Beach Boys Surf’s Up – SACD version of title track differs in some ways from other versions

I’ve just taken delivery of the new Analogue Productions SACD of Surf’s Up by The Beach Boys, mastered by Kevin Gray, and I’ve found that the title track, Surf’s Up, is different in some ways from the version I’m familiar with. On checking all the issues of this album in my possession, I’ve found I have two slightly different versions of the title track. I’ve no idea if one is more or less “correct” than the other but I’m just reporting what I’ve found in case anyone finds it of interest.

The SACD, it turns out, has the same version of this track as the original US LP, RS 6453, on the Brother Records label.

The main difference between this SACD and LP version and the alternative version is that on this version, there’s something odd going in the left channel during the last quiet section before the finale. It’s during these lyrics:

Surf's Up
Aboard a tidal wave
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children's song​

All the way through this section, in the background, there are discordant sounds in the left channel and there's also a voice saying something (but I can’t make out the words). These sounds are completely absent from the alternative version.

A second difference is that the deep bass is more muted in this version than it is with the alternative version, and I think it's more than just an EQ difference.

The third difference I’ve noticed is that, in the alternative version, the finale is louder than the rest of the song. In the SACD and LP version, the finale is slightly more muted and is no louder than the opening two sections of the song.

Albums in my collection that have the SACD version

1. The SACD.

2. The original US LP.


Albums in my collection that have the alternative version

1. HDtracks 2015 digital download.

2. HD tracks 2012 digital download (different mastering from 2015 version).

3. UK “twofer” CD (Sunflower/Surf’s Up) issued by EMI/Capitol in 2000. This credits Andrew Sandoval with tape research and it was “digitally remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Dan Hersch at Digiprep.” Catalogue number 7243 5 25692 2 9.

4. UK LP reissued in 1997 as part of EMI’s centenary celebrations, number LPCENT 22.

Here are samples of the different versions at the point where the one version has some extraneous sounds in the left channel. (The other version is totally clean.) I was using headphones when I picked up on this and you may need headphones too if you want to hear it. Right from the very start of this section, there are discordant notes in the left channel, then a speaking voice joins in. If you have trouble picking up the extraneous voice, listen especially carefully at the point where the boys draw breath to launch into the finale. You should be able to hear the voice in the left channel then, even if you can’t hear it anywhere else.

(By the way, you can also hear the difference with the deep bass in this sample if you have big speakers or the right kind of headphones.)

Version with extraneous sounds in left channel (this is the SACD)

Version that’s completely clean (this is the HDtracks 2015)

Presented here merely as a curiosity. You’re probably going to tell me everyone knew this!

 

I've never heard the "clean" version, but as little sense as it makes, it always sounded to me like those extraneous sounds were bleed from a tape that was not completely erased before re-recording. I've often wondered what the story was on that. How could they filter that out? Would have to be a different mix I'd figure.

 

I agree, that's what I think it sounds like - bleed from a tape that wasn't properly erased. I wonder if it's on any other releases, apart from the original LP and the new SACD? It does seem that the SACD was cut from the same tape that was used to cut the original US LP, but if that was the original master tape, I don't understand how there can be another version in existence without the extraneous sounds - I don't think it would have been possible to filter them out.

Very mysterious.

 

The only thing I can think is that the song "Surf's Up" was definitely remixed for 5.1 years ago. Could it be a stereo fold of that mix is what's being used to make the "clean" version? I don't have the discs you mention to compare, unfortunately.

 

Here's where it gets weirder- the AP vinyl that was just released has the "dirty" version.

 

I noticed those sounds on my SACD. I thought I was hearing them because of the hi res and the nice mastering that lets me crank it up!

 

That's an excellent idea. But I have releases going back to 1997 that have the "clean" version, so the 5.1 mix would have to have been done before that.

It's OK, that's consistent, because the AP SACD has the "dirty" version too. So as you'd expect, they used the same source for the AP SACD and the AP vinyl.

If anyone has some other releases and can say whether they have the "clean" or "dirty" version of the title track, it might help build up a picture.

 

Interesting thread. To get a clear answer, you might want to ask Stephen Desper (who of
course did the original mix) on the Smiley Smile message board. Stephen has his own
main thread over there. Here's the link:
The Stephen Desper Thread »

 

The voice is there on the 1993 Good Vibrations box. I've always thought it sounded like someone saying "here we go" right before the group vocals come in.

 

I have a vague memory of this being discussed (maybe Mr Desper brought it up in one of his many visits to the boards?) and that the correction was deliberate.

 

My guess is that they cut the original LP, then at some point realised there was a problem with that one track and therefore re-mixed that one track only from the multi-tracks. That would explain why the re-mixed track is also different in other ways from the original mix - the deep bass is more pronounced and the finale is louder. There are no signs at all of any other tracks being re-mixed on this album.

So on most later versions, you get the "clean" re-mix of this track (but not the Good Vibrations box, apparently.) However, AP, to its credit, obviously went back to the absolute original master tape to do its SACD and LP and have therefore given it to us in its original form, without the re-mix.

 

Well, you did report this oddity: Beach Boys Surf's Up - no phasing in UK LP version of Lookin' At Tomorrow »

 

Fascinating. On my first listen to the "dirty" version I thought it sounded a bit like the discordant music was piano music from a few bars later in the same track. I don't know how to account for the speaking voice, although on the original Brian solo demo upon which the second half of the album version is based, Brian says "let me hear it in the phones, the whole thing" at around the point where, in the released version, Al sings "...and the children know the way..." It could be that.

