i'd be surprised if this proposed box set was more comprehensive than the sea of tunes bootleg, but i think this would be worth it just for the improved sound quality. the smile stuff on the good vibrations box sounds better than any bootleg i've heard.
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 02:30 (thirteen years ago) link
For example, a track listed as "Heroes and Villains - alt mix" is nothing of the sort, it's the infamous "Fire" section (or at least part of it)
yeah, it's strange the way that track just peters out pointlessly, and it doesn't even segue into "Heroes & Villains" (not that the two tracks really belong together in the first place). I don't have any major complaints about the rest of the Smile Material in the box.
― unregistered, Monday, 7 February 2011 02:51 (thirteen years ago) link
I forgot my theory..
I think it got named that so Brian wouldn't notice it, get cold feet and nix its inclusion, like he did with "Let him run wild"
― Mark G, Monday, 7 February 2011 09:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Well, even though it's the intro to "Fire/Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," it doesn't sound much like the rest of it. There are some mistakes on the set, too -- for instance, "Do You Like Worms" has a section that wows and flutters pretty badly. So it's not like everything was executed to perfection.
For me, the real treasure trove on that box is the "Heroes and Villains (Sections)" cut -- it's really where you hear what VDP calls BW's "modular songwriting" blossom.
but a completed version of "Surf's Up" with Brian singing lead would be a revelation (although by most accounts it doesn't exist).
As I recall, there are sessions for the boys singing "Surf's Up" -- but the session didn't go well.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 7 February 2011 16:32 (thirteen years ago) link
honestly can't fathom there being that much more material that isn't on the Sea of Tunes box
― bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 7 February 2011 16:34 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah and at the end of the day there are surely more interesting unheard demos from another point in their career
― iatee, Monday, 7 February 2011 16:37 (thirteen years ago) link
like some of this stuff: http://www.banana-and-louie.org/unreleased.html
― iatee, Monday, 7 February 2011 16:40 (thirteen years ago) link
honestly can't fathom there being that much more material that isn't on the Sea of Tunes box...
...yeah and at the end of the day there are surely more interesting unheard demos from another point in their career
I'm not sure I agree with this. The Endless Harmony soundtrack had an outstanding BW/VDP demo of "Barnyard" -- there have got to be tons of those lying around that are equally as good. I'd be all for hearing those.
Plus, I imagine that since Mark Linnett raided the vaults in the early 90s that other things have turned up in different places. Nature of the archival beast.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 7 February 2011 16:45 (thirteen years ago) link
America, I Know You August 22, 1969 Poem written and recorded by Steve Kalinich, coproduced by Kalinich and Brian Wilson. From Kalinich's unreleased Brother Records album A World of Peace Must Come.
^^^oh man would love to hear this
― bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 7 February 2011 16:48 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, think about it: For years, the "Royal Albert Hall" Dylan performance was 'fabled', eventually it's released as a perfect sound master tape. and now on the "no direction home" there's a virtually-the-same performance of "Like a rolling stone" (albeit from Newcastle) that sounds exactly like the "Play fuckin' loud" version.
It's just a matter of time until that Robert Johnson video gets found/released.
― Mark G, Monday, 7 February 2011 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link
Otm
― iatee, Monday, 7 February 2011 17:30 (thirteen years ago) link
America, I Know You August 22, 1969 Poem written and recorded by Steve Kalinich, coproduced by Kalinich and Brian Wilson. From Kalinich's unreleased Brother Records album A World of Peace Must Come.it was released a year or so ago, by light in the attic i i think!
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
actually excited by this possible new BB version of SMILE, though isn't it probably just going to be the "fast eddie" reconstruction that appeared shortly after Brian Wilson's SMILE came out? Just the original Beach Boys recordings of that version of the record?
― Dominique, Monday, 7 February 2011 17:58 (thirteen years ago) link
wasn't that the purple chick version? I can't keep track. but yeah, i almost imagine this is *not* going to be a big all encompassing box set, but maybe just a single disc "definitive" beach boys version of smile.
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 18:09 (thirteen years ago) link
holy shit yr right tyler! thx for the heads up
― bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 7 February 2011 18:09 (thirteen years ago) link
it's not great or anything, but interesting ephemera from the era. kind of painfully earnest iirc.
