American Spring – now on streaming services

[“Big Daddy”]

Capitol has uploaded the 1988 Rhino reissue of the American Spring album to streaming services: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Bn2s6CSZhPsgNHurumq7x?si=6FuSIuUuS065WTEIkmn47A

Excited to see this digital reissue but I will say I’m confused by it… Capitol is claiming to own all the material outright (doesn’t even say it’s licensed from Marilyn like the Rhino CD did). I know United Artists ended up getting absorbed into Capitol many years back so maybe Capitol is under the impression they still own the album masters instead of Marilyn? But if that were true, it wouldn’t entitle them to the 4 bonus tracks which fall outside the UA deal (unless of course Marilyn recently licensed or sold everything to Capitol).

And a sub-issue on this is that Marilyn’s right to license “Shyin’ Away”/“Fallin’ in Love” to Rhino for the 1988 CD might be disputable…  Sony seems to think themselves the rightful owner for these as they were still issuing “Shyin’ Away” in the 1980s via a compilation titled “California U.S.A.” and they licensed both sides to Ace Records for the “Pet Projects” CD in 2003. So I find it extra weird Capitol is now asserting ownership outright for those…

[juggler]

I've always thought that 'It's Like Heaven' was a hell of a song that should have been a chart-topping hit for someone.

[FreakySmiley]

It would be the best news I've heard all year (a low bar, to be fair) if this were an indicator of a physical reissue (on either CD or LP, heck, both would be great!) but I feel like that's wishful thinking on my part. Glad this album is more readily available for listening, in any case!

[Bedroom Tapes]

Most excellent news as I am such a fan of the American Spring material!      Though I wonder if there's some unreleased session material that may see the light of day soon as well as their fabled outtake "Funky Fever".  Maybe we'll even finally get that second Flame album in full. 

[All Summer Long]

I’ve never heard the Spring/American Spring material, so I’ll have to dive in. Thanks for the heads up, “Big Daddy.”

[delsboy]

Apple Music?

[Bedroom Tapes]

Mysteriously, the American Spring stuff is now greyed out on Spotify and can't be played.  Wonder why?  Anyone else having this issue?   

[STE]

Mysteriously, the American Spring stuff is now greyed out on Spotify and can't be played.  Wonder why?  Anyone else having this issue?   

Yes, I do. Europe.

[pmugghc]

Mysteriously, the American Spring stuff is now greyed out on Spotify and can't be played.  Wonder why?  Anyone else having this issue?   

Yes, I do.

Same here, in Sweden only one song is available, Sweet Mountain.,

[BJL]

I think it was probably posted by mistake, or by someone whose rights to the material are disputed.

[HeyJude]

This is nuts. If Marilyn owns all this stuff and had it pulled, then unless someone is keeping her from doing something with it herself, unless Capitol/UMe or some other label is tying this up legally, and frankly even *if* they're tying it up legally, then she should be trying to cut a deal to get this stuff out there (and/or should have long ago), because I gotta point out the obvious: There aren't a bunch of labels or buyers standing in line waiting for "Spring" material. It's niche-within-niche-within-niche, and most of the people who know about it and want it and like it have sought it out years ago and secured the music in whatever form they can or need.

This recent stuff and/or the lack of the stuff being available for decades may or may not have anything to do with Marilyn, I honestly don't know. Maybe she's been fighting for years ardently to get it streaming, etc. And I'm all for someone exercising their rights if they own something.

But we're already probably past the prime moment for interest in "Spring" stuff. Waiting years and years for "the right time" to do it isn't going to fly anymore.

Again, without knowing the specifics of what the various hangups could be on "Spring" material, I do know that other kind of Beach Boys-adjacent material/projects have been stifled because rights holders, or prospective rights holders, have seemed to have a weirdly inflated sense for how much demand there is for the material, and/or how much it's worth. And/or they're just really slow/procrastinators, etc.

It even extends to the actual BBs. I'm glad Al finally got "Postcards" relaunched, but why did it takes YEARS to simply re-issue the ONE solo album he released 13 years ago?

[DSalter]

.

[bonnevillemariner]

Mysteriously, the American Spring stuff is now greyed out on Spotify and can't be played.  Wonder why?  Anyone else having this issue?   

Yep. The only song available to me is the weakest track on the record-- "Sweet Mountain."

[Ian]

Man I love that song! The ending vocal bit is so amazing-really well done!

[Don Malcolm]

Man I love that song! The ending vocal bit is so amazing-really well done!

Thanks for chiming in, Ian...I think it's clear that Bonneville will find that many, many folks do not share his opinion about "Sweet Mountain." Just another example of Brian's penchant for writing "tag" endings that either turn around a middle-eight (like "Mess of Help") or come out of nowhere and take over the song ("Funky Pretty"). I see it as a variant (and possibly an outgrowth) of his "modular" recording style, and it's a technique that's still noticeable some years later on LOVE YOU ("Johnny Carson"). The other thing that's notable about "Sweet Mountain" is that it's really the first time that synthesizers are really up front and prominent in the arrangement/mix (with "Funky Pretty" following swiftly on its heels). I hope Marilyn and Diane have received kudos from fans for their vocal efforts, which are just as heartfelt as they should be.

[HeyJude]

I think "Sweet Mountain" and all of the "Spring" stuff is most interesting as a little "missing piece" of the Brian story from that era. I dig the album, and I can't say Marilyn and Diane are *bad* singers as such. But the vocals on that album vary from pretty solid to kind of wonky. Apart from folks looking for all the Brian-isms sprinkled throughout, it would be folks looking for I guess the closest thing we ever got to the Carpenters and Beach Boys smushed together.

I reiterate from my previous post that it's kind of absurd at this point that this stuff is not easily available. The participants and audience are only getting older and/or deader. And again as I mentioned, if it's some big corporate kerfuffle keeping this out of availability, then there's not usually a lot that can be done. But again, I've seen some of these ancillary figures on the periphery of the BB universe who keep their stuff and are waiting for some "moment" to release it (and/or finally "write their memoirs") that probably passed long ago.