Icon Fetch

Domenic Priore was the first person to release an entire book devoted to the SMiLE project when he compiled Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! in 1995. He followed that up in 2007 with Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece. Now, he’s penned one of the essays in the new SMiLE Sessions box set. Icon Fetch talks to the author, DJ and music historian about SMiLE’s place in rock history and its effect on future generations.

Our Beach Boys coverage continues with Jon Stebbins, author of The Beach Boys FAQ – All That’s Left to Know About America’s Band (Backbeat Books). The comprehensive book includes bios of every member of the Beach Boys (past and present), including who sang on which song, specifics on the musical gear they used, and even their addresses. Plus, he gives a profile of the sidemen who played on their records, and provides a list of Beach Boys’ TV appearances. Of course, he devotes an entire chapter to “Your Favorite Vegetable – The Fantastically Freaky and Sad Legend of Smile.” Stebbins is also the author of Dennis Wilson – The Real Beach Boy, and The Lost Beach Boy – The True Story of David Marks.

We continue our exclusive coverage of the long-awaited release of the SMiLE Sessions from the Beach Boys with our interview with another co-producer of the set, Alan Boyd. He talks to us about how they decided which takes of songs to use for the “estimation” of the SMiLE LP on disc one, if it is ever possible to release a stereo mix of “Good Vibrations,” and which song he was the proudest of helping put together. He also describes what specific role he and co-producer Mark Linett had in helping piece together the SMiLE Sessions

Grammy-winner Shelby Lynne has fought hard to gain total control of her career. Last year, she started her own record label, Everso Records, and released two albums – Tears, Lies & Alibis, and the holiday themed Merry Christmas. Now, she’s returned with a new batch of songs, and even more independence – she wrote, produced, sang, and played every note on her brand-new album, Revelation Road. Icon Fetch sits down once again with the multi-talented artist to discuss recording at her home studio, and some of the new instruments that she’s picked up

We continue our exclusive conversation with Mark Linett, co-producer of the upcoming SMiLE Sessions box set from the Beach Boys. In this segment, he talks about the rumor that Paul McCartney contributed to the “Vega-Tables” session, why disc one’s “estimation” of the SMiLE album is presented in mono, and how they stumbled across a never-before heard demo version of Brian Wilson doing “Surf’s Up” from after the SMiLE Sessions were aborted. Mark has also agreed to return to the show after SMiLE is released.

Maria Muldaur has made a career out of shifting from one genre to another – folk, blues, jazz, classic R&B and even jug band music, while all along garnering critical praise and multiple Grammy nominations. Her latest venture returns her to New Orleans and the blues – Steady Love, reuniting her with long-time collaborator Dave Torkanowski. The 13 tracks on her new disc have a raw immediacy lacking in the majority of blues-based recordings that get released every month. Icon Fetch talks with Muldaur about choosing the songs for the new record, recording the album on a “tweezer” budget, and what is was like trying to followup her 1974 hit “Midnight at the Oasis.” She also gives us a preview of her next project.

It’s the most famous unreleased album in history – the Beach Boys’ SMiLE was supposed to come out way back in 1967, but the project fell apart amidst a cloud of drugs and self-doubt by leader Brian Wilson. Now, some 45 years later, those legendary tapes are finally seeing the light of day in the SMiLE Sessions, a five-CD boxset containing, for the first time, an estimation of the “finished” would-be album, plus several discs of session highlights, alternate takes, and demos. Mark Linett, who co-produced the monumental project along with Alan Boyd and Wilson, sits down with Icon Fetch to discuss the unique difficulties in putting this set together, how they settled on five CDs for the deluxe edition, and how this compares to the critically-acclaimed Pet Sounds Sessions box.

She dated Elvis and Jimmy Page, toured with the Beatles, and wrote many hit songs – Jackie DeShannon is one interesting lady.

Way before the current crop of women from Lady Gaga to Taylor Swift began ruling the charts, DeShannon blazed a trail in the early 1960’s, showing that a woman could sing, play guitar, write and produce her own recordings. She penned hits for many artists, including Brenda Lee, the Searchers and Marianne Faithful. She scored hits of her own with “What the World Needs Now is Love,” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

DeShannon has a brand new album out, When You Walk Into the Room, where she performs stripped-down renditions of her hit songs, and tunes she wrote for others. Icon Fetch talks to the Kentucky native about how difficult it was trying to be taken seriously in the male-dominated music business, her famous boyfriends, and the story behind one of her most famous compositions, “Bette Davis Eyes,” a monster hit for Kim Carnes in 1981.

Thomas Dolby, the man behind such enduring hits as “She Blinded Me With Science,” and “Hyperactive,” is readying his first new studio album in 20 years, A Map of the Floating City, an eclectic mix of styles recorded at Dolby’s own home studio, and featuring several guests, including Mark Knopfler and Regina Spektor. Icon Fetch talks to the video pioneer about doing most of the work himself this time around. He also tells a great story about playing with David Bowie at the monumental Live Aid concert in 1985.

Nina Blackwood was one of the original five VJs that played all that crazy music in the early days of MTV. Unbelievably the network quietly just celebrated it’s 30th anniversary. Icon Fetch sits down with the former Ohio resident about how she got chosen to join the fledgling network and what those early days were like, when it seemed like new music was spilling over everywhere. We also touch on some of her current projects, including the nationally-syndicated Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80’s, and her daily slot on Sirius/XM’s 80’s on 8 channel.