Summer in Paradise & Still Crusin'

[TV Forces]

Why weren't these albums part of the
reissue series of a couple years ago?

[analogdemon]

My question exactly.  To me, BB 85, Still Cruisin' and Summer in Paradise all form a cool body of late period work with electronics.  Nevermind the fact that "Still Cruisin'" eventually went platinum.  Who but the Beach Boys could have a PLATINUM album go out of print?!  Unbelievable.  Just like most of the two-fers, SC and SIP go hand in hand.

Regardless of whether you think it's awesome or you think it sucks, no albums from arguably the greatest American band should be out of print!  Even Stars and Stripes should be in print from somewhere.

[Jeff Mason]

The reissue series focused upon albums released under the Brother Records imprint, which were the Warner/Caribou albums.  No one wanted to reissue SIP, and I can see why.  Star and Stripes would not be worth the reissue.  You probably have a case for Still Crusin, but it is not hard to find used.

Frankly, I still want a rarities release that acknowledges the great volume of good music unreleased 1970 and beyond.  Endless Harmony gave just a hint, and Hawthorne barely acknowledged that the band continued past the Capitol contract.  Do THAT before a reissue of Still Crusin or SIP, please....

[analogdemon]

The reissue series focused upon albums released under the Brother Records imprint, which were the Warner/Caribou albums.  No one wanted to reissue SIP, and I can see why.  Star and Stripes would not be worth the reissue.  You probably have a case for Still Crusin, but it is not hard to find used.

Frankly, I still want a rarities release that acknowledges the great volume of good music unreleased 1970 and beyond.  Endless Harmony gave just a hint, and Hawthorne barely acknowledged that the band continued past the Capitol contract.  Do THAT before a reissue of Still Crusin or SIP, please....

I definitely agree that a rarities compilation would be pissah.  I wouldn't have so much of a problem with SC, SIP and SAS1 being out of print if at least *some* of the songs were available elsewhere on other compilations.  Out of those three albums (if you exclude the three classics at the end of SC), Kokomo is the only song available on any compilation.  That's sad.  SIP certainly doesn't rank among the band's best work, but there are some great songs on there (Lahaina, Strange Things Happen, Island Fever and Still Surfin' come to mind).  Frankly, SIP is still better than 15BO in my opinion.

[Jason]

The Beach Boys' rarities set, subtitled "Brother Rarities" is finished and has been for several years. It's in limbo, however, due to record company indifference.

[Jeff Mason]

I knew it had been proposed, but are you saying it was compiled and mastered??

Now I AM mad...

[Jason]

To the best of my knowledge it's finished and mastered. Capitol has it on what seems to be a permanent back-burner. Why, I don't know. I heard it was supposed to be a double disc set. No tracklist has leaked, however.

[Alan Boyd]

As far as I know, there is no Brother Rarities compilation.  Tracklists were bounced back and forth, and a demo assembly of potential tracks was sent to the BBs at one point some years ago, but as far as an album being assembled and actually mastered - I don't think so. 

[I. Spaceman]

Thanks Alan.

[shelter]

Regardless of whether you think it's awesome or you think it sucks, no albums from arguably the greatest American band should be out of print!  Even Stars and Stripes should be in print from somewhere.

I totally agree.

[Jason]

As far as I know, there is no Brother Rarities compilation.  Tracklists were bounced back and forth, and a demo assembly of potential tracks was sent to the BBs at one point some years ago, but as far as an album being assembled and actually mastered - I don't think so. 

Thanks for the clarification, Alan.

This brings up another question, however. If there is in fact no Brother Rarities comp, why was such a title given to those "in the know"?

[Alan Boyd]

Because people really wanted a Brother Rarities collection - and it was being discussed.  As I recall, there was lots of back-and-forth at Capitol about the idea, and there was also a point when there was a plan to release the Brother albums as single CDs with bonus tracks...but that eventually went away, and Capitol released the two-fers instead.  I'm not sure how or where that decision was made.

[Jason]

Would you work with Capitol in putting together such a compilation provided the band and label both were up for it?

[Alan Boyd]

Absolutely - we've been cataloguing, researching and preserving all sorts of unreleased material from the BRI vaults for a couple of years now.  There's a lot of good material in there, including wonderful stuff that's never been booted or even discussed yet.  And we still have a ways to go before we've gone through it all....

[Jason]

Well, that's encouraging. At least something's being done.

[Jeff Mason]

My understanding is that it was the band itself who scuttled the single CDs with bonus tracks in favor of the twofers.  How that might have affected the Brother Rarities is unknown, but if I were to guess, the band has seemed VERY reluctant to let post-Capitol unreleased material to be released.  We have some live tracks, some alternate mixes, and two or three genuine rarities, and that's it -- compared to the 60's era which honestly is very well defined all things considered.

[Jason]

There's a lot of 60s stuff that hasn't even been bootlegged, especially Friends outtakes. Tracks like "Our Happy Home" and "Thank You" come to mind.

[Jeff Mason]

Yeah, but don't you feel like the 70's stuff is non-existant by comparison?  What have we really seen outside of a couple of tracks on the box set and Endless Harmony?  The 60's twofers had outtakes galore, plus you have Hawthorne.

We haven't even talked about gathering officially released material that has never been on a BB album, like What'd I Say or Problem Child.

[Jason]

I think it's due to the fact that among the unreleased 70s stuff, there are some absolute clunkers. I would hope that the BBs' horrible rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic won't come out anytime soon, if ever.

On the whole, what's come out on bootlegs is promising, and a suitable, maybe even excellent, release could be made of this material.

[Jeff Mason]

You could easily make a single CD of solid tracks from unreleased 70's tracks and never once cue up Battle Hymn.

[Jason]

You could easily make a single CD of solid tracks from unreleased 70's tracks and never once cue up Battle Hymn.

You could make a double! Maybe a box set, but let's not get greedy.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

but let's not get greedy.

Too late.  I'm pushing for three-disc box sets of every released album, plus 15 box sets of unreleased rarities.

[Jason]

Too late.  I'm pushing for three-disc box sets of every released album, plus 15 box sets of unreleased rarities.

You'd love my 14 disc collection of unreleased/rare BBs material. Or maybe my 5 CD set of unreleased/rare Brian material. Hell, you might even love the 3 CD set I have dedicated to Mike!

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Doubt it.   

[Jason]