The Beach Boys

[Analogman]

When I young, I did not care for the post car/surf stuff - but as I got older, Friends became one of my favorite Beach Boys albums.

[dtram]

When I young, I did not care for the post car/surf stuff - but as I got older, Friends became one of my favorite Beach Boys albums.

Firends is great. If you took the Sunflower/Surf's Up two-fer and picked the 10-12 best tracks you'd have one amazing record. This Whole World, Forever, Our Sweeet Love, Feel Flows, Long Promised Road, Disney Girls, Til I Die; just great stuff.

[jff]

 

 

 

That would be that GD Jeff Lynne. I'm no recording engineer so I dont what exactly those effects are but they drive me nuts. He ruined the Wilbury's records and the Petty records with that sound. Thank God he appears to have left the scene, or at least doesn't produce records I listen to.

 

Yeah, Jeff Lynn is to blame for those particular tracks, but the problem is bigger than just him. Music is recorded very differently now than in the past, as we all know, but drum recording might be the most different from the way it was in the past. In the past, you might have three mics for the whole drumset. Now, it's not uncommon to have three mics on each drum.

 

The problem mostly boils down to the fact that we're not limited by the number of tracks and processing options, so drums often end up really slick and unnatural sounding.

 

I also give drum makers some of the blame. A lot of modern drums seem to be built for maximum volume and maximum durability at the expense of tone quality.

[Analogman]

I've never been that fond of Disney Girls, but there is a video on Youtube of Bruce doing a solo version of it that is pretty cool.

 

I use to have a British pressing of Friends on cd that I got at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I gave it away several years ago.

[dtram]

I've never been that fond of Disney Girls, but there is a video on Youtube of Bruce doing a solo version of it that is pretty cool.

 

Yeah, it's sappy, no doubt about it. Wouldn't usually be my thing but I dig it for some reason.

[Synthesizer Patel]

smile box set out on july 12th!

look here

[Analogman]

The Beach Boys Fanclub site has also noted the source you posted.

 

I hope it does not cost a lot, as I think I am going to go for the deluxe package.

[jff]

 

I hope it does not cost a lot, as I think I am going to go for the deluxe package.

 

four CDs, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book

 

I'd like that, too. On the low side, I'm gonna figure $12 per cd, $15-$20 per LP, and $5 per single. That's already in the $100 range, before factoring in the book. I'm guessing something like $200 for the deluxe set, as I assume my figures are too low.

[Synthesizer Patel]

yeah, i'm going for the deluxe package too - this is the one time where i'm willing to pay anything. the only thing i find a bit annoying is that they say they will be using the 2004 album as a blueprint, and to me i just don't see how that would have happened in 67, it's just way way too long. i was hoping they'd have gone for the tracklisting they sent to capitol back when they made the cover - that to me looked a lot better.

[Analogman]

four CDs, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book

 

I'd like that, too. On the low side, I'm gonna figure $12 per cd, $15-$20 per LP, and $5 per single. That's already in the $100 range, before factoring in the book. I'm guessing something like $200 for the deluxe set, as I assume my figures are too low.

 

I figure you are right.

[mpolak21]

yeah, i'm going for the deluxe package too - this is the one time where i'm willing to pay anything. the only thing i find a bit annoying is that they say they will be using the 2004 album as a blueprint, and to me i just don't see how that would have happened in 67, it's just way way too long. i was hoping they'd have gone for the tracklisting they sent to capitol back when they made the cover - that to me looked a lot better.

 

Yeah, Smile really couldn't have worked as three suites in 1967, because it would have been impossible two divide over two-sides of 25-minute vinyl. I have every intention of buying the deluxe set the day it comes out if not pre-ordering it. But then again I spent like three hours riffling through a record collection at a garage sail trying to find a copy of "Sunflower" that he "promised" was in there. It was actually Surf's Up, but I bought that one anyway.

 

This has come so close to coming out before, I am really happy that's it almost there. It'll be so nice to have versions of all the boots I've had for years in great audio quality.

