This is the thread where we talk about great Beach Boys+BW unreleased/demo/semi-released songs

I'll rep for That Lucky Old Sun as his best non-Smile solo album by a substantial margin... Even if the songs on the self-titled were any good, which they aren't, they would be tanked by the embarrassing production. It's like Love You plus the worst of the '80s.

"Cry" off of Imagination is nice, even a bit bluesy in a few places and I can't think of anything else BW did i'd describe as such.

The '90s Paley sessions were promising.... I much prefer the early take of "Gettin' In Over My Head" to the one that was re-recorded for the like-titled album.

the post s/t solo BW stuff I've heard has all sounded very fussy and labored, plus his voice is well and truly shot it seems like. the big 80s wall o synths doesn't really bother me. there are some atrociously stupid lyrics but that has always been par for the course.

Never really warmed to the s/t album. The Paley sessions tracks (Landylocked boot in my case) definitely tided me over throughout the latter half of the 90s, along with Orange Crate Art. There's something to be said for wringing every last bit of magic out of what you have, even when there's not much to choose from. Back then, it seemed BW's legacy was as much about what was missing as it was about what's there.

If I think too much about it, I become cynical. Compared to, say, Paul McCartney or Miles Davis (just to name two other idols with long recording histories), BW's track record is pretty spotty. However, when I actually try to imagine being 24 and trying to make the best pop song ever written...

omg that interview

Are there any modern or more recent songs you're fond of?
I liked Take My Breath Away. A group called Berlin.

does anyone have Lei'd in Hawaii I seem to have lost it when my last hard drive died

I had no idea about the connection between Charles Lloyd and the Beach Boys. Literally never seen it referred to anywhere before today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0HBok8LMKI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pplzKDgcmj0

idly thumbing through Leaf's "Beach Boys and the California Myth" and was struck by how much he dwells on stuff that was in the vaults/unreleased at the time - some of which has since circulated, some of which is clearly fake (including a purported sleeve + tracklisting for Landlocked), some of which seems like it was just mislabeled, and other stuff that is genuinely still buried. He even includes pictures of reel cases from the Beach Boys "recording library" with titles scrawled on the sides.

this is a great thread, really makes me want to dig into the BBs catalog (i really only know the usual suspects)

here's another one I hadn't heard before today - "Sea Cruise" ("15 Big Ones" outtake w Dennis on lead, generally better than some of the other crap on that album)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRMZx6h__hg

man this stuff is like a bottomless well, here's Dennis' "I'm Going Your Way"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejCohq5Gvw

from a q&a at his website:

Hi Brian, which Beach Boys album would you say was your favorite and why?
Well, my favorite is Summer Days and Summer Nights because it had cool rock and roll songs like Salt Lake City, you know?
― fit and working again, Friday, April 18, 2014 9:58 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is there such thing as "the truth" in teh BBs bootleg soap opera? True, their connections to Saltair and Lagoon Park in Farmington, UT run deep, but it seems more like Brian may have not really cared about much more than securing their Utah fan base.

Davis met Brian Wilson four years ago at a BMI awards dinner saluting the musical genius. "He remembered coming to Salt Lake, but it was not a big deal. When you talk to Mike Love, Salt Lake was big time to them. He loved Salt Lake City. But Wilson remembered writing 'Salt Lake City' as one of those fun songs they sat down and did."

idly thumbing through Leaf's "Beach Boys and the California Myth" and was struck by how much he dwells on stuff that was in the vaults/unreleased at the time - some of which has since circulated, some of which is clearly fake (including a purported sleeve + tracklisting for Landlocked), some of which seems like it was just mislabeled, and other stuff that is genuinely still buried. He even includes pictures of reel cases from the Beach Boys "recording library" with titles scrawled on the sides.

I still want to hear that "Sail On Sailor" writing tape White writes about with Brian telling VDP to convince him he's not insane.

