San Fran Sessions is a box set compilation which collects 60 demos, outtakes, rarities and unissued performances recorded by The Beau Brummels from 1964 to 1966.
The three-disc set, released by Sundazed Music on June 11, 1996, includes alternate takes of the band's singles "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", as well as early versions of songs that were likely targeted for their never-completed third album on Autumn Records.
[1] Ultimately, the album was never finished because the entire Autumn roster, including the Beau Brummels, was transferred in early 1966 to Warner Bros. Records, who wanted the band to record an album of cover versions of recent hits.
[2] Author and music journalist Richie Unterberger said San Fran Sessions "should only be acquired by serious fans of the band" and added, "from a historical viewpoint, it's interesting in that it presents a lot of previously unheard Sal Valentino-penned tunes (Ron Elliott wrote most of the songs that ended up on official releases)".
[4] Unterberger favorably compared the previously unreleased tracks to the rest of the band's Autumn material,[1] praising the band's "beautifully sad harmonies and glittering guitar arrangements".