This is the first time I've heard the "dirty" version, and wow, the defect is not at all subtle. I've had a cold, so my left ear is plugged up -- and I wasn't listening to it that loud -- but still, the extra music is coming through stunningly loud and clear.

 

The "original" dirty version is on the original Epic CD (Epic 467835 2), the Good Vibrations box set and the Analogue Productions SACD.
The "alternative" clean version is on the Europen Ten Years Of Harmony 2 CD set, the Greatest Hits 3: 1970 - 1986 CD , the 2000 remaster and also on the Made In California box set.

 

I remember this being discussed on this forum when member "Mister Kite" mentioned it in post #29 from this thread in 2007:

The Beach Boys' Caribou CDs »

 

True! But that was highlighting an oddity on a UK LP version. What I meant to say was, there are no signs of any other tracks on THIS version being remixed.

 

Excellent. So, putting your list and mine together, we have so far:

Dirty
1. Original US Brother Records LP
2. Original Epic CD (Epic 467835 2)
3. Good Vibrations box set
4. Analogue Productions SACD and LP

Clean
1. UK LP reissued in 1997 as part of EMI’s centenary celebrations, number LPCENT 22
2. “Twofer” CD (Sunflower/Surf’s Up) issued by EMI/Capitol in 2000. This credits Andrew Sandoval with tape research and it was “digitally remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Dan Hersch at Digiprep.” Catalogue number 7243 5 25692 2 9.
3. European Ten Years Of Harmony 2 CD set
4. The Greatest Hits 3: 1970 - 1986 CD
5. The 2000 remaster
6. Made In California box set
7. HDtracks 2012 digital download
8. HD tracks 2015 digital download (different mastering from 2012 download)

It seems they were still using the "dirty" mix when the first CD came out but some time after that they started using a re-mix for all versions except the Good Vibrations box set. And now, of course, we have the AP SACD and LP.

 

That's nine years ago! What a memory!

I noticed that someone put forward an alternative theory in that thread, which is that the error arose when the original master tape was copied to a cutting dub and that's why it was on the first LP. It would then have reappeared whenever the dub tape was used instead of the original master. That would imply that AP was sent the cutting dub instead of the original master. I must admit this did occur to me as a possibility, especially since EMI/Capitol might be reluctant to let the original master tape off the premises. However, I am fairly confident that this explanation is incorrect because it wouldn't account for the fact that the track has undergone a remix. To explain: there wouldn't have been any need whatsoever to remix the track if the original master tape was clean, whereas I'm 99 per cent certain that this one track has in fact been remixed. That says to me that the original master tape was dirty and so they had to go back to the multi-tracks to mix a new, clean version.

 

But does the "clean" version of "Surf's Up" appear on any earlier pressing of the Surf's Up album than the 1997 EMI 100 (Centenary) Edition? If not then this and the "no phasing" version of "Lookin' At Tomorrow" could stem from the same remixing session (whenever it took place). I understand that the clean "Surf's Up" appeared on earlier compilations, but "Lookin' At Tomorrow" wasn't released anywhere else outside the Surf's Up album.

 

As stated above, the clean version of Surf's Up is on this set which apparently came out in 1991: https://www.discogs.com/The-Beach-Boys-Ten-Years-Of-Harmony/release/2397523

 

Ahem, the twofer CD from 2000 is the 2000 remaster.

 

Yes, but you are missing my point. That doesn't tell us whether or not "Lookin' At Tomorrow" had been remixed at the same time as when that version was created.

 

Of course! Sorry, here is an amended list:

Dirty
1. Original US Brother Records LP
2. Original Epic CD (Epic 467835 2)
3. Good Vibrations box set
4. Analogue Productions SACD and LP

Clean
1. European Ten Years Of Harmony 2 CD set (1991?)
2. UK LP reissued in 1997 as part of EMI’s centenary celebrations, number LPCENT 22
3. “Twofer” CD (Sunflower/Surf’s Up) issued by EMI/Capitol in 2000. This credits Andrew Sandoval with tape research and it was “digitally remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Dan Hersch at Digiprep.” Catalogue number 7243 5 25692 2 9.
4. The Greatest Hits 3: 1970 - 1986 CD
5. Made In California box set
6. HDtracks 2012 digital download
7. HD tracks 2015 digital download (different mastering from 2012 download)

 

The Gaswirt mastered Ten Years of Harmony dates from 1991, while the original CD issue is from a few years earlier.

 

My feeling is that "Lookin' At Tomorrow" is a completely separate matter and not related to this at all. That's because "Lookin' At Tomorrow" is not, as far as I know, remixed. All that happened with "Lookin' At Tomorrow" is that, on the UK EMI Centenary LP (LPCENT 22), they (accidentally?) eliminated the rear two channels when they cut the LP which had the effect of eliminating the phasing from that track, just on that one LP. As far as I know, it's never appeared in that form on any other release of this album.

The title track is a completely different matter because it appears it was very deliberately remixed long before LPCENT 22 was released and the remixed track became the standard version, appearing on almost every version (except the Good Vibrations box) up till now.