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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2020 16:03:21 GMT
I don't think we have a thread about this (which is kind of surprising). Has there been any recent news on this front? (Thinking about the new upcoming BW documentary Long Promised Road got me thinking about this, too.)
Last I heard and/or recalled, it was being proposed as a multi-disc physical release covering at least 1970-71, though I think I've seen it could include some 1969 material as well (which, in terms of the copyright stuff, I don't exactly understand, in that the year has ended), and it was supposed to be a fall release.
Is that still what we understand to be true? Has more been said?
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 16:19:16 GMT
Nothing concrete, but Howie Edelson has been hyping it at SSMB.
June 19, 2020
July 27, 2020
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Post by kds on Jul 28, 2020 16:30:40 GMT
"the BB's (finally) would get ALL the attention, ALL the dough, and ALL the love."
Right, because those mean old Beatles are the ones keeping the BBs from getting all the attention and love they deserve. Realistically, a Beach Boys archive release from the 1969-71 era is a pretty niche release, whether its competing with the new shiny Let It Be doc or not.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 16:37:49 GMT
"the BB's (finally) would get ALL the attention, ALL the dough, and ALL the love." Right, because those mean old Beatles are the ones keeping the BBs from getting all the attention and love they deserve. Realistically, a Beach Boys archive release from the 1969-71 era is a pretty niche release, whether its competing with the new shiny Let It Be doc or not. Yeah, I don't think it'll make a difference either.
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Post by kds on Jul 28, 2020 16:49:06 GMT
"the BB's (finally) would get ALL the attention, ALL the dough, and ALL the love." Right, because those mean old Beatles are the ones keeping the BBs from getting all the attention and love they deserve. Realistically, a Beach Boys archive release from the 1969-71 era is a pretty niche release, whether its competing with the new shiny Let It Be doc or not. Yeah, I don't think it'll make a difference either. As much as I love that era, to be honest, I highly doubt I'm going for it if it's a pricey box (ie. as expensive at MiC).
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 16:59:11 GMT
I'm probably not going for it at that price either. There would have to be a hell of a lot of high quality, previously unreleased surprises.
Edit: and some fantastic remixes.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2020 17:17:27 GMT
If Edelson is hyping it and it is done-done, hopefully we'll start seeing some pre-release hype soon: an announcement of the release, release date, and maybe a single or video in advance? I'd have to think if it's this good and the guys sat for interviews, etc., there could be some live publicity, too, so I'm thinking we may see another "reunion" interview situation.
One thing that is bound to stick out this time around is that some of the most influential guys to that era's music--Carl and Dennis--of course will not be available.
It will be interesting to see how it is accepted by the public. My guess is some surprised "hey, that's cooler than I'd have guessed" reactions, as we saw with the Sunshine Tomorrow box, but nothing that's going to change the course of history...
I probably will get the physical release in CD format, at least assuming a large percentage of it is unreleased music.
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Post by kds on Jul 28, 2020 18:01:31 GMT
If its a two disc release similar to the Party / Unplugged and Sunshine Tomorrow releases, I think I'd be more inclined to add it to my collection. They'd probably sell a few more copies too.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 18:22:12 GMT
If its a two disc release similar to the Party / Unplugged and Sunshine Tomorrow releases, I think I'd be more inclined to add it to my collection. They'd probably sell a few more copies too. Absolutely. Sunshine Tomorrow was a fantastic release. I was glad to buy it. There's must-have content. Hopefully, the same is true of Feel Flows, but there's no way to know until it's released. My concern is the price hike from a 2 to 5 disc set (if indeed it is a 5 disc set). In addition to tons of alternate takes and session highlights, Sunshine Tomorrow benefited from including an aborted studio album and the first ever stereo mix of Wild Honey. I don't think a remix of Sunflower would be nearly as interesting, but I do think some of Surf's Up could benefit from a remix. (Enough that I'd consider it essential? Not sure.) Edit: To clarify, I'm not hoping for less material, but I will be more inclined to settle for streaming if it gets too expensive.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2020 18:37:36 GMT
Remixes are tricky territory for me. Sometimes they're revelatory, but rarely. Sometimes there are really cool parts that were recorded that either didn't make, or were buried in, the final mix. But rarely. Mostly it's "oh, that's a nice, crisper mix." Or "hey, the drums and bass are punchier now." Nice? Yeah, sure. But not worth the price of admission.
Session highlights are similar for me. They can be interesting, but usually aren't worth repeated listening. "Hey, let's check out Dennis Dragon doing Take 6 on that song again..."
