[2011-11-01] The Beach Boys "The SMiLE Sessions" (Capitol/EMI)

Sundodger1 · **Joined:** 14 May 2009 **Posts:** 299

Sean Murdock wrote:

Phil Cohen wrote:

I would think that, based on the fact that no one else has reported a problem, that the one Amazon customer who experienced arbitrary cancellation encountered a random glitch in Amazon.com's system.

This could be the case, but I would encourage all the lucky $110 customers to be vigilant, because there IS a precedent for Amazon unceremoniously canceling mis-priced items to cover over their error. I posted this over at the Hoff, but it's relevant here too:

My order also still open, locked in at $110, but if my order got cancelled due to their pricing mistake, it wouldn't be unprecedented. Last December, when George Harrison's All Things Must Pass remaster got a limited vinyl release, Amazon UK put it up for an insanely low price -- around £12.00. A bunch of people flocked to order it, and when Amazon realized their mistake, they labeled the under-priced item "Out Of Stock", cancelled all the orders and replaced them with an otherwise identical item at about £40.00.

It caused quite an uproar there in the ATMP remaster thread, but as soon as one person reported that Amazon UK had backed down and honored the original price, I gritted my teeth and went for it. My first email to them explained that the £12.00 item couldn't be "out of stock" if the exact same item was on their website for £40.00. They tried to tell me that the first item was only a single LP (laughable, if you're a fan of ATMP), while the expensive one was a triple-LP, and offered a 20% off coupon. (Inadvertently, they probably revealed the truth of what happened -- the keyboard jockey at Amazon who put the ATMP LPs up in the first place didn't realize it was a triple and put it up at a "normal" sale price for a single.)

I was finally able to convince them that their scenario was impossible, and once I told them that it had already been reported that they were honoring the original price, they relented and emailed me a one-time gift certificate good ONLY for the £40.00 ATMP. I got it for £11.06. Then, apparently, they strapped the package to a turtle and made him swim across the Atlantic Ocean to deliver it to me, because it took over two months to get it. But I really couldn't complain, could I?

Look, I realized that the original price was an honest mistake -- what upset me was that they cancelled my order without consulting me, or giving me an honest explanation. And if you're going to give in to ONE squeaky wheel -- well, in the internet age, you'd better be prepared to give in to ALL of them. :ohyes:

The real punchline to this joke is that after all that (I went through it as well) The "UK" box was just the US release without a number on the back of the box.

Spiderboy · 31 Jul 2006

Phil Cohen wrote:

Andrew G. Doe wrote:

Phil, if a company with the resources and bank balance of Amazon screwed up and sent me two of something while charging for one by mistake, no way would I even consider returning it. :twisted:

I agree, and, furthermore, American post offices no longer offer international surface mail, and any international shipment weighing over 4 Lbs. now requires costly "priority mail" shipping, more complex customs paperwork, and the post office workers have to manually type in all that information into a computer, to keep on file with an anti-terrorism agency. Due to Amazon.co.uk's tremendously oversized carton and packaging materials, the package weighed over 4 lbs. and would have been too costly to return.

Actually, Amazon UK will pay for the return shipping if they're in any way responsible for the screw-up. Once they sent me the wrong book and, when I notified them of it, they replaced it, had me send back the original and issued me a credit for the postage, which was not inconsiderable. On another occasion, they acknowledged that something was not worth the cost of returning and let me keep it.

I don't see why Amazon's bank balance has any bearing on whether someone should take advantage of a situation to steal from them. If they'd built the business by employing slave labor, I'd certainly feel differently, but I've never heard any reason to think their gains were ill-gotten.

Phil Cohen · **Joined:** 16 Nov 2006 **Posts:** 1274

Spiderboy wrote:

Phil Cohen wrote:

Andrew G. Doe wrote:

Phil, if a company with the resources and bank balance of Amazon screwed up and sent me two of something while charging for one by mistake, no way would I even consider returning it. :twisted:

I agree, and, furthermore, American post offices no longer offer international surface mail, and any international shipment weighing over 4 Lbs. now requires costly "priority mail" shipping, more complex customs paperwork, and the post office workers have to manually type in all that information into a computer, to keep on file with an anti-terrorism agency. Due to Amazon.co.uk's tremendously oversized carton and packaging materials, the package weighed over 4 lbs. and would have been too costly to return.

Actually, Amazon UK will pay for the return shipping if they're in any way responsible for the screw-up. Once they sent me the wrong book and, when I notified them of it, they replaced it, had me send back the original and issued me a credit for the postage, which was not inconsiderable. On another occasion, they acknowledged that something was not worth the cost of returning and let me keep it.

