Monday, August 3, 2015

Call the Sheriff - Volume 1: Adult Child and New Album by Peter Reum


Call the Sheriff - Volume 1: Adult Child and New Album 

by Peter Reum

The Beach Boys - Brother (BW - 1977)

Adult Child





Side 1:

1. Life Is For The Living
2. Hey Little Tomboy
3. Deep Purple
4. H.E.L.P. Is On The Way
5. It's Over Now
6. Everybody Wants To Live

Side 2:


2. Shortenin' Bread
3. Lines
4. On Broadway
5. Games Two Can Play
6. It's Trying To Say
7. Still I Dream Of It

Bonus tracks:
Side 1

7. Mony,Mony
8. Ruby Baby
9. Be My Baby

Side 2
1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
8. Calendar Girl

The period of roughly 1976 through the autumn of 1977 was a period where Brian Wilson wrote a number of songs for therapeutic purposes during the first period of Eugene Landy's treatment regimen, as well as afterward. A number of cassette tapes from those sessions emerged in collectors' circles, and a few unscrupulous recipients made the tapes available to music bootleggers, who pressed the initial vinyl bootleg  issues.

The Adult Child tapes were relatively good fidelity compared with other studio material circulating at the time.  It was most likely inevitable that the bootleg would be issued. The Beach Boys bootleg market was terribly small. It is likely that this particular lp was an edition of 500 or 1000 copies. The cover was taken from the Jasper Dailey photos, and given that I owned them, was mildly distressing to me to see. Adult Child was a combination of Brian Wilson 1976 and 1977 compositions and productions, oldie covers/productions, and "cold tracks," which dated back to the 1970  period, also produced by Brian back then. Dick Reynolds, arranger of the traditional Christmas Music side of the Beach Boys Christmas Album, reunited with Brian to perform his magic on 4 songs on the projected track lineup, Deep Purple, Life Is For the Living, It's Over Now, and Still I Dream of It.



Collectors did not have immediate access to these types of records, unless they "knew someone who knew someone."  Suffice to say that this album retailed for a higher amount than the usual legal Beach Boys albums of that time, perhaps 4 to 5 times as much. What made these types of records so irritating to artists was that they heard from fans that such records existed, and in some cases had them brought to autograph sessions. It was only human for recording artists to ask how much the autograph seeker paid for the bootleg, and when the owner said $20 or $25, the artists were justifiably upset. Most artists did not realize that such bootlegs were very limited, and assumed that they were losing thousands of dollars in royalties.


That Adult Child still has a few tunes that remain unreleased is somewhat interesting. Life Is For the Living, Deep Purple, Everybody Wants to Live, Shortnin' Bread (Brian Lead Vocal), Lines, On Broadway, and It's Trying to Say (aka "Baseball") are still officially unreleased. Also unreleased are the bonus tracks Mony Mony, the 1976 Ruby Baby with a Brian lead vocal, and Be My Baby and Calendar Girl, both from 1978. This album does not come up for sale often but is relatively affordable as Beach Boys bootlegs go, in roughly the $20 to $40 range, based on averages from auction sites.

The Beach Boys - Making Waves 1

"New Album"

Side 1:

1. My Diane
2. Marilyn Rovell
3. Hey Little Tomboy
4. Ruby Baby
5. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
6. Sherry She Needs Me
7. Come Go With Me

Side 2:

1. Mony,Mony
2. On Broadway
3. Sea Cruise
4. Help Is On The Way
5. Games Two Can Play
6. When Girls Get Together
7. Honkin' Down The Highway (Billy Hinsche lead vocal)

This bootleg was issued as one bootlegger's best guess of what a second album contemplated after 15 Big Ones might have been. Needless to say, there were a number of tracks that Brian cut that were therapeutic in nature, with the idea being that he would ease back into a producing role as his mental health improved. This record was issued as part of a projected four part series of bootlegs that were supposed to be issued in 1982. Suffice to say that the lineup is an amalgamation of a number of periods of Beach Boys in the studio ranging from 1970 to 1977.  My Diane, Marilyn Rovell, You've Lost That Loving Feelin', and Sherry She Needs Me date from late 1976 and early 1977.  The track to Sherry She Needs Me is the 1965 Brian produced track, and has a sandpaperish 1976 Brian vocal on it. It was issued on Made In California.  Brian's My Diane and Marilyn Rovell are catchy and melodic, but reflect his conflicted feelings at that time.

Oldies are mostly from 1976, and many of them are 15 Big Ones outtakes. The version of Honkin' Down the Highway presented here appears to have a Billy Hinsche guide vocal on it, which was replaced by Alan Jardine on the Beach Boys Love You album.The version of Come Go With Me on this bootleg is the quirky but charming Brian version from the 15 Big Ones time period. Sea Cruise is the outtake from 15 Big Ones that eventually appeared on Ten Years of Harmony. When Girls Get Together is from 1969 and 1970, and is inferior to both cassette versions and the Keepin' The Summer Alive version. Mony Mony is a terrific 15 Big Ones outtake that rocks hard, and remains unissued legally. The remaining songs are virtually the same as the Adult Child versions of these tunes, but in inferior sound quality, which is a BIG problem for this record overall.

Copies of this bootleg typically are sold for $20, plus or minus $5. The album is probably only suitable for completists, and I feel sorry for them having to shell out for it. It has justly faded into obscurity, and I considered it a ripoff when I saw it for the first time. It is not worth the plastic/vinyl recycle value of it at the junkyard. 

Copyright 2015 by Peter Reum - All Rights Reserved



    

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