He was dead wrong about "California Feeling" tho.

there was a beach boys cd my friend was playing years ago, I think it may have been a promo or bonus disc thing for a beach boys box set. It was an idiosyncratic mix of acapellas, outtakes, alternate mixes, maybe a couple radio spots. it had a turquoise/teal cover with a portrait of the boys in the middle.. Really nice collection, wish I could find out what it was.

Hard to say, there are a million of those things

Sea Cruise is soooo much better than pretty much everything on 15 Big Ones. Maybe just because Dennis singing though.

it's ok (no pun intended) but frankie ford's version kills dennis's

heyo

THE BEACH BOYS OPEN THE VAULTS FOR ‘1967 – SUNSHINE TOMORROW,’
TO BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE ON JUNE 30

New 2CD & Digital Collection Features New, First-Ever Stereo Mix of ‘Wild Honey,’ Plus 54 Previously Unreleased 1967 Studio Session Tracks & Live Recordings

New ‘Wild Honey’ Stereo Mix Also Debuts in 50th Anniversary 180-Gram Vinyl Edition


Los Angeles – May 23, 2017 – The Beach Boys have personally overseen the creative process for a new 2CD and digital collection, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, to be released worldwide on June 30 by Capitol//UMe. 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow features producers Mark Linett and Alan Boyd’s new, first-ever stereo mix of The Beach Boys’ 1967 Wild Honey album and throws open the legendary band’s vault to debut 54 sought-after 1967 rarities, 50 years after they were put to tape. Previously unreleased highlights on the new collection include The Beach Boys’ shelved “live” album, Lei’d in Hawaii, studio recordings from the Wild Honey and Smiley Smile album sessions, and several standout concert recordings spanning 1967 to 1970. Wild Honey’s new stereo mix will also debut in a 180-gram vinyl 50th Anniversary Edition on June 30.

1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow dives into a fascinating and frenetic chapter in The Beach Boys’ long, groundbreaking creative arc, exploring the band’s dynamic year in the studio and on tour. The Beach Boys’ final studio session for the shelved SMiLE album took place on May 18th, 1967, with Smiley Smile album sessions booked at Brian Wilson’s new home studio from June 3rd through the end of July. The band’s 12th and 13th studio albums were released exactly three months apart to cap the year’s studio efforts: Smiley Smile on September 18th followed by Wild Honey on December 18th.

“I wanted to have a home environment trip where we could record at my house,” recalls Brian Wilson in the liner notes for 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow. “I wanted to try something different, something new. I produced Smiley Smile, but Mike inspired me. He said ‘Brian, let’s make a really good, easygoing album’. We had an engineer convert my den into a studio. We had my piano detuned to make it ring more.”

“Just prior to that, Brian had built up this production peak and then just completely reversed field, and (for Smiley Smile) did something so light and airy, and y’ know, easy,” explains Mike Love. “That was an underground album, I figure, for us. It was completely out of the mainstream of what was going on at that time, which was all hard rock, psychedelic music, and here we come with a song called ‘Wind Chimes.’ It just didn’t have anything to do with what was going on – and that was the idea.”

“Times were changing,” adds Al Jardine. “We were happy to put our musical skills to work. We didn’t have to look at the clock; there was virtually 24-hour availability to experiment.”

“Take away their sorrow / Give them sunshine tomorrow”

On August 25th and 26th, 1967, The Beach Boys (absent Bruce Johnston, but with Brian Wilson on organ in his first concert appearances with the band in more than two years) recorded two concerts and rehearsals in Honolulu for a prospective live album to be titled Lei’d In Hawaii, applying a new Smiley Smile-inspired aesthetic to the performances. Just over two weeks later, the band (with both Brian and Bruce participating) began re-recording the live set in-studio at Brian’s house and at Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood, after the Honolulu concert tapes were deemed unusable. Although completed and mixed, the final planned audio element of a canned concert audience was not added and the Lei’d In Hawaiiproject was canceled. Those live, in-studio performances morphed into sessions for the Wild Honey album, primarily comprised of original Brian Wilson/Mike Love compositions.

