BeachBoys.com: The Complete Guide

REVIEW: This album only reinforces what I've thought all along about Smiley Smile; namely, that this is the real acid-casualty rock album in the Beach Boys canon. You can hear it in the opening instrumental tracking for "Wonderful" which has brilliant key changes and progressions; in its original incarnation it had a sweet flow and wistfulness; but now, in its spare piano form, it feels stripped of any joy, or feeling whatsoever. It's numb. It's very hard to hear the Beach Boys in the studio here (at Brian's home) all sounding completely stoned, lacking any energy in their singing, or caring how the songs are put together. Mistakes are left in, no attempts to polish or put any finesse into the music; perhaps they felt that they were being funny, or avant-garde when they were recording this, but the only sensation left with the listener is an all-pervasive stupor. There are some beautiful moments - they spring out at you like diamonds in the mud: On track twelve, there is an instrumental backing track that sounds lovely, in a baroque sort of way, and on a vocal rehearsal fade, the Beach Boys fleetingly recapture their tight, unmatchable harmonies, but even these tracks are hamstrung by a lack of focus, and at one disc, this Sea Of Tunes release barely scratches the surface of documenting these morbidly fascinating sessions.

REVIEW: This is a fine double-disc retrospective of the Wild Honey sessions. The song selection is interesting: "Cool, Cool Water" (which didn't appear on a Beach Boys album until Sunflower) starts out the set with the Beach Boys amazing harmonies (and after listening to the Smiley Smile sessions, it's good to hear the band sounding lucid once more), and then continuing on with a few takes of "Can't Wait Too Long" before Carl takes over with some ragged covers of "I Was Made To Love Her." What becomes increasingly apparent as the set moves into disc two is Brian's growing distance from the group,and the Beach Boys inability to fully compensate yet for his unwillingness to take the reigns again. Three of the tracks on the CD were worked on, then laid aside (the other being "The Letter"), which, as far as I know, hadn't been done with a Beach Boys album before. The second disc is fine listening as well, with ten takes of "Here Comes The Night,""A Thing Or Two" getting one track, and finishing with multiple takes for "The Letter," "Darlin'" and "Wild Honey." An interesting snapshot of a slowly deteriorating situation.

REVIEW: The final discs from Sea of Tunes (reportedly, all CD's after this one are compilations of previously released material) find the Beach Boys struggling to hold together. And although this double-CD is pretty much the bottom of the barrel from the Sea Of Tunes vaults, there are some interesting cuts here. Disc One has five tracking sessions of Friends (the only song represented from that album), seven takes of "Do It Again" from 20/20, and two tracks that were worked on, but never completed, apparently due to Brian's indifference. A gorgeous "We're Together Again" has five tracks of outtakes, and the stunning "Walk On By" is shelved after five takes as well. Brian sounds clearly bored here, and by disc two, his brother Carl has taken over with an authoritative "I Can Hear Music." Also included are the "rough vocal" version of "Sherry She Needs Me," the demo version of "Break Away" (four takes), and then, some true curiosities end the series. Mike Love (!) produced two tracks from a comedy group called "The Pickle Brothers" and their songs, "Ode to Betty Joe" and "It's Time" reveal a dated, ascerbic wit that's worth hearing once. Finally, one track, entitled "America, I Know You" from the Steve Kalinich/Brian Wilson collaboration poetry album (which is just as awful as could be imagined) finishes up this bizarre set.

