Aeijtzsche's Annual Assortment of potentially unsolvable BB mysteries.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

If you have known me for long, you may know that I have certain pet mysteries to the bottom of which I would very much like to get.  So I thought I'd trot them out in case new knowledge has blossomed.  The following are either mysteries to me or things that haven't been explained to my liking.  Many are very esoteric, so forgive me.

1.  What ever happened to CBS engineer Ralph Balantin, who is is credited on Pet Sounds but seems to have avoided any other mention anywhere?

2.  Precisely what sort, make, and model of stringed instrument is it that plays the WIBN intro?

3.  If a full session tape for "That's Not Me" exists (does it?) why wasn't it booted?

4.  What exactly is going on in the guitars on I Know there's an Answer?  Are they special, i.e. abnormal?

5.  I still can't definitively hear that there are two electric basses on GOK after 10 years of obsessive listening to the session.  Are there?

6.  Is the second harpsichord on YSBIM overdubbed after the main session?  If not, why does it sound like it is totally isolated on its track?

7.  Why does there seem to be such a paucity of a photographic record for Beach Boys instrumental tracking sessions?


If you can shed any light on these, I would be eternally grateful. 

[Wrightfan]

The guitar on WIBN at the beginning is called an Etheral I believe.

[guitarfool2002]

The guitar on WIBN at the beginning is called an Etheral I believe.

More specifics? I've never heard that before!

I'm 99% sold on electric mandolin playing that intro after playing it on mandolin and having it match very well. better than any guitars I tried and easier to play.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

The guitar on WIBN at the beginning is called an Etheral I believe.

More specifics? I've never heard that before!

I'm 99% sold on electric mandolin playing that intro after playing it on mandolin and having it match very well. better than any guitars I tried and easier to play.

I think Wrightfan is quoting Brian, who in describing WIBN says something like "check out the ethereal guitars in the intro."

I probably won't rest on the WIBN intro question until film is produced of the session, where Barney or Jerry steps aside and explains to the camera exactly what he's playing.  Ha!

One of these days, I'm hoping some student of Barney's or someone else will turn up who had heard some sort of specific.  Too bad almost everyone on that session is gone now. 

[GroovinGarrett]

I've read a few schools of thought on what instrument plays the WIBN intro.

Carol Kaye claims it was Billy Strange (who's not listed on the AFM sheet) and/or Jerry Cole on 12-string guitar. I don't need to say much about Carol's claims.

I've read others who say it's an electric mandolin or a ukelele played by Barney Kessel.  I've heard the term "Vox Mandoguitar" thrown around. Anyone heard of it?

[Andrew G. Doe]

I recall reading - and recently - that Barney had grafted a balalaika neck onto a guitar/mandolin body. Something like that.

'Course, Brian's also said it was two standard electric guitars played high on the neck. 

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I've read a few schools of thought on what instrument plays the WIBN intro.

Carol Kaye claims it was Billy Strange (who's not listed on the AFM sheet) and/or Jerry Cole on 12-string guitar. I don't need to say much about Carol's claims.

I've read others who say it's an electric mandolin or a ukelele played by Barney Kessel.  I've heard the term "Vox Mandoguitar" thrown around. Anyone heard of it?

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

I'm actually working on a long article about this topic, but yes, there are a few possibilities.  One is that it is just a 12-string guitar.  Another is that it's some sort of electric, very short scale 12-string, like the vox mandoguitar.  Another is that it is actually that mandolin-body+special 12-string neck that is pictured in the Pet Sounds box booklet and elsewhere.

All have their strong points and weak points.  You'll read about those in this forthcoming article.

Lately, I have actually come to suspect that some sort of mandoguitar might be responsible for the guitars on IKTAA, see my question no. 4.  That another big topic...

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

But it has to be... Carol says so.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I recall reading - and recently - that Barney had grafted a balalaika neck onto a guitar/mandolin body. Something like that.

'Course, Brian's also said it was two standard electric guitars played high on the neck. 

We certainly know that Barney had this hybrid instrument, but did he use it on WIBN?

I think Brian saying that certainly has to factor in.  I wonder if he's ever been pressed about that in a musicianly fashion that occasionally draws better answers from him.

What is so frustrating about this question to me is that there must be something "off" about it, because nobody has ever been able to get anywhere near reproducing the sound.  Both Brian's Band and the Beach Boys live band play the notes perfectly, but there's something missing beyond what is normally missing between a studio recording and a live performance.  A certain steely woodiness.  Any cover I've heard never quite gets it right.  I can't get it right.  So what gives?

[ghost]

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

But it has to be... Carol says so.

I wonder if you would be so derisive to this woman in person as you and others often are on this board? 