 

 

--Mike

[Analogman]

Yeah, Smile really couldn't have worked as three suites in 1967, because it would have been impossible two divide over two-sides of 25-minute vinyl. I have every intention of buying the deluxe set the day it comes out if not pre-ordering it. But then again I spent like three hours riffling through a record collection at a garage sail trying to find a copy of "Sunflower" that he "promised" was in there. It was actually Surf's Up, but I bought that one anyway.

 

This has come so close to coming out before, I am really happy that's it almost there. It'll be so nice to have versions of all the boots I've had for years in great audio quality.

 

 

--Mike

 

I have an original pressing of Surf's Up. I always thought that cover would make a good tattoo.

[mpolak21]

Surf's Up is my favorite non-Pet Sounds official release of theirs.

[Analogman]

Have you ever heard the show they did with The Grateful Dead? You should check that out. I believe it was around the time of that album's release or after.

[Vacant Horizon]

smile box set out on july 12th!

look here

 

that is an awesome music news site! i've never heard of it. everything paste should have been.

craig

[Analogman]

I found this the other day. It's pretty cool.

 

The Beach Boys - Best Unsurpassed Masters

 

01: Cuckoo Clock (backing track, take NA) (2:17)

02: Cuckoo Clock (overdub 2, take 12) (2:23)

03: Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (overdub 1, take 17) (2:31)

04: County Fair (backing track, take NA) (2:26)

05: County Fair (vocal overdub 2, take 13) (2:34)

06: Summertime Blues (backing track, takes 1 & 2) (1:31)

07: Summertime Blues (vocal overdub 1, take 8) (2:16)

08: Land Ahoy (backing track, take 1) (1:55)

09: Land Ahoy (vocal overdub 1, take 4) (1:52)

10: Little Girl (You're My Miss America) (backing track, takes 1 & 2) (1:43)

11: Little Girl (You're My Miss America) (backing track, take 15) (2:14)

12: The Surfer Moon (backing track, take 2) (0:39)

13: The Surfer Moon (backing track, take 3) (2:49)

14: Cindy, Oh Cindy (backing track, takes 2-4) (1:56)

15: Cindy, Oh Cindy (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:06)

16: Surfin' USA (backing track, take NA) (2:36)

17: Surfin' USA (vocal take, take NA) (2:36)

18: Shut Down (backing track, take NA) (1:55)

19: Lana (vocal overdub, take 11) (1:56)

20: Farmer's Daughter (stereo mix 1, overdub 2, take 9) (2:03)

21: Ballad Of Ole' Betsy (backing track, takes 1-3) (1:24)

22: Ballad Of Ole' Betsy (backing track, take 4) (2:55)

23: Noble Surfer (vocal overdub, take 39) (1:59)

24: Let's Go Trippin' (take 8) (2:08)

25: Miserlou (take 12) (2:15)

26: Honky Tonk (take 9) (2:08)

27: Stoked (take 16) (2:07)

28: Surf Jam (take 8) (2:17)

29: Finder's Keepers (vocal overdub, take 18) (1:54)

30: The Baker Man (backing track, takes 1 & 2) (2:40)

31: The Baker Man (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:46)

32: Side Two (backing track, take NA) (2:34)

33: Surfer Girl (possibly end mix) (2:32)

34: Surfers Rule (backing track, take 5) (1:11)

35: Surfers Rule (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:14)

36: South Bay Surfer (backing track, take NA) (2:11)

37: South Bay Surfer (vocal overdub, take 2) (2:08)

 

CD 2

01: If It Can't Be You (demo, take 1) (2:30)

02: Boogie Woodie (take 1) (1:23)

03: Boogie Woodie (piano overdub, take NA) (2:05)

04: Our Car Club (vocal take NA, stereo mix 1) (2:42)

05: The Surfer Moon (vocal take NA, stereo mix 1) (2:21)

06: Hawaii (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:10)

07: Your Summer Dream (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:51)

08: The Rockin' Surfer (2:13)

09: Catch A Wave (stereo mix 1) (2:24)

10: In My Room (vocal overdub, take 13) (2:29)

11: Run Around Lover (backing track, take NA) (2:09)

12: The One You Can't Have (backing track, take NA) (2:08)

13: Pamela Jean (backing track, take 8) (2:56)