REVIEW: Disc one, "In The Beginning" showcases some Gary Usher work featuring crack session players laying down tracks, starting with the melodic, propulsive "One Way Road To Love" with a cornball lead singer, and featuring the Beach Boys on backing vocals. Next comes several takes of songs which were rumored to appear on Varese Sarabande's Surfin' CD, but missed the cut: the first, "The Beginning of the End" features Brian on lead vocal, with his sweet, swooping vocal showing off his surprising falsetto leaps, and his unique sensitive quality which he uses to better effect on his own songs. Next comes "Visions" - a loping, western-style song which pairs Brian's soaring falsetto with some female backup singers to odd effect. "My Only Alibi" has Brian again providing backup vocals to this stale, overheated 50s-type ballad. Gershwin's "Summertime" is next, in a a bluesy-take which has no discernible Beach Boys involvement. Next comes "Mother May" is next which has Brian delivering a powerhouse verse, but the song is undercut by the strange, screaming chorus, which sounds like a joke. Tack-piano starts off "The Big Beat" which has smooth Beach Boys
harmonies behind what turned out to be an early version of "Do You Remember". Brian has the lead on "Marie" a great bluesy stomper which deserves official release. Also strong is the raucous "Funny Boy" which is a change of pace for The Honeys. Next comes the Wilson/Norberg/Kocher penned "Runaway With You" with more backing vocals by The Honeys. Brian counts down the "Unknown Instrumental" which has zig-zagging guitar/sax lines and a hard rocking tempo. The disc closes out with several Beach Boys-specific tracks, with several short instrumental flubs of "In My Room", "Hawaii", "Your Summer Dream", "Good Humor Man" (AKA "Rocking Surfer" and "Rabbit's Foot" (AKA "Our Car Club") and a vocal overdub session for "The Surfer Moon." The disc closes out with some vocal tracking sessions for "Little Saint Nick" from October 20, 1963 with heavily echoed vocals giving the song a Spector-ish sound, all while the Beach Boys are fighting a bad case of the giggles.

Disc two, "The Garage Tapes" starts off with perhaps the very earliest recordings which the as yet unnamed "Beach Boys ever made. It starts out with the band tackling their first written song, "Surfin'" and shows much of the complex dynamic which would define them throughout their career. Brian's instinctive producer's touch already is in place, with him cajoling the band into better work; Mike condescending tone, layered with a patina of authority and sarcasm rears its head; and Carl and Al concerned mostly with their notes, and when Dennis finally makes an appearance on tape, it's to be reprimanded by Brian for goofing off. The accapella rehearsals are succeeded by instrumental accompaniment, where Brian and Mike threatening to kick Dennis out of the band for his "hiccups" and his lackadaisical attitude. Next comes an unreleased song: "Bermuda Shorts" which has a corner doo-wop sound built upon a cascading harmonic opening tag which carries the almost rap-like spoken verse. It's a ragged, tossed-off rehearsal which indicates that the song didn't catch the imagination of the band, and was quickly discarded. Brian and Mike bring in a couple of girls to tackle a first-ever take on "Sloop John B" which shows the band attempting to create on-the-fly harmonies to the girl's lead, which segues into a gospel standard "Good News". It's apparent that several friends have gotten together to experiment with Brian's recording equipment, and an impromptu "Hully Gully" breaks down several times due to Brian still working out the piano chords. Next comes an alternate take on "Happy Birthday Dear Freshman", and then a duet of "Dream" between Mike and one of the girls. Next comes several short spoken clips featuring Carl, Brian and Mike, who commandeers the microphone and insults both Carl and Dennis. The tape devolves into short snippets of various musical and spoken bits, including a phone conversation between Murray Wilson and some woman about a car accident, Brian figuring out vocal parts on the piano and with Mike, an incomprehensible five-minute-long discussion between Brian and the girls trying to decide which song to sing, and goofing off, another nearly interminable recording of "Spanish Practice" between Brian and a school friend, a short snippet of Brian's book report (not exactly valedictorian material) and a clip of Brian playing an organ with Murray duetting at the piano.

REVIEW: Well, leave it again to the bootleggers to get one up on the major leaguers. Fans have been aching to have a video document of the Beach Boys various appearances through the years, but due to prohibitive licensing costs, we've only been able to enjoy various snippets on other documentaries. But now some enterprising person has slapped together forty-three (mostly) full-length clips from the Beach Boys' television and film appearances onto one DVD, and although the video quality leaves a lot to be desired, the idea is a beauty. Sequenced chronologically for the most part, it begins with the black and white TV appearance of the early band, with David Marks filling in for the absent Al Jardine, performing "Surfin' Safari" before a screaming crowd, and then segues choppily from clip to clip, some taken from the Ed Sullivan Show, others from the much-sought-after TAMI mini-concert. Songs range through the Capitol years, with just of couple of "promotional" clip films taken from "Surf's Up" and "Holland." Again, the video and sound quality ranges from good to poor -- someone really needs to collect all of these films and give them the remastering and restoration they deserve -- but for a one-stop collection of what's available from the Beach Boys early years on video, you really can't beat this collection. Here's the full track list:

