One of my favorites, and one of the more unique Brian-Mike collaborations. Who'd have thought they had a gondola song in them?

To answer the question posed by the OP: I think to get the clearest view of what it's like to work with Brian in the modern context, you should read Stephen McParland's book about the Gary Usher 1986 sessions. And do so without the prejudice that every negative aspect of Brian's personality or working method is Eugene Landy's fault. (A view that Gary Usher never endorses even as his personal opinion of Landy plummets.) Doing this cleared up a lot for me.

I think a lot of Brian's gifts are still with him in regards to vocal arrangement and charm, but he's needed -- not desired, needed -- collaborators to finish anything since his mid-twenties. Initially, I think this was psychologically aversive in nature. By the mid-70s I think it's brain damage due to compulsive drug abuse and past the early 80s it's compounded brain damage. This isn't to say that he's a zombie, he seems perfectly functional and sensible in non-musical aspects, but I do think he's 50 years past the point where he could "turn it on" if he really wanted to simply because what he did took an enormous capacity for concentration and organized creative thought. And that's fine, really, it's not like he wasted time during his fruitful years -- but I think there's a tendency for Beach Boys fans to continuously revisit post-73 material as if by repeating an unpleasant narrative in their head that it will turn out better this time. (Beatles fans do this with the break-up -- it is the subject of 50% of Beatles podcasts -- and I suspect it's not uncommon with other enthusiast communities.) This isn't to say that Brian wasn't responsible for enjoyable music post-73, but was it great, or even continuous with what he was capable of in the 60s? Is inability more of an influence than changing aesthetic inclinations? If Raffi had recorded the lead vocal for Solar System and released it under his name, would anyone care about the track?

(Addendum: I don't get the fetishization of the "Everything I Need" demo. It's not a revival of Pet Sounds aesthetic, it sounds like Andrew Gold.)

Yeah, I can't put my finger on it but Mike sounds especially bad on the track. Just a very poor showing all-around, derivative composition, and they were better at nostalgia before and after. Nothing "classic" about it.

To me the more interesting question is: if Brian was still mostly calling the shots through the Friends era, why did he decide to change the produced credit from Brian to The Beach Boys at all?

Three reasons, not musically exclusive.

1. A desire to re-integrate the Boys and the band concept into the recording process following, from Brian's own account, a near break-up when Brian unilaterally decided to shelve a year's worth of expensive and time-consuming recording work.

2. A deliberate rejection of the "Brian as musical godhead" identity that had been built around him by well-meaning public relations officers but, from Brian's perspective, had produced very little usable material.

3. Passive aggression.

In all humility, I'd be interested in hearing the in-depth reasoning behind the "forged signature" scenario from someone like AGD.  Too much innuendo about stuff like this, not enough hard facts.

Very simple - the accusation came up as a consequence of Brian's lawsuit to get his publishing back from Almo/Irving, when the sale documents were examined. That a hard enough fact for you ?

That's not a simple answer, it's a vague and insulting one that restates my premises and doesn't speak to any of my points at all.  I'm aware of the accusation and when it came up.  What I'm asking is: if it was determined in a court of law that the signature wasn't Brian's, if anyone without a reason to lie has outright said that the signature wasn't Brian's, if it was notarized and what the notary would have gained from a criminal conspiracy, etc. 

I think these are questions I'd like to have resolved before we accuse a dead man of a felony, and if they can't be answered then the idea needs to be downgraded from "[almost] certainty" to "apocrypha originating from the Landy Camp" and treated as such.   I think you if anybody could give substantial answers to these questions instead of yelling at clouds over an imagined slight.

The whole deal is a huge gray area to me.  Not to make a virtue of ignorance, but I've read what most Beach Boy enthusiasts have said and wish to believe about the SOT as it relates to Brian's narrative -- as a layman I'm still unclear how the sale could have gone through without a notarized signature, what rights were actually being sold, etc. 

I'm inclined to believe that Brian signed despite fundamental misgivings, that his signature being acquired was how he was informed of the sale, and that he could have stopped it if he wanted.  I've certainly heard the rumors of a forged signature, but 1) these accusations seem to have started with Team Landy trying to maximize Brian's fiscal worth in conjunction with making Landy Brian's prime beneficiary and 2) and people have tended toward similar accusations about every contract and loan agreement of this era except the Warner contract, where we have photographic evidence of Brian signing.  I'm not closed at all to the idea of Murray doing it -- as Al Jardine and Gary Usher could tell you, petty stuff like this was the order of the day with Murry -- but the accusations lose their sting when you read similar stuff about forging Brian's signature putting up the Bellagio house as collateral to raise petty cash for the Brother machine.  That's way harder to swallow.

