The Beach Boys: LP versions vs. 45 "hit" versions question

As I found out last night. PTL for mint 45's! Wow, what a crank that was...
always be somewhere near a TT.

ED

 

Nope. After using NR in the late '80s/early '90s, Mark Linett realized that it hurt a lot more than it helped. I don't have an exact quote handy, but I believe he made a comment along the lines of "using NR was the worst mistake I ever made."

Again, while the 2001 twofers are a tad on the bright side, they are *hardly* "poor" by any means. They don't measure up to Steve's work, but that should be obvious, so why even try to compare them?

Assuming that CD in question has the correct mix of FFF (I don't have it to check), I think you'd be pretty happy with it, Bob.

 

I'm not sure where you get that from, Ed. The HDCD twofers are far from "all frigged up"...

 

There's yet another version of "Help Me Rhonda" available now, on the Endless Harmony DVD and soundtrack CD. It's an alternate mix of the second recording, including an extra falsetto vocal from Brian on the choruses. At one point this was considered the "master" mix for the 45, before Brian had second thoughts and decided to do a little more work on it. To hear this alternate mix is a fascinating glimpse of what might have been.

Speaking of Endless Harmony, didn't Gastwirt or somebody remaster (and/or remix) the soundtrack CD? It has a different cover now, but I don't know what sonic differences there are, if any, from the original 1998 issue (which I have).

 

If memory serves there are 3 different versions:

- original, with remixes done by someone *other* than Mark Linett, and an error on one of the radio jingles
- above with corrected jingle
- re-do, with different cover, and remixes done by Mark Linett. I *think* Surfer Girl is vocals only here (it is twin-track on the above CD), and California Girls has a sync problem - the vocals are not in time with the music in places.

 

This is from allmusic.com:


Endless Harmony Soundtrack didn't make much of an impact upon release in August 1998 — in part, no doubt, because it appeared less than a year after another, similarly titled Beach Boys rarities album, Perfect Harmony. (Even Beach Boys fans could be forgiven for being confused.) In March 2000, coincident with the release of the Endless Harmony documentary on DVD, Capitol took the unusual step of releasing a revised version of Endless Harmony Soundtrack. When ICE Magazine contacted the label's vice president of catalog A&R, Paul Atkinson, he explained that the packaging had been lackluster and that "there were a couple of little things that the Beach Boys wanted to tweak."

The new version features what appears to be a hand-colored cover, and the booklet is printed with pages in various colors, whereas the 1998 edition was largely printed in a dull green. As to the couple of "little things" that were tweaked, there are in fact six tracks that have been drastically remixed by Mark Linett. On a 1966 medley of hits, Linett has replaced the extreme stereo mix from the 1998 album (on which the drums were hard to the right and the guitars hard to the left) with a mix that sounds more monophonic. "Surfer Girl," which had been presented in a previously released "binaural mix" that also drastically separated the tracks (with the vocals to the left and the music to the right), now has the vocals filling both tracks, with the instruments nearly inaudible, in order to emphasize the richness of the harmonies. The stereo remixes of "Kiss Me, Baby" and "California Girls" have themselves been remixed, again to pull them back from extreme stereo separation into more conventional-sounding mixes. A 1980 live version of "Darlin'" has been allowed to run a little longer and has been given a tighter, clearer mix that centers the vocals, while a demo version of "Do It Again" has been opened up to bring out the vocals and emphasize Brian Wilson's falsetto on the bridge. Also, at the end of the album, after the fade of the song "Endless Harmony," a brief reprise of "Kiss Me, Baby," emphasizing its "kiss a little, fight a little" chorus, has been added.

It would be interesting to know who in the Beach Boys wanted these alterations enough to have them done, but the Linett remixes do noticeably improve the sound of the older, unreleased tracks. ("Kiss Me, Baby" and "California Girls" are different, but not better.) In any case, the effect is to turn a version of a rarities album into a collectable rarity itself.

 

I agree...I'm glad I got 'em...also have the original issues.

 

Ooops! Forgot about that one. Thanks Guy for bringing that to my attention!

Brian

 

I know it's blasphemy, but I actually really like the Endless Harmony version...then again, I also far prefer the Rarities mix of Good Vibrations (if only it had lead vocals...it has, to me, a LOT more energy than the version eventually released!)

 

Hi Steve,

I have that Carl & the Passions two-fer LP and, though it's been a while since I've listened to it, I thought it contained the original mono "Wouldn't It Be Nice." I'm familiar with the Made in U.S.A. version (I used to own that CD), and I'm pretty sure that's not what's on my Brother/Warner Pet Sounds LP.

Maybe I should check again ... but are you saying the Carl & the Passions pressing of Pet Sounds isn't quite the complete original mono?

Thanks.

 

Interesting. Thanks, Steve. I know what LP I'll be pulling first to listen to tonight ... It'll be interesting to see what it sounds like.

That's one of my favorite of all Beach Boys tracks.

 

I just put on the Reprise/Brother "Pet Sounds" LP from the Carl & The Pasions twofer and it sounds like the regular mono to me. Can't find my "Made In The U.S.A." CD to compare though.

 

The way I was always able to tell when the Made In America mix of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was playing on my old radio station was that Mike Love's vocal on the bridge starts out single tracked instead of being doubled.

That same mix was also on Still Cruisin', FWIW.

 

Rich, I A/B'd the first Capitol "Pet Sounds" CD with the Brother/Reprise "Pet Sounds" vinyl. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" sounds the same on both, at the Mike Love vocal bridge. Double tracked for a second, then single voice track.

 

Steve, has time changed your opinion of this song? To me, it's the BB's masterpiece. Think of how many(for example)McCartney songs also use this songwriting device, and they sound just fine.

 

While we are on the subject ... Is there a commercial stereo version of "All Summer Long" ... if so, is it different from the the mono version?

 

What about the bonus disc from the box set? That has a 2-track version of ASL that ends cold. Sounds like the master take to me...

ED

 

Good Vibrations

Friends,

The first time I heard "Good Vibrations" I was blown away because as a Top 40 record it was so different. The sounds were so unique at the time. I love the MONO version as mastered by Steve - sounds just the way it did all those years ago on my MONO only system with a Garrard TT, Shure cartridge, 10w Tube amp and 15" Jensen three-way speaker.

Bob

 

Stebe why would they do a new Two Track mix? Why not a better stereo mix? ASL is on 4 track, right?

 

Thanks, Steve ... I am a believer ... BTW, I just finished compiling my 34 track (79:45) "Very Best of the Beach Boys" CD-R, including 8 non-chart songs, using your "Endless Summer", "Spirit of America" and "Greatest Hits" with one exception for a song from '65 that you haven't mastered TTBOMK ... Can you guess what it is?