REVIEW: This bootleg video is a real find for fans who are looking for more live documentation of the Beach Boys. This is a professionally filmed compilation of clips that were filmed in the late 1980's at Universal Studios for inclusion in a television series called "Endless Summer" which featured clips of the Beach Boys in concert, along with other guest artists such as Stray Cats and Richard Marx. While the company that created this "best of" also put out each program separately, this is the only one that Beach Boys fans really need, since it collects all of the Beach Boys segments and strings them together, creating a three-part concert: one of the band live in concert before a large audience; a second segment with the Band performing in a more intimate "club" setting largely reminiscent of the Band's stint in "The Girls On The Beach"; and a final "campire" sing-along with the Beach Boys sharing stories and singing with family members huddled around them. The first segment runs for about 40 minutes, and is a fine concert with the surreal experience of seeing Jeff Foskett and Billy Hinche still playing with Mike and Bruce (they have since left the band to play with Brian and Al, respectively), plus, this is the time when the "cheerleaders" were in full force, dancing on stage during nearly every number - ugh. Also, there is an awkward segment when Brian, who has not been playing with the group on stage, appears in a separate appearance to sing "In My Car" and "Love And Mercy" - and unless you were there, you can't concieve how painful it is to see him in leather pants, stalking around the stage like a mad svengali. Intercut with his singing are interview segments where Brian refers to his psychiatrist Eugene Landy several times, and we see them interacting in the studio together. The cheerleaders continue their prancing in the outdoor club segment, with Brian joining the band for three numbers, but the final segment is the best; with the Beach Boys sitting around a campfire with their children and wives, reminiscing and singing songs, many of which they sang during their "Party" recording sessions 20 years earlier. For a bootleg, the video and sound quality is very good, and this DVD-R is worth finding for devoted fans.

REVIEW: Another bootleg DVD, this one featuring the complete 25th anniversary television special the Beach Boys recorded in 1989 (wait, didn't the Beach Boys start in 1961? Oh well, who's counting?) For this production, the band is shown in concert on Waikiki beach, with a crowd of only a few hundred in attendance, apparently all of whom were told to wear bikinis (more on that later.) This special has it's good and bad points - first the good: the band looks great, with Brian on stage the entire time, and Carl in particular in standout mode. In fact, of all the concerts currently available, this is the one where Carl is featured most prominently, with a solo song ("Heaven"), a duet with Gloria Loring ("Friends and Lovers"), and looking happy and more active than on any other concert I've seen. The location, set list, and performances I consider to be the most varied I've ever seen captured on tape. On the down side, there is no shortage of "cheese" here, with intercut narration provided by Patrick Duffy and Joe Piscopo, and such low-wattage guest artists like The Fabulous Thunderbirds ("Rock 'n' Roll Music"), Three Dog Night (only two dogs duetting on "Darlin'"), and an uncomfortable-looking Belinda Carlisle, who takes the opportunity to plug her own single "Band Of Gold." Also the Beach Boys are forced to narrate themselves, with little spoken asides (written by a should've-known-better David Leaf) that are self-congratulatory and cloying. In fact, the whole special has a smugness about it that is almost laughable, and the sight of Paul Schaffer having what looks like epileptic fits on the keyboard nearly sent me to the floor. Redeeming moments: Ray Charles' so-soulful-it-hurts reading of "Sail On Sailor," and the camera men not being able to tear their lenses away from the numerous bikini-clad beauties in the crowd. (Concert? What concert?) Anyway, I'd like to see this officially released, but in the meantime, this very good transfer will do. [Note: also contains japanese subtitles during the spoken parts, which are also a wee bit distracting.]

