By Steve Marinucci
Published Sunday, May 20, 1990
CAPITOL Records has kicked off a highly anticipated series of Beach Boys compact disc-only reissues with three discs, including the first release on CD of the group's superb 1966 "Pet Sounds" album.
''Pet Sounds" was the first attempt by Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' guiding light, to get the group away from the surf- and-drag songs that had been a trademark (and a successful one) of previous records.
Wilson combined some personal lyrics and intricate production techniques to create one of the most beautiful albums ever made. Although the album spawned three singles, including the Top 10 hits "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice," sales were lower than expected. Wilson was hurt by the public's apparent rejection, but the album has stood the test of time.
The reissue is in mono, the way Wilson mixed it. (The stereo record releases were not true stereo but electronically rechanneled, making the music sound as if it were recorded in an echo chamber.) Unlike some past Beach Boys CDs, these discs were made using original three- and four-track master tapes, digitally re-mastered. The sound is excellent.
Another attraction of the series is the rare and previously unreleased tracks on each disc. One, "Hang on to Your Ego" later became "I Know There's an Answer" after the group objected to Wilson's original lyrics. Also included is an instrumental, "Trombone Dixie," and a short segment of Wilson rehearsing the group in some breathtaking harmony.
Accompanying this disc and the others in the series is a 24- page booklet featuring track-by-track annotation; historical notes by David Leaf, author of "The Beach Boys and the California Myth"; and comments from Wilson himself.
The other two discs just released, like the rest of the series, combine two albums on one CD. One combines "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfin' USA," the other "Surfer Girl" and "Shut Down, Volume 2." Sound, again, is superb, with the tracks from all but "Surfin' Safari" in stereo.
The discs also come with extensive booklets and bonus tracks, which include the German version of "In My Room" and an unreleased track called "I Do" on the "Surfer Girl" disc and "Cindy, Oh Cindy," "The Baker Man" and "Land Ahoy" on the "Surfin' Safari" set.
The series will continue with "Little Deuce Coupe"/"All Summer Long," "Today"/"Summer Days and Summer Nights" and "Concert"/"Live in London" in June and "Smiley Smile"/ Wild Honey," "Friends"/"20/20" and "Party"/"Stack O'Tracks" in July. (The latter is an album of Beach Boys backing tracks, a long-out-of-print collector's item.) All discs will retail for around $11.98, a Capitol spokesman said.
Cary Baker, Capital's national publicity director, said that though the series has been beset by hang-ups, the remaining CDs will be released on time. And though he wouldn't confirm that a disc made up only of rare and unreleased tracks was forthcoming, he wouldn't rule out the possibility. (box)
Sunday, May 20, 1990
Friday, November 10, 1989
John, Paul, George and Ringo: A generation away, a world ago
By Steve Marinucci
Published Friday, November 10, 1989
JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE AND RINGO, A GENERATION
AGO, A WORLD AWAY
THE BEATLES, AS THEY REALLY WERE
FOR three years, Dezo Hoffman kept his eyes -- and his lens -- trained on the most famous musical group of the '60s. And his black-and-white photographs of the Beatles captured their personalities better than any others.
Now, a collection of his Beatles portraits, printed from the original negatives and picked personally by Hoffman before his death in 1986, will be on exhibit beginning Saturday at Vallco Fashion Park, Interstate 280 and Wolfe Road, Cupertino, the eighth stop on a nationwide tour. The exhibition, which includes many photos on view for the first time in the United States, will run through Dec. 10.
Hoffman first met the group in 1962 while on a photo assignment for Record Mirror, a London pop-music weekly. That contact grew into a job as the group's official photographer, which lasted until 1965. Hoffman also photographed the group sporadically after that.
The exhibit, being presented by Silver K Fine Art, spans the '60s and includes photos ranging from Abbey Road recording sessions in 1962 to one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken in 1970.
Hoffman, who had previously worked as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and had photographed other celebrities including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra, was captivated by the Beatles.
''They were so unlike the typical celebrities I was used to dealing with," he wrote in "The Beatles Conquer America," a book of pictures taken during the Fab Four's first tour of the United States. "They had undeniable star quality, yet were so unspoilt. They were so much fun to be with."
He said he made many of his most revealing pictures by catching the Beatles off-guard and not letting them know which one of them he was aiming at. He proudly took credit for being, in his words, "the Daddy" of their photographic image. "I have a feeling that the whole secret of my pictures is that they are alive," he says in the introduction to "The Faces of John Lennon," a book of Lennon photos.
Admission is $4. Limited edition mounted and framed prints will be sold during the exhibit. Prices range from $350 to $750.
The Beatles -- Historic Images 1962-1967: Classic Photographs by Dezo Hoffman When: Saturday through Dec. 10; noon-9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Vallco Fashion Park, North Wolfe Road and Interstate 280, Cupertino.
