This was when I was the editor of the Student Guild Newspaper in early 2001. I did write this when I was 20 ha.

Was scrolling through Ebay looking for a Sunflower vinyl only to find this gem! Picked it up immediately, and even though the case is in pretty rough condition, (the pics dont do sell it, the case is rly brown and warped as all hell) Im really happy for what I bought! 100$ CAD specifically!

Their shared lead on Kiss Me, Baby is perfection. I wish they shared more leads on songs.

What Brian and Mike Collaboration is your favourite?

I tried to salvaged Summer in Paradise for a more "consumable" experienc, and here's what I created:

Side One:

1. Summer of Love (The Original 20-minute uncut mix by Terry Melcher)

Side Two:

1. Forever

2. Forever

3. Forever

4. Forever

5. Forever

6. Forever

not to offend anyone but as a massive beach boys fan can anyone explain to me why anyone likes any post Holland beach boys album? (strong exceptions: Love You & TWGMTR)

i’ve always believed that after that point , the band really lost its way artistically and after endless summer the band’s purpose became a) tour for fun and money b) make new music bc that’s what they had always done plus the money

the only exceptions are the random mental recovery causing Love You and the slow but steady one causing TWGMTR

Also, can you guys list the best songs of this period?

I know almost all of the albums from the mid-late 1970's like 15 Big Ones with Susie Cincinnati, Love You with Good Time, Adult/Child with Games Two Can Play and H.E.L.P. Is On The Way, Merry Christmas with Seasons In The Sun, and I’ve heard that San Miguel was considered for M.I.U. Album. All of these albums have songs from the Sunflower / Surf's Up era and I was just wondering if I Just Got My Pay was ever considered for 15BO, TBBLY, or A/C? Because I feel like the sound and overall theme of the song would’ve great on Adult/Child or Love You.

New essay on our site from our Pet Sounds series:

https://beachboyssessions.com/pet-sounds/here-today/

Curious to know what others would ask him, especially about things that he has not covered.

It's just interesting to me how these albums were intended to be released in the early 90's and they both embody (mostly) different traits of that era. Sweet Insanity at least sounds like it uses a lot of real instruments, but uses quite a bit of midi samples and smooth synths. I've seen some people compare it to Prefab Sprout, and it does sound quite a bit like them around that time, if a little more sterile feeling. It's just very smooth pop production of the time.

Summer in Paradise also has lots of real instruments, but they're very overshadowed by the crazy drum samples, and they use like every digital effect and filter available. There's also just something about the guitar tones that feels very 90s, I honestly like them. The whole thing sounds like music you'd hear in tv shows and advertisements.

Personally I prefer The Beach Boys’ Today! version as I feel it sounds cleaner and I enjoy the more upbeat style of the song with the harmonies. The SDASD version is still great.

Which version do you prefer?

I like some of the tracks on this album, and I think it’s worth something. So I collected some tracks from other members and tried to make a realistic 92 album with merit and consistently good songs.

Got two from Carl that he recorded for Like a Brother around this time, and four complete BW88/Sweet Insanity era tracks. I could see Brian using these four specifically because he earmarked Spirit for the Boys, released Feelin’ around this time on a compilation, and Hotter was written and produced with his new writing partner at the time - Andy Paley. Love Ya was also done at a similar time to Hotter, and is sort of in the same boat - so why not? I also assume he didn’t want to use any Landified tracks like the Sweet Insanity stuff.

One concern is the highly varying production. I can’t really do anything about it, but I chose songs that don’t feel as out of place. Stuff like Rainbow Eyes is great, but is out of place much more than the BW88 stuff. They don’t sound too different, minus the horrendous SiP drums. Give it a listen and see if you enjoy any tracks you’ve skipped over.

1. Hot Fun in the Summertime (Stewart)
2. Island Fever (Love/Melcher)
3. Run Don’t Walk (C Wilson/Galdston)
4. Love Ya (B Wilson/Gold)
5. Still Surfin’ (Love/Melcher)
6. Hotter (B Wilson/Paley)
7. Slow Summer Dancin’ (Johnston/Webb)
8. The Spirit Of Rock & Roll (B Wilson/Usher/Kelly)
9. Strange Things Happen (Love/Melcher)
10. Country Feelin’ (B Wilson)
11. Lahaina Aloha (Love/Melcher)
12. I Wish For You (C Wilson/Galdston/Johnson)
13. Summer in Paradise (Love/Melcher/Fall)

So, you can probably guess what albums I'm talking about lmao but, I'm genuinely curious, what mixes do you guys listen of the early 70s albums? I never saw anyone praise the Feel Flows or Sail On, Sailor mixes tbh so I just assumed it's the 2000 mixes. But what about you guys?