REVIEW: In the early 1980s Mike Love and Dean Torrence teamed up for several projects, including a radio shack cassette Rock 'n' Roll City, Jan & Dean's Silver Anniversary album, and the unreleased Dead Man's Curve LP. Those sessions, along with several unreleased alternates, appear on this compilation, and like most bootlegs, have less than stellar sound sources and notes that appear to have been written by an elementary school student. That being said, the tracks show Mike and Dean in full retro mode, covering their own hits in punchy remakes, and the hits of others, all with the polish and experience which years of studio work had given them. Recorded mostly in Mike's Santa Barbara studio, the tracks cover a gamut of Jan & Dean hits from their earliest (Jennie Lee, Baby Talk) to their biggest hits (Dead Man's Curve, Little Old Lady From Pasadena), and one big surprise for me - the inclusion of "Like A Summer Rain" from Dean's first solo album after Jan's near-fatal wreck Save For A Rainy Day. Beach Boys remakes are in abundance too, with Mike singing re-fueled versions of "Shut Down," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Fun, Fun, Fun," and "Be True To Your School" - no big surprises there; but Mike also takes the lead on some Jan & Dean tracks, singing the main vocals on "New Girl In School" (which also has a lyrical nod to its earlier incarnation "Gonna Hustle You", "Little Old Lady From Pasadena," and taking the lead on other covers as well: "The Letter," "Locomotion," "Da Doo Run Run" and "My Boyfriend's Back" (with rewritten lyrics) all carry Mike's distinctive leads. Other band members and friends help out as well, members of Mike's "Endless Summer" band and Dean's touring band, the "Bel-Aire Bandits" providing propulsive backing tracks throughout. Also interesting is the quick spoken word bridge in "Dead Man's Curve" in which the nurse answering the phone says: "Dr. Landy's office" - a nod to Brian's psychiatrist. The sound is pretty muddy throughout, taken from several generations down tape copies, I would guess, but listenable. I wouldn't call this essential listening by any means, but as cover versions go, these are full of energy and drive. I'm surprised Mike hasn't released these tapes in any official version.

REVIEW: This handsomely-produced 5-CD box set promises more than it delivers, but manages to contain a few discoveries. The first three discs are devoted to Smile outtakes, and like most all other compilations of this nature, the selection and quality is all over the place, from "you-are-there" fidelity to "you are sitting in an adjescent building trying to listen over the sound of traffic" mud. The first disc is devoted to the sessions for "Heroes & Villains," with vocal and tracking takes all in clear sound, including a strange studio "acting" take with Brian wanting to take some guy's radishes, and being continuously rebuffed. The rest of the 33-track disc is just various snippets and bits which the listener may find interesting or not, depending on your level of fanaticism. The second disc is more problematic, with clips from "Child Is The Father Of The Man," "The Elements," "Cabinessence," Vegetables" and other small bits, all in noticeably poorer sound (obviously copied from other bootlegs.) Disc three is devoted mostly to "Good Vibrations" sessions, again with varying sound, but with some improvements over past issues, and different takes.

The final two discs of the set are all over the place, snagging various studio, live, and television recordings, and slapping them together without any particular rhyme or reason, but all in good fidelity and with varying degrees of interest for collectors. Again, if you've been collecting Beach Boys rarities for years, you're going to have to do track-by-track comparisons to see if there's anything here you don't already have. Disc one collects "Don't Back Down," "Honda '55," "Baker Man," "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" (live television performance), "All Summer Long" "Girl Don't Tell Me," and many other various vocal and instrumental tracking sessions from the Beach Boys 1964-1965 heyday. The second disc continues with various reductions and takes from Pet Sounds through the end of their years at Capitol, with takes from "Getting Hungry," "Can't Wait Too Long," "Here Comes The Night," ""Time To Get Alone," and several takes on "Breakaway."

All in all, Archaeology is a prime example of why I don't collect many bootlegs anymore: most of the stuff I've heard before, the selection and sequencing are haphazard, and it's not worth the price tag to get the few new bits and pieces that are available.