The Beach Boys - Goodbye Surfing, Hello God! Disc 3

Label: Vigotone, VT-240

Total Time: 63:35
1. Little Bird (mono remix one) (2:03)
2. Little Bird (mono remix two) (1:48)
3. Little Bird (mono remix three) (1:17)
4. Little Bird (#1 pickup one) (0:14)
5. Little Bird (#1 pickup two) (0:16)
6. Little Bird (#1 pickup three) (0:09)
7. Little Bird (mono remix four) (0:20)
8. Little Bird (mono remix five) (0:17)
9. Little Bird (mono remix six) (0:45)
10. Little Bird (mono remix seven) (0:19)
11. Little Bird (mono remix eight) (0:19)
12. Little Bird (mono remix nine) (1:06)
13. Little Bird (mono remix ten) (0:32)
14. Little Bird (mono remix eleven) (2:06)
15. Little Bird (mono remix twelve) (1:04)
16. Little Bird (mono remix thirteen) (2:04)
17. Little Bird (mono remix fourteen) (1:04)
18. Little Bird (#2 pickup one) (0:10)
19. Little Bird (#2 pickup two) (0:12)
20. Little Bird (#2 pickup three) (0:56)
21. Little Bird (mono remix fifteen) (2:06)
22. Little Bird (tag pickup one) (0:51)
23. Little Bird (tag pickup two) (0:18)
24. Little Bird (tag pickup three) (0:25)
25. Little Bird (flat mono master mix) (2:58)
26. Bluebirds Over The Mountain (rough instrumental mix) (2:58)
27. Never Learn Not To Love (mono 45 mix) (2:09)
28. The Nearest Faraway Place (rough mono mix) (2:46)
29. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix one) (1:32)
30. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix two) (2:17)
31. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix three) (0:14)
32. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix four) (1:26)
33. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix five) (1:23)
34. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix seven) (1:33)
35. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix eight) (1:47)
36. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix nine) (2:14)
37. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix ten) (1:08)
38. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix eleven - slate) (0:12)
39. Fig Plucker (2:31)
40. Oh Yeah! (0:54)
41. Be With Me (stereo remix one) (0:34)
42. Be With Me (stereo remix two) (1:30)
43. Be With Me (stereo remix three) (2:53)
44. Be With Me (stereo remix four) (3:53)
45. Be With Me (stereo remix five) (1:16)
46. Be With Me (stereo remix eight) (2:24)
47. Be With Me (stereo remix nine) (2:34)
48. Be With Me (stereo remix ten - slate) (0:09)

1. Little Bird (mono remix one) (2:03)
2. Little Bird (mono remix two) (1:48)
3. Little Bird (mono remix three) (1:17)
4. Little Bird (#1 pickup one) (0:14)
5. Little Bird (#1 pickup two) (0:16)
6. Little Bird (#1 pickup three) (0:09)
7. Little Bird (mono remix four) (0:20)
8. Little Bird (mono remix five) (0:17)
9. Little Bird (mono remix six) (0:45)
10. Little Bird (mono remix seven) (0:19)
11. Little Bird (mono remix eight) (0:19)
12. Little Bird (mono remix nine) (1:06)
13. Little Bird (mono remix ten) (0:32)
14. Little Bird (mono remix eleven) (2:06)
15. Little Bird (mono remix twelve) (1:04)
16. Little Bird (mono remix thirteen) (2:04)
17. Little Bird (mono remix fourteen) (1:04)
18. Little Bird (#2 pickup one) (0:10)
19. Little Bird (#2 pickup two) (0:12)
20. Little Bird (#2 pickup three) (0:56)
21. Little Bird (mono remix fifteen) (2:06)
22. Little Bird (tag pickup one) (0:51)
23. Little Bird (tag pickup two) (0:18)
24. Little Bird (tag pickup three) (0:25)
25. Little Bird (flat mono master mix) (2:58)
Recorded: 2/29/68, Mixed: 3/7/68
Much of the remaining material on Goodbye Surfing, Hello God! comes from previously unheard two-track 1" mixdown tapes of some of the Beach Boys' 1968 singles and tracks for 1969's 20/20 LP. These "mix reels" are so called because they have numerous attempts at mixing multitrack tapes down to stereo or mono for 45's or LP's. To be honest, listening to these can at times be a frustrating experience. The primary reason in this case is because rarely are there completed versions of these songs on the mix reels, since the final mix is usually cut out and placed on a separate reel. However, the up side is being able to hear parts that were either discarded or mixed down in the final mix. The above two tracks, "Friends" and "Little Bird", are the mono mix reels for the A and B sides respectively of a single that was issued in April of 1968. When the Friends album was released in June of '68, it was released only in stereo, the first time a Beach Boys album had not been mixed for mono. Therefore, these were the only tracks from the LP to receive mono mixes. (NOTE: While the Friends and 20/20 albums were issued in mono in the UK, these were "foldovers" of the 2-track stereo tapes and were not true mono mixes from the multitracks.)