Tickets: Admission: $4.
Published Friday, November 10, 1989
JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE AND RINGO, A GENERATION
AGO, A WORLD AWAY
THE BEATLES, AS THEY REALLY WERE
FOR three years, Dezo Hoffman kept his eyes -- and his lens -- trained on the most famous musical group of the '60s. And his black-and-white photographs of the Beatles captured their personalities better than any others.
Now, a collection of his Beatles portraits, printed from the original negatives and picked personally by Hoffman before his death in 1986, will be on exhibit beginning Saturday at Vallco Fashion Park, Interstate 280 and Wolfe Road, Cupertino, the eighth stop on a nationwide tour. The exhibition, which includes many photos on view for the first time in the United States, will run through Dec. 10.
Hoffman first met the group in 1962 while on a photo assignment for Record Mirror, a London pop-music weekly. That contact grew into a job as the group's official photographer, which lasted until 1965. Hoffman also photographed the group sporadically after that.
The exhibit, being presented by Silver K Fine Art, spans the '60s and includes photos ranging from Abbey Road recording sessions in 1962 to one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken in 1970.
Hoffman, who had previously worked as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and had photographed other celebrities including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra, was captivated by the Beatles.
''They were so unlike the typical celebrities I was used to dealing with," he wrote in "The Beatles Conquer America," a book of pictures taken during the Fab Four's first tour of the United States. "They had undeniable star quality, yet were so unspoilt. They were so much fun to be with."
He said he made many of his most revealing pictures by catching the Beatles off-guard and not letting them know which one of them he was aiming at. He proudly took credit for being, in his words, "the Daddy" of their photographic image. "I have a feeling that the whole secret of my pictures is that they are alive," he says in the introduction to "The Faces of John Lennon," a book of Lennon photos.
Admission is $4. Limited edition mounted and framed prints will be sold during the exhibit. Prices range from $350 to $750.
The Beatles -- Historic Images 1962-1967: Classic Photographs by Dezo Hoffman When: Saturday through Dec. 10; noon-9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Vallco Fashion Park, North Wolfe Road and Interstate 280, Cupertino.
Tickets: Admission: $4.
Thursday, October 19, 1989
Networks change schedule in response to earthquake
By Steve Marinucci
Published Thursday, October 19, 1989, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
The networks and local stations are scheduling special programs tonight in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake.
CBS is pre-empting a "48 Hours" program on beauty pageants for an hourlong report on the quake. (The program will air locally at 8 p.m. on Channels 5, 10 and 46.) A spokesman said "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather flew into the Bay Area from New York on Wednesday morning to head up network coverage.
ABC's "PrimeTime Live" (at 10 p.m. on Channels 7, 11 and 13) is preparing a report from San Francisco with co-anchor Sam Donaldson. A network spokesman said other ideas for the program, still in the planning stages, call for reports on other American cities vulnerable to quakes, a tour of the San Andreas Fault and a story by Chris Wallace on quakes in Armenia, a country also vulnerable to quakes.
An NBC spokesman said Wednesday that the network had no special programs on the quake scheduled.
Locally, KICU-TV (Ch. 36), which had to delay the first part of Tuesday's scheduled two-hour opening segment of the movie "Exodus" to Wednesday because of the quake, will broadcast the two-hour conclusion at 8 tonight.
The PBS series "The American Experience" will substitute a repeat of "The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906" in place of "The Great War -- 1918" on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on KQED (Ch. 9). The show also will air at 8 p.m. Oct. 30 on Channels 54 and 60.
Published Thursday, October 19, 1989, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
The networks and local stations are scheduling special programs tonight in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake.
CBS is pre-empting a "48 Hours" program on beauty pageants for an hourlong report on the quake. (The program will air locally at 8 p.m. on Channels 5, 10 and 46.) A spokesman said "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather flew into the Bay Area from New York on Wednesday morning to head up network coverage.
ABC's "PrimeTime Live" (at 10 p.m. on Channels 7, 11 and 13) is preparing a report from San Francisco with co-anchor Sam Donaldson. A network spokesman said other ideas for the program, still in the planning stages, call for reports on other American cities vulnerable to quakes, a tour of the San Andreas Fault and a story by Chris Wallace on quakes in Armenia, a country also vulnerable to quakes.
An NBC spokesman said Wednesday that the network had no special programs on the quake scheduled.
Locally, KICU-TV (Ch. 36), which had to delay the first part of Tuesday's scheduled two-hour opening segment of the movie "Exodus" to Wednesday because of the quake, will broadcast the two-hour conclusion at 8 tonight.
The PBS series "The American Experience" will substitute a repeat of "The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906" in place of "The Great War -- 1918" on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on KQED (Ch. 9). The show also will air at 8 p.m. Oct. 30 on Channels 54 and 60.
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