Steve's Beach Boys Hits CD sound quality comments

Steve's Beach Boys Hits CD

Just got my Razor and Tie Hoffmanized BB CD. I am very pleased. The sound is full bodied with a rich powerful bottom end, natural tonal balance, and great dynamics. I have never heard a Beach Boys CD sound so full! No thinness AT ALL. The music actually fills the room, rather than cling to the speaker grills. Nice job. These tapes had a lot more to offer than I realized. Im gonna have to crack open my DCC 180g Pet Sounds and check that out next.

 

Hi John,

Congratulations on your new Beach Boys CD.

Have you ever heard the Beach Boy's DCC Gold CDs?

I'm wondering if the new Razor and Ties sound the same.

 

Gary, I haven't heard the DCC golds but from what I've read on previous threads including comments by SH, they are the same.

 

I picked up A 2 cd promo "Brian Wilson Live at the Roxy" the other day. I got (and get) seriously blown away at the quality of their work and the genuine innocence of Brian. Truly a rare glimpse into a certain greatness that we don't come across very often.

 

Live at the Roxy is great, but even better is Pet Sounds Live.

 

It would be interesting to see if the R&T CDs are digital clones, or if something "funny" happened (ala the Canadian Who's Next).

 

Clone or not...they sound wonderful. I have one of the DCC GOLD Beach Boys Cee Dee's and would part with neither. At the price it -was/is- going for at CCM...It's a STEAL...

 

I don't have any copies of either "Endless Summer" or "Spirit Of America". I think I remember reading somewhere the original issues of one or both of these used some alternate or maybe unedited mixes for some tracks. Can anybody confirm this, and if so, did the DCC issues do so as well?

 

Cool. Thanks, Steve.

 

I saw Brian in Sydney 2 months ago. I was right up front. I haven't posted about it until now because, well, it was such an emotional experience that I really haven't been able to put it into words, and probably still can't adequately do so.

The band was the same as on the Roxy CD and they were great. Somehow they managed to perfectly recreate the studio sound of the hits but also make it sound totally fresh. No mean feat.

Brian is one strange man! Before the show started I could see him all alone offstage peering out around the curtain at the audience arriving. This went on for a while. Then he sat down for a lengthy back and shoulder massage. This was all visible from where I was sitting. When he was performing he was stranger still! His autoprompter, or whatever they're called, has become a bit of a crutch for him. His eyes were glued to it for 2 hours straight!! C'mon Brian, you must remember the words to Surfer Girl by now! He didn't touch his yamaha piano the whole night but you just know he needed it there. Instead he waved his hands around awkwardly in the air most of the time. I saw them trembling on occasion. One strange man.....or boy.

The audience was a real mix. I don't think Brian was doing any other southern hemisphere shows outside Australia and there were people arriving with luggage! My guess is that they had flown in just for the show and possibly were going to fly straight out again afterwards! There were certainly quite a few Japanese visitors there. One of them slept for most of the show. Jet lag I guess!!

Parents had brought their young children. There were some teenagers there who seemed pretty bored throughout the show and yet they had front row seats!

I spent most of the night singing along and crying. After the show the young(ish) female next to me turned to me and said "Can I shake your hand. You knew the words to every song!!" That was a relief bacause I was worried I was bothering her. My wife glared at her.

I know you guys will understand and appreciate the emotional experience of seeing Brian. I can't explain it any better than that.

Content-wise, the repertoire was tailored a little to suit the occasion. As it was 3 weeks before christmas they did Little Saint Nick. They also played Hawaii, a track which was very popular in Australia.

By the way the show started with the best version of Dance Dance Dance I have ever heard.

 

Beautiful post, Peter. This Brian Wilson fan thanks you.

Your description matches my experience of seeing Brian a couple of summers ago in northern Virginia, though he was calmer and less eccentric at that show than what I gather he was in Sidney. You're absolutely right about the way the band is both faithful and fresh, like a great symphony orchestra making a big classical standard their own.