In a 1976 look back at 1967’s most heralded albums, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau praised Wild Honey with an “A+” review, writing, “It’s perfect and full of pleasure; it does what it sets out to do almost without a bad second.”

Bruce Johnston says that Wild Honey showcases a band devoid of pressure: “Here’s the thing – the most important thing – you need to know aboutWild Honey. It was just an album for us to exhale and do something real simple; but as it’s Brian and Mike’s music, it’s still fabulous and not so simple. I love the album.”

Two days after wrapping the Wild Honey sessions on November 15th, 1967, Mike Love, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston returned to the road for The Beach Boys’ Thanksgiving Tour, premiering several songs from the forthcoming album at their concerts.

Preorder The Beach Boys’ 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow here: https://UMe.lnk.to/19672CD
Preorder The Beach Boys’ Wild Honey vinyl LP here: https://UMe.lnk.to/WIldHoneyStereo2017LP

The Beach Boys continue to hold Billboard / Nielsen SoundScan’s record as America’s top-selling band for albums and singles, and they are also the American group with the most Billboard Top 40 chart hits (36). “Good Vibrations” was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame® in 1994. ‘Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys’ has achieved triple-Platinum sales status and ‘The SMiLE Sessions,’ released to worldwide critical acclaim in 2011, was heralded as the year’s Best Reissue by Rolling Stone and earned a GRAMMY Award® for Best Historical Album.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, The Beach Boys are a beloved American institution that remains iconic around the world.

thebeachboys.com
facebook.com/thebeachboys
twitter.com/thebeachboys


Excerpted from the 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow Producers Notes by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd:
After the decision was made to shelve the unfinished SMiLE album in early 1967, The Beach Boys opted to return to recording as a self-contained band, working mostly at Brian Wilson’s home and using rented recording equipment. The two albums they released that year, Smiley Smile and Wild Honey, were both originally presented in mono only (with Capitol also issuing re-channeled “pseudo stereo” editions). Smiley Smile was remixed and released in stereo in 2012. Now, at last, The Beach Boys and Capitol present the first true stereo mix of Wild Honey, along with outtakes, session highlights, and selected backing tracks from both the Smiley Smile and Wild Honey sessions.

Note that the 8-track master for “Mama Says” could not be located, so that song is presented here in its original mono mix. In addition, the organ solo on “How She Boogalooed It” was actually overdubbed as the song was being mixed to mono (as was the organ on the rest of the song), so that section is also presented in mono.

The Beach Boys: 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow [2CD, digital]

Disc 1

Wild Honey Album (Stereo)
(New stereo mix, except as noted *. Recorded September 15 to November 15, 1967 at Brian Wilson’s house and at Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood, California)
1. Wild Honey (2:45)
2. Aren't You Glad (2:16)
3. I Was Made To Love Her (2:07)
4. Country Air (2:21)
5. A Thing Or Two (2:42)
6. Darlin’ (2:14)
7. I'd Love Just Once To See You (1:49)
8. Here Comes The Night (2:44)
9. Let The Wind Blow (2:23)
10. How She Boogalooed It (1:59)
11. Mama Says * (Original Mono Mix) (1:08)

Wild Honey Sessions: September - November 1967 (Previously Unreleased)
12. Lonely Days (Alternate Version) (1:45)
13. Cool Cool Water (Alternate Early Version) (2:08)
14. Time To Get Alone (Alternate Early Version) (3:08)
15. Can't Wait Too Long (Alternate Early Version) (2:49)
16. I'd Love Just Once To See You (Alternate Version) (2:22)
17. I Was Made To Love Her (Vocal Insert Session) (1:35)
18. I Was Made To Love Her (Long Version) (2:35)
19. Hide Go Seek (0:51)
20. Honey Get Home (1:22)
21. Wild Honey (Session Highlights) (5:39)
22. Aren't You Glad (Session Highlights) (4:21)
23. A Thing Or Two (Track And Backing Vocals) (1:01)
24. Darlin’ (Session Highlights) (4:36)
25. Let The Wind Blow (Session Highlights) (4:14)