Luckily, this is an era of the home studio and of unreleased music. Unfortunately for our current purposes, a lot of it has already come out! Just imagine if we were about to hear for the first time Soulful Old Man Sunshine, I Just Got My Pay, HELP is on the Way, Fallin In Love (released, but barely), Sail Plane Song, Loop de Loop, etc. I've always thought they could have made a good album of unreleased music, not even including Smile material, in 1972 without recording any new songs.
So the question now is, what other unreleased songs, or dramatically different alternate takes, remain? I'm hoping for some good ones, but we'll see.
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Post by kds on Jul 28, 2020 18:48:00 GMT
If its a two disc release similar to the Party / Unplugged and Sunshine Tomorrow releases, I think I'd be more inclined to add it to my collection. They'd probably sell a few more copies too. Absolutely. Sunshine Tomorrow was a fantastic release. I was glad to buy it. There's must-have content. Hopefully, the same is true of Feel Flows, but there's no way to know until it's released. My concern is the price hike from a 2 to 5 disc set (if indeed it is a 5 disc set). In addition to tons of alternate takes and session highlights, Sunshine Tomorrow benefited from including an aborted studio album and the first ever stereo mix of Wild Honey. I don't think a remix of Sunflower would be nearly as interesting, but I do think some of Surf's Up could benefit from a remix. (Enough that I'd consider it essential? Not sure.) Edit: To clarify, I'm not hoping for less material, but I will be more inclined to settle for streaming if it gets too expensive. They could release the heavily bootlegged "Landlocked" album I suppose. It does seem like a lot of the unreleased songs from the era have come out on GV and/or MiC. And I'm with you on not padding the album out from two to five discs with various remixes and such.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 18:53:35 GMT
Remixes are tricky territory for me. Sometimes they're revelatory, but rarely. Sometimes there are really cool parts that were recorded that either didn't make, or were buried in, the final mix. But rarely. Mostly it's "oh, that's a nice, crisper mix." Or "hey, the drums and bass are punchier now." Nice? Yeah, sure. But not worth the price of admission.
Session highlights are similar for me. They can be interesting, but usually aren't worth repeated listening. "Hey, let's check out Dennis Dragon doing Take 6 on that song again..."
Luckily, this is an era of the home studio and of unreleased music. Unfortunately for our current purposes, a lot of it has already come out! Just imagine if we were about to hear for the first time Soulful Old Man Sunshine, I Just Got My Pay, HELP is on the Way, Fallin In Love (released, but barely), Sail Plane Song, Loop de Loop, etc. I've always thought they could have made a good album of unreleased music, not even including Smile material, in 1972 without recording any new songs.
So the question now is, what other unreleased songs, or dramatically different alternate takes, remain? I'm hoping for some good ones, but we'll see.
Right. A lot of the then-unreleased stuff has since been officially released and is sitting in our collections. I'd love to hear all the meandering, incomplete piano demos, but I'll only pay so much for 'em. I'm not too optimistic that there are complete, unreleased, unknown studio recordings awaiting us that are of similar quality to "Soulful Old Man Sunshine", "I Just Got My Pay", "HELP is on the Way", etc. That said, I love 'vocals only' mixes, and I do revisit them fairly often.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2020 18:53:51 GMT
According to A. Doe, Landlocked was going to consist of: Loop De Loop, Susie Cincinnati, San Miguel, HELP Is On The Way, Take A Load Off Your Feet, Carnival (aka Over The Waves), I Just Got My Pay, Good Time, Big Sur, Lady, When Girls Get Together, Lookin' At Tomorrow, and 'Til I Die.
So really, there's no point in including it, as we've already got it all. What's more, it would be an odd choice considering it doesn't seem to have ever been intended as an album to begin with!
What about something from Fred Vail's country album? That's from 1970...
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2020 18:55:15 GMT
That said, I love 'vocals only' mixes, and I do revisit them fairly often. I should have made a distinction between remixes and vocals-only or instrumental-only mixes. I do enjoy both of those, actually. I don't sit down and listen to them for hours on end, but I do go back to them for fun and for reference on occasion. Always happy to hear them.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 28, 2020 19:02:35 GMT
According to A. Doe, Landlocked was going to consist of: Loop De Loop, Susie Cincinnati, San Miguel, HELP Is On The Way, Take A Load Off Your Feet, Carnival (aka Over The Waves), I Just Got My Pay, Good Time, Big Sur, Lady, When Girls Get Together, Lookin' At Tomorrow, and 'Til I Die.
I'll be shocked if we don't get the alternate "Big Sur". That's never been officially released, right? We'll get a bump in sound quality, at least.
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