Taken from the inside of the gatefold cover ..
The Sea Of Tunes series of Beach Boys bootleg CD's hit the collectors market
by storm in the late 1990s. Never before had the casual fan had such an inside
perspective on the process that built the Beach Boys biggest hits. These landmark
releases allowed fans to be flies on the wall of the studios where Brian Wilson
called the shots. No title was more anticipated than the legendary SMiLE sessions;
whereas other Sea Of Tunes releases gave fans a different perspective on an
already fully realised album, the SMiLE box set did more: it offered clues and
tantalising keys to the ultimate puzzle that is the Beach Boys' most ambitious and
elusive work.
Today, oddities such as the "Rock Me, Henry" version of Wonderful recorded in January,
the early versions of Wind Chimes and Child Is Father Of The Man, and the mysterious
Vega Tables argument session are firmly etched in the SMiLE legend, but before 1999,
no one could have imagined their existence. No one, that is, except the lucky few who
happened to score a copy of one of the exclusive tapes that made the rounds prior to
the bootleg release. The music on this CD is taken from one of those tapes. Most of it
has now been made obsolete by the cleaner, more comprehensive Sea Of Tunes box set, but
nevertheless it is interesting to hear it in this context. And, if you listen closely,
you just might hear a few things you've never heard before; for example, takes 8 - 10
of Fire, extra takes of Child Is Father Of The Man and Wonderful, a session excerpt
from Friday Night / I Wanna Be Around, and the complete backing track to Old Master
Painter / You Are My Sunshine.