14: Pamela Jean (sax solo overdub onto take 8) (2:49)

15: Bobby Left Me (take 5) (2:25)

16: I Can See Right Through You (backing track, take 2) (2:59)

17: I Do (vocal overdubs, takes 1 & 2) (2:05)

18: I Do (backing track, take 7) (2:19)

19: I Do (vocal overdub, take 1) (2:10)

20: I Do (vocal overdub, take 1 edited) (2:01)

21: Endless Sleep (backing track, take 2) (2:26)

22: Endless Sleep (track 3, take 2) (2:24)

23: Fun, Fun, Fun (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:16)

24: Ganz Allein (vocal overdub 1, take 13) (2:32)

25: He's A Doll (backing track, take 7) (2:16)

26: I Get Around (backing track, take 7) (2:23)

27: I Get Around (vocal overdub, take NA) (2:17)

28: All Summer Long (instrumental insert) (2:19)

29: All Summer Long (vocal overdub 1) (2:20)

30: Hushabye (first vocal overdub) (2:43)

31: Little Honda (backing track, take NA) (1:56)

32: Little Honda (vocal overdub, take NA) (1:57)

33: We'll Run Away (rehearsal) (1:18)

34: We'll Run Away (vocal overdub 1) (2:07)

35: Wendy (vocal overdub, take 7a) (2:25)

 

CD 3

01: Do You Remember (first vocal overdub) (1:48)

02: Girls On The Beach (vocal overdub, take 10a) (2:31)

03: Don't Back Down (rehearsal) (1:03)

04: Don't Back Down (vocal overdub A) (2:09)

05: Don't Back Down (stereo mix of vocal take 6a) (1:55)

06: She Knows Me Too Well (lead vocal overdub) (2:43)

07: Don't Hurt My Little Sister (take 3) (1:18)

08: Don't Hurt My Little Sister (first vocal overdub) (2:35)

09: Surfin' USA (2:24)

10: Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow (2:05)

11: When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) (first vocal overdub) (2:26)

12: I'm So Young (alternate take, first vocal overdub) (2:39)

13: Guess I'm Dumb (first vocal overdub) (3:05)

14: All Dressed Up For School (first vocal overdub) (2:43)

15: Dance, Dance, Dance (alternate version, vocal overdub) (2:09)

16: KJR Radio Spot (0:59)

17: The Little Girl (takes 7-10) (1:48)

18: Help Me Rhonda (second vocal overdub 2A, take 2) (3:19)

19: Do You Wanna Dance? (instrumental insert) (2:31)

20: In The Back Of My Mind (first vocal overdub) (2:14)

21: Sandy (second vocal overdub) (2:45)

22: Let Him Run Wild (first vocal overdub, take 3) (2:25)

23: Salt Lake City (take 9) (2:19)

24: California Girls (takes 4-6) (1:44)

25: California Girls (take 41) (2:45)

26: Girl Don't Tell Me (vocal overdub) (2:56)

27: Then I Kissed Her (first vocal overdub) (2:28)

28: Graduation Day (vocal take) (2:20)

29: Amusement Park USA (first vocal overdub) (2:59)

30: The Girl From New York City (take 15) (1:31)

31: The Girl From New York City (vocal overdub) (2:26)

32: Blowin' In The Wind (2:35)

33: Riot In Cell Block #9 (take 1) (2:24)

34: California Girls (2:12)

35: Smokey Joe's Cafe (take 1) (1:24)

 

CD 4

01: Sloop John B (take 14, vocal overdub 2) (3:10)

02: Wouldn't It Be Nice (first vocal overdub) (2:46)

03: I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (first lead vocal overdub) (3:33)

04: That's Not Me (first lead vocals overdub) (2:46)

05: God Only Knows (lead vocal, first overdub) (3:06)

06: Prayer (1:04)

07: Heroes And Villians (2:55)

08: Do You Like Worms? (4:04)

09: Barnyard (0:54)

10: The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine (1:10)

11: He Gives Speeches (lead vocal overdub) (0:55)

12: Child Is The Father Of The Man (1:45)

13: Cabinessence (3:27)

14: Look (2:39)