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 18:14 (thirteen years ago) link
For me, the real treasure trove on that box is the "Heroes and Villains (Sections)" cut -- it's really where you hear what VDP calls BW's "modular songwriting" blossom.but a completed version of "Surf's Up" with Brian singing lead would be a revelation (although by most accounts it doesn't exist).As I recall, there are sessions for the boys singing "Surf's Up" -- but the session didn't go well.― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, February 7, 2011 4:32 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, February 7, 2011 4:32 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
thanks for guiding back to the box set. i had a big beach boys boner a while back and just got reacquainted (with the music i hasten to add) after reading that post. 'heroes and villains' is - i think - the essence of the 'smile' mystique, it's the source of so many of the musical themes of the album. (which is also why 'surf's up' is such a great juxtaposition as a track.)
listening now to the h&v sections track, astonished by the bass and echo in section 5 (1' 39" in). seems to prefigure some of the early 70s dub experiments in its use of aural space.
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 21:50 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd love to hear somebody's idea of a "definitive" SMiLe (including the "George's French Horn"-style filler) that works out to between 60 and 80 minutes in length, just because I've always fetishized double-albums, especially ones that never existed. "What if Smile was released, AND was the 3rd or 4th double LP in rock?" etc
― ilxor gets into jazz (Myonga Vön Bontee), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Can anyone point me to somewhere I can find this Sea of Tunes box? I tried searching for it a little last night, but just got lost in endless pages of lists of bootlegs without any real information on how to actually hear them. I'm sure there is a very good reason they are difficult to find, but I'm curious to hear some of this stuff you guys are talking about.
― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:12 (thirteen years ago) link
this isn't sea of tunes, but it has a lot of the same stuff: http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=653
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 22:14 (thirteen years ago) link
'smile' was always a single album though? isn't this part of the fetishisation, i.e. there's a triple smile somewhere if it can be pieced together.
listening right now to the purple chick version and there are some little pieces that i've not heard anywhere else.
hang on...here comes that dodgy barnyard version :-)
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
http://letsmakeitboys.blogspot.com/this site seems to have a bunch of smile related stuff...
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 22:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Can anyone point me to somewhere I can find this Sea of Tunes box? I tried searching for it a little last night, but just got lost in endless pages of lists of bootlegs without any real information on how to actually hear them. I'm sure there is a very good reason they are difficult to find, but I'm curious to hear some of this stuff you guys are talking about.― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, February 7, 2011 10:12 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, February 7, 2011 10:12 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
very hard to track down, but if you look at the track listings they're massively incomplete, just lost of versions of 'vegatables' and a few others, nothing that gives a key to how the final version was going to be pieced together.
i found a 'fast eddie' version of smile too in my collection, i'll give that a spin.
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:25 (thirteen years ago) link
thx tylerw for those links!!!
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, thanks guys! I feel like I try to get into these boots every few years and get frustrated by all the different tracklists and versions out there. I mean, it totally makes sense from a fetishist's POV, but makes the waters really murky and intimidating for a newbie to want to dive in.
― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 7 February 2011 22:28 (thirteen years ago) link
no prob. this one is good too -- not sure if the links are still active: http://warnakeysbeachboysblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/secret-smile.html
― tylerw, Monday, 7 February 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
still active tylerw... thanks.
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 23:05 (thirteen years ago) link
i'm interested in how the weight of smile stuff impacts on how it's received.
weird how so little similar material is available for sgt pepper.
but then, different cultures / time zones, different recording ethos.
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 23:08 (thirteen years ago) link
'weight' i mean volume of recordings.
― i fellate myself and want to fly (whatever), Monday, 7 February 2011 23:09 (thirteen years ago) link
there really wasn't a clear idea as to how it was gonna fit together, at least not in the 2004-smile sense. Nobody knows how it would have ended if brian didn't break down. But I seriously doubt it would have ended up a well-organized song cycle, most likely would have been great versions of these songs + a few more sorta kinda clumped together sgt.pepper style.
