally conceived, and in the absence of movement on those fronts, continue to call for someone on the inside to leak the contents of the box set to the rock press in order to apply sufficient pressure to bring the matter fully into the light of day.

Some additional Facebook posts that respectfully ask about the status of FEEL FLOWS on pages where they are likely to at least be allowed to remain visible (if not answered) would also seem to be in order.

[HeyJude]

HeyJude - it seems like you know what the 'thing' in question is - is there any reason you're obliged not to share it?

Yes. Same reason most anybody would not be able to reveal certain details/sources, etc.

But I've continued to mention that I feel comfortable saying that, for the purposes of advocating for this set, it doesn't matter. Knowing the whole back story wouldn't change anything about the main point right now being to continue to let everybody and anybody know that we want this set and that it should come out.

[alanjames]

Maybe after all that controversy and the attention was given about Mike playing a concert for Trump Jr with Brian and Al posting a petition against it in their Facebook/Instagram accounts, maybe Mike wants a retraction from both, or he’ll not give the greenlit to release the box.
Whatever it is, I hope they can settle their differences and release the box in time this year.

[HeyJude]

Is it possible that Melinda could be behind this? Sunflower and Surf's Up are considered to be some of the best group albums, with everyone getting a chance to shine. This goes against the "Brian is the sole genius of the Beach Boys" narrative, so I could see Melinda having a problem with a box set covering this period. From Mike's book, we know she interfered with the C50 tour by changing a setlist and ordering five autotune devices. If she can do that, it seems likely she can get a box set delayed.

Maybe she doesn't like the tracklist. There may not be room for both 'Til I Die (track and backing vocals) and Student Demonstration Time (alternate vocal take) and I could see her lobbying for the former.

I'm just speculating and there's no evidence for this, but it seems plausible to me.

I disagree that this seems plausible given what we know from the past, but regardless of any of that, I can tell you that none of the above is accurate. Not even close.

Mike's book isn't a particularly great source for info on C50. In particular, the stories about autotune and other nitpick arguments during the tour seem, to put it politely, *incomplete*.

There was and is plenty of room for material for all members. All members shine, including Brian.

Brian has done more tracks from this era in his show than anybody.

And, I'd advise going back and fully reading the thread, at least everything since July whatever-it-was when this news broke. I've posted seemingly dozens of times by now in this thread that the tracklisting is NOT an issue with the delays. The tracklisting is not an issue with *anybody*.

[HeyJude]

Maybe after all that controversy and the attention was given about Mike playing a concert for Trump Jr with Brian and Al posting a petition against it in their Facebook/Instagram accounts, maybe Mike wants a retraction from both, or he’ll not give the greenlit to release the box.
Whatever it is, I hope they can settle their differences and release the box in time this year.

I've already mentioned numerous times in the thread that Mike's tour is not an issue with the delays, and I've also mentioned that the trophy hunting gig early this year is not an issue either.

[alanjames]

Maybe after all that controversy and the attention was given about Mike playing a concert for Trump Jr with Brian and Al posting a petition against it in their Facebook/Instagram accounts, maybe Mike wants a retraction from both, or he’ll not give the greenlit to release the box.
Whatever it is, I hope they can settle their differences and release the box in time this year.

I've already mentioned numerous times in the thread that Mike's tour is not an issue with the delays, and I've also mentioned that the trophy hunting gig early this year is not an issue either.

HeyJude, so I’m sorry about this. I totally forgot you had previously told us about it.
And thank you so much for the reply and for what you’ve been posting on this thread.
I really appreciate your comments and thoughts.
I’ll try to think in positive terms about it, hoping the box can be released this year, if there’s time to do it.

[mtaber]

So, Mike’s been supportive of a vile person/politician for four years now? I didn’t realize he was a fan of Hillary Clinton!

Oops,forgot about keeping politics out of these threads...

[HeyJude]

Maybe after all that controversy and the attention was given about Mike playing a concert for Trump Jr with Brian and Al posting a petition against it in their Facebook/Instagram accounts, maybe Mike wants a retraction from both, or he’ll not give the greenlit to release the box.
Whatever it is, I hope they can settle their differences and release the box in time this year.

I've already mentioned numerous times in the thread that Mike's tour is not an issue with the delays, and I've also mentioned that the trophy hunting gig early this year is not an issue either.

HeyJude, so I’m sorry about this. I totally forgot you had previously told us about it.
And thank you so much for the reply and for what you’ve been posting on this thread.
I really appreciate your comments and thoughts.
I’ll try to think in positive terms about it, hoping the box can be released this year, if there’s time to do it.

It's all good, no prob.  We should all be talking right now about how we are diving into a great boxed set instead of this. 

I think most of us are trying our best to make the set happen with limited tools.