I don't see why Amazon's bank balance has any bearing on whether someone should take advantage of a situation to steal from them. If they'd built the business by employing slave labor, I'd certainly feel differently, but I've never heard any reason to think their gains were ill-gotten.

As I said, if I had been at home when the redundant George Harrison vinyl set arrived, I would have refused it, and it would have gone back to England at no cost to me. But a $75(or more) expense to ship it back would have been unfeasable, whether I or Amazon.co.uk paid that cost.

BobD · **Joined:** 02 Jan 2009 **Posts:** 15

Re: PEZ's comment on Lewis Shiner's brilliant novel Glimpses, at my musical fiction publishing company, Coral Press, we have a Top 40 of Musical Novels, and we put Glimpses No. 1. Here's the link: http://coralpress.com/playlist/charts/c ... k-and-pop/

ranasakawa · 26 Jan 2007

I decided to order the deluxe set, at 103 British Pounds I am hoping it will drop in price before Oct 31.

It's a worry that very few of these so called deluxe box sets are dropping in price, in fact they are going up rather than drop. Ordered all the Pink Floyd Immersion sets in 'May 2011' and they have remained at 90 British Pounds since.

The Derek & The Dominos set, The Who Leeds sets didn't drop in price either (didn't order them due to not being a millionare yet).

2011 - The year of the super deluxe crazy box set.

Phil Cohen · **Joined:** 16 Nov 2006 **Posts:** 1274

ranasakawa wrote:

2011 - The year of the super deluxe crazy box set.

Indeed. The Beach Boys("Smile" 5-CD + L.P. + vinyl singles + book)), The Who Quadrophenia(5-CD + DVD + book), The Doors("L.A. Woman" 4-CD), Jethro Tull("Aqualung" 5-disc CD/DVD/Blu ray + L.P. + book), Pink Floyd("The Dark Side of The Moon" 6-disc CD/DVD/Blu ray & "Wish You Were Here" 5-disc CD/DVD/Blu Ray), Miles Davis("The Bootleg Series" 4-CD + DVD), Dusty Springfield("Goin' Back" 4-CD + 3-DVD + book), Jimi Hendrix Experience("Winterland" 4-CD set), Motown complete 1960's singles sets by The Supremes & The Temptations(3-CD each)

.....and there could be more(yet to be announced)

Sundodger1 · **Joined:** 14 May 2009 **Posts:** 299

Phil Cohen wrote:

ranasakawa wrote:

2011 - The year of the super deluxe crazy box set.

Indeed. The Beach Boys("Smile" 5-CD + L.P. + vinyl singles + book)), The Who Quadrophenia(5-CD + DVD + book), The Doors("L.A. Woman" 4-CD), Jethro Tull("Aqualung" 5-disc CD/DVD/Blu ray + L.P. + book), Pink Floyd("The Dark Side of The Moon" 6-disc CD/DVD/Blu ray & "Wish You Were Here" 5-disc CD/DVD/Blu Ray), Miles Davis("The Bootleg Series" 4-CD + DVD), Dusty Springfield("Goin' Back" 4-CD + 3-DVD + book), Jimi Hendrix Experience("Winterland" 4-CD set), Motown complete 1960's singles sets by The Supremes & The Temptations(3-CD each)

.....and there could be more(yet to be announced)

Nirvana's "Nevermind" set, Smiths big box set, Jethro Tull Aqualung box, U2's Ultramega boxes...

Andrew G. Doe · 23 Aug 2011

I'm guessing the record companies are looking into the immediate future and seeing (planning ?) the demise of physical product.

Sean Murdock · **Joined:** 23 Aug 2011 **Posts:** 17

Physical product won't die for a long, long time -- it may become a "niche" industry, but (as was the case with vinyl) the record labels will produce physical product for those who are willing to pay for it. We will surely see reduced production runs and (probably) internet-only sales, but I'd bet almost anything that I'll still be able to buy new music on CD ten years from now.

Phil Cohen · **Joined:** 16 Nov 2006 **Posts:** 1274

Back catalogue is one of the most profitable aspect of the industry. Aside from remixing or remastering, the actual recording costs were paid long ago. And for verbatim reissues of old albums, it should be noted that albums such as "Steve Miller Band-Greatest Hits" sell more each year than the new albums by contemporary 21st century artists.

Linda · 13 Jan 1966

Phil Cohen wrote:

it should be noted that albums such as "Steve Miller Band-Greatest Hits" sell more each year than the new albums by contemporary 21st century artists.

This isn't remotely close to true.