[guitarfool2002]

It's still very much a mystery, but what I can say about the WIBN intro is that after trying it on instruments *close* to what those guys would have been playing - a Telecaster, a Fender electric 12-string, a no-name Rickenbacker-style 12-string, and a mandolin - the mandolin gave the closest sound. I do not have a way to film it right now, but I'd like to eventually post a video of this intro played on mandolin. It is a very smooth and natural fingering, it "flows" very nice, and the higher pitch on that first position area of the mandolin is exactly the range we hear on the intro. I think that photo of Barney Kessel in the PS booklet may have thrown us off a bit in assuming the photo was something it was not.

The Vox Mando-Guitar...there were a handful of these bizarre hybrids back in the 60's. Fender made an electric mandolin which could have been a candidate for the intro, too. Vox had their version, Danelectro had a guitar with extremely high upper frets designed to sound like a guitar-mandolin thingy, Danelectro and their offshoots also had a "Bellzouki" which was basically an electric 12-string which Vinny Bell (he of the electric sitar fame) was associated with. Tommy Tedesco is holding a Bellzouki in a photo with Hal Blaine.

It's basically flying blind, just pure speculation, but I'm betting on electric mandolin, again just taking a shot in the dark and based on trying it out for myself on mandolin.

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

But it has to be... Carol says so.

I wonder if you would be so derisive to this woman in person as you and others often are on this board? 

Given the horrible things she's said about me and my mother on her forum, whilst banning me so that I cannot reply, not to mention accusing me of theft, damn right I would. She's a liar and a fantasist who takes credit for other people's work. Fact. Don't care how old she is.

[GroovinGarrett]

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

But it has to be... Carol says so.

I wonder if you would be so derisive to this woman in person as you and others often are on this board? 

Given the fact that she has flat-out lied and taken credit for other people's work on many occasions, I'd have no problem doing so either.

[ghost]

There's no way that it's Billy Strange.

But it has to be... Carol says so.

I wonder if you would be so derisive to this woman in person as you and others often are on this board? 

Given the horrible things she's said about me and my mother on her forum, whilst banning me so that I cannot reply, not to mention accusing me of theft, damn right I would. She's a liar and a fantasist who takes credit for other people's work. Fact. Don't care how old she is.

Wow. I didn't even know she had her own board! I take back what I said. She's probably just as much of an internet geek as the rest of us & deserves your mighty wrath.

Btw I found your recent post re the end of Good Vibes (Carol only playing maybe 5 or so seconds) to be hilarious. What a blow that would be to her if she read it!  

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Anybody care to tackle any of the other pressing matters?  What do you guys think about mandoguitars on IKTAA?

[ghost]

4.  What exactly is going on in the guitars on I Know there's an Answer?  Are they special, i.e. abnormal?

What does this mean? I haven't heard the sessions but I hear two electric guitars and an acoustic. The electric guitars playing remind me of YSBIM & Sloop John Be. Dada had a beautiful insight about YSBIM's guitar melodies sounding like distant ice cream trucks.


5.  I still can't definitively hear that there are two electric basses on GOK after 10 years of obsessive listening to the session.  Are there?

I hear one bass, sounding like two due to the reverb.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

4.  What exactly is going on in the guitars on I Know there's an Answer?  Are they special, i.e. abnormal?

What does this mean? I haven't heard the sessions but I hear two electric guitars and an acoustic. The electric guitars playing remind me of YSBIM & Sloop John Be. Dada had a beautiful insight about YSBIM's guitar melodies sounding like distant ice cream trucks.


5.  I still can't definitively hear that there are two electric basses on GOK after 10 years of obsessive listening to the session.  Are there?

I hear one bass, sounding like two due to the reverb.

There's no acoustic guitar on IKTAA.  There's a banjo.  The two electrics have always sounded a little off to me, wooden--much like the WIBN intro actually.  I have also heard a little of this quality in the session tape from the box set of Sloop where the guitars are just fooling around before the takes.  Perhaps it was simply a characteristic of whatever guitars these people were using to sound a certain way when run through a tube board and echo chamber.  The guitars on IKTAA are, like WIBN, exclusively 12th fret-and-above parts--so it would be conceivable that they be half-scale instruments.  Just speculation, but basically, I just want to know exactly what they were using.


The AFM sheet for GOK lists three bassists, two of which are mentioned by name during the session.  Ray Pohlman and Lyle Ritz.  Carol Kaye is listed and despite her record, she does remember being there and playing along with Ray--but I have trouble hearing it.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, there was a time 10-5 years ago that I would listen to this session for days on end trying to find two distinct pick strikes, like, say, at the end of "Mr. Tambourine Man" when you can finally hear the Dano and the Fender be not quite in synch.

If Carol is doubling Lyle with a more rounded tone, that could account for it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

The AFM sheet for GOK lists three bassists, two of which are mentioned by name during the session.  Ray Pohlman and Lyle Ritz.  Carol Kaye is listed and despite her record, she does remember being there and playing along with Ray--but I have trouble hearing it. 

