TGIF! presents...The Beach Boys' "SMiLE Sessions"!

Here are a few quotes from some friends of mine on the release (yesterday) of The Beach Boys' "SMiLE Sessions"...

Brian and his great band recorded new tracks and vocals for the previous release (2004) - yesterday's release uses the original Beach Boys' tracks and vocals from the '60s plus lots of alternate versions and also includes bonus material...

- Billy Hinsche, Utah, back-up musician and singer for The Beach Boys

The SMILE collection that was just released is the original tracks from the Beach Boys... Our 2004 recording was Brian and Van Dyke Parks' version (Brian's band playing and singing) 40 years later. Both cool in my eyes. :)

- Taylor Mills, Austin, TX, back-up singer for Brian Wilson

Hey Jeff, in a nutshell the SMiLE that was released in 2004 was Brian Wilson presents SMiLE. Brian, Darian, Van Dyke got together and basically completed the 1966/67 SMiLE. The 2004 versions contains Brian's amazing backing band. So... the SMiLE sessions that has just been released is The Beach Boys 1966 that was never completed in its original form. Original track listing and running order never was decided upon until 2004. Over the many years there have been many bootlegs and fan versions of the original based on Brian's 2004 version(many call it a blueprint). So now we have the original album art and booklet that was to have been released back in 66/67 with many outtakes, studio banter plus the SMiLE album by The Beach Boys based on the 2004 track listing...phew.. Trust me a lot of us fans are very very relieved and very excited. The mythical SMiLE album is here.

- Paul McPherson, Australia, FB friend and Beach Boys nut, like me

Check out these reviews in Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times.

Congratulations Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys!

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Inara George & Van Dyke Parks.

Saw them last night at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. What a wonderful evening of music! Inara's voice was familiar to me before - probably from "Morning Becomes Eclectic" on NPR in Los Angeles but otherwise I had never heard of her. Parks, of course, is known (among many other things) as the lyricist on The Beach Boys' infamous Smile album - the one Brian Wilson abandoned but later released in 2004.

First time I've seen either of these performers in person. I found myself dozing during the show - and that's not a bad thing. I didn't fall asleep and I didn't miss a bit of the concert. It's just that Inara's voice, the pictures she paints with her songs, the lyrics and the music happily lulled me to this very comfortable place, which made listening to both Inara's and Van Dyke's performances extra special.

Obviously I loved the show as I bought two of Inara's CD's after the show - on sale! I was fortunate to have been invited by my new Julie who just so happened to be Inara's music instructed at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon when Inara was just a child.

Thank you, Julie, for the invitation. Gonna miss McCabe's as a music venue (once I move). Great show, indeed. Oh - check out the websites for both Inara George and Van Dyke Parks.

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Facebook slanders me.

I could go on and on about how Facebook's recent upgrades suck. Here's one example (not even sure this has anything to do with their upgrades but it still sucks).

FB has applications you can send to other FB members - flowers, drinks, sports-related stuff, whatever. In this case, you can choose from "Brian Wilson Gifts" and send gifts to people. So I sent selected FB "friends" the album cover for Brian Wilson's Smile and this is the FB confirmation that was sent out and published on my FB page.

"Jeff hates..."? HATES? WTF? I don't hate these people, Number 1. Number 2, it makes it sound like a "Smile" gift is a bad thing. So it not only comes across as a rip on me, but as a rip on Brian Wilson as well. Sounds slanderous to me, don't you think?

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