Feel Flows box set

[Rocky Raccoon]

Just got my copy today, so excited to dig into this!

[Don Malcolm]

Dennis...Dennis...Dennis...good golly! I don't think there was quite a full solo LP there--Howie and others can feel free to correct me, as there may be more to which they are privy--but listening to all of this abundance of material suggests that SURF'S UP had the potential to be a double LP literally bursting at the seams. The band was literally overflowing with creativity, to a point where all of it could've have done more harm than good in terms of their career.

Four sides of music, with all of Dennis' incredibly varied output repositioned in ways to not make it stand out too starkly. Consider:

Side One: 4th of July--Don't Go Near the Water--Long Promised Road--Take A Load Off Your Feet--Disney Girls--Student Demonstration Time
Side Two: San Miguel--Big Sur--Awake--Where Is She--Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again
Side Three: I'm Going Your Way--All of My Love--Before--Behold the Night--Hawaiian Dream--Old Movie
Side Four: Feel Flows--Looking At Tomorrow-A Day in the Life of A Tree--Til I Die--Surf's Up

That's a total of nine Dennis tracks on the double LP...nine out of twenty-two. Brian has five, Al two, Carl two, Mike two, Al & Mike one, Bruce one. That's probably too unbalanced for the band to have swallowed at the time, but holy moly Dennis was the elephant in the room and the approach taken to his material was clearly not sufficiently nurturing. They took the tracks that were the easiest fit into the band's style, but the material that would comprise a "Side Three" here was (mostly) something beyond what they could assimilate (and, indeed, some portion of it just never coalesced into full coherence--Dennis simply moved on and revised/set aside/revised again until the more congenial beachhead of Brother Studio and a few more years of assimilating the developing music of the seventies assisted him in pulling together the material that comprised POB).

It's almost as if Brother Studio was a grudging recognition that the band had to subsidize Dennis' work despite their inability to assimilate it into their overall identity. Of course, Dennis' volatility and addictive impulses made for a path to creativity that was as complicated and chaotic as the place that Brian was inhabiting in various stages of fragility and outright dyfunctionality from late '68 until he was dragged out of his hibernation (and back into Brother Studio) in '76.

But would a four-sided SURF'S UP have provided a better outcome for the band at the time? Jack and Carl found a way to kow-tow to the band's precipitous democracy with the assemblage of the 10-track LP, while stoking the fires of the ongoing Brian Wilson mythos (which is what really sold SURF'S UP to the general public--David Hepworth, in his book NEVER A DULL MOMENT--looking at 1971, the jam-packed "advent year" of rock--nails what the effect of the 10-track LP ultimately was...as he put it "they were the first band to create a tribute album to themselves" that also made it safe for the counterculture to like them). Could such calculation have been able to withstand the onslaught of the eleven tracks on Sides Two/Three, where the hidden underside of the band's creativity would have manifested itself (mostly via Dennis: eight of his songs are here, making those sides--which in those days would have appeared separate from one another--into a kind of de facto solo LP)?

It's an overwhelming, sad but joyous discovery half a century later, one that (IMO) vindicates all of the folks (raising my hand here) who've fervently felt that Dennis was in his way as unique and significant a songwriter as his older brother. Sad because it never was able to be fully realized; joyous because we finally get to hear just how unique and incredibly wide-ranging Dennis' musical world was, and have all of the materials with which to give him his proper due.

Of course the FEEL FLOWS set does even more than this, and that's to the infinite credit of Howie and Mark and Alan for all they did to ensure that all of this music would, at long last, finally see the light of day. Fifty years is a very long time to wait, but the payoff here makes it all worthwhile.

[thatjacob]

Listening to Surfs Up and Sunflower on this set I kinda wish they had done new mixes of them. The new mixes sound a whole world better, no high end sharpness and no distortion on vocals.

Or, you know, actually ran them through Desper's matrix like they were originally intended to begin with.

[Awesoman]

I'm still taking a lot of this in and haven't actually listened to the whole thing in full yet (I've heard most of it though).  A lot of the new stuff serves as a curiosity more than anything as a lot of the unreleased stuff sounds a tad unfinished.  And "songs" like "My Solution" would never stand on its own on any proper Beach Boys album.  I'm not complaining though.  Really glad they put this thing out though as it's well worth the purchase.  I don't know how much casual listeners will get out of it (other than the actual Sunflower and Surf's Up material themselves) but for the diehards like us this is an absolute treat.  Great job Howie and thanks for fighting to put this set out.  I look forward to hearing what you have in store for the Ricky/Blondie years! 

[thr33]

Agreed with "twentytwenty" - So much for Brian being a vegetable and not doing much but lie in bed, right? Again, the proof is on the tapes. Was he as much to the forefront? Of course not, but man his presence is there on these tapes. And how great if not melancholy is it to hear *THAT VOICE* hitting the high notes which would soon disappear entirely from BB's music.

Terrific post (and tremendous set btw, have been listening a lot the last couple days), but just wanted to highlight this paragraph, particularly the last sentence.

These sessions have been a goldmine, and even if this isn't Brian of the early-mid 60s, he can still pure those high notes. In the next couple of sets, we'll probably hear *that voice* for the last time. We have a good idea of when it happened (some point between the 1974 California Feelin' demo and the 1975 In the Back of My Mind demo), but it's going to be sad once we hear the last few unbooted recordings that showcase him losing it. Not to be overly dramatic.

