"Marcella" coda: trippiest thing ever?

[Mr. Cohen]

I was really listening to the coda of "Marcella" today, and wow... what a ridiculously crazy arrangement. The main lines, for example, have this crazy echo effect that reminds me of what it sounds like when I play with delay that alters pitch (basically meaning that each echo has a different pitch) - but Brian Wilson was doing this a;; in his head! Then we get a counter-melody with the "lost in a haze" vocal, which is echoed shortly after by a lower "haaazzzeee" vocal that eventually launches into its own brief, syncopated melody. 

Brian, somehow worried the listener still might get bored, adds in a nice "doobie-doobie-doo" on the end of the vocal round and gives Mike a nice lead-in bass vocal with the "well, she put..." line. And as if that's not enough, the lower "haze" vocal breaks from the higher part it once echoed and simply syncopates throughout each vocal round. He adds a few quick vocal ad-libs on top of that and finally calls it day.

All I can say is... holy cow! This vocal arrangement is every bit as complex as the arrangement in the chorus of "Cabinessence", but now it's in the context of a groovy hippie love song. Listening to it, it's obvious Brian Wilson could've been Philip Glass or something if he'd wanted, at least when it comes to vocal arrangements. That's some talent.

[Loaf]

I agree with your great summation. And to top it off, it's a song about a masseuse! Brilliant.

The Marcella coda is one of my all-time top 5 favourite Beach Boys' moments, and it shows that even by 1972 the Boys were still on the absolute top of their game in terms of vocals and arrangements. Some of this continued into Holland, but after that these fully-realised moments of beauty fizzled out and were left to Dennis alone to carry on the flame (no pun intended).

It's a shame that the Boys couldn't keep going with this complex, intricate, mature type of song.

[SMiLE Brian]

Great songs like this one hint at the glory for the BBs in the 1970s if Brian was still fully functioning as band leader/producer.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Do we know if Brian arranged it, or Carl?

[Cabinessenceking]

Marcella is a great song which suffered due to the production. Not saying it is bad, just not what it could've been. If there was one song with hit potential on C&P it was Marcella, very catchy, very relevant for the time in terms of lyrics, the right lenght, and there was an audience for it given that the SU album had charted not too badly just a few months earlier. I think the intro brings it down. The live intro worked far, far better. Also there shoulda been more gritty guitar in it. It is a song about a woman (prostitute?) and sex anyway so I really wonder why they pushed for You Need A Mess Of Help  as the main single when this beauty was there for the making. Brian wrote the song they needed and they screwed it up somehow. The same goes for YNAMOHTSA, the production on that piece was lacking in the same way Marcella lacked something. The inconsistency in C&P coulda been overlooked if both these songs were the true rockers they were supposed to be.

The coda for Marcella is truly fantastic tho!

[I. Spaceman]

It is about a masseuse.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

What's so bad about the production exactly?

I know the "In Concert" version is much punchier and grooves better but...... Wait, did I just answer my own question?

[Cabinessenceking]

What's so bad about the production exactly?

I know the "In Concert" version is much punchier and grooves better but...... Wait, did I just answer my own question?

Imagine it being like the In Concert version with more Brianesque funny noises on top, perhaps even a horn or something or maybe a few moog notes? The potential was there...

[runnersdialzero]

funny noises

[lee]

I love the In Concert version but get pretty bored with the studio version. Always felt Darlin' and Wild Honey were much stronger live than the studio recordings as well.

[Jukka]

I hate to say it, but I guess Carl dropped the ball here. I mean, he was the main producer guy, they were his passions. With CATP and especially Marcella he failed to deliver. The arrangement is full of beautiful ideas, but it lacks the punch that Brian's 60's productions had, even the lesser ones. A rock song that doesn't rock doesn't do it's job.

[anazgnos]

It is about a masseuse.

Right, a "masseuse".

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Agree that Marcella is catchy enough but a real missed opportunity and no outright classic. Between Surf's Up and Holland (both of which are great!) something definately went temporarily AWOL. CATP doesn't really come properly alive until the final three tracks.

[runnersdialzero]

It is about a masseuse.

Right, a "masseuse".

Yeah, a DICK MASSEUSE. HA HA HA HAH AH AHS*Idgj

Anyone who doesn't get the joke, feel free to PM me.

[Dave Modny]

Absolutely love Marcella. Really like CATP. Have no problems at all with the production -- with either the former or the latter. Would also agree that the live version on In Concert is about as close to The Stones as the band ever got. A different vibe from the studio version but great nonetheless. I have a similar feeling regarding The Association's Dubuque Blues -- studio and live album versions.

But...that's just me.

[Don Malcolm]

Has anyone ever been able to determine exactly why BBs went with "Mess of Help" instead of "Marcella" as the first single? Was this a Carl-Reiley decision? Did they think "Marcella" was somehow too reminiscent of the old sound, or what?

Don't get me wrong...I don't agree with those who are dissing the production values on these tracks. "Mess of Help" is a fave of mine, but the idea that this would be the first single off a new LP is, well, stretching the rubber band to either its breaking point or to the extent where all the elasticity has been pulled out of it. "Mess of Help" literally screams "deep cut," or at most second single. Even at the time many of us wondered why they didn't just go for it with "Marcella"--there was GREAT advance buzz in the rock press over it. I can remember Billy Altman (among others) just drooling over it after having heard it during the sessions.

And agree with you, Dave--both versions of "Marcella" are simply great--the band really cooks it on In Concert, but the coda doesn't have the droning intricacy of the studio recording. A thing of wonder to this very day.

[Jay]

We need an acapella mix of this song.    Is there one available?

[Ted]

"Mess of Help" literally screams "deep cut," or at most second single.

When's that? Is it buried in the mix or something?

[I. Spaceman]

It is about a masseuse.

Right, a "masseuse".

Hey, it was the 70's. Too bad Bambi Woods didn't play her in a flick.

[Mr. Cohen]

Jack Rieley wrote in one of his infamous message board posts that the Beach Boys used some fancy new synthesizer to augment the bass sound on "Marcella", but then mixed it way too low. I'm inclined to agree, and think the blame for this probably lies at Brian Wilson's feet. I don't know why, but after Smile, he really started to bury some of the instrumental parts - particularly the guitars - in the mix. On "Breakaway", for example, you pretty much can't make out the distinct parts the guitars are playing. On songs like "Add Some Music", or the chorus of "Marcella" (not the coda), the effect is that the song practically sounds a cappella.

I'm not entirely sure why Brian does that, though. Is it a lack of confidence? Or did feedback from guys like Carl and Al lead him in that direction? I know when Al produced MIU, he did the same thing, and Carl did sort of take over the production reins around the the time of 20/20. Who knows?

[Bill Ed]

I think the production on Marcella is about the coolest thing they have ever done. I much prefer it to the overwrought live version. Overall, I think Carl & the Passions was a well-produced album, though I'm not wild about some of the material which sounds out of place on a Beach Boys album.

[Russ_B66]

I like that coda. Any decent song about a massuse should have a happy ending.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I like that coda. Any decent song about a massuse should have a happy ending.

 

 

[Awesoman]

I like that coda. Any decent song about a massuse should have a happy ending.

...zing!!!

[Ron]

I like all those crazy endings to songs Brian does, even some of the less impressive ones.  For instance, 'Airplane".  Completely makes the song better.  Even his later stuff he still has that gift, the end of "Fairy Tale" is phenomenal. 

One of his best gifts.  I guess the Coda really works as an area that he can do whatever he wants... and since it doesnt' last too long he can make it as overdone or wildly create as he wants to without it hurting the song. 

BTW, he did it... AGAIN... on "From there to back again".