15: Good Vibrations (take 26, stereo mix) (3:40)

16: I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night (1:35)

17: Vege-Tables (remix) (2:40)

18: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire) (2:34)

19: I Love To Say Da-Da (Water) (2:24)

20: You're Welcome (1:05)

21: Surf's Up (5:15)

22: Wonderful (first vocal overdub) (2:27)

23: Wind Chimes (vocal overdub attempt) (1:39)

24: Gettin' Hungry (vocal overdub) (1:02)

25: Cool, Cool Water (first vocal overdub) (1:18)

26: I Was Made To Love Her (vocal overdub attempt) (2:12)

27: The Letter (track & vocals) (1:57)

28: Darlin' (lead vocal overdub) (2:19)

29: Friends (alternate version) (2:37)

30: Do It Again (track & vocals) (2:31)

31: We're Together Again (vocal overdub) (2:16)

32: I Can Hear Music (track & vocals) (2:47)

33: Break Away (track & vocal) (3:09)

[bigideas]

What exactly is that?

Weird how some songs repeat on different discs. Why wouldn't they stay together?

Also looks like a huge chunk of Smile tracks on the last disc.

[Analogman]

What exactly is that?

Weird how some songs repeat on different discs. Why wouldn't they stay together?

Also looks like a huge chunk of Smile tracks on the last disc.

 

It's a compilation made from a 21 volume bootleg set known as The Beach Boys: Unsurpassed Masters (Sea Of Tunes).

 

The quality is very clear. You get to hear some really neat stuff. It is sort of like the Pet Sounds boxset.

[jff]

What exactly is that?

Weird how some songs repeat on different discs. Why wouldn't they stay together?Also looks like a huge chunk of Smile tracks on the last disc.

 

I hate when box sets do this. I don't want to hear five versions of a song back to back. I think the Faces box set did a good job of keeping repeating tracks away from each other, so you can listen to any one of the discs without any songs being played more than once.

 

I find jazz box sets annoying because they often have numerous takes of a song in a row. Mosaic, which some people hold up as the pinnacle of box set achievement, is terrible about this.

[LouieB]

I find jazz box sets annoying because they often have numerous takes of a song in a row. Mosaic, which some people hold up as the pinnacle of box set achievement, is terrible about this.

Mosaic releases box sets for the obsessed, not the casual fan.

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

This is intersting. From the Chicago Trib this AM.

 

LouieB

 

Bob Flanigan dies at 84; founding member of the Four Freshmen

The group had a jazz-rooted vocal style and influenced the Beach Boys, the Lettermen, Manhattan Transfer and other vocal acts.

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

 

May 17, 2011

 

Bob Flanigan, a founding member and original lead singer of the innovative vocal group the Four Freshmen, whose elegantly intricate jazz-rooted singing was a profound influence on Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson as well as the Lettermen, the Manhattan Transfer and numerous other vocal acts, died Sunday at his home in Las Vegas of congestive heart failure. He was 84.

 

Flanigan, who retired from performing with the group in 1992 but continued as its manager until his death, was surrounded by friends and family and had been serenaded by an ad hoc group of eight trombone players a few hours before he died, a spokeswoman for the current edition of the Grammy-winning group said Monday. The original lineup charted a handful of hits in the '50s, including "Graduation Day," '"It's a Blue World" and their arrangement of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo."

 

Chuck Berry "Bob Flanigan and the Four Freshmen were my harmonic education," Wilson said Monday through his manager. "I saw them at the Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood in 1958. My dad and I went backstage and met the Freshmen. I was nervous because they were my idols. They were so nice to me. I was just 15 years old. I'll forever miss his friendship."

 

Wilson has long cited the Freshmen as one of the two most important influences on the Beach Boys' sound, the other being the exuberant guitar-driven rock of Chuck Berry.

 

Tony Butala, founding member of the Lettermen vocal trio, was similarly affected by the music of the group that was formed in 1948 at Butler University in Indiana by Flanigan, his cousins Don and Ross Barbour and their friend Hal Kratzch. "The Freshmen were my heroes when I was in high school," Butala said. "We became friends, and he didn't so much take me under his wing, but he was very much helpful. We always argued, jokingly, that [the Lettermen were] the Four Freshmen without doing all the modern harmony."