As an aside, I really hope Feel Flows sells well. I think an In Concert box in a year or two, and a Brian's Back box in a few more years would be tremendous follow-ups. If Feel Flows is a commercial success (it already appears to be a critical one) we'll have more sets to look forward to from copyright extensions.

[seltaeb1012002]

In the next couple of sets, we'll probably hear *that voice* for the last time. We have a good idea of when it happened (some point between the 1974 California Feelin' demo and the 1975 In the Back of My Mind demo), but it's going to be sad once we hear the last few unbooted recordings that showcase him losing it.

Do we know if there are any more unreleased/unbooted vocals from that time period? I definitely hope there's stuff that hasn't been reported on, but I think we've heard it all at this point. Well, minus the Sail On Sailor demo - which is from a few years earlier. But perhaps I'm forgetting something....

[Shady]

Australia loves some "Feel flows"

[Pretty Funky]

What’s that Australia website? Haven’t found any link for Aus/NZ physical copies yet myself.

Edit: Just found it listed on Amazon Aust.....finally! 👏👏👏slow handclap.

[Cabinessenceking]

Should definitely have remixed both albums. Well at least they have that as a future project!

[Wrightfan]

Anyone know via the book who wrote It's Natural and when? Very interesting tune.

[TonyW]

Anyone know via the book who wrote It's Natural and when? Very interesting tune.

Wilson/Sandler

I think that answers when as well

[Pretty Funky]

The recordings on FF sound great and man how they rocked on "It's about Time". It makes you want a set dedicated to their live performances of the early 70s.

And the sky hasn’t fallen down due to the lack of auto tune! (still pi$$ed about the C50 live album 👎)

[B.E.]

And yet I still can't fully make out what Carl's singing at the end of "All I Wanna Do", lol. It's clear that the beginning bit is "If you get lonely in the night..." Anyone decipher what follows?

It's 'If you get lonely in the night I'd come and be with you'

Yeah, it's finally clear to me after hearing the 'vocals only' track!

"Won't You Tell Me" - Was Brian laughing at Murry's comment or at something else happening in the studio? I couldn't tell. What disturbed me was hearing Murry's voice say "Brian, I'm talking to you" like Brian was 10 or something. I tensed up hearing that, even though that demo is a treat over all.

I'm getting 'Beauty, Brian I'm talking beauty' from Murry here. He very definitely loves this song!

You're right, nice catch.

[thr33]

Do we know if there are any more unreleased/unbooted vocals from that time period? I definitely hope there's stuff that hasn't been reported on, but I think we've heard it all at this point. Well, minus the Sail On Sailor demo - which is from a few years earlier. But perhaps I'm forgetting something....

Good question, I'm actually not sure. I hope there is.

[debonbon]

Listening to Surfs Up and Sunflower on this set I kinda wish they had done new mixes of them. The new mixes sound a whole world better, no high end sharpness and no distortion on vocals.

Or, you know, actually ran them through Desper's matrix like they were originally intended to begin with.

Having listened to the study videos I’m not a fan of the “3D” stereo, I can appreciate what they were doing but I can see why it was passed over.

[TimeToGetAlone]

Sadly looks like my Amazon pre-order carries a date of late September or October. I could order new now and get it in two days, but at extra cost. Anybody having delays through their pre-order?

[Shady]

Sadly looks like my Amazon pre-order carries a date of late September or October. I could order new now and get it in two days, but at extra cost. Anybody having delays through their pre-order?

Get on to customer service and see if they'll honour the original price

[Jim V.]

Anyone know via the book who wrote It's Natural and when? Very interesting tune.

David Sandler. I know that off the top of my head from reading the liner notes.

While we are on this, does anybody know who the liner notes credit as the writer(s) of “Carnival” and “Seasons In The Sun” respectively?

[Shady]

Anyone have any info on who's playing what on "it's about time"

[Jim V.]

Anyone know via the book who wrote It's Natural and when? Very interesting tune.

Wilson/Sandler

I think that answers when as well

Actually no Brian on that one. Just David.

[Jim V.]

O also, is that really Brian taking the lead at the beginning of the alternate version of “Don’t Go Near The Water”? The part about how the water “killed” his dad. Weirdly crazily awesome.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

O also, is that really Brian taking the lead at the beginning of the alternate version of “Don’t Go Near The Water”? The part about how the water “killed” his dad. Weirdly crazily awesome.

Despite the fact that Al thinks that Brian sang that, it's Al singing it.

[TonyW]

Anyone know via the book who wrote It's Natural and when? Very interesting tune.

Wilson/Sandler

I think that answers when as well

Actually no Brian on that one. Just David.

Oops! Me bad - read the production credit not the writing.

[seltaeb1012002]

And yet I still can't fully make out what Carl's singing at the end of "All I Wanna Do", lol. It's clear that the beginning bit is "If you get lonely in the night..." Anyone decipher what follows?

It's 'If you get lonely in the night I'd come and be with you'

Yeah, it's finally clear to me after hearing the 'vocals only' track!

Ooh, good ear!

[Shady]

O also, is that really Brian taking the lead at the beginning of the alternate version of “Don’t Go Near The Water”? The part about how the water “killed” his dad. Weirdly crazily awesome.

I nearly keeled over when I heard that for the first time 😂