"Melt Away" end vocal round

[JaredLekites]

I apologize if this has been covered before (repeatedly) but I couldn't come up with much in a search so I figured I would ask. In comparing my 1988 CD and vinyl of the Brian Wilson album with the 2001 remaster with bonus tracks, there is an obvious difference in the two mixes of "Melt Away". The end vocal round on the 1988 versions contain a set of high "ahh"s that aren't on the 2001 release. It doesn't sound like Brian to me. Perhaps it's Andy Paley?
Anyway, was there a reason the compilers of the 2001 CD chose to use a mix that was different from the original release. Did it have anything to do with Landy? Personally I prefer the "ahh"s mix because they sound real pretty on top of Brian's vocals. 

[hypehat]

The missing 'ahhs' were simply a mistake by the people producing the set - they used an earlier mix on the reissue.

[The Shift]

Wasn't there talk at the time of the error being corrected on a subsequent repressing? Far as I know that never happened...  MArk L would know what the score currently is there, I guess...


Maybe it'll be included in the BBs Surfin' Solo boxset (which collects 4 ML albums, 11 BW albums, 1 AJ album, 2 CW albums, 3 DW albums and 10 CDs of outtakes) that's coming out at the same time as the SMiLE Sessions box (15 CDs) and the 72-74 Tour box (150 CDs).  If you buy all 3 boxes together from Amazon, you get a bonus 4CD box of Kokomo re-recordings in Italian, Nepalese, Urdu, Swahilli, Spanish etc etc etc.

[Roger Ryan]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

[GoodVibrations33]

I think "Let It Shine" was different too, I remember there being a difference in the drums.

[bgas]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

[The Shift]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

[c-man]

I bought the Rhino reissue in 2000 when it came out, and got the alternate mixes.  Years later, I bought a second copy (from Amazon) and got...the alternate mixes.  Apparently there's plenty left in stock.

[Roger Ryan]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

Yes, I did have to mail in the "wrong" disc to get the correct one sent to me. I hesitated briefly, but the earlier mixes were definitely inferior as far as I was concerned and the lack of the high vocal at the end of MELT AWAY was a dealbreaker (it's perhaps my favorite moment on the album).

[bgas]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

Yes, I did have to mail in the "wrong" disc to get the correct one sent to me. I hesitated briefly, but the earlier mixes were definitely inferior as far as I was concerned and the lack of the high vocal at the end of MELT AWAY was a dealbreaker (it's perhaps my favorite moment on the album).

Bummer. I wonder if they destroyed all the returns, or kept them to sell as collectors items...

[Andrew G. Doe]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

Yes, I did have to mail in the "wrong" disc to get the correct one sent to me. I hesitated briefly, but the earlier mixes were definitely inferior as far as I was concerned and the lack of the high vocal at the end of MELT AWAY was a dealbreaker (it's perhaps my favorite moment on the album).

Bummer. I wonder if they destroyed all the returns, or kept them to sell as collectors items...

Those of us who bought the CD in 1988 were, of course, spared any such dilemma. 

Mark will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I recall reading that when the 2000 reissue was compiled, it was discovered that there wasn't, in fact, one single master for the album, so the tracks had to be pulled from the vault individually.

[bgas]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

Yes, I did have to mail in the "wrong" disc to get the correct one sent to me. I hesitated briefly, but the earlier mixes were definitely inferior as far as I was concerned and the lack of the high vocal at the end of MELT AWAY was a dealbreaker (it's perhaps my favorite moment on the album).

Bummer. I wonder if they destroyed all the returns, or kept them to sell as collectors items...

Those of us who bought the CD in 1988 were, of course, spared any such dilemma. 

Mark will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I recall reading that when the 2000 reissue was compiled, it was discovered that there wasn't, in fact, one single master for the album, so the tracks had to be pulled from the vault individually.

So the 88 CD has the alternate versions of songs? Don't remember hearing them that way.

[JaredLekites]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Makes me sad I didn't buy the one with the different mixes; When you say "replaced" did you have to send one back to get the other? 

seconded -  very curious!

Yes, I did have to mail in the "wrong" disc to get the correct one sent to me. I hesitated briefly, but the earlier mixes were definitely inferior as far as I was concerned and the lack of the high vocal at the end of MELT AWAY was a dealbreaker (it's perhaps my favorite moment on the album).

Bummer. I wonder if they destroyed all the returns, or kept them to sell as collectors items...

Those of us who bought the CD in 1988 were, of course, spared any such dilemma. 

Mark will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I recall reading that when the 2000 reissue was compiled, it was discovered that there wasn't, in fact, one single master for the album, so the tracks had to be pulled from the vault individually.

So the 88 CD has the alternate versions of songs? Don't remember hearing them that way.

The 88 CD has the correct mixes.

I wasn't aware of any "corrected" 2001 CD. Are we certain this exists? Even the version of the album on iTunes has he alternate mixes.

[grillo]

I remember back when the reissue came out being really disappointed about the wrong mixes being used, and I read somewhere (I think it was on one of those cards they use in record stores for the artists name) that you could send in the srewed-up version for the right one, but since I have a couple copies of the original I just figured "hey, alt. mixes...cool." I think I remember someone saying that if you sent in your re-master you got a CDR with the correct versions, but who knows...?

[c-man]

I remember back when the reissue came out being really disappointed about the wrong mixes being used, and I read somewhere (I think it was on one of those cards they use in record stores for the artists name) that you could send in the srewed-up version for the right one, but since I have a couple copies of the original I just figured "hey, alt. mixes...cool." I think I remember someone saying that if you sent in your re-master you got a CDR with the correct versions, but who knows...?

