Best of the Suppressed - A Beach Boy Stomp Story
The Beach Boys are one of those bands who are famous for their unreleased material. Smile is perhaps the most famous, at least among the more mainstream music crowd. Then of course there are the wealth of offcuts from Sunflower and Surf's Up, the pile of covers left off 15 Big Ones, the Criteria sessions that marked the end of Brian's return, the Caribou material.... The list goes on, is all I can say. And since the 70s, these have been slowly leaking out to fans. I'm sure anyone reading this who's familiar with the Beach Boys' outtakes has thought to themselves "The stuff they left off was better than half of what they released. What idiots!". Or something to that effect at least... Since there have been bootlegs, there has been a pecking order. Those tracks that exemplify the prior sentiment. The best of the suppressed. That was the name used for Beach Boy Stomp's multi-issue series of fan-submitted 'best of' lists. Readers would submit lists of their favourite outtakes. These lists are what I'm presenting to you today.
In all, I found four full length lists in the issues I own.
The Best of the Suppressed!
Taken from Beach Boys Stomp Issue 44, Published August 1984
1. "Can't Wait Too Long": second in my all-time-favourite tracks list, after "Surf's Up". I could listen to it for hours. Every time I listen to it, the non-completion of SMILE seems a bit more heart-breaking.
2. "Holy Evening": how could any record company PR man listen to this and not realise it had to be released? Dennis at his greatest.
3. "Everybody Wants To Live": wonderfully dumb! I wish it had been on LOVE YOU instead of "Let's Put Our Hearts Together"!! Pure Brian Wilson genius.
4. "I've Got A Friend": does a studio version of this gorgeous song really not exist? I find it hard to believe that intelligent beings could waste time on gunk like "Go And Get That Girl" (which gets a minus mark of several hundred from me) instead of recording this treasure.
5. "Loop De Loop": deliriously and joyfully NUTS! And a masterpice. Is there really a 15-minute versionor was AGD pulling our legs back in issue 28 (page 13)? It's the epitome of Beach Boys' fun.
6. "Help Is On The Way": almost as zany as "Vegetables" - with lines like "Yummy carrot cookies are an organic treat" it can't go wrong.
7. "Baseball (It's Trying To Say)": combination of Brian Wilson innocence + genius, and Dennis Wilson high spiritedness. In the light of events of 27th Dec 1983, this song is, paradoxically, almost unbearably moving!
8. "You Are My Sunshine": the real version (for SMILE) bears about as much resemblance to the obscene Johnstonian perversion released on KTSA as real food bears to any Macdonald's product. The real thing is unmistakably Brian in his SMILE era.
9. "I Just Got My Pay"
10. "Do You Like Worms/Bicycle Rider":
The only reason 9 and 10 are so low is that the other items are so good.
TONY BURTON-PAGE
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1. "Wonderful": Quite breathtaking. I guess it's about as close we'll get to hearing how SMILE might have sounded if it had been completed.
2. "It's Over Now": What can I say. Undoubtedly the highlight of Adult Child.
3. "Games Two Can Play": This comes from my favourite BB period, WILD HONEY - HOLLAND. Why they didn't put it on SUNFLOWER is beyond me. I suppose it goes to show just how good an album SUNFLOWER was that they could overlook such a gem.
4. "I've Got A Friend": Beautiful. Dennis' music always had that certain something which at times even left Brian's standing. This is not a sympathy vote as I have always held his work in respect.
5. "'Til I Die": In my opinion, the SURF'S UP version was definitely the one that should have been issued because I feel like this alternate take would have sounded out of place on said album. This is not taking anything away though because the whole production and arrangement seems so simple yet you know only Brian could create such a track.
6. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'": I must admit I prefer the Righteous Brothers' version, yet Brian's treatment certainly deserved to reach a wider audience. I love the power of the BBs LOVE YOU style arrangement and I must admit Brian's gruff vocals never fail to move me as he sounds vulnerable and at the same time so honest.
7. "Sherry She Needs Me": AGD's review of this track in BBS #43 echoes my thoughts entirely.
8. "Still I Dream Of It": Not quite in the same league as "It's Over Now" but still one of the best ADULT CHILD tracks.
9. "My Solution": I can't see anywhere this could've fitted onto an album in the seventies. Weird to say the least and I love the backing vocals.
10. "Do You Like Worms": Whether this is anywhere near finished or if it's just various fragments stuck together, I don't care. It could almost be the twin of "Heroes and Villains" (My all-time favourite record by anyone - by the way). I can't think of a reason why I like this track so much, but I know I could listen to it all day.
There you have it. My ten favourite tracks. I think it's always hard to compile a list like this because ten tracks is so limiting. For instance I had to leave out other favourites like "Loop De Loop", "I Just Got My Pay" and "We're Together Again".
PAUL BROWN
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Next up, a familiar face for any hardcore fan. Why it's none other than the master of the vaults himself, Alan Boyd! It feels strange to see somebody so excited by such basic outtakes when you know that in 40 years time he'll have every song in the Beach Boys' tape library at his fingertips
10 OF MY FAVOURITES THAT I SHOULDN'T HAVE (In No Particular Order)
Taken From Beach Boy Stomp 45, Published October 1984
1. "Loop De Loop" - This song sure is a lot of fun, isn't it? Wonderfully corny, delightfully daffy, with some very impressive production and a soaring chorus that takes me right up into the clouds with that silly aeroplane the boys are having so much fun singing about. Without a doubt one of the highlights of Alan Jardine's career as a Beach Boy. Why didn't this one get released.
