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Post by B.E. on Aug 13, 2023 13:30:00 GMT
This week's poll (Part I) and next week's poll (Part II) were pulled from the 1967, 1968, Feel Flows, and Sail On, Sailor archival releases, focusing on the songs that weren't released at the time (and therefore haven't been included in our previous polls). Part I covers 1968, 1969, and early 1970 recordings. Part II covers mid 1970 through 1972. (Approximately, anyway.)
As always, if there are numerous versions of a song, you can vote on your preferred versions. Some of these tracks have been released more than once.
Voting is open!
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Post by B.E. on Aug 13, 2023 14:47:53 GMT
Considering I've never rated/ranked these tracks before, I'll certainly need to do a bit more listening than in prior polls. Right now, I've got no idea where I'll land. Fun!
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Post by jk on Aug 13, 2023 19:03:02 GMT
I voted for "Hearts" and "Can't Wait" from the SS/WH twofer (a fantastic sequence in itself), "Together Again", "Games", "San Miguel"… and "Lonely Days", not least because I transcribed it for keyboard (and later for guitar) across the road:
smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24887
[NB: You will need to cut and paste the above link into the "url" slot of your search engine to access it.]
Edit: I see (or rather hear) that the linked transcription could do with some revision! I'll work on it and post a hopefully definitive version soon (on this forum).
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 15, 2023 14:16:17 GMT
I've always thought of myself as a big fan of the unreleased (and released) material of this era, so at first I was a little surprised at how ambivalent I felt about voting. However, I had missed that this only gets us about halfway through 1970, per B.E.'s post. I suspect, then, that I'm going to be a bigger fan of the Part II yet to come. One question for B.E., though: is "Sail Plane Song/Loop de Loop" meant to cover both songs? Or just the earlier "Sail Plane" version? I believe both were done before mid 1970. I'd consider voting for the second, which I quite like, but not the first, which I almost hate. So if they're combined into one, I don't know what to do!
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Post by kds on Aug 15, 2023 14:31:25 GMT
I have to admit to not being overly familiar with a lot of these, at least not enough to really vote for a Top Ten. I'm not to try to listen a little bit today, since I'm going out of town tomorrow.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 15, 2023 14:49:53 GMT
One question for B.E. , though: is "Sail Plane Song/Loop de Loop" meant to cover both songs? Or just the earlier "Sail Plane" version? I believe both were done before mid 1970. I'd consider voting for the second, which I quite like, but not the first, which I almost hate. So if they're combined into one, I don't know what to do! It’s meant to cover both versions. It won’t appear again on another poll. In your case, perhaps think of it as an either/or. It does get a bit messy now that we are dealing with largely unfinished material where sometimes wildly different versions exist. We are all free to decide how that affects our vote. For instance, I’m a big fan of the Brian-sung demo of “Soulful Old Man Sunshine” that appears on the Endless Harmony soundtrack and so I’ll be factoring that into the equation and weighing that against aspects of the studio recording that I don’t like and also factoring in that the Feel Flows version corrects the “shunshine” flub by Carl.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 15, 2023 14:54:30 GMT
One question for B.E. , though: is "Sail Plane Song/Loop de Loop" meant to cover both songs? Or just the earlier "Sail Plane" version? I believe both were done before mid 1970. I'd consider voting for the second, which I quite like, but not the first, which I almost hate. So if they're combined into one, I don't know what to do! It’s meant to cover both versions. It won’t appear again on another poll. In your case, perhaps think of it as an either/or. It does get a bit messy now that we are dealing with largely unfinished material where sometimes wildly different versions exist. We are all free to decide how that affects our vote. For instance, I’m a big fan of the Brian-sung demo of “Soulful Old Man Sunshine” that appears on the Endless Harmony soundtrack and so I’ll be factoring that into the equation and weighing that against aspects of the studio recording that I don’t like and also factoring in that the Feel Flows version corrects the “shunshine” flub by Carl. I was thinking about that issue, as well, as relates to "Soulful Old Man Sunshine." There are aspects of each version I like, but it's the Endless Harmony one that I prefer, too. I did vote for that song (with that version in mind). I did not vote for "Loop de Loop," because I couldn't get "Sail Plane" out of my mind as I considered it. Funny that I could easily separate one pair but not the other... But the deadline is not yet upon us, so I can still change my votes.
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Post by kds on Aug 15, 2023 17:23:14 GMT
I don't feel overly strongly about most of these, the ones I do, I commented
Their Hearts Were Full of Spring - Great harmonies here Can't Wait Too Long - Never thought it was much of a song, but again, those harmonies Riot in Cell Block 9 - Preferable to SDT The Letter - Solid cover Old Man River Soulful Old Man Sunshine San Miguel - Maybe my favorite here We're Together Again I Just Got My Pay Walk on By
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 15, 2023 19:22:20 GMT
While my list isn't final, I guess I can just as well share it as of now.
First, I should say that this batch of candidates--probably as should be expected, being (originally) unreleased--comprise mostly either great songs that aren't great performances, not-so-great songs, or even not-so-great songs with not-so-great (or incomplete) performances/recordings. So it's a far cry from 1966!
What that means is the standards are just much, much lower for me. I'm voting because I like the vibe of this one; a harmony on that one; and so on. Very few of these make any of my personal playlists (though a few have made quite a few).