Linda · 13 Jan 1966

The beginning of the drop? The deluxe box has gone down $6 -- not much, but it's something. (Although the price of the 2-CD set has actually gone up a little.

)

djej · **Joined:** 26 Mar 2008 **Posts:** 145

As the graphics now show on Linda's update, Amazon is now at $142.33 for the box set.

Mylene · **Joined:** 10 Apr 2010 **Posts:** 188

Linda wrote:

Phil Cohen wrote:

it should be noted that albums such as "Steve Miller Band-Greatest Hits" sell more each year than the new albums by contemporary 21st century artists.

This isn't remotely close to true.

80% of retail is from new releases. 50% of those is from week of release sales. Back catalogue wouldn't amount to a single digit percentage.

tunestony · **Joined:** 30 Nov 2008 **Posts:** 38

I just talked with Beach Boys' engineer Mark Linett for my Icon Fetch show (iconfetch.com - shameless plug). He mentioned that the LP version will have an entire album side of rarities exclusive to the vinyl. And, from what I understand, the 45 included in the deluxe edition will be unique as well.

I asked him if the deluxe edition was essentially everything - he said that they started with roughly seven CDs worth of material and whittled it down to five.

He also touches on several myths - including whether Paul McCartney was actually at the "Vega-Tables" session, and whether Brian Wilson actually destroyed the session tapes for the "Fire" sequence.

The interview with Mark is not posted on my site yet - I need to edit it down. It should be up there in a week or so. But, there's lots of other interviews (over 100) including Carmine Appice, Jonathan Edwards, Martha Davis - and upcoming shows with Jackie DeShannon and Maria Muldaur.

ONE MORE THING - Mark agreed to come back on the show once the SMiLE sessions box is actually in stores to answer any other questions people might have. You can leave those on my website, or email me directly at host@iconfetch.com and I'll pass them along to him.

Holding my breath til November 1st...

Tony
http://www.iconfetch.com

Spiderboy · 31 Jul 2006

tunestony wrote:

I just talked with Beach Boys' engineer Mark Linett for my Icon Fetch show (iconfetch.com - shameless plug). He mentioned that the LP version will have an entire album side of rarities exclusive to the vinyl. And, from what I understand, the 45 included in the deluxe edition will be unique as well.

Tony

Does he mean the LPs included in the box set or the standalone LP version? Or are they in fact the same two discs?

tunestony · **Joined:** 30 Nov 2008 **Posts:** 38

I believe that they are one in the same - there is only one version of the LP.

Tony

Sean Murdock · **Joined:** 23 Aug 2011 **Posts:** 17

tunestony wrote:

I believe that they are one in the same - there is only one version of the LP.

Tony

Except for the inner sleeves... :ohyes:

Phil Cohen · **Joined:** 16 Nov 2006 **Posts:** 1274

Brian didn't destroy the "Fire" tapes. That instrumental(both with and without an unconvincing fire crackling sound effects overdub) have been available on bootlegs for many years. The "Sea of Tunes" label offered both mixes with full fidelity.

Linda · 13 Jan 1966

The price of the deluxe box has now been reduced to CN$103.78 at Amazon Canada:

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004RFYEEC/?tag=imwanca-20

I hope that a similar price drop is in store for the domestic pressing.

tunestony · **Joined:** 30 Nov 2008 **Posts:** 38

I quoted an excerpt of my interview with Mark Linett on my site (iconfetch.com) regarding what was left off, if anything, of the new box set. Well, some fans got a little upset with how it was worded. Here's his reply:

"You posted a quote from the interview where I said that we had 7 CDs of material at one point and had to whittle that down to 5 (or some such). This has caused some fans to assume that we left off 2 CDs material when what I meant was that it took repeated editing to get the best of the sessions and still make it all fit on 5 cds not that we left anything out. The fact is originally EMI wanted a 3 CD set which they later upped to four and then to 5 when it became clear that if it wasn't five cds we would have to cut close to 90 minutes of sessions out."

Hopefully, that clears up some of the confusion - apparently this IS everything.

I will be posting the entire interview with Mark soon - I have one from Thomas Dolby I have to edit up first.

Tony
iconfetch.com

Andrew G. Doe · 23 Aug 2011

I find it highly amusing - and informative - that those bitching the most about the project are invariably those who have the least notion as to exactly what's going on.

Phil - now we have first hand evidence that far from being 'in trouble' these past months, the project was actually being expanded by over two and a half hours in length, or by 67% for the statistically minded. This is, of course, equally excellent proof that, as I kept saying, you did not have the first idea what was actually happening.

[2011-11-01] The Beach Boys "The SMiLE Sessions" (Capitol/EMI)

Who is WANline