Brian's voice was good at the start of the show I saw, and very good (occasionally great) by the end; he really warmed up over the 90 minutes or so. Throughout, he was very positive and enthusiastic, especially when he launched into the tracks from "Smile." (I never thought I'd live to hear that!)

After the show he signed autographs at a nearby booth for about a half hour. I got in line a little late to make it to him, alas, but getting in line on time would have meant missing the last part of the show. Tough choice.

My children (10 and 6 at the time) loved the show and kept asking for "Heroes and Villains" on the way home.

This was a teary time for me, too.

 

Wondermints

Brian's live back-up band basically is The Wondermints. John R

 

Does anybody remember a Telarc disc called 'California Project'? It was basically a Beach Boys tribute CD where the band (Papa something?) tried to mimic the originals as closely as possible.

This was released in the mid 80s. It was released to capitalize on the fact that legal wranglings had delayed the official release of any Beach Boys CDs (same scenario as the Beatles).

The disc sounded pretty good, but was of course no substitute for the real thing.

Mike Love was a guest performer on at least a song or two, if I remember correctly.

 

Hi Peter- I havent heard the DCC Gold BB CDs. Steve beat me to it by mentioning the Gold substrate and tighter tolerances. I would expect them to be reasonably close. I do not hear the same velvety smooth sound that I hear from all my other DCC Golds (I think the substrate and tolerances DO buy you something) but Im not complaining. The mastering is superb, the aluminum surface is the next best thing, and I applaud Razor and Tie for choosing Steve. I am very critical, have high rez digital gear, and I cant imagine anyone not liking this 2 disc set.

 

That band was Papa Doo Run run, and they also backed Jana and Dean for years. They also released records on their own, mostly Beach Boys covers.

They are the band in the movie "Deadmans Curve" that horribly acted movie about Jan and Dean.

 

The Razor and Tie and the DCC Pet Sounds sound great. I wish you'd got a shot at releasing some of the Brother-era albums that are represented on the 2-disc set--e.g. Sunflower, 20/20, Surf's Up, Wild Honey.

Did you get access to those tapes when you were doing the Greatest Hits?

 

I have the DCC Spirit of America and the R&T Greatest Hits CD. They sound identical, but I never did any serious comparison.

Whenever I play"God Only Knows", I turn into an emotional wreak! That song has a very special meaning to me. I met my wife while I was in college in 1973. I was in a Rock and Roll band at the time and you can just imagine what kind of drugs I was into. When I met Eileen, I was so taken by her that I lost all interest in drugs. We have been happily married for 28 years. "God only knows what I'd be without you." is the absolute truth. Just thinking about that song brings tears to my eyes.

On a related topic, if you have ProLogicII, you have to use it to play "In My Room". First of all, "In My Room" is one of the most beautifully recoerded songs that I have ever heard. Clean, clear with a huge soundstage. When played in ProLogicII, all the harmony voices come out of the front speakers and the surround speakers. You feel like you are surrounded by the Beach Boys. Amazing.

 

Re: Steve's Beach Boys Hits CD

Hi,

I've tried searching both the Razor & Tie and Collector's Choice sites and I can't for the life of me find a copy of this. I even tried calling Collector's Choice but they were unable to tell me with certainty whether they have it or not. Please help, somebody!

 

Johnny K.,

Such is the power of love (and the power of music). Thanks for sharing.

Jim W.

 

The Collectors Choice site lists the disc as in stock and will ship in 2-3 days...don't believe it...I ordered a copy on Jan 23...and it was back ordered twice..as of Feb 5th I cancelled my order because they said it was now back-ordered until Feb 24th. NO THANKS.
I then called MusicSpace and they had them in stock and they shipped it yesterday..so I should have it any day now....if you go on their website to order it, for some reason the cassette version only shows up...call them and they had the CD also in stock...as of Wed. Feb 5th. Hope that helps!!!!

 

I just called MusicSpace customer service and all they have currently is the cassette. Rats!

Jim W.