 

Ross Barbour, 82 and now the group's last surviving original member, said in a statement: "Flanigan's voice was indestructible. He could drive all day and all night without stopping between gigs, and when our voices were on the edge, Bob was still in full form."

 

Flanigan, who also was a trombonist, often credited big band leader Stan Kenton as being the key influence on what the Freshmen wanted to achieve, a sound built on more sophisticated harmonies than typical of the male vocal quartets that preceded them.

 

"I always thought of singing as if I were playing trombone with Stan," Flanigan told The Times in 1991. "We think like horn players. The way we blend is due to our approach as instrumentalists. Also, we use no vibrato, because Kenton's trombones didn't."

 

All members of the Four Freshmen also played instruments, which made them unique among close-harmony vocal groups of the era. In addition, Flanigan's exceptional vocal range allowed him to take the melody above the other three voices, which also opened new vistas in male quartet singing. The Freshmen were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.

 

Robert Lee Flanigan was born Aug. 22, 1926, in Greencastle, Ind., to Minter and Nellie Flanigan. From an early age he was enthralled with the sound of jazz, especially big-band singer and trombonist Jack Teagarden and bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker.

 

Upon completing a stint in the military during World War II, where he served in Germany, Flanigan enrolled at Butler, where Hal Kratzsch and brothers Don and Ross Barbour had formed a barbershop quartet with high harmony singer Marvin Pruitt.

 

When Pruitt developed stage fright and decided to quit, it opened the door for the Barbours to reach out to their cousin Flanigan. After he came aboard, the quartet changed its name from the Toppers to the Four Freshmen.

 

A friend of Kenton's urged him to see the group because it had developed a reputation of having a vocal sound like that of his band. He promptly connected the Freshmen with officials at his record label, Capitol, which signed the group and soon released its first hit, "It's a Blue World," in 1952.

 

"I don't know if they were necessarily really looking to push the envelope as far as the sound goes, they just knew what sounded good to them," said Bob Ferreira, who joined the Freshmen shortly after Flanigan retired in 1992 and has worked closely with him for nearly 19 years.

 

Flanigan is survived by his wife, Mary; his sister Maxine Thomas; children Scott, Jill, and Stephen Flanigan, Julie Maple, Jennifer Turner and Debbie Muria, and 15 grandchildren. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

[jff]

Mosaic releases box sets for the obsessed, not the casual fan.

 

LouieB

 

Maybe, but a lot of the time (maybe always?) they release material that is otherwise out of print. So, as a casual fan of Sam Rivers, I had to buy the Mosaic box to get his Blue Note material.

 

Sorry to sidetrack the thread.

[LouieB]

Maybe, but a lot of the time (maybe always?) they release material that is otherwise out of print. So, as a casual fan of Sam Rivers, I had to buy the Mosaic box to get his Blue Note material.

 

Sorry to sidetrack the thread.

We could take this to the jazz thread, but it is worth talking about anyway. You are correct that you should not have to buy the Mosaic if all you want are a few of the original configurations of the Blue Note albums. Mosaic is really not what you want and it is too bad. I catch your drift. But for the obsessive Sam Rivers (or whomever) Mosaic is a great label.

The reason most of their material is released in limited numbers is because only a limited number of fans what all that stuff.

 

So I agree with you in principle, but really it is the fault of BN for not keeping all their original albums in print on CD at least.

 

Let's be honest. I like Pet Sounds (to bring it back to the BB), but I am not obsessive and never have seen any reason to buy the Pet Sounds box, nor am I close to intersted in buying the box set of Smile. That is not one of my obsessions and terefore not something I will put the cash out for. That doesn't mean it is pretty cool for someone to get all the vocal tracks, demos, instrumental tracks, rehersals, studio banter, charts or anything else that comes with these, if you want them.

 

LouieB

[bigideas]

I have long heard of the Four Freshmen's influence on BW, but I have never heard their music.

 

Is there a track of their's that anyone would hear and say, "I definitely hear the influence on Brian Wilson on this song?"

[Analogman]

It was their harmonies.