26. Bluebirds Over The Mountain (rough instrumental mix) (2:58)
Recorded: 9/29/67, Mixed: 10/14/68
This track was originally not intended for a Beach Boys release, but was a Bruce Johnston/Carl Wilson effort. However, it was pulled from the vaults as a follow-up to the semi-successful "Do It Again" single and given this rough mix of the track as it stood at the time, prior to the addition of vocals and more instrumental overdubs. There's plenty of studio talk at the end as well!

27. Never Learn Not To Love (mono 45 mix) (2:09)
Recorded: 9/11/68, Mixed: 10/14/68
The B-side for "Bluebirds" was this Dennis Wilson composition, actually written primarily by one Charles Manson under the title "Cease To Exist". This mono mix, direct from the 1" mixdown tape, is considerably different than the 20/20 LP version, and has never appeared on CD before in this fidelity.

28. The Nearest Faraway Place (rough mono mix) (2:46)
Recorded: 6/20/68, Mixed 10/14/68
Evidently, this Bruce Johnston-penned MOR-ish instrumental was under consideration as a B-side material, and was given a mono mix for that very purpose. However, "The Nearest Faraway Place" would not appear on a single until 1970's "Cottonfields" (the group's final Capitol 45), and was heard in its stereo 20/20 LP mix.

You're invited to a "Beach Boys 20/20 Mixing Party"! This section of stereo remix sessions in November of 1968 for the 20/20 album show the rather frustrating, yet ultimately (hopefully) satisfying activity of multiple remixes to attain the optimum balance of instruments and vocals on the final record. Again, keep in mind while listening that many of these mixes are incomplete, and the final released mix was edited out of the mix reel. So, let's head over to Capitol's Studio C and see what engineer Steve Desper and the Boys are up to.
29. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix one) (1:32)
30. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix two) (2:17)
31. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix three) (0:14)
32. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix four) (1:26)
33. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix five) (1:23)
34. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix seven) (1:33)
35. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix eight) (1:47)
36. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix nine) (2:14)
37. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix ten) (1:08)
38. Never Learn Not To Love (stereo remix eleven - slate) (0:12)
Recorded: 9/11/68, Mixed: 11/6/68
A return to the Wilson/Manson track for stereo separation purposes. Remix 11 was the one used for the LP, thus it does not appear on the tape, though the slate is included.

39. Fig Plucker (2:31)
40. Oh Yeah! (0:54)
Mixed: 11/11/68
The above two tracks (recording dates unknown, but they are likely circa 1967) were mixed at the same time as the "Be With Me" session that follows. However, they are included only because they haven't been elsewhere; they are, frankly, awful attempts at comedy (in the case of the former) and early rap music (the latter) "Fig Plucker" is sophomoric humor at best (and sounds like the Peter Tork spoken-word bit "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky" on the Monkees' LP Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.), while "Oh Yeah!" has the boys intoning that phrase again and again behind an unnamed young African-American male's dialogue. 'Nuff said.

41. Be With Me (stereo remix one) (0:34)
42. Be With Me (stereo remix two) (1:30)
43. Be With Me (stereo remix three) (2:53)
44. Be With Me (stereo remix four) (3:53)
45. Be With Me (stereo remix five) (1:16)
46. Be With Me (stereo remix eight) (2:24)
47. Be With Me (stereo remix nine) (2:34)
48. Be With Me (stereo remix ten - slate) (0:09)
Mixed: 11/11/68
This marvelous Dennis Wilson song has all the hallmarks of his finest work from this era: a haunting melody and a somewhat eerie, strained, yet ultimately beautiful vocal performance. Much of what made the song as effective as it ended up being was the result of a fine mixing job by Desper, but it took considerable work on his and Dennis' part to make "Be With Me" the moving piece it is. 10 mixes (mostly incomplete) were made of this track, with #10 being the 20/20 version; on remix number 9, brother Brian's vocals can be distinctly heard.