In all humility, I'd be interested in hearing the in-depth reasoning behind the "forged signature" scenario from someone like AGD.  Too much innuendo about stuff like this, not enough hard facts.

I can't imagine any plausible financial scenario for Mike where he doesn't already have enough money to send a house full of kids to Ivy League colleges.

The confusion could have been easily avoided if only they hadn't edited out the part of the session tape where Van Dyke says "Brian, I've decided I hate my lyrics and want you to come up with the most convoluted phrasing scheme possible along with a melody that sounds like a castrato yodel so no one will listen to the track more than once."

No, it's obviously meant to be the real secret melody Melinda's been suppressing all this time and anyone with ears can tell!  Now, please consult these supplemental diagrams I've drawn up and cross-reference them with these helpful youtube videos and mp3s....

I'll have some of whatever Brian's having.

Alex actually hung out with Dennis on the west coast a bit during the downtime between the Box Tops and Big Star.  I know I read that in the band bio or in an article somewhere, anyway.

[nothing]

Sounds like the "adjustment" needs to be un-adjusted.  I'm on Verizon internet and I've had this problem it seems like for months.  Needs to stop being danced around and fixed.  Cache has nothing to do with it.

np

Very cool.

Mike Love's trnsformation from the gangly, badly programmed robot of the early 60's into the 1st class charismatic frontman of the late 60s and 70s is one of the few feel-good stories of the Beach Boys Saga.

Maladroit's a great album.  Really tight songsmanship.  

I think the problem with Rivers Cuomo is that he's decided, like many of the big mid-90's alt-rock names, that he really likes being a rock star and will continue to write music that he thinks will be popular until he dies.  This overriding commercial interest will synergize with artistic interests only on an incidental basis.  Fortunately, he's an excellent craftsman so many won't notice.

I think his other big problem is that he somehow got the impression he should be idolizing Green Day and Oasis when they are at the most his peers and at the least his artistic inferiors.

A Weezer Box would be awesome, if only for the unleaked Pinkerton (non SFTBH) tracks.  Outside of a mention in Rivers' Edge, I don't think anyone's heard hide nor hair of them.

There's many, many more reasons to buy that book.

No kidding.  Gotta love Dennis's recurring fantasies about being raped by a black man.

you know he shot a girl then lied about it. 

Wow. The impartiality of our justice system at work ...

I'm not the justice system.  Pssst O.J. did it.

you know he shot a girl then lied about it.  just think, it could have been John Lennon or the Ramones who died before their time.

Poisonous personality, but saved Brian's life when no one else could and got Brian working with all the best people on BW '88, doing a better artistic service for him than the clueless wannabees who let Imagination and GIOMH happen.

On the other hand, he was behind Sweet Insanity too.

For the love of God, did they NEVER think of putting Can't Wait Too Long on a damn album?

Jeff Bridges would make a pretty good Brian.  Just imagine THE DUDE with a work ethic.... 40 years ago.

merda, i missed him on SNL.  How was it?

edit:  Saw the SNL stuff and Black Sweat on Housequake.  I wasn't really feeling musicology, but Prince is fucking BACK with this new stuff.  All of it is really really strong.  It should conquer every chart, and then a new chart should be made especially for Prince.

Fiona Apple, kinda-sorta but not any more.

NOT ON THE LIST:

Anything from Public Image Ltd.

T. Rex - "Slider" "Electric Warrior"

Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
 
ANY DAMN CURE ALBUM BESIDES "HEAD ON THE DOOR"

OH, AND A LITTLE ROLLING STONES ALBUM CALLED "STICKY FINGERS"

ON THE LIST:

2 Oasis albums!?  Putting one in the top ten was already pushing it...

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free & Original Pirate Material

The Human League - Dare!

Albums by the Libertines, who NME won't acknowledge has been thouroughly exposed as a hypejob

Muse - Absolution

i'm beginning to see why all the new hyped UK bands end up sucking.  at least they resisted the temptation to jam Art Brut in there.