Good Vibrations (2021 Stereo Mix) + New SoundsOfSummer Info

It's the exact opposite of hate. It's love for the Beach Boys and their music. If someone I loved was being treated badly, then I'd feel inclined to speak out about it. Same goes for the music that I love being treated badly.

That you clearly don't like reading people saying things you disagree with would suggest that you're the one who wants everybody to think the same. Personally, I have no problem whatsoever with any fans enjoying the new mixes. Good for them, I wish I could enjoy them as well. But I can't because of the poor mastering and compression/treble issues, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

If anyone thinks that makes me 'crazy and dangerous', well, they clearly have a very low threshold for what constitutes crazy and dangerous. I wonder how you'd describe Charles Manson if you think 'I don't like the audio on Feel Flows' makes a person dangerously unhinged.

Perhaps this could be used as some kind of learning experience so that everyone understands the issues and this does not devolve into ad hominem (personal) attacks. 

Most of us are not sound experts or know our way around ProTools. Is there some reason that the raw tracks are not released in their existing condition? Is there some process that all tapes must go through to be in a condition of “fitness” to be publicly released? Please tell me like I am 5 years old.  Some sound people speak in their own technical language, not unlike lawyers, which can be vexing to those who don’t understand and feel excluded. Thanks.  

As far as I'm concerned, this is the real take-home message. Howie, if you're still reading, I'd perhaps just ignore the bitterly expressed posts, however much the intention behind them may be good, and focus in on this well-balanced post.


Just my two cents. I just think the rest of our posts are distracting from the key take-home messages that *have* been put forward nicely. 

Sorry, but nothing was said that wasn’t previously addressed by Howie, himself. If you are going to tell people how they are supposed feel then expect some blow back. We come here to discuss our likes and dislikes about The Beach Boys and their music. We should not have to tip toe our way around because we don’t like something. How is it that Howie can suggest or tell Mark how the sonics of a song should sound, but we the fans who are spending our hard earned dollars cannot express how we feel about what we are hearing? In my eyes, it is nothing more than constructive criticism. I have nothing but respect, admiration and gratitude for the work of both Mark Linett and Alan Boyd. They have done a wonderful thing for we the fans. Hopefully, they appreciate both the accolades and criticisms sent their way when preparing new product. Personally, I want nothing more than to love every piece of product released. 

They were. Flat copies taken direct from the original multitracks, in the main.

The thing that struck me, more than the whole sound quality thing is the breathtaking lack of historical information about that era at his fingertips. The reflexive kind - like swimming or riding a bike.  The only sound person who was able to do the 101, here, was Desper, because he understood that whole war time dynamic, as a veteran, and the other side of those who were engaging in war protest. This is that era.  The FM era. He understood what drove Student Demonstration Time and has had to do the 101 on this and other fora. 

No one else was playing them or they held their noses when they did - or management if that is the correct term, would be Fred Vail. Today’s credentials in media does not necessarily get you to that profound critical historical information. It needs to be “contemporaneous” to those years, and not an anachronistic approach. I can close my eyes and be in that Harvard Square boutique, in high school in 1967, being blown away in utter shock, listening to fm “underground” playing The Beach Boys. The college stations followed suit.  

WBCN was the benchmark for New England. College and local fm college town radio made Student Demonstration Time chart from an LP - not airplay on am radio chart, and it was the non-traditional approach. It sold tickets to the college tours. I ran into someone at a Westchester C50 show, who noticed my college shirt, and who pointed at the school name (the poor state school, by the way) and asked if I had seen a certain show - and we flew into that whole conversation as to how fm and college radio changed the whole dynamic including the venues.  

Doing a “generalized” rock program, is “generalized” and The Beach Boys are in a class by themselves and not to be “generalized” into a multi-band pigeonhole. Those bands “now” admit to imitating the vocals of The Beach Boys, taught to them, by Brian Wilson. And they are Americans. They didn’t always wear suits and ties, although some of their performances were done in formal dress. They are not the European groups. Europe came to the US and not the reverse.  And the stripes were a folky traditional group thing with khaki slacks like the Kingston Trio. Clean and neat, but stood out from the other bands.  The era and the style.

At that point they needed to stand out from the others. But, as Doc said, we should not have to “tiptoe” around this. Some of us are the witnesses to that era, faithful to the band’s music in the face of a ton of ridicule. I’m not apologizing in 2022 for what I learned and witnessed in 1967. I want to be respectful, but the exchange of information needs to be bi-lateral with what 1st or 2nd gen fans with actual knowledge bring to the table, not picked up in a “survey” course on History of Rock and Roll, (like my kids have taken) and not one way. And he may be great with interviews with the band, which is a great thing to elicit insight about their experiences during the course of their careers. I’m fine with that aspect. I hope he is talking to fans and pros, who in real time went through this. The band deserves that organic authenticity. 

Pardon me, but it was Howie who basically said don’t stay in here a debate the sonics of a song, go out and play with your children. That’s audacity in my book. He doesn’t like the criticism of the sonics that he suggested to Mark Linett. First off, I don’t have children to go play with. He added nothing to what we were talking about. I know he probably can’t say too much, so just say nothing, go play and let everyone else here have their say.

we know for a fact Al is

I've been curious about this, as well. I can't imagine Brian listening or really caring all too much but I wonder if Mike, Al, or Bruce give listens and any feedback

I've noticed that when threads derail into controversy and reach a certain page number, it's difficult for newcomers to understand what's going on and what posters have actually been debating about.

If anyone wants a "quick rundown" I've created another thread for what Howie has recently shared about BRI and the corporation's (or maybe just his own) ideals and expectations for these and future compilations.