bdp24- indeed Sunflower is great IMHO. I might go so far as to say, and underappreciated gem. I must ad Good Vibrations at one point. I'd likely grab The Smile Sessions LP from 2011, or Smiley Smile. If the latter, maybe the QRP, as it's not the easy to find a nice copy used. Of course either of those would also give me Heroes and Villains. |
FYI : Brian Wilson will be performing a 50th anniversary concert of Pet Sounds at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, along with Al Jardine , Blondie Chaplin, and orchestra. I'll be going.
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hifigary- Thanks for sharing that. A couple of stops in VT, Boston Symphony Hall, and Tanglewood, just to name a few East coast options. Tanglewood seems to mix in a few non-classical shows each year. I was lucky enough to catch Steely Dan there 8-10 years ago. What a great opportunity this is. I should have looked closer, but I wonder if they are doing mostly smile. CHEERS -Don |
I really enjoy Audiogon, and it's really fun getting to share this wonderful hobby with all of you. I'm not sure if I'm just having a bad day, but I truly dislike the direction this thread went. Maybe turning 50 next month has made me more sensitive, who knows. I did read the entire thread, before commenting here. I read nothing that suggested embracing abuse. So perhaps the issue is the accepting the fruits of the abuse. I've never been in any controversy here, but this one is perplexing. I'm sorry, but I just wanted to get this out. On the lighter side, and I know there are others who agree, it's truly great to have artists as gifted as Brian. So if I may be so bold, may I officially lift this dark cloud, so we can get back to the music. (-: |
Amen fjn04! Brian Wilson has probably been the most important music maker in my life. The Beach Boys were the first group I saw live, in 1964, and Brian was still playing bass and singing with the Group at that time. I even made a pilgrimage to Brian’s beautiful Spanish-style mansion on Belagio Drive in Bel-Air in ’75, to see about having him produce myself and my musical partner, a songwriter heavily influenced by Brian. We were not yet aware of how damaged Brian was, that info not yet being public. I can’t imagine my musical life without Brian. Anyone accusing me or anyone like me of being culpable or complicate in Brian’s tragic demise by lauding his greatest achievement, the stunning Smile, can kiss my a--. |
To each their own. I find it irrelevant, thay you think them irrelevant. Here's a thought, if you don't like, then don't listen. Opinions are like assholes everyones got one. ( Here's hoping the thought police won't find it necessary to delete this.) |
Actusreus does make a valid point. To make a claim that the Beach Boys were great musicians-vocalists or lyricists would be a very biased viewpoint. I will agree the whole is greater then the sum of the parts. Since the BB were not from my generation(gen-x) I have no emotional-nostalgic ties. Pet Sounds might be there best studio recording(have not heard every BB recording) which I'm familiar with every track on PS. I certainly would not say it's a perfect(great) album but it does deserve a spot in your music collection. IMO the definitive BB recording is The Beach Boys-Live in Concert(1973). With the addition of Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin gives the BB a higher level of musicianship sounding more like a classic rock band then a jukebox.
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Brian Wilson was a genius and he worked with some of the best studio musicians at the time. The way he used certain instruments one song that comes to kind is good vibrations is really the work of a true musical genius in total control and knowing exactly what he wanted. That song was way ahead of its time. |
I've never been a huge Beach Boys fan. I've always read of how influential "Pet Sounds" was. In my system, I never heard the end result. That is until recently, when aquired a DCC Mono copy. This is one special sounding record! One in which I can now appreciate the music, more over, the technical production and the moving experience I'm now hearing in my system.
Steve Hoffman got this one right!
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I've thought Pet Sounds was something very special from the time it was released. I've heard it in its original format on LP on a suitcase stereo and I've heard the 90's stereo digital remix on my system. The music itself is what makes it for me. The equipment, the mix, etc. is the icing on the cake.
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There is a 50th anniversary super deluxe issue on the horizon.
It is going to be interesting to see and hear any unreleased material. |
There have been more versions of Pet Sounds on LP and CD than any other album I can think of. Enough already! How much more deluxe can it get?! |
bdp, it will no doubt end with a virtual reality experience which will allow anyone to see and hear exactly what Brian, Carol Kay, Hal Blaine, or any other of the participants heard and saw during every moment of the recording process. You'll be able to have a chat with holograms of Carl Wilson and Tommy Tedesco. Smell Glenn Campbell's leather boots. I can guarantee it won't be cheap but, you know, if you're a true fan then money is no object...order today!
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Ha! I got the boxset of Smile and, as much of a fan of Smile as I am, for me it was a listen-to-once kinda thing. Listening to every partial take, every snippet of every rehearsal of every part of every song, is not something I want to do again. It just reminds me of what a shame it is Smile wasn't finished and released in it's own time. It would really have blown some minds, The Beach Boys being held in such low regard as they were in 1967. It was surreal to me in 1967 after hearing Smiley Smile, realizing Brian Wilson was THE musical leader of his generation, miles ahead of what anyone else was doing, yet looking around and seeing most people still thinking of him in terms of surf & sun songs. |
Bdp,
You ask an interesting question. Here's another one:. What might The Beatles have wrought had they heard it? They were still paying attention to Mr Wilson (and taking inspiration from him). And....Given the influence of The Beatles, how might that never made record have rippled thru the pop music world? I think it's actually a pretty interesting alternate universe scenario. Then again, that's just me. |
I too have pondered that very scenario, Marty. Of course, there WERE people who were hearing the Smile recordings as they transpired, creating an intense buzz via the underground reporting on the album (as chronicled at the time by Paul Williams in Crawdaddy Magazine (those articles later collected in his book "Outlaw Blues"). Another thing that could have happened was for TBB to appear at The Newport Pop Festival in '67 as they were originally scheduled to. Maybe that would have changed the hippies perception of them. Unfortunately they for some reason cancelled. The only time they were sort of referenced around that time was when Hendrix offhandedly said "Aw, we'll never have to listen to surf music again" during a song on his first album. He was not talking about them, but rather Dick Dale, a guitarist he actually admired and was influenced by. |