If Brian ever released an album out of the Paley material, which songs would you choose to construct a proper track list? My contenders are (also the tracklist of my own "American Music" assembled order):

1. Soul Searchin'

2. Chain Reaction of Love

3. Gettin' in Over My Head

4. Saturday Morning in the City

5. I'm Goin' Home

6. Must Be a Miracle

7. You're Still a Mystery

8. Some Sweet Day

9. It's Not Easy Bein' Home

10. I'm Broke

11. This Song Wants to Sleep with You Tonight

12. Slightly American Music

Why is it that the Boys have such an extensive outtakes/demos/unreleased catalogue?

Compare the behind the scenes stuff with what we’ve got for The Doors or The Eagles, who have limited/sparse or non existent respective bonus catalogues, or even the Beatles who, after four anthology albums seem to have all their bonus content pretty much out there.

I get that the Boys have been at it for absolutely ages, but there’s so much, and among it there’s gotta be at least two whole albums of unique, fully composed and complete songs that never made it onto a studio album.

Money is clearly a reason - these box sets have got some financial incentive behind them, but equally Don Henley clearly loves money, and he’s also keeping the Eagles bts works (that I would kill to hear) under Fort Knox-levels of wraps.

If anyone who has a good grip of the outtake catalogue could shed some light on this it would be appreciated

Hey folks,

Do you think we can figure out what the last song Dennis worked on was?

I get that records of the band’s studio sessions aren’t very evenly documented, and certainly not with their solo catalogues, but it would be nice to know what the last song he worked on was, and the last thing he played/sang into a microphone.

It would most likely be during the Bambu sessions, unless there’s some stuff he was doing with the Boys while production on Bambu was on hold. Maybe there’s proper recordings of a concert around the same time that would have been his last recorded performance?

Dennis’ last months were tough, and its not a fun part of the band’s history to look into, but I think Dennis means a lot to us fanatics, and knowing the last goodbye would be nice.

While on the subject, does anyone know of any good biographies or documentaries that cover Dennis’ life that don’t shy away from his last few years?

Thanks folks

Love this

Beach Boys Stomp - Issue 41, February 1984

This very special issue of BBS is entirely dedicated to Dennis Wilson, who tragically passed away a few months prior. Some absolutely beautiful images of Dennis are included here, some of which I'd never seen before

Enjoy <3

Brian was a lying bum who rewrote history. In reality everysingle Beach Boys song was really written by Michael Edward Love. Pet Sounds was all Mike, SMiLE was all Mike, Love You was all Mike, Adult/Child was all Mike, BW88 was all Mike, TLOS was all Mike. Brian Wilson stole all of his songwriting credits.

I was visiting the Bay Area to see Al in Livermore, and I stopped by the Counterculture Museum while I was there. It made me laugh to see this thing, out of all choices, being the album on display for The Beach Boys! Not a studio album or even what I’d call a mainline compilation like Endless Summer or Spirit of America, but this weird Beach Boys and Jan & Dean combo compilation I have never seen before. If I were to include a Beach Boys album at this museum, I probably would’ve picked Smiley Smile.

To be clear, I still loved the museum. Visiting Haight-Ashbury was very healing to me as someone reconnecting with his inner 12-year-old flower child after trying desperately to conform to societal standards for years and eventually failing. But I found this a bit funny.

My first time using Audacity, the speed change didn't quite match so I had to painstakingly move every line a bit forward. Does it sound any good? (AI was used only for track isolation)

Who was this guy??? He’s got no credits really other than the stuff he did with Brian, and why did Brian want to write with someone who was (respectfully) far less able musically? Surely Brian could hear how dated and weird Thomas’ production style was. It’s just very confusing to me, the last BB record would’ve been pretty good if it was produced by someone else, how do you get over that production style? It’s like a spaghetti stain on a white dress.

I just feel like it was so much wasted potential, especially with Brian’s solo career. He had a really amazing band and live show, but most of his solo records just don’t sound good. And the music doesn’t even sound like a Brian composition. What do you all think? I watched an interview with one of the members of Brian’s band and he said how difficult it was to work with Joe, and that Joe would change Brian’s arrangements because he thought was “too boring.” I mean get real.

The self described “nerdiest Beach Boys cover band” plays the Pet Sounds album IN FULL, including the instrumentals and with some of the recordings of Brian’s studio chatter mixed in between songs.

They did a nice blend of nods to the nerds (singing “Hang On To Your Ego” in the second chorus as a nod to the original intent) and crowd pleasers for the more casual fans.

One of the members of the cover band has actually become a touring member of the Beach Boys as well.