Disco de The Beach Boys: “Endless Harmony”

From what is expected to be the most profound vault of unreleased material, the remaining Beach Boys released some real gems. Look for the astounding "Old Man Sunshine", which should have been released at the time for another worldwide number one. Check out "Loop De Loop", which harkens back to the "Amusement Parks", "Palisades Park", and "County Fair" motif used earlier. The version of "Break Away" is what's called a guide vocal -- Brian had the instrumental track complete, and added his own lead/backing to demo the song to the band. Amazing. "God Only Knows" and "Do It Again" are rehearsals for their current tour (from which LIVE IN LONDON was recorded) of the time. Compare them with the live versions, phrase and breath for phrase and breath. The CD is wonderful for collectors, and even has some gems to be appreciated by the casual fan ("Help Me Rhonda" remix, for example). Steve Desper's editing on "Til I Die" is sloppy, but profound. Dennis always had a sad-sounding song to offer on each BB album from 1972 until his death, so the inclusion of "Barbara" is great. Sadly, an alternate version of Bruce's "Endless Harmony" wasn't used, so this is the only real duplicate amongst all the other unreleased material. For Bruce's song, and "Old Man Sunshine" alone, it's worth the purchase.

This rreally isn't a soundtrack to the Endless Harmony video- more of a companion piece. It starts out with Brian Wilson's winsome, jazzy "Soulful Old Man Sunshine". It features a "Heroes & Villains" demo from Brian, along with a live version (with Al Jardine and Carl Wilson taking Brian's place on lead). Dennis Wilson only gets 2 songs- the poignant "Barbara" and the prophetic "All Alone" (the Beach Boys themselves admit fault for not encouraging him more- Dennis also was perhaps the funniest of the Beach Boys as heard in the radio promo). Interesting but melancholy describes the remix of Brian's "Till I Die". Carl gets a grabbag of songs (he had the strongest voice) with "Wonderful", "Darlin'", "God Only Knows", and one of his best songs "Long Promised Road". Al shines brightly on the catchy novelty "Loop De Loop". Also, onetime members Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar are featured on the medley "Wonderful/Don't Worry Bill" (the latter being their own song: a funky jazz jam-Wonderbill indeed, Mike Love!). But to be fair to Mike, "Brian's Back" is cute, made special by Carl's harmonies. Bruce Johnston closes the set with his jazzy "Endless Harmony". Don't forget the remixes of "Surfer Girl", "Kiss Me Baby" (one of Today's strongest songs), "Help Me Rhonda", and "Do It Again" (along with the surf medley).

I must say I've had this CD ever since it came out and I still listen to it nonstop. It's like a shortened "Beatles Anthology" but manages to cram a lot of gems. I love this CD but I don't think the casual listener might enjoy it so much until they take the "Beach Boys experience". A lot of people seem to make the mistake that this CD is some sort of compilation disk. It's really just one for the fans to enjoy. As for the music, "Soulful Old Man Sunshine" is quite the uncovered gem, featuring a great opening sequence and a good lead vocal by Carl. There are some wonderful stereo mixes of "Kiss Me Baby" and "California Girls", both which were badly in need of remastering. I also like the soundchecks of "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations". However, my favorite moments on the CD would have the be the electrifying live cuts, including an upbeat "Heroes & Villians", an outstanding "Darlin'" featuring scorching vocals by Carl (in fact, this is the BEST version of "Darlin'" I've ever heard), and a lively "Long Promised Road". The little-known "Wonderful/Don't Worry Bill" medley is also a very nice addition. Al's "Loop de Loop" is perhaps inessential listening, but it has an amusing SGT. PEPPER'S feel to it, especially with all the weird fades and sound effects. Dennis shines with "Barbara" (quite a nice song from perhaps the most under-rated member of the group) and even Mike churns out a pretty little tune called "Brian's Back", which is nice, albeit the stupid lyrics. There are also some radio promos, alternative versions of songs, and a very nice remix of one of the group's best songs, "Til I Die".

