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Post by carllove on Jul 15, 2021 16:59:57 GMT
I actually don't get that vibe from you at all, because your enjoyment seems real to me. What I'm talking about--and it might be an un-generous way to view people, but I'm being honest--is those people whose enjoyment of music seems to be inversely proportional to its availability or popularity. So as a song becomes more popular, or as more people hear it, those people dismiss it. But while it's rare, while it's officially unavailable? IT'S BRILLIANT!
And I say all that acknowledging that at various times in my life, it describes me quite well. It isn't how I want to approach music (or other people!) anymore, but I definitely see it in myself, especially in the past.
I've gotten that vibe on other BB boards, almost to the point where I feel like the 1963-66 era is almost "underrated" in some fan circles. And, that's by no means a BB fan exclusive. We've all heard the "only the pre Steve Perry Journey is good," "Metallica were great before they sold out," or other various things. Even the propping up of unreleased songs. When I first got into Floyd, I remember reading fan forums saying tracks like Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man were brilliant. They're ok, but I think there was a reason Floyd kept them in the vaults as long as they did. Gotta agree with you about Pink Floyd. After seeing The Wall for the first time, I had to seek out Syd Barrett music. I was not really impressed. As I said in the previous post, I really didn't appreciate the 1963-66 Beach Boys era until I got into their later stuff. Still kicking myself for pretty much blowing them off when I saw them in 1986 with The Moody Blues. I just thought they were a fluffy band that performed simple poppy songs about surfing and cars. Now I can hear the sophistication in the harmonies and production. Girl Don't Tell, me is every bit as good as most of the early Beatles songs.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 15, 2021 17:30:35 GMT
It's funny that I never learned to appreciate the early Beach Boys music until I discovered their later stuff. Then, I began to notice bits and pieces of progress towards Pet Sounds in their earlier songs. I do wonder though, if I prefer to listen to Lonely Sea, Girl Don't Tell Me and You're So Good to Me than to their more well known hits, because they are newer to me and I haven't grown tired of them, or because I just think they are better songs. If I'm still around in 30 years, maybe I will have my answer. This is generally true of me, too. My parents had Endless Summer, and I enjoyed it as a small kid, but by the time I was a teenager I thought the Beach Boys were utter trash. That lasted up until I "discovered" them--and specifically the legend of Brian Wilson and the Pet Sounds album--when I was around age 21. But even after that, it took a solid 5+ years for me to come back around on the earlier music.
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Post by jk on Jul 15, 2021 19:18:24 GMT
jk has mentioned the number of vocals on "Break Away" as being over 30.
Did i say "over 30"? If so, my apologies -- I meant "around 30" (JH's estimate). This is SaltyMarshmallow's follow-up post at Smiley: "That's through doubling and unison, anyway. There are 16 unique vocal parts in the tag over three layers. Most of the rest of the song veers between 5 and 6 parts at any given time, sometimes down to 4, and the second bridge again has three layers of different group arrangements. The vocal stack rarely stays the same from section to section because it was worked out and overdubbed in pieces. Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, Bruce, and Murry all sing on it." With thanks to both these shockingly knowledgeable people.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 15, 2021 19:25:23 GMT
Thanks for the helpful quote--that provides some good context/clarification. If there are really 16 different vocal parts in the tag, that clarifies that we may be talking about 30 unique vocal parts, as opposed to the relatively typical arrangements just being doubled, with each recorded voice in each recorded section counting as a vocal part. (Did I say that clearly? Maybe not.)
As for "over" or "around," for my purposes the distinction is irrelevant, so no problem there. Though if I mischaracterized your initial statement, apologies.
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Post by jk on Jul 15, 2021 19:40:39 GMT
Thanks for the helpful quote--that provides some good context/clarification. If there are really 16 different vocal parts in the tag, that clarifies that we may be talking about 30 unique vocal parts, as opposed to the relatively typical arrangements just being doubled, with each recorded voice in each recorded section counting as a vocal part. (Did I say that clearly? Maybe not.)
As for "over" or "around," for my purposes the distinction is irrelevant, so no problem there. Though if I mischaracterized your initial statement, apologies.
I just checked on page one of this thread and it was indeed "around". But no problem. And yes, you did say that clearly!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 15, 2021 19:45:57 GMT
Of course 30 years later, on Imagination, Brian quadruple-tracked almost every vocal. Imagine the final counts (going by a method where a single part quadruple-tracked counts as four) in a tune like "Your Imagination." Thanks to the technology, it's likely beyond what a 1969 Brian could have imagined.
On the down-side, many of those great vocal harmony parts in "Break Away" were performed by various configurations of band members singing together, and then just double-tracking those group vocal parts by again singing together. It required people who could ALL sing their part well simultaneously, as opposed to the world of '98 (and far more so since) where one person could do it all, one part at a time, by him- or herself.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2021 11:45:37 GMT
Nine voters rated "Break Away" b/w "Celebrate the News" an average of 8.8.
I'll update the ratings thread, and our next single will be up shortly.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 7, 2021 16:54:45 GMT
I'm going with an '8' (which doesn't change the average rating). I've loved "Break Away" since the first time I heard it. "Celebrate the News" is cool, but I think I like it more for the production than the song. If I'm not in the mood for it, it can actually be a little irritating in spots. Again, it's good, it's fine, but would its inclusion on the contemporaneous albums have improved them, for instance? Probably not. Surf's Up could have used it...but not nearly as much as it could have used "(Wouldn't It Be Nice) To Live Again". Still, I've got this single as a high '8', sandwiched between "Surfin' Safari"/"409" and "Darlin'/"Here Today"...not bad! That both sides are non-album tracks increases its appeal.
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