'The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,' to be released on June 8!

I'm grateful it's available on TIDAL.

 

They should have given Denny a lead. Then everyone would have gotten a showcase. Forever would have been nice but maybe Stamos vetoed it.

I like it. Its really quite pleasant, mostly. Bring on Vol. 2. Do "Surfs Up" and "Don't Talk" next time.

Single tracked Brian lead on "You Still Believe in Me", like the first stereo remix releases. Very pretty. Tasteful. A highlight.

 

I have to get this soon!

 

Yeah, "Here Today " is the best cut on this album. Nice showcase for Mike's lead vocal.

"Disney Girls" is lovely. The song is ideal for this treatment.

 

Disney Girls is stunning!

 

"Darlin" is fantastic too. The horns that are barely audible on the original track get to shine. Sometimes the strings get too busy but I am forgiving.

"Help Me Rhonda" is just ok. Theres just not much more you can do with this song. Its already packed to the gills. The strings reference Brian's discarded high background part heard on the "Endless Harmony" CD.

 

Yep! my real only other favourite is 'Darlin'. I like the enhanced kick drum too.
I really like what they did on that one.
I'm not convinced on the single tracked 'YSBIM'. Sounds like they auto corrected some of Brian's flat notes too.
The single vocal seems to get a bit lost in the arrangement. I'm surprised they didn't super impose a second
vocal overdub some way.

edit: I get pretty anal about my favourite group lol!

 

Wishlist for Vol 2:

Forever
Surfs Up
Sumahama
Surfer Girl
Don't Talk
All Summer Long
Caroline No
Wind Chimes (make it dark and gothic!!!)
Airplane
Trader
Friends
Time to Get Alone


Fill it out with more hits. Surfin USA with a fiddle and Do It Again with harp and bassoon! And God help us Barbara Ann!

 

Hell No!!! hahaha
I'll pick out:
Surfs Up
Forever
Don't Talk
Caroline No, out of those

Barbara freakin Ann? uhhhh nah.

my wish list:
Cabinessence
Let Him Run Wild
Lonely Sea
Surfer Moon
And Your Dream Comes True
In The Back Of My Mind
Aren't You Glad
Here Comes The Night
Wake The World
Busy Doin' Nothin'
Til I Die
Our Prayer (yeah really)
Santa Ana Winds
Where I Belong

that's more my wish list! I know I'm dreamin' right?

 

Gotta include some hits. They want this thing to sell!

If we're talking science fiction they'd tackle my personal 12 track "Smile" compilation with Mike being forced to enter the studio to slap a lead on "Do You Like Worms".

They should play "Wind Chimes" like its Sinatra doing "She Shot Me Down".

 

Brian's vocal is single tracked on "Heroes and Villains" at times too, which makes him sound strangely meek.

 

Yeah, I wonder why they went with that approach? They have all of the vocal tracks to supplement so it's an odd
decision. Brian is known for his use of double vocal tracking, and you would think having an orchestra behind you,
it would have been a natural decision to keep his vocals that way....

 

what I would love to see, is a 'making of' documentary!

 

I'd like to hear from Mark about the tapes used.
Yrplace are you out there?

 

I can’t even bring myself to listen to a YouTube snippet of this... thing. “That which is heard cannot be unheard”.

 

"Kokomo" isn't particularly exciting, BUT it does feature a neat Bruce Johnston harmony vocal that really sounds great. Must have been buried on the multis all these years. I've never noticed it before.

 

"Good Vibrations" is a disappointment. It sounds like an obvious patch job of the mono mix with overdubs. It just doesn't sound cohesive. However, many others sound good. Though, I will say that with some songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice", the additional orchestration really didn't add too much compared to the original stereo versions. I also noticed that the intro of "California Girls" and it's transition to the first verse are poorly edited. The pitch into that first verse drops as if the tape was slowed down 1%. Still, I think it is a worthy purchase.

 

Disney Girls is wonderful. Sounds so dreamy, even more than the studio version.

 

The bit that I'd heard of the clip of Fun Fun Fun made me hopeful.

My hopes were soon dashed when I'd downloaded the thing.

The orchestral add-ons strike me as out of keeping. They just don't gel. The orchestral intros don't belong there. The twiddly bits during the songs merely irritate. As for the sound I don't go a bundle on either the mix or the tonality.

Not for me.

 

Not a bad list, but you forgot Little Tomboy. That's clearly a must for vol 2.

 

Boy, have I got some bad news for you, Al. Just based on this thread, at least.

 

Me too. I have 6th row seats to see the Mike Love led Beach Boys in September. I saw them four years ago and was totally knocked out how good they were. The last time I had seen them was in September of 1978. All six of them with special guest Jan & Dean in Mobile Alabama.

 

I saw Mike last November and it was one of the best shows I've seen from him. He's got the perfect group of players and voices with him at the moment. I was sitting right below him and it was one of the greatest experience of my life being so close to him and watching him do his thing. When they did "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring" you could hear Mike and Bruce still had it. Perfection. I'll never forget it.

 

Day 2 listening w others. I commit sacrilege

I think some songs are better than the original.

I was a boy growing up w these songs and spent summers at beach. They’re associated w warm memories.

The oft reviled Kokomo is enjoyable.

It’s a cute silly song. Recall how many 5 and 6 yr old kids loved singing it when it came out.

I’m glad it was included.

 

I’ve not heard this yet but it seems like “God Only Knows” would be great in this kind of treatment.