The bottom line is, you're not a true fan if you don't enjoy this CD.

This is not a good release for a casual fan or someone exploring the Beach Boys, but for fans and collectors, this is essential material. A compilation of random, scattered unreleased tracks from the Beach Boys' career, the focus is their late '60s/early '70s material.

There's a number of live tracks, alternate mixes, etc., most of which I won't speak of because while they're great, they're not exactly extraordinary-- I'll discuss that stuff.

Opening with the unbelievable "Soulful Old Man Sunshine", filled with jazzy big band-esque arrangement and stunning harmonies, this is an essential lost gem in the Beach Boys catalog finally being released.

Also essential-- a demo of Smile sections! Brian at the piano singing several sections, including the main H&V theme, Barnyard, I'm in Great Shape, this is really essential-- Smile in two and a half minutes!

A couple other pieces that deserve noting-- we get some early versions of "Do It Again" and "Break Away"-- the latter is actually Brian's demo and is really revelatory in terms of his construction of songs, as much so as the Smile demo.

There's also two unreleased Dennis pieces, "Barbara" as a solo piano number and "All Alone", both are brilliant, particularly the former, and an extended mix of "'Til I Die".

All in all, a great value-- collections of unreleased tracks run the risk of being extraneous, but there's precious little here that could qualify in that light, and much of this are incredible finds that any fan will be grateful to hear.

Endless Harmony, not to be confused with Perfect Harmony of a few years ago, is full of superb alternate takes and feature songs. Not just for die hard Beach Boy fans either, everyone will find heaps of enjoyment in listening to some of these only recently released arrangements. Fans of Dennis Wilson, surfer and raunchy drummer for the Beach Boys shines on this CD. Check out his drum intro. on the Medley track 2. Quite different to the tamer studio version. Tracks 20 is also Dennis exploring deep and honest lyrics focused at his then wife Barbara. Also from his never released album Bamboo, track 23, the song All Alone. Listen to this piece and ask yourself if he didn't have some premonition of his future. A very complex Beach Boy. And oh so talented. Listen to track 9, voted the worlds most popular single of all time. Also the second Beach Boys' song to use the now famous Theremin. Can you pick the first? Track 11, a great regular piece for Alan Jardine on lead. A very clean and live version. Written by Brian and his unusual friend Van Dyke Parks for the aborted Smile album of the late sixties. Simply superb! God Only Knows, track 12 is instrumentally simple to clear the way for us to enjoy the unique voice of Carl, again on track 14, only this time delving into a little R&B . Track 16 has some subtle lyric changes from the Boys from Hawthorn. Do It Again was also used recently by Brian on one of his hugely successful solo albums. Break Away, this version anyway is all Brian's vocals used to demonstrate to the group just how he wanted the song performed. Reggie Dunbar is co-producer of Break Away. You do know who Reggie Dunbar is don't you? If not ask a BB fan. Alan Jardine's Loop de Loop was 29 years in the making. The number of different instruments used in this arrangement makes it more like a symphony. Real clever stuff indeed! Track 21, Till I Die, is so sublime it's scary. Frighteningly personal, Brian writes just how he felt during some of his hardest times. A terific version of a classic of the time BB song. Once again used on one of Brian's solo albums. Track 24, Brian's Back, written for the Brian's Back tour is somewhat of a duet for Mike Love and Carl Wilson. A number of people don't like this song because of the rift between Mike Love and Brian Wilson that occurred back in the early eighties. An uneasy peace has fallen between them and things now aren't too bad. The two best parts of this song are the beautiful chorus lines sung by Carl and the very clever Pet Sounds tribute at the very end by Carl also. A very nice modulation midway through and also the inclusion of the acoustic bridge not often heard. Almost all the songs on this CD have never been released. There will be something for everyone here, the new Beach Boys discoverer to the old faithful fan. To me this CD is yet another small piece of the awesome Beach Boy puzzle. An absolute necessity for your collection.