Mark Linett on Beach Boys' remixes

Interesting that about 15 years ago they got back the first gen master mix of Smiley Smile - so both 2 fers used a second gen copy. I guess the first use of that tape for a CD was the mono/stereo release?

Sounds like the GV 8 track master was dumped by Columbia around the same time the Byrds sessions tapes were thrown out - but someone retrieved those from the dumpster and released them on bootleg. Shame no one did the same with GV.

 

3 discs of nothing but GV sessions on Sea Of Tunes is not enough?

 

No we need the vocal multitracks!

 

MONO was the sound of the sixties. AM radio lived and breathed it.

 

Are there any Beach Boys compilations that only have remixes?

 

The Smiley Smile and Wild Honey remixes really open up those albums. They are my preferred versions now. Even though Friends doesn't really need one, I kind of wish they had done one last year. I can imagine there's little things happening in those songs that could have been brought out in a new mix.

 

Do a search

 

We live in 2019; it's nice to have somebody go back and remix the material for modern times, just to give us an alternative way to hear music we know. I'm not a fan of the new mixes becoming the official mixes that get released from here on. For that, I think they have to stick to the original monos.

 

It’s good to have options for sure. Just a lot of kids don’t like MONO or black & white films for that matter.

 

It's much better as far as it's a more 'dry' mix but the vocals are still not quite in sync, they are still a slither early.

 

I don't think so off-hand, they are strewn over all sorts of releases from Pet Sounds (stereo remix), Endless Harmony and Hawthorne, CA onwards.

But the box set Made in Califonia does collect a fair number of them, so that's a go-to recommendation from me for remixes (as well as being a good listening collection overall, with several unreleased tracks too).

 

Really enjoyed Mark in this interview. Wonderful stuff.

 

Totally agree, for years those songs seemed like they were covered in a layer of murk which made you think they'd just recorded them on a tape recorder. Those new versions are revelatory and so crisp and clear you realise that they did actually record them very well indeed.

 

It was a nice touch to have him play Chuck Britz in LOVE AND MERCY.

He and Alan Boyd have certainly done a fine job curating the BB catalog.

 

Thanks @Vidiot for posting this! Mark seems like a great guy to talk to and not full of himself, like so many of this type of work seem. I have said it many, many times on this forum, that Mark's remix of "Pet Sounds" to stereo is first class and thanks to his remix, I can now enjoy that already great album so much more, as it just seems so much more "real" to me in stereo, over the original mono mix.

 

I was under the impression that once upon a time the stereo mix was the afterthought, with the first thoughts and most attention on the mono mix

 

Forgot to add, that one of the first Beach Boys discs where I knew that I loved Mark Linett's remixes was the "Summer Love Songs" comp.

"Don't Worry Baby", in my opinion, soars like never before on this disc, as do so many of the other new remixes found here ...

The Beach Boys - Summer Love Songs

 

Mark and Alan have almost a monastic bent when it comes to the Beach Boys. The way they have saved and curated this body of work is truly amazing. Yes I understand they get paid to do this work, but they have gone above and beyond so many times that it truly amazing. As a life long super fan of this group, it is a relief to have these people in charge of their legacy.

I have watched this video A LOT since it came out a few weeks ago. Very informative.

 

A pity 'Capito'l Records have never had the same attitude towards them.
So many times, they did so little.

 

That was true for many songs and albums, I think up to about 1968-1969. There are always exceptions.

 

Up to 1968. Friends was only mixed in stereo although the single Friends/Little Bird had dedicated mono mixes, as did the two singles from 20/20 - Do It Again/Wake the World and Bluebirds/Never Learn Not to Love.

 

bump!

 

Personally I don't know why they haven't been able to make a great official stereo mix of Good Vibrations. They have all the elements besides the vocals. All you have to do is sync the instruments with the mono mix and you can extract the vocals.

Hell, I can do it and I'm far from a professional...

 

Extraction yes, is how these things are getting done.
The argument lies within, the original tracks are missing or lost....
(How has this happened?)

 

Same goes for California Girls - even the last stereo mix I heard is out of sync (and drenched in reverb) - of course I had an easier time (ish) correcting that track as you can get the instrumental from Stack-o-Tracks and the isolated vocals from the Good Vibrations boxed set, just a bit of trial and error speed correction required...

Dropbox - 15 California Girls stereo mix 2017.wav - Simplify your life