Perşembe 22 May 2008, 19:24
The Warmth of the Sun is a must have for Beach Boys fans. I'm gonna borrow a review posted elsewhere online:
"THE WARMTH OF THE SUN" has new/FIRST TIME STEREO mixes of All Summer Long, You're So Good To Me, Then I Kissed Her, Please Let Me Wonder, and Let Him Run Wild (all hard-core Beach Boys Classics); plus the stereo mix of Kiss Me Baby (which has only appeared on the Endless Harmony CD), and a new stereo remix of Wendy. The songs are annotated in detail, with many unseen photos of the boys, but there are no liner notes or essay.
SURPRISES:
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love" is annotated as the original 1964 mono single mix (b-side of Fun, Fun, Fun); it's a different/better sounding mono mix, with a very different intro (no drum beat to start with some piano & percussion sounds under the vocals). Very nice. Never before on CD!
"Cool, Cool Water" is annotated as the 1970 single version, and is in fact 1:40 shorter than the album version from Sunflower. The first 1:20 of the album version was excised, plus another 20 seconds edited out to create this stereo single version. This version had been released on the long out-of-print Ten Years Of Harmony LP/CD.
"California Dreamin" is annotated as the original 1986 stereo mix from "Made In The USA", but it is not; this version has wind, rain and thunder sounds before the guitar intro fades in. Never before on CD!
INTERESTING NOTES:
"Breakaway" is annotated as "alternate mix". It is in fact the "alternate version" that was released on the incredible "Hawthorne,CA" CD in 2001, although the studio chatter has been trimmed off the beginning.
The closing title track "Warmth Of The Sun" appears in it's mono single mix, although it's in stereo on the original LP and CD of Shut Down Vol 2, Endless Summer, etc. A surprising choice in this context.
BOTTOM LINE:
This is a beautiful companion to "Sounds Of Summer", the 30 song compilation from 2003, which itself had 2 new stereo mixes (and 5 stereo mixes which had only recently been released on various sets).
Both are great as casual compilations and collector's treasures.
Thank You producer/engineer Mark Linett and Capitol /EMI !
and of course Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al & Bruce !