VA – The Big Beat 1963 (2013)

22 never-before-released, almost impossibly rare tracks featured on The Big Beat 1963. Brian Wilson’s friend Bob Norberg and his friend Sheryl Pomeroy, as Bob & Sheri, recorded the Wilson song that gives this compilation its title. “The Big Beat” is also joined by Bob & Sheri’s “Ride Away,” which Bob co-wrote with Brian. Norberg, Brian’s roommate for much of 1963, also recorded “Marie” with Brian and The Honeys (featuring Brian’s future wife Marilyn, her sister Diane and Ginger Blake), and co-wrote “Gonna Hustle You” which appears here in demo form. (Jan & Dean would record “Hustle” as “New Girl in School” when the lyric was found objectionable.) Norberg also sings with Vicki Hale on “Summer Moon” over the backing track of “The Surfer Moon” from The Beach Boys’ third…

320 kbps | 115 MB | UL | BS | MC

…album Surfer Girl. The Beach Boys themselves are represented on The Big Beat 1963 with Brian’s composition “Mother May I,” and demo of Brian and Roger Christian’s “I Do” and “Ballad of Ole Betsy” (a favorite on the group’s fiftieth anniversary reunion tour of 2012).   In addition to “Marie,” The Honeys appear on nine more tracks, including a handful written by Ginger and Diane and a recording of Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “Make the Night a Little Longer.”    More Brian Wilson demos premiere here, with titles such as “First Rock and Roll Dance,” “Side Two” and “Thank Him.”  Gary Usher, Brian’s co-writer on songs including “In My Room” and the producer of hits for artists including The Byrds, performs Brian’s song “If It Can’t Be You” (otherwise known as “I’ll Never Love Again”).  Though many of these tracks have appeared in bootleg form, this digital release marks the first time any of them have been available commercially.

1. The Big Beat (Brian Wilson) – Bob & Sheri
2. First Rock and Roll Dance (Wilson) – Brian Wilson
3. Gonna Hustle You (Brian Wilson/Bob Norberg) – Brian Wilson
4. Ride Away (Wilson/Norberg) – Bob & Sheri
5. Funny Boy (Wilson) – The Honeys
6. Marie (Wilson) – Brian Wilson and Bob Norberg with The Honeys
7. Mother May I (Wilson) – The Beach Boys
8. I Do (Demo) (Brian Wilson/Roger Christian) – The Beach Boys
9. Bobby Left Me (Backing Track) (Wilson) – Brian Wilson
10. If It Can’t Be You (I’ll Never Love Again) (Wilson) – Gary Usher
11. You Brought It All On Yourself (Wilson) – The Honeys
12. Make the Night a Little Longer (Carole King/Gerry Goffin) – The Honeys
13. Rabbit’s Foot (Wilson) (Instrumental with backing vocals) – The Honeys
14. Summer Moon (Wilson) – Vicki Hale and Bob Norberg
15. Side Two (Wilson) – Brian Wilson
16. Ballad of Ole Betsy (Demo) (Wilson/Christian) – The Beach Boys
17. Thank Him (Demo) (Wilson) – Brian Wilson
18. Once You’ve Got Him (Ginger Blake/Diane Rovell) – The Honeys
19. For Always and Forever (Demo) (Blake/Rovell) – The Honeys
20. Little Dirt Bike (Demo) (Blake/Rovell) – The Honeys
21. Darling, I’m Not Stepping Out on You (Demo) (Blake/Rovell) – The Honeys
22. When I Think About You (Demo) (Blake/Rovell) – The Honeys