Wild Honey Live: 1967 - 1970 (Previously Unreleased)
26. Wild Honey (Live) (2:53) - recorded in Detroit, November 17, 1967
27. Country Air (Live) (2:20) - recorded in Detroit, November 17, 1967
28. Darlin’ (Live) (2:25) - recorded in Pittsburgh, November 22, 1967
29. How She Boogalooed It (Live) (2:43) - recorded in Detroit, November 17, 1967
30. Aren’t You Glad (Live) (3:12) - recorded in 1970, location unknown

31. Mama Says (Session Highlights) (3:08)
(Previously unreleased vocal session highlights. Recorded at Wally Heider Recording, November 1967)

Disc 2

Smiley Smile Sessions: June - July 1967 (Previously Unreleased)
(Recorded June and July 1967 at Brian Wilson’s house, Western Recorders, SRS, and/or Columbia Studios, except as noted *)
1. Heroes And Villains (Single Version Backing Track) (3:38)
2. Vegetables (Long Version) (2:55)
3. Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (Alternate Mix) (2:28)
4. Wind Chimes (Alternate Tag Section) (0:48)
5. Wonderful (Backing Track) (2:23)
6. With Me Tonight (Alternate Version With Session Intro) (0:51)
7. Little Pad (Backing Track) (2:40)
8. All Day All Night (Whistle In) (Alternate Version 1) (1:04)
9. All Day All Night (Whistle In) (Alternate Version 2) (0:50)
10. Untitled (Redwood) * (0:35)
(Previously unreleased instrumental fragment. Studio and exact recording date unknown. Discovered in tape box labeled “Redwood”)

Lei'd In Hawaii “Live” Album: September 1967 (Previously Unreleased)
(Recorded September 11, 1967 at Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood, CA, with additional recording September 29, 1967 (except as noted *). Original mono mixes from assembled master ½” reel, dated September 29, 1967, discovered in the Brother Records Archives.)
11. Fred Vail Intro (0:24)
12. The Letter (1:54)
13. You're So Good To Me (2:31)
14. Help Me, Rhonda (2:24)
15. California Girls (2:30)
16. Surfer Girl (2:17)
17. Sloop John B (2:50)
18. With A Little Help From My Friends * (2:21)
(Recorded at Brian Wilson’s house, September 23, 1967)
19. Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring * (2:33)
(Recorded during rehearsal, August 26, 1967, Honolulu, Hawaii)
20. God Only Knows (2:45)
21. Good Vibrations (4:13)
22. Game Of Love (2:11)
23. The Letter (Alternate Take) (1:56)
24. With A Little Help From My Friends (Stereo Mix) (2:21)

Live In Hawaii: August 1967 (Previously Unreleased)
(The Beach Boys recorded two complete concerts and rehearsals in Honolulu on August 25 and 26, 1967. Brian Wilson rejoined the group onstage for these shows; Bruce Johnston was not present. The following tracks derive from the original 1” 8-track master reels discovered in the Brother Records Archives.)
25. Hawthorne Boulevard (1:05)
26. Surfin' (1:40)
27. Gettin’ Hungry (3:19)
28. Hawaii (Rehearsal Take) (1:11)
29. Heroes And Villains (Rehearsal) (4:45)

Thanksgiving Tour 1967: Live In Washington, D.C. & Boston (Previously Unreleased)
(The touring Beach Boys - Mike, Carl, Dennis, Al, and Bruce – embarked on a Thanksgiving Tour immediately after delivering the finished Wild Honey album to Capitol Records. For this tour, the band was augmented by Ron Brown on bass and Daryl Dragon on keyboards.)
30. California Girls (Live) (2:32) - recorded in Washington, DC, November 19, 1967
31. Graduation Day (Live) (2:56) - recorded in Washington, DC, November 19, 1967
32. I Get Around (Live) (2:53) - recorded in Boston, November 23, 1967

Additional 1967 Studio Recordings (Previously Unreleased)
33. Surf’s Up (1967 Version) (5:25)
(Recorded during the Wild Honey sessions in November 1967)
34. Surfer Girl (1967 A Capella Mix) (2:17)
(Previously unreleased mix of Lei’d In Hawaii take from the Wally Heider Recording sessions in September 1967)

will get

man if they are planning on doing this for all the subsequent albums...