2. "Michael, Row The Boat Ashore" - Despite the fact that it's a little repetitive, and despite the fact that Mr Love seems to have changed the title to "Mackel, Row The Boat Ashore", the sheer exuberance and infectious good spirits of this track put it in my top ten list. Why didn't this one get released?
3. "We're Together Again" - I think that vocally the Beach Boys were at their height around 1970, and "We're Together Again" shows their ensemble vocal skills to their best advantage. It's one of their sweetest pieces they've ever done, maybe even better than "Good Timin'" (which sounds harsh in comparison). Why didn't this one get released?
4. "It's Over Now" - To me, Marilyn Wilson's vocal is ludicrous, I think Carl could do this much better now, and the arrangement is just a little too "Las Vegas" for my taste. But on the other hand, "It's Over Now" is one of the most achingly beautiful songs that Brian has ever written. The melody is one of his best, seriously rivalling anything he did in the sixties, and I sure wish that the group hadn't given up on this one. Why didn't it get released?
5. "Can't Wait Too Long" - It's all in fragments, and the quality of my tape is none too good, but I can listen to this song for hours. It's very hypnotic and also very catchy, a combination one doesn't find too often. But then again, so is most of the SMILE stuff I've heard. Wonderful. Magical. Why didn't it get released?
6. "Sherry She Needs Me" - I agree with Andrew. They really should've put this one out.
7. "Everybody Wants To Live" - Brian gets socially conscious in what is probably the closest thing to a protest song ("Test song") he's ever done. However, I really don't think Graham Nash or Joan Baez have anything to worry about. On the other hand, they can't write hook lines ("And see what your life - dum dum dum dum- what your life - dum dum dum dum - what your life can be") that stay glued to my brain for days at a time. Maybe I know why this one wasn't released, but I still like it.
8. "Tricia" - Mike Love's first solo LP wasn't as bad as I thought it might be (I never have cared for his voice, you see), and I particularly like this tune. Good full-bodied production, wonderful backing vocals, some nice chord changes, and one of Mike's better vocals. Was this really an outtake from FIRST LOVE? Why didn't this one get released?
9. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" - Andrew again. Why didn't this one get released?
10. "Still I Dream Of It" - Yeah... Brian's vocal is pretty raspy (but emotional - it suits the song), and like "It's Over Now" it's a little too "Las Vegas" in the woodwinds for these ears. But the melody is really touching, as good as anything Brian has ever done. They shouldn't have dropped this one, either. Why? Why? Why?
Not to mention the session tapes of "Do You Wanna Dance", "Please Let Me Wonder", "Surf's Up", "Don't Talk", or "California Feeling" (a very nice song that deserves better treatment than they've given it so far); "Tones", "Wonderful" (the original with Brian); "Baseball", "'Til I Die" (the long version, which sounds to me like a backing track and an incomplete vocal track spliced together); and many others. I'm new to the game of collecting these tracks, and I'm sure that my collection is none too impressive, but I'm always keeping my eyes and ears open.
ALAN BOYD
A small historical note to make here. Alan (and the author of the first list) refers occasionally to "Andrew", meaning of Andrew Doe, who had reviewed these tracks in Stomp 43. For the sake of context, his comments on those tracks are presented here.
Andrew Doe's Comments On Certain Outtakes
Taken from Beach Boys Stomp Issue 43, Published June 1984
Speak of the devil, you'll never guess whose list we have up next.
Andrew Doe's Outtakes Ranking
Taken From Beach Boy Stomp 45, Published October 1984
...And finally mine, well, it was my idea. As ever, in reverse order.
10. I'm Beggin' You Please - Yes, it's a demo, an incomplete one at that and taped during Brian's four-packs-a-day period, but it still knocks spots off other pseudo-legendary cuts with it's stark honesty of lyric. Nice one, Brian.
9. Loop De Loop - Quote simply because of Alan's production and the sheer exhuberant daftness of the whole affair. Doesn't is seem much longer than 2.53?
8. Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore - A gem amid the mediocrity that is MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BEACH BOYS, and I still refuse to believe that Alan arranged it. For once I tip my hat to His Loveship for a nifty vocal.
7. Still I Dream Of It - or Wilson Sings Sinatra. The lyric enchants, the mood envelops, the track affects. No surfin' today.
6. (I Found Myself In A) Wild Situation - Dennis applies himself to his favourite subject, females and the potential thereof, and for once the tongue is firmy in the cheek (or thereabouts).
5. We're Together Again - The best BB exercise in pure harmony this side of "Hushabye" and "Our Prayer". Bruce used a bit of this for "Deirdre", which just proves what we all suspected anyway... and who needs heavy lyrics?
4. Sherry She Needs Me - Getting into the spine-chillers now; there's a completeness and sense of rightness to this cut. A place for everything and everything in its place
3. Been Way Too Long - Repetition elevated to an art form and something that makes one wonder what the other late '60s archive cuts sound like. (That's right, this isn't a SMILE relic...)
2. You've Lost That Loving Feelin' - I said it all in STOMP 43.
1. Wonderful - One of the three songs - by anyone - that had me on my knees on first hearing (one's at number 4 and t'other's nowt to do with the BB). The crystalline delicacy of a spider's web on a dewy morning, and equally fragile. I listened, wept, and coveted. To illustrate the tragedy of the loss of SMILE, this track is all you need.
Now, for a little treat. This is a little note I found in one of my Stomps - I can't recall which one. It lists several bootlegs which were circulating as of mid-1984. Nothing here is particularly groundbreaking to my eyes, but it's fascinating to see just what was going around even at that early stage of the bootlegging scene! I hope you enjoy.
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