the so-called "cocaine sessions"...

[sleeptalk]

is some of the most haunting, beautiful, detached things i've ever heard. i'm realizing this for the first time now, and had to say it somewhere.

thoughts?

[Jason]

I've never heard them but they are indeed a fascinating document of Brian and Dennis in 1982.

[Chris Brown]

Completely agreed.  Even with the terrible audio quality, "Oh Lord" gives me chills.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I was surprised that City Blues  eventually  made it on an album.

[Mr. Cohen]

A few questions: Was "Stevie" from this same time period? I feel like there is someone else on these tapes besides Brian or Dennis? Who is it? Also, is it just me, or does "Yeahhh" sound like it was reused as part of "Rio Grande" (the part after "Big Big Sky")?

[Runaways]

the city blues demo is so good.  the GIOMH version...not so much.

[Jon Stebbins]

The "other guy" heard on these demos is Garby Leon whose Venice Beach home is where this stuff was taped. Garby ran tape and provided his home recording equipment and his Hammond and grand piano for Dennis and Brian to work on their material. Stevie is the one song from this collaboration that was recorded in a proper studio...and again with just Brian(playing everything other than drums), Dennis (and Garby) doing the work. The plug was pulled on this collaboration by BB's hierarchy/family when it was discovered that substances were in full flow throughout. Interesting that City Blues(which Brian refers to on tape in a later interview as a song he wrote with Dennis) does not contain Dennis name on the GIOMH credit. Several well respected BB's insiders, confirm that some of Rio Grande was developed in this collaborative period, while other pieces of Rio Grande seem to exist in some of Dennis' earlier solo demos. Brian has said in an interview that this period, 81'/82' is when he was the closest to Dennis, which is kind of scary considering that it was such an unhealthy time for both brothers. But according to those who were there, a genuine creative burst was underway between DW and BW despite their lack of sobriety.

[Wirestone]

I think it's been established that "Night Bloomin' Jasmine" (as featured on the BW 88 reissue) was recorded around that time. And Rio Grande also includes the rollin', rollin' on "River Song" riff. BW/BB credits are some of the murkier bits of their history, and unfortunately have been since the days of Murry.

[Jason]

Note too that Dennis recorded a fragment in the 70s during a poetry album session with Steve Kalinich, I believe the title was Grateful Are We For Little Children - apparently, Brian used the melody as Saturday Morning In The City.

[Ed Roach]

The "other guy" heard on these demos is Garby Leon whose Venice Beach home is where this stuff was taped.
But according to those who were there, a genuine creative burst was underway between DW and BW despite their lack of sobriety.

As a little more background on Garby, he was one of Dennis' late night 'finds'; if you were a nite person in Venice, and your house exhibited a certain vibe, and especially if you had a piano, chances were pretty good Dennis was going to find an excuse to introduce himself one night...  'Professor' Leon was one of the exceptional finds; ( I believe he was teaching music theory at UCLA at the time.  He's been involved in film ever since), he lived in a really unique little house on Horizon, a legendary Venice street that ends at The Sidewalk Cafe - a favorite watering hole of DW's at the time, coincidentally...  (Beach Boy Hornett Michael Andreas lived right across the street, and this was also the street where a Manson associate had committed suicide, way before Cielo Drive.  Definitely a street with vibes.)
There's lot's more music (and many more tapes) that exists from this time period, too....  Funny enough, the scenes recreated from this period in "Summer Dreams" are a fairly accurate portrayal of the times & mood when some of these sessions went down.  Say what you will; it was a rare time shared between two exceptional, talented, somewhat crazed guys, who happened to be famous, and also happened to be somewhat estranged brothers...  And I was fortunate enough to have been there...

[Yorick]

But why is it that so little great music has come out of this period when everyone talks about how creative the brothers were etcetera? Looking at it objectively, to me it looks like it was a period where two alcoholic bums just played some music, unable to finish anything worthy.

[hypehat]

I think you're confusing 'not being able to finish anything worthy' with 'being forced by the band to write happier surf n turf numbers'...

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I think it's been established that "Night Bloomin' Jasmine" (as featured on the BW 88 reissue) was recorded around that time. And Rio Grande also includes the rollin', rollin' on "River Song" riff. BW/BB credits are some of the murkier bits of their history, and unfortunately have been since the days of Murry.

It also doesn't help that Brian was so out of it he probably couldn't remember if he wrote someting with Dennis or not. Or, he came up a melody out of nowhere that he thought was sort of familiar, totally forgetting it was something he'd done a few years prior.

[Wirestone]

Re: SMITC -- according to Alan Boyd:

GRATEFUL ARE WE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, according to Steve, was something that he had worked on with Brian back in the late 60s or early 70s.  When he sang it to me, I instantly recognized the melody as what eventually became "Saturday Morning In The City."

Brian has definitely ripped off Dennis (Someone to Love / San Miguel being the most blatant, albeit unreleased example), but SMITC doesn't sounds much like a Denny tune to my ears.

[XY]

Allegedly the SNITC melody was already demoed by Brian during the SMiLE sessions.