Remember, back in 2000 on the Bloo, this was the session that kicked it all off between her & I: someone asked what Ray played on "GOK" and she replied "he wasn't on that session". When a few folk politely pointed out that the AFM listed him and Brian refers to him on the box set, thus her memory might be slightly at fault, she blew up. But now, she recalls playing along with him. That means she's changed her mind, and there's only one reason she does that: because it suits. My point - if the AFM sheet says she's there but there's nothing on the tapes to support that, I'd go with your ears.

[ghost]

It's time I revealed the full story.

One day, after a session, Carol tripped on LSD with Brian, Dennis, and Charles Manson. As she was coming up The Wizard began. I am you and you are me, dig. There's only one person in this room, GOD. And that's all of us, dig. Cease to exist, Carol. You are no more. Only the Infinite remains...

Since then, Carol has been unable to fully identify with her body and instead thinks she is all people at all times. She DID play on God Only Knows, because she IS Ray Pohlman et al.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

The AFM sheet for GOK lists three bassists, two of which are mentioned by name during the session.  Ray Pohlman and Lyle Ritz.  Carol Kaye is listed and despite her record, she does remember being there and playing along with Ray--but I have trouble hearing it. 

Remember, back in 2000 on the Bloo, this was the session that kicked it all off between her & I: someone asked what Ray played on "GOK" and she replied "he wasn't on that session". When a few folk politely pointed out that the AFM listed him and Brian refers to him on the box set, thus her memory might be slightly at fault, she blew up. But now, she recalls playing along with him. That means she's changed her mind, and there's only one reason she does that: because it suits. My point - if the AFM sheet says she's there but there's nothing on the tapes to support that, I'd go with your ears.

Well, she recalled playing along with him for the box set commentary she did, which predates the blowup.

We face a similar situation on "I'm waiting for the day" where she and Ray are listed but it's not entirely clear if there are two electric basses to me.

[guitarfool2002]

I'm thinking out loud: Would there be any point to having two Fender basses on a session doubling the exact same part? Probably not. Yet, as has been pointed out, we can't really hear the normal setup of one electric bass, doubled by a picked 6-string bass, do we really on those sessions? The possibility exists that it simply got mixed out, or a part was played which went unused, but I doubt that since the session tapes would reveal who was there...is there evidence of two electric basses on those session tapes, or can it be heard between takes when they're noodling around?

[guitarfool2002]

7.  Why does there seem to be such a paucity of a photographic record for Beach Boys instrumental tracking sessions?

Apart from wanting to preserve the image of a "band" hard at work in the studio, when reality found session players in that role, I'd say this topic #7 is among the most frustrating and there is no quick answer.

If certain people, family members, estates, collections, collectors, et al would open up their archives and collections, we may have more of a record available. The Smile era alone...Guy Webster, Jasper, various friends and family...we know for a fact so many photos were taken of sessions, gatherings, etc, and all we get is a few of the same groups of photos being cropped and published whenever an "official" product comes out. It's frustrating.

Hal Blaine took hundreds if not thousands of photos during his session work. That archive is perhaps the gold mine.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I'm thinking out loud: Would there be any point to having two Fender basses on a session doubling the exact same part? Probably not. Yet, as has been pointed out, we can't really hear the normal setup of one electric bass, doubled by a picked 6-string bass, do we really on those sessions? The possibility exists that it simply got mixed out, or a part was played which went unused, but I doubt that since the session tapes would reveal who was there...is there evidence of two electric basses on those session tapes, or can it be heard between takes when they're noodling around?

Yeah, the whole thing is confusing.  We know Ray is working the heavily palm-muted pick sound, since Brian calls out to him about it, and Ray noodles trying to get the bridge pre-riff just right.  But there's not much else.  In the beginning of the session, there is a bass that plays the line down an octave and sounds meatier than the set-up Ray has got going.  So what we might have is Lyle and Carol doubling the fundamental bass line, with Ray at the octave with either another Fender or a Dano.

Why do I want to know these things?  I honestly don't know.

Brian certainly did use lots of wonderful bass combinations over the years, but I can't think of too many exactly like what I've just described.  Pet Sounds alone has so many neat bass things going on, from the triple-bass fatness of the bridge in WIBN to the separate bass parts on That's Not Me or Caroline No, to whatever is happening on GOK, to however he got the god of all bass sounds, the bass line to Sloop.  That's another mystery to me.  How is a bass sound that wonderful even possible?

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Something like this is the closest I've seen to a photo of the Beach Boys recording a track with Wrecking Crew people.

[Heysaboda]

My ears have always heard the WIBN intro as an intentionally slightly out of tune harp... but that can't be right?