― iatee, Monday, 7 February 2011 23:10 (thirteen years ago) link
there is also a LOT of variation within those various versions of Heroes and Villains, Vege-tables, etc. iirc - including pieces that were later pulled out and set aside as different tracks, or were swapped among other songs, etc.
iatee otm
― bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 00:16 (thirteen years ago) link
While Brian was laboring over Smile, the Beatles recorded Pepper, a good bit of the Magical Mystery Tour EP, and most of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack songs. Also the Beatles were working with inferior studio technology (4-track as opposed to 8-track). Also Apple is the stupidest company to ever handle posthumous releases of a major band. They probably could have made a double disc Beatles Anthology for every year of their existence which would have been just as listenable as 12 takes of Heroes & Villains in a row.
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 00:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Unsurpassed Masters Volume 16 (by Sea of Tunes) is a coherent 18-track imagining of how the album might've turned out. Volume 15 is 3 discs of "Good Vibrations" sessions, and Volume 17 is 3 discs of sessions for a bunch of the other songs. the loads and loads of sessions were a huge boon to people who want to make their own fan mixes of Smile, so it made sense to just leave them in an incomplete, un-futzed-with state.
― unregistered, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 01:07 (thirteen years ago) link
fuck smile; there's a bunch of stuff on that list that i'm curious to hear!
― dell (del), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:22 (thirteen years ago) link
i mean some of it i am familiar with, but there are some tantalizing mystery tracks on there
― dell (del), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:23 (thirteen years ago) link
TM Siddhi Program - Fall 1977 - Written by Mike Love
― unregistered, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:28 (thirteen years ago) link
anybody hear the "cocaine sessions"??
― buzza, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:43 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah they are only worth hearing as a historical artifact
― iatee, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:48 (thirteen years ago) link
tho an interesting one
― iatee, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 02:49 (thirteen years ago) link
you should check 'em out. i'm pretty sure they've been made available on one or more of those beach boys blogs...
― dell (del), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 03:37 (thirteen years ago) link
Mostly, but the organ drone and tortured vocal of "Oh Lord" is a must-hear.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 05:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Almost Summer!
― skip, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 05:49 (thirteen years ago) link
sooo.... this is coming out says Billboard
― Master of Projection (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 11 March 2011 21:02 (thirteen years ago) link
No details yet? Date/no. of discs?
― I love Du but I've chosen Balloon Guy (Jon Lewis), Friday, 11 March 2011 21:28 (thirteen years ago) link
http://pitchfork.com/news/41856-the-beach-boys-to-finally-release-ismilei-sessions/
4 CDs/2 LPs, no tracklisting or official date (my guess is lol Xmas)
― garage rock is usually very land-based (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 11 March 2011 21:29 (thirteen years ago) link
IIRC, Mark Linett himself posted to Usenet's rec.music.beach-boys in the late '90s that the Sea Of Tunes boots were a result of theft of the master tapes, or maybe the safety copies, from the vaults around that time (thus accounting for their outstanding sound quality). I hope they retrieved them.
― Lee626, Friday, 11 March 2011 21:50 (thirteen years ago) link
Maybe the 4CD will be like Don Was' notion of issuing every little fragment so that you the listener at home can assemble your own damn album. Since any assembly of the album will be a total judgment call anyway.
― I love Du but I've chosen Balloon Guy (Jon Lewis), Friday, 11 March 2011 21:51 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost yipes!
Jon, I hope you're right. Can't wait to hear the fan mixes with all this new material. That is if there is a bunch of new good material.
― skip, Friday, 11 March 2011 22:02 (thirteen years ago) link
good to see domenic priore getting a slice.
― utterfilth (whatever), Friday, 11 March 2011 22:46 (thirteen years ago) link
cuz it's fuckin catchy!
