Feel Flows box set

[Jay]

Does anybody else think that the demo of "Won't You Tell Me" sounds a lot like "Wind Chimes"?

[Dove Nested Towers]

God bless Howie, Mark, Alan, Stephen, and everybody else involved. Gods among men. I'm almost in tears over some of this...

I did find myself crying during "Old Movie". Such a poignant evocation of Dennis's sweetness, his lost years and missed potential really hit me hard in that moment, rare for me. Just noticed that the new mix of WiBNtLA has the backing track brought way up and the vocal pillowed in it, and the extended jam at the end features a hypnotic "live again" chant. Lest anyone think I'm exclusively focused on Dennis's contributions to the set, I'm not. There's so much to love here (Soulful Old Man Sunshine, anyone?) He's just the star of the night IMO.

The extended  'Til I Die with alt. lyrics, This Whole World long version, and so many other highlights. The mixes are all smooth as silk, so listenable and creative. A tour de force, or in other words The Force is strong with this box set.

[Jay]

I'm not sure my heart can take another set of this magnitude. But I'd happily take that chance. lol

[Tom]

Bit torn on the new master of Sunflower - the added treble makes the tape hiss really audible on some tracks (probably a gain staging issue from the time it was recorded, of course not really something you can fix just by remastering). It's a brittle sound overall. Funny sounding record down to the way it was engineered I think - it's got a bit of a brittle, plastic-y quality to it at times.

[bsten]

Looking like all the tracks are just straight available for listen now on the Beach Boys official Youtube. Not listed, but searchable. Tempting not to just dive right in, but I will wait.

Can't wait...too long...

Wow wow wow wow wow!!!!!
💯💯💯🎼🎹🥁🎸

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n76kh6_m1eBHO7MNN7VZh6fTgXJnmx-Wc

[pdas1996]

Anyone know why the Surf's Up album pops up as "Remastered 2009" instead of 2021?

[Tom]

Anyone know why the Surf's Up album pops up as "Remastered 2009" instead of 2021?

Seems to be an error, it's definitely a new master. It's probably meant to say 2019.

[Shady]

Good thing amazon didn't cancel me, my local record store was sold out of the box set, they got 3 copies in and all were gone by noon.

Picked up the 2cd set

[Mooger Fooger]

This set is more of a revelation to me than any other set released by the band before it (including the Smile sessions). The collective talent is astounding.

THIS is why I am and always will be a fan.

If this doesn't change people's perception about them as being a surf band, I don't know what will.

[Wrightfan]

It's out on Spotify in the States.

Skimming through it now for the time being. So amazing to hear Loop de Loop in great quality. Always loved that song.

[FreakySmiley]

Oh man... After this 20+ month journey we've all gone on... This is such a surreal listening experience... It's so bittersweet, thinking about what a completely different place I am in my life than when this crazy ride started... There are people who aren't in my life anymore that I spent hours theorizing and prattling into the night about this material and the various delays (like the obsessive fans and music nerds we are) and here I am finally hearing it, but by myself. There's so much personal emotional content intertwined with this incredibly emotional music... This set is special in a way that goes way beyond words...

And I wholeheartedly agree, there's plenty of fantastic material throughout all the discs, but CD5 is sure THE BIG ONE. I remember being in high school (I'm a younger guy) when The SMiLE Sessions box came out, and having not heard most of the circulating boots prior to that, I was totally blown away by every single disc. And even though we've gotten a flood of expanded/deluxe session box sets by classic/legacy acts in my lifetime, this is really the first time an ENTIRE set has left me in awe through each and every disc... The SUNFLOWER LIVE tracks really rock a lot more than I expected... The SURF'S UP BONUS TRACKS are absolutely essential outtakes... Both of the session discs totally exceeded my expectations for dissecting the albums, each one just had me literally head in hand... And I'm a sucker for the a cappella tracks, that's one of the things I was looking forward to most on this set... But CD5 is practically an embarrassment of riches... The Dennis 'suite' is pure magic... And the two 'Carl and the Passions' tracks just get you hyped for what's to come in the future...

I can't give enough thanks to Howie, Mark, Alan... To THE BOYS... To everyone who made this possible...

I'm gonna go out on the limb and say this set is easily (Archival) Album of the Year.

[phirnis]

They certainly had more than enough material for one more high quality album in the early 70s. For me, Feel Flows makes it even clearer how the Surf's Up album was, at least to a certain degree, about renewing their image by picking material from the band's '70/'71 sessions that was going to make them appear hip and serious to a rock audience. I've often wondered whether it was a conscious decision to have no love songs on the album, especially after Sunflower, which had lots of them, was such a failure in terms of sales.

[Wrightfan]

Brian laughing like a maniac when Maury talks about "Won't You Tell Me" being one of their best vocals since Pet Sounds is both hilarious and unnerving at the same time.

[nts and the drum]

Brian laughing like a maniac when Maury talks about "Won't You Tell Me" being one of their best vocals since Pet Sounds is both hilarious and unnerving at the same time.

True dat.

[RONDEMON]

"Won't You Tell Me" sounds like The Association — and that's a complement!