In order of appearance on the list.
Can't Wait Too Long/Been Too Long - This is not a great song. It's not even a song. But it's beautiful and I really like it. I've often wondered what might have happened with it had it been finished and released. Maybe it is finished, maybe it is what it was meant to be and that was left in the can?
With A Little Help From My Friends - This IS a great song ... but not a great version. The lead vocal drives me nuts with the weird accents given to certain words/notes: what would you THINK if I SANG out of TUNE, would you STAND up... like he's sliding into them and pushing up the fader as each continues. Strange delivery.
Their Hearts Were Full of Spring - Gorgeous
We're Together Again - This is a lightweight, but it's nice. Very Friendsy, which I mean in a good way.
Old Folks At Home/Old Man River - How I wish they'd finished something here! I think this could have been fantastic, and there are some phenomenal vocals atop some well arranged tracks.
Games Two Can Play - Another lightweight, but it's a completed song and it has its charms.
Soulful Old Man Sunshine - Still waiting for that platonic ideal... I like the song a lot, but neither version quite does it for me. That said I've always had SOMS on my comps of this period, and even some broader ones. I really like the song very much, I think the performances are really good, but they just haven't put together a mix that fully does it for me. I will say it's one of the most frustrating tunes left in the can, because (to me) it's really high quality, it's basically done...why abandon it!? (I know: because it was mostly Rick Henn's baby, and the band wasn't invested in it.)
I'm Going Your Way - Pretty good little airline commercial. Or whatever it was supposed to be. It's fine.
San Miguel - I've never been all that fond of this one, but this is right near the top of this batch. It is at the very least a really strong production, as the Feel Flows mix showed.
I Just Got My Pay - See Games Two Can Play.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 15, 2023 22:30:46 GMT
This one was tough. In order of appearance on the list:
1. Can't Wait Too Long/Been Way Too Long - Spell-binding, hypnotic. Oh, how I wish Brian would've finished it. Has he ever even talked about it?
2. We're Together Again - Should've been released...somewhere. And Brian didn't write it.
3. Sail Plane Song/Loop de Loop - I like 'em both. Psychedelic (Sail Plane Song), and I like Beach Boys' psychedelia.
4. Old Folks At Home/Old Man River - Brian didn't sing much on the released songs during this era so I'm voting for his lead vocals now!
5. Games Two Can Play - Another rare BW lead. I know this isn't the thread for it but this song is sooooo out of place on Adult Child.
6. Soulful Old Man Sunshine - Yep, hard to believe this one wasn't released either. Slightly overrated, though IMO.
7. I'm Going Your Way - Dennis rockin'. Period piece. Guitar driven. Psychedelic. Almost country-rock in places. Very un-Beach Boys-like.
8. San Miguel - A good one. It always reminded me of a BW production. Simply, Dennis was obsessed with women and sex.
9. Where Is She? - There's something wrong with this song but it's still appealing. Again, if Brian wants to sing, I'll listen!
10. I Just Got My Pay - A good rocker. I don't like the starts-and-stops. This one had more potential I believe. Maybe better production/arrangement/mix/something...
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Post by B.E. on Aug 15, 2023 23:39:51 GMT
I’m surprised there aren’t any votes for “A Time to Live in Dreams” yet. I remember when I was first really getting into the Beach Boys, and Dennis, discovering that one was a pretty big find. I still like it a lot. It’ll certainly make my top 10. As a big Dennis fan, I wonder if carllove will join me?
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by Emdeeh on Aug 16, 2023 3:29:51 GMT
I'm a big Dennis fan and I do like "A Time to Live in Dreams," but not as much as some of the other tracks in this poll.
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Post by kds on Aug 16, 2023 12:11:53 GMT
While it wasn't technically finished, I do enjoy how Brian used Can't Wait Too Long as an intro piece to Midnight's Another Day on TLOS. When I first got the album, I initially wasn't really a big fan of how yet another BB piece was being used for a later solo project, but I've really come around on it.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 16, 2023 12:15:54 GMT
While it wasn't technically finished, I do enjoy how Brian used Can't Wait Too Long as an intro piece to Midnight's Another Day on TLOS. When I first got the album, I initially wasn't really a big fan of how yet another BB piece was being used for a later solo project, but I've really come around on it. I think it worked really well there, too. I believe Sheriff John Stone considers it something like sacrilege (correct me if I'm wrong), but I thought it was perfectly done and well placed. Short of traveling back in time, finishing it, and putting it on Friends or 20/20 or something, I don't see a better option.
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Post by kds on Aug 16, 2023 12:23:56 GMT
While it wasn't technically finished, I do enjoy how Brian used Can't Wait Too Long as an intro piece to Midnight's Another Day on TLOS. When I first got the album, I initially wasn't really a big fan of how yet another BB piece was being used for a later solo project, but I've really come around on it. I think it worked really well there, too. I believe Sheriff John Stone considers it something like sacrilege (correct me if I'm wrong), but I thought it was perfectly done and well placed. Short of traveling back in time, finishing it, and putting it on Friends or 20/20 or something, I don't see a better option. I suppose one could argue that the track could've been saved for a future BB reunion album, but when TLOS was being done, there didn't seem to be a ton of hope for that.
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