[Jay]

Re: SMITC -- according to Alan Boyd:

GRATEFUL ARE WE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, according to Steve, was something that he had worked on with Brian back in the late 60s or early 70s.  When he sang it to me, I instantly recognized the melody as what eventually became "Saturday Morning In The City."

Brian has definitely ripped off Dennis (Someone to Love / San Miguel being the most blatant, albeit unreleased example), but SMITC doesn't sounds much like a Denny tune to my ears.

I think that AGD once confirmed that SMITC dates back to the SMiLE period(albeit, in a very embryonic form).

[Jay]

As far as the "cocaine sessions" go, I think that what exists on bootleg tapes is great. I'm not saying that Brian or Dennis were all that organised, or "together", but I think what they came up with is a facinating glimpse into two very beautiful, yet fragmented minds. I think that songs like "Oh Lord" are a great example of the stuff Brian and Dennnis were capable of, away from Mike, Stan, Rocky, or any of their "minders" from the period. Yes, the drugs and booze flowed freely, TO freely, but Brian and Dennis were in their element.

[hypehat]

Re: SMITC -- according to Alan Boyd:

GRATEFUL ARE WE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, according to Steve, was something that he had worked on with Brian back in the late 60s or early 70s.  When he sang it to me, I instantly recognized the melody as what eventually became "Saturday Morning In The City."

Brian has definitely ripped off Dennis (Someone to Love / San Miguel being the most blatant, albeit unreleased example), but SMITC doesn't sounds much like a Denny tune to my ears.

I think that AGD once confirmed that SMITC dates back to the SMiLE period(albeit, in a very embryonic form).

Not i have heard it (how could i lower myself to such pitiful depths?) but it reminds me a little of the 'All Day' thing

[MBE]

As far as the "cocaine sessions" go, I think that what exists on bootleg tapes is great. I'm not saying that Brian or Dennis were all that organised, or "together", but I think what they came up with is a facinating glimpse into two very beautiful, yet fragmented minds. I think that songs like "Oh Lord" are a great example of the stuff Brian and Dennnis were capable of, away from Mike, Stan, Rocky, or any of their "minders" from the period. Yes, the drugs and booze flowed freely, TO freely, but Brian and Dennis were in their element.

I agree with basically all you are saying though to be fair the recent Goin On was a nice Brian and Mike track and I think City Blues would have been right up Love's alley. It is a special tape. Brian never was quite as emotional again. He seemed so unencumbered and expressive. He lost something after Landy's second term commenced. He has done some great work since then but he's never been quite as in the moment.

[Ed Roach]

Brian never was quite as emotional again. He seemed so unencumbered and expressive. He lost something after Land'ys second term commenced.

I'm so glad to read this statement, because when I see these sessions mentioned, I think of a period of time, rather than this one session.  And I realize now this time period shared between Dennis & Brian was a lot longer then I originally thought.  It was from another comment, about Brian's "minders",  & not mentioning Carolyn Williams, that reminded me it lasted quite awhile.   It was when Brian had detoxed, and moved into a house in Pacific Palisades, that they first started forging this new bond.  And during that time, Brian at first wasn't doing anything harder than cigarettes & coffee; he & Carolyn were carefully working out his prescription needs, and he was doing o.k.  (In fact, I remember more than more occasion when Dennis would be having a cocktail while pounding away at the piano, and Brian would tell me he was worried about Dennis' drinking.)  Of course, it did deteriorate into them indulging together in later times, but believe me, they peeled away so many layers of their past during these times, things they wouldn't have otherwise shared.  Some of it spilled on tape, but it was what they experienced together that was most important.

[Alex]

Re: SMITC -- according to Alan Boyd:

GRATEFUL ARE WE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, according to Steve, was something that he had worked on with Brian back in the late 60s or early 70s.  When he sang it to me, I instantly recognized the melody as what eventually became "Saturday Morning In The City."

Brian has definitely ripped off Dennis (Someone to Love / San Miguel being the most blatant, albeit unreleased example), but SMITC doesn't sounds much like a Denny tune to my ears.

I think that AGD once confirmed that SMITC dates back to the SMiLE period(albeit, in a very embryonic form).

Was it that song called "Inspiration"?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Re: SMITC -- according to Alan Boyd:

GRATEFUL ARE WE FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, according to Steve, was something that he had worked on with Brian back in the late 60s or early 70s.  When he sang it to me, I instantly recognized the melody as what eventually became "Saturday Morning In The City."

Brian has definitely ripped off Dennis (Someone to Love / San Miguel being the most blatant, albeit unreleased example), but SMITC doesn't sounds much like a Denny tune to my ears.

I think that AGD once confirmed that SMITC dates back to the SMiLE period(albeit, in a very embryonic form).

Was it that song called "Inspiration"?

No - the sessions logged as "Inspiration" were a section of "Good Vibrations". During a break in an "H&V" 1967 session, Brian was noodling on the piano, and a riff emerged that wasn't a million miles removed from "SMITC".