Um, Roger Ryan just said above that Rhino replaced the "incorrect mixes" disc he'd bought with one that had the correct mixes.  Roger, was that a standard CD or a CDR?

[Roger Ryan]

I remember back when the reissue came out being really disappointed about the wrong mixes being used, and I read somewhere (I think it was on one of those cards they use in record stores for the artists name) that you could send in the srewed-up version for the right one, but since I have a couple copies of the original I just figured "hey, alt. mixes...cool." I think I remember someone saying that if you sent in your re-master you got a CDR with the correct versions, but who knows...?

Um, Roger Ryan just said above that Rhino replaced the "incorrect mixes" disc he'd bought with one that had the correct mixes.  Roger, was that a standard CD or a CDR?

There's no freakin' way I would have accepted a CD-R replacement! It was a properly-pressed disc with artwork. I didn't have a CD burner at the time or I would have burned a CD-R of the incorrect mixes before mailing the first disc. Like I said, I found the wrong mixes pretty inferior (or, at least, not different enough to be interesting) so I don't lose sleep over it.

Oh, and to clarify, the disc that Rhino sent back contained the correct mixes. Also it was the newly remastered version with the bonus tracks - obviously this was the main reason I repurchased the album since the '88 issue was in need of remastering.

[Rich Panteluk]

As far as I am aware, the fixed and correct mixes are not (and have never been) available in the stores.  If you buy the 88 reissue anywhere I believe you still get the version with a few incorrect mixes so that version isn't rare at all.  I have several copies of the re-issue and and they all have the Melt Away without the high part at the end.  I'm not blaming anyone for that either, I just think the limited audience for this reissue made it not worth sending out new corrected stock to the stores.  I'm sure many of the people who purchased the reissue didn't notice the differences (except us geeks here).

I would love to hear if anyone has purchased a corrected version in a store, but I think the corrected version was limited to the few who sent in their incorrect version

[bgas]

As far as I am aware, the fixed and correct mixes are not (and have never been) available in the stores.  If you buy the 88 reissue anywhere I believe you still get the version with a few incorrect mixes so that version isn't rare at all.  I have several copies of the re-issue and and they all have the Melt Away without the high part at the end.  I'm not blaming anyone for that either, I just think the limited audience for this reissue made it not worth sending out new corrected stock to the stores.  I'm sure many of the people who purchased the reissue didn't notice the differences (except us geeks here).

I would love to hear if anyone has purchased a corrected version in a store, but I think the corrected version was limited to the few who sent in their incorrect version

Hmm; In that case, I wonder if Rhino is sitting on a stack of corrected CDs, just waiting to be purchased by rich, completist, collectors.
Or if one were to purchase the reissue in the store now, would they replace it with a corrected version if you mailed it back? 

[c-man]

As far as I am aware, the fixed and correct mixes are not (and have never been) available in the stores.  If you buy the 88 reissue anywhere I believe you still get the version with a few incorrect mixes so that version isn't rare at all.  I have several copies of the re-issue and and they all have the Melt Away without the high part at the end.  I'm not blaming anyone for that either, I just think the limited audience for this reissue made it not worth sending out new corrected stock to the stores.  I'm sure many of the people who purchased the reissue didn't notice the differences (except us geeks here).

I would love to hear if anyone has purchased a corrected version in a store, but I think the corrected version was limited to the few who sent in their incorrect version

I'd like to know that, too...I have two copies of the "incorrect mix" 2000 reissue, and since the sound quality on this remaster is an improvement over the 1988 CD, I'd love to swap one for a "correct mix" replacement!

Hmm; In that case, I wonder if Rhino is sitting on a stack of corrected CDs, just waiting to be purchased by rich, completist, collectors.
Or if one were to purchase the reissue in the store now, would they replace it with a corrected version if you mailed it back? 

[Mr. Cohen]

Let's alter the course of this discussion's stream: Is "Melt Away" Brian's best outro since "Til I Die"?

I say yes.

[bgas]

Let's alter the course of this discussion's stream: Is "Melt Away" Brian's best outro since "Til I Die"?

I say yes.

Let's go back to your childhood

[The Heartical Don]

Let's alter the course of this discussion's stream: Is "Melt Away" Brian's best outro since "Til I Die"?

I say yes.

Yeah, lets alter the stream. In Holland it has been discovered that wireless WiFi signals significantly decrease the health of trees. Published today. I thought of 'A Day In The Life Of A Tree', how eminently prescient.

And herrings communicate by farting.

The above statements are true, by the way.

[pobbard]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Same here. Like Roger, I mailed back my original without bothering to make a copy and Rhino instantly sent me a replacement CD. I love this album, but not enough to want the "wrong" mixes.

[punkinhead]

Rhino replaced my copy of BW '88 with the corrected one almost immediately after the release. Not only was the coda to "Melt Away" affected, but "Love & Mercy" and "There's So Many" featured different mixes as well.

Same here. Like Roger, I mailed back my original without bothering to make a copy and Rhino instantly sent me a replacement CD. I love this album, but not enough to want the "wrong" mixes.

So the "wrong mixes" are from the original issue of the album? Would having this version of the cd be worth anything?

[pobbard]

So the "wrong mixes" are from the original issue of the album? Would having this version of the cd be worth anything?

The "wrong" mixes are from the original Rhino 2000 remaster of Brian Wilson. The 1988 CD issue uses the "correct" mixes, as does the reissue Rhino offered in 2000 (and still?) for anyone who mailed in their "wrong" copy for an exchange.

Given how common the "wrong" mixes version of the 2000 remaster is, I doubt it's worth any more than a "corrected" copy of the same disc.