[GuyO]

The mailman dropped off the box earlier this afternoon. I’m halfway through disc 2 and am very happy with the sounds and content so far.

[atroxi]

All I can say is that acapella version of Marcella and the extended This Whole World have both taken up residence in my head, rent-free. 

[twentytwenty]

Oh how I would've wanted vocals on the extended This Whole World

[thatjacob]

Bit torn on the new master of Sunflower - the added treble makes the tape hiss really audible on some tracks (probably a gain staging issue from the time it was recorded, of course not really something you can fix just by remastering). It's a brittle sound overall. Funny sounding record down to the way it was engineered I think - it's got a bit of a brittle, plastic-y quality to it at times.

I'm with you completely on that. It's far too compressed, as well. The rest of the box set sounds much better (even surf's up sounds better than Sunflower's new master), but the remastered versions of the albums aren't what I was really interested in in the first place. The outtakes are pretty fantastic. It's taking a while to digest all of the material, but I think I'm just going to make it into a playlist of the previously unreleased tracks (not just new mixes) and listen to it on a drive in a bit.

I was waiting on hearing the new master for sunflower to decide if I should buy that version on vinyl, but the Analogue Productions copy is sitting in my cart now...

[sloopjohnb72]

I have a feeling that the live version of Back Home is an edit of more than one performance. I don't know of any time where Brian and Al did a duet like that.

It actually was a duet between Brian and Al, but what they've done here is replaced Brian's live vocal with a studio take from the 15 Big Ones sessions. Here's the original:

https://youtu.be/X4GZHvHbQNI?t=3913

[Shady]

Sweet and Bitter is just too good. Mike sounds great.

[twentytwenty]

For being a bed resting vegetable Brian sure did much on these sessions 

Jokes aside, Good Time left me a bit in awe, there's something about it that sounds so timeless and modern.

[Half Moon Bay]

"Won't You Tell Me" sounds like The Association — and that's a complement!

I love that track,it teared me up, it was so unexpected. I don’t know the background or when it was recorded, but it sounds very much like a lost gem. Brian’s vocals and backing, sounds so poignant.  I would like to thank Amazon for not cancelling my order and delivering “Feel Flows”, today earlier than expected! A wonderful, unexpected surprise 

[guitarfool2002]

Too much to take in! I guess one word fits for now: Wow.

First impressions, the material from Dennis is amazing. As someone said earlier, Dennis could very well be the star of this box set. I got the feeling going track-by-track that the music was just pouring out of the man at this time, and the inevitable "what if?" aspect come up when you think how different things may have been if more of this music had come out at the time, and people didn't have to wait until 1977 and POB to hear the depth of his talent. Even on the instrumentals, you hear a deep soul flowing in the tracks that in terms of this band could possibly only be matched by that "X Factor" which marks Brian's best productions, that element that draws people in and gives them a sonic hug.

I'm listening through, and what strikes me about many of the tracks is just how non-traditional and experimental these chord progressions are in these songs. They're not doing standard rock chord changes, they're not doing "Blue Moon" doo-wop chords, they're not doing old boogie-woogie patterns as much as they would later...this is very, very progressive songwriting and chord construction for the type of band a lot of people thought these guys were.

"Won't You Tell Me" - Was Brian laughing at Murry's comment or at something else happening in the studio? I couldn't tell. What disturbed me was hearing Murry's voice say "Brian, I'm talking to you" like Brian was 10 or something. I tensed up hearing that, even though that demo is a treat over all.

And what also struck with that demo was hearing Brian using that type of vibrato while singing - More of a controlled crooner type of vibrato that wasn't really his trademark on those soaring 60's leads. Very interesting to hear.

Agreed with "twentytwenty" - So much for Brian being a vegetable and not doing much but lie in bed, right? Again, the proof is on the tapes. Was he as much to the forefront? Of course not, but man his presence is there on these tapes. And how great if not melancholy is it to hear *THAT VOICE* hitting the high notes which would soon disappear entirely from BB's music.

I'll say it again, Cool Cool Water is a masterpiece, and Mike sounds amazing on this. He *owned* that near-whisper, bass-baritone, close-mic'ed sound. The same sound as heard on "Meant For You", where he just gets really close to the mic and hits that range which resonates with the microphone, that's gold right there.

I have to be honest, when it comes to Surf's Up as a recording, I always lean toward the Brian-led vocals as appeared on the '93 box set, "Inside Pop", to a lesser degree the late '67 solo take...so it was interesting to hear them try to graft a BW vocal onto the current tracks. It *could* have worked, but it's a little odd to hear. I like how those takes on the box are less ornate, and can breathe more than the final released mix, which I think is too cluttered and too heavy on falsetto harmony vocals that are distracting. And what was really, really interesting was to hear on attempt where it sounded like they deliberately tried to make the song "heavier" in a rock sense, and it felt like they were trying to rock it up a bit knowing it would be a major release. But cooler heads prevailed I suppose, or maybe I'm just hearing the "rock" in that earlier unused attempt that is more my ears than the actual intent.

Anyway...wow.

There better be Grammy awards for this.

[CenturyDeprived]

There better be Grammy awards for this.

+1

I'm listening now and wiping away tears. So f*cking good, no words can express.