Picking apart the bonus tracks on the POB reissue

[Sheriff John Stone]

What does "Common" mean?

[Jonathan Blum]

Did he even have a meaning in mind at the time?  Or was it just a couple of feels (one of which seems to have become the coda of "Morning Christmas")?

After having heard the instrumental of "Time For Bed" (as "New Orleans", I find it hard to picture that those were the original intended lyrics either...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Alex]

Only With You is good, but I would really love to hear Dennis sing it in 1972 when his voice was smoother. Maybe there is a demo around???

I don't know about any demos, but there are a couple of live versions from the early 70s floating around where Dennis sings the final chorus to the song, and I think he sounds better doing it than Carl, wish he would've sung the entire song. (I also like Good Timin' better with Dennis on lead vocal.)

[MBE]

Oh yes I have heard that. Very nice, he could of nailed it on Holland. Good Timin is more of a Carl song to me, but Dennis' was a pretty good variation.

[c-man]

The more I listen, the more I'm trying to put these pieces into context...  doesn anyone have a chronology of roughly when these pieces were recorded?  Which ones predate the collapse of the solo tour, or Dennis getting into heroin, and which ones were still being worked on after the loss of Brother Studio?  I've got the general idea from the liner notes (finished pieces like "Wild Situation" and "He's A Bum" were early on, then the Carli Munoz sessions, then the complete disintegration), but I'm not sure how they fit in with the other major events.  And then there's that baffling early-'77 date on the box for "Album Tag Song" that Jon (Stebbins) mentioned, which would make the album in question POB, wouldn't it?

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Dennis said back in the day, and others (Jakobson, Hanlon and Figueroa) have all recently confirmed, that work on "Bambu" began before work on "POB" was finished, which means "Album Tag" was probably planned for "Bambu" all along. 

Chronology-wise, I'm working on a "Bambu" and "POB Bonus Tracks" essay for my website, where currently my "POB" essay can be read (www.beachboysarchives.com).  It might be a few more weeks before it's up, but my goal is to give as much of that type of info as possible, with updates as more info surfaces.

In the meantime, I can tell you that all the backing tracks for "Bambu" (with the exception of "I Love You" and the possible exception of this version of "All Alone") where recorded at Brother Studio prior to its closure.  Vocals and other overdubs, on the other hand, are harder to document, but in some cases they definitely come from the post-Brother period,.  And in some cases you'll have a track from '76 with vocals from '77, a track from '75 with vocals from '77 or '78, that kind of thing.  I can say that based on what I know at this point, "I Love You" was the latest (or next-to-latest) track to be recorded, followed by numerous overdubs on "Love Surrounds Me", and possibly "All Alone", if that version indeed stems from the Tom Murphy home studio sessions.

[Jonathan Blum]

Chronology-wise, I'm working on a "Bambu" and "POB Bonus Tracks" essay for my website, where currently my "POB" essay can be read (www.beachboysarchives.com).  It might be a few more weeks before it's up, but my goal is to give as much of that type of info as possible, with updates as more info surfaces.

The POB essay is *fabulous* -- can't wait to see the next round!  And thanks for the overall reminders of how long some of these were gestating.

Just two quick questions for those who know -- A) what's the evidence that "All Alone" is a remake from a year later than the other Carli Munoz recordings (it doesn't really sound like he's a year farther gone), and B) when were the Beach Boys overdubs to "Love Surrounds Me" done?  (Was Dennis involved, or did Bruce and the others just take the song off his hands?)

I'm also wondering a bit about "It's Not Too Late" -- the bootleg version I found was significantly less slowed-down, and to me sounds more natural, where the Legacy Edition sounds so slow that Carl's voice almost sounds dirgelike.  Anyone know how they worked out the mastering speed on this one?

As for "Album Tag Song", I'm still not too sure that Dennis -- Mr. Spontanaiety -- would have already thought about what the tag to  his second album would be at a time when he hadn't even worked out the final running order for POB, but it's possible...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Bicyclerider]

Like Brian, who recorded during the SMile era many "Part 2's" and "fades" and "tags" to songs, most of which went unused, I suspect this "album tag song" probably would have been either redone or abandoned - it's too unfinished and not particularly a great album tag to begin with.  I find it interesting that the two songs I find most "Brian" like of these solo tracks are Album tag song and What's Wrong - both have that "Shortenin Bread" vibe!

[joe_blow]

I've spent the last few days driving around Southern California with POB/Bambu in the Cd player and must say it is an awesome soundtrack. Especially River Song. Mexico and Friday night. Wow!!

[Jonathan Blum]

I've written up an essay on "Pacific Ocean Blue" and "Bambu" in my blog, here, to try to convert a few more of my friends.

I wish I'd gone into a bit more detail about the Bambu tracks which really impressed me -- I adore "Wild Situation", though not as much as the uncensored bootleg mix, and "Love Surround Me" really deserves more than a couple of descriptive adjectives in passing -- but I hope the thoughts I've got there are interesting enough...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Aegir]

My favorite Bambu song has got to be Constant Companion.