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 11 April 2014 20:24 (ten years ago) link
haha, yeah. it seems to have been Wilson's White Whale. lol just found this -- THE SHORTNIN' BREAD SUITEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCvOiwUMNW8
― tylerw, Friday, 11 April 2014 20:29 (ten years ago) link
A suite of the various times when Brian has incorporated the so-called "Shortenin' Bread" riff in his compositions and others. Descriptions in text with more detailed descriptions here:00:00-00:35 Original "Shortenin' Bread." Unreleased, intended for the Adult/Child release: track, bvs and bass vocal are from 1973, Carl's lead overdubbed in 1977. 00:35-01:14 "Shortenin' Bread" that was released on the L.A. Light album in 1979. It is unknown if Brian was involved with this version, it is known that Carl sings the lead and Dennis is on the bass vocal.01:56-02:10 Section from Brian's b-side "Too Much Sugar" from 1987, b-side to the "Let's Go To Heaven in My Car" single from the film Police Academy 4. One of my personal least-favorite BW songs.02:10-02:25 Section from "Walkin' the Line" from Brian's very good 1988 self-titled solo album.02:25-04:16 The majority of "Metal Beach" an epic (mostly) instrumental tune that Brian wrote in collaboration with Paul Schaffer and Dick Dale for Schaffer's Coast to Coast in 1989. Note Steve Douglas on saxophone (one of Brian's main call instrumentalists in the 60s) and Eugene E. Landy on the titular "metal beach."04:17-04:59 The coda to a collaboration with Rob Wasserman and Carnie Wilson called "Bells of Madness" for Wasserman's trio album. Released in February of 1994.05:00-06:20 The "Bread" relevant portions of Brian's cover of "Proud Mary" from 1992. Recorded with Don Was, this version is unreleased and Brian recorded a new version in 2006 which, in addition to being unbooted, has yet to see release. Those that have heard it say it is much better than this version, though I think the 1992 "Mary" is nothing to snoot at.06:20-06:37 A section of "South American," a collaboration with Jimmy Buffett and ex-wrestler Joe Thomas from Brian's Imagination album. Note, in addition to the ever-present saxophone, Jimmy's backing vocal.06:37-07:28 The tag to "No Wrong Notes in Heaven" a very groovy song written by Scott Bennet of Brian's band, with some input from Brian (no prizes on what his contribution is) released under the band name "The Dotted Line." Nick Walusko and Jeff Foskett from Brian's band also appear on this recording.07:28 to end. The "Bread" portions of "Goin' Home," from Brian's newest (and best) solo album That Lucky Old Sun.
― tylerw, Friday, 11 April 2014 20:31 (ten years ago) link
surely "too repetitive for Iggy Pop" is some kind of achievement
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 11 April 2014 20:33 (ten years ago) link
haha yeah that is one of my favorite beach boys stories.Section from Brian's b-side "Too Much Sugar" from 1987, b-side to the "Let's Go To Heaven in My Car" single from the film Police Academy 4 has a sort of terrifying poetry to it. Also "No Wrong Notes in Heaven" is the best song title ever.
― tylerw, Friday, 11 April 2014 20:36 (ten years ago) link
For starters, many of the titles have never been published, a process the Beach Boys seem reluctant to take on. (It is far easier to keep reissuing alternate versions or new mixes of popular hits.)
I know nothing about music publishing. Can anyone explain this? Would this really be a valid reason to keep anything unreleased?
― fit and working again, Friday, 11 April 2014 21:06 (ten years ago) link
well, am thinking that if they've never been released and were just BW home tapes -- who actually owns the publishing on those? would it be whoever BW works with currently? Who represented him at the time? Does the whole Brother Records thing in late 60s-early 70s come into play?
― Dominique, Friday, 11 April 2014 21:09 (ten years ago) link
Like, BW may have a deal that says "anything you write and release is published by X" -- but then, he may also have a deal that says "anything you write and release for the Beach Boys is published by Y", and if any of those songs, or even just parts of them were performed/released by the Beach Boys, it may be a matter of multiple people claiming ownership.
― Dominique, Friday, 11 April 2014 21:14 (ten years ago) link
^^^
publishing is such a racket
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 11 April 2014 21:29 (ten years ago) link
"Where Is She?" - Another sweet Wilson ballad from the Sunflower/Surf's Up sessions, which saw release on last year's Made in California box.
This is a deeply uncomfortable rewrite of "She's Leaving Home."
― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 12 April 2014 01:17 (ten years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 14 April 2014 04:19 (ten years ago) link
Where's the love for "Shortnin' Bread"?
― Tom D (Tom D.), Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:06 (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
^ bears reposting
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:54 (9 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
^ bears rereposting
― Eats like Elvis, shits like De Niro (Tom D.), Monday, 14 April 2014 12:28 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0YC3Z6lkBI
not bad but yeah def She's Leaving Home redux
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 14 April 2014 16:57 (ten years ago) link
could've become something interesting given more development and production. I like the part where the title phrase is drawn out
― Lee626, Tuesday, 15 April 2014 01:27 (ten years ago) link