"54 sought-after 1967 rarities" hrm

i'll check this out but it doesn't look like there's much here that i'll listen to more than once.

I always think that about sessions boxes too, but you'd be surprised how cool it is to have some 45 second harmony vocal track pop up in shuffle. And I don't think I've heard Lei'd in Hawaii anyway, so you know, need to have.

Lei'd in Hawai'i - the rehearsal stuff w/minimal instrumentation - is just beautiful

Wasn't Redwood the pre 3-Dog Night band that Brian was writing and producing for?

Yes

W danny hutton

33. Surf’s Up (1967 Version) (5:25)
(Recorded during the Wild Honey sessions in November 1967)

!!!

This comes out tomorrow, BTW.

Can't wait -- probably will snag it on Saturday, and I do want the liners.

I've been listening to this era a bunch as I have been playing a Smile boot and the 2nd and 3rd disc of the GV set in my car for my daughters as I drive them around to various softball events this summer. They adore "Good Vibrations" and most of the sessions (they prefer the Hum-de-daa section) -- and the older one actually complained when I turned off the cantina version of "Heroes and Villains"! Also, with a bit of perspective in a post-Smile Sessions era, it is straight up hilarious in retrospect how much Smile material made it out in drips and drabs over the years ... the woodshop stuff at the end of "Do It Again" being among the most WTF.

I am honestly probably too excited about what the Wild Honey-era "Surf's Up" will turn out to be. Is it another Brian solo rendition? A "back to basics" take similar to what they were doing in late-'67? Something else?

so is that another take of this smile sessions version, or just a longer edit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3TRns_zssM

It sounds like the same thing except with some aborted takes/practice lines at the start.

I am so bummed this site: http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/unreleased.html is dead. now how am I going to tag all of the rarities from iatee's mix with the right year argggh

archive.org to the rescue

https://web.archive.org/web/20121020054242/http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/unreleased.html

the wayback machine is your friend.

lol xp

heyo!

many thx

Listened to some of Sunshine Tomorrow on Spotify the last few days ... I have sort of a weird reaction at this point to the dog's breakfast comps the Beach Boys release (Hawthorne, Endless Harmony), which often feature a handful of tracks I adore but a bunch of live takes I'm less interested in.

That said, I do like that they are digging into presenting this post-Smile, quiet piano and organ era of the band, which is an underrated period in the band's history (but appreciated by Xgau, who gave Wild Honey an A+ IIRC) and texturally off the charts. As a result, I love the shit out of things like alternate takes of "Can't Wait Too Long" which I could probably put on loop for an hour and not get bored of. Most of the alternate takes are actually pretty great, just a bit leaner than the (already lean) versions that were previously released.

Another highlight: the rehearsal take of "Heroes and Villains" live in Honolulu (not on Lei'd in Hawaii IIRC, or in the bgd while Mike trashes the shit out of it in a "humorous" monologue). As a rule, I love the hell out of that organ and bass sound on LiH -- and the arrangement of H&V is fabulous.

One other thing that occurred to me this past weekend: has there been any interest in someone taking a whack at remixing some of the material from this era? By which I don't mean remixing in the sense of adding beats but along the lines of what Stephen Desper did with "Til I Die" on the version released on Endless Harmony -- cutting and pasting parts to repeat sections and emphasize vocal backgrounds and the like. Feel like this would be an awesome undertaking.