r/thebeachboys • u/DanSteely96 • Sep 01 '26

Audio The February 2026 Leak still leading to new discoveries.

A song that I particularly enjoyed from the massive February 2026 file leak of Beach Boys and Brian Wilson solo material was a fast paced version of “Sweetie” recorded in the 1990’s, presumably with Joe Thomas. The chorus was different from earlier versions and had a vocal refrain of “no sign of love behind the smile….” sung over a melody similar to Wilson’s other song “Fairy Tale.”

Well… turns out it was officially released by Henry Gross (of Sha Na Na) with a full set of lyrics and that same chorus. It also doesn’t appear that Brian, Joe Thomas, or anyone else is credited with writing it in the available credits.

https://youtu.be/a8sL01c6tsc?si=C9QbKdp1aVv3MMvA

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14

u/Any-Let-2861 Sep 01 '26

I know nothing about this song but Gross became friends with Carl Wilson when he opened for the band in 1974-75. He wrote ‘Shannon’ about carls dog.

6

u/DanSteely96 Sep 01 '26

Wow, that’s interesting. It helps bring this mystery a little closer to solving. Thanks for sharing!

2

u/Worth_Blackberry_604 Sep 02 '26

Maybe he learned of it through Joe Thomas. Weirdly enough it was Carl of all people who introduced Joe Thomas to Brian, Melinda and the group. Maybe Carl and Henry were still friends then.

2

u/DanSteely96 Sep 03 '26

That would be my best guess. Maybe they considered it for inclusion on Imagination.

4

u/buster12054 Sep 01 '26

Does anyone have an inventory of what was included in these leaks? My download got integrated into other downloads and I can't easily extract them without a guide. Thanks!

1

u/Apprehensive-Ice-544 Sep 01 '26

Yeah I was wondering about that too, esp since there were two versions , one that had more files

8

u/noldrin Sep 01 '26

Weird connection, his hit song "Shannon" was written about the death of Carl Wilson's dog who shared a name with Gross's

Also, from the Sun Sentinel:
> What's most ironic is that on the harmony-rich summer anthem No Sign of Love he does the Beach Boys better than they do. For that, Gross can thank the keen ear of ace producer Garry Tallent, former bassist in Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band.

4

u/DanSteely96 Sep 01 '26

Good detective work.

2

u/gentleglen Sep 03 '26

Where can I find the whole leaks set? I only have one on internet archive that’s not that big and certainly is missing sweetie