"Journal Reels"

[Andrew G. Doe]

So let me get this straight. There are journal reels, potentially for things like Smile sessions, which are lost in Vietnam?

No, not for Smile. My understanding is that they went up to 1965.

[c-man]

Did someone ask for a vocals-only mix of "Dance" for personal use during the original sessions? Also, I'm thinking if this track was cut and mixed at Gold Star, it might not have been the same step-by-step process that went into mixing at Western with Chuck Britz, so maybe the process was changed just a bit to allow things like don't seem to line up with the usual recording/mixing methods?

And is there an idea what the source may have been for the session tape in question? It's been confirmed that Chuck was running a 2-track "journal reel", we know Spector did it a Gold Star - That might suggest it was as easy as dropping out the instrumental track, listening to playback of the vocal tracks, and capturing it out of the board onto one of those extra tape machines along with all the residual sounds from the session.

The basic track for "Do You Wanna Dance" was done at Gold Star, but the vocals and guitar solo were done at Western, with Chuck...the final mix, too. Your idea on the origin of the acappella mix is a sound one, and I've pondered that too over the years. Another possible explanation would be if they were using tape echo as a vocal effect, and the vocals were recorded onto that machine...I don't really hear it on that song, but maybe, unless they were able to use the record-head for that purpose without actually recording to tape...

[Shane]

Another interesting point is the fact that the background vocals on the early boot of "Please Let Me Wonder" are completely different from what ended up on the finished record.  The boot has the background vocals on the "aaaah" syllable, while the record is on the "ooooooh" syllable.  Either way, that low-fidelity tape is probably my favorite 10 minutes of music in the entire world.

[metal flake paint]

Another interesting point is the fact that the background vocals on the early boot of "Please Let Me Wonder" are completely different from what ended up on the finished record.  The boot has the background vocals on the "aaaah" syllable, while the record is on the "ooooooh" syllable.  Either way, that low-fidelity tape is probably my favorite 10 minutes of music in the entire world.

Agreed, particularly when the instruments drop out revealing those gorgeous harmonies!

[LeeDempsey]

Another interesting point is the fact that the background vocals on the early boot of "Please Let Me Wonder" are completely different from what ended up on the finished record.  The boot has the background vocals on the "aaaah" syllable, while the record is on the "ooooooh" syllable.  Either way, that low-fidelity tape is probably my favorite 10 minutes of music in the entire world.

Mine too.  But I've always wondered -- where's the high fidelity tape that the low fidelity tapes were made from?  Every copy I've ever gotten sounds like it's at least 7 or 8 generations down -- and that includes the one I got from Bob Hanes, who always had "the best."  It's almost as if the original owner ran it several times through a high-speed tape duplicator before disseminating copies.

Lee

[Iron Horse-Apples]

This may or may not be true. I met a guy in the early 90s who claimed to have worked for the BBs in the 70's. He claimed to have made copies of stuff straight from the masters. This was on cassettes. As far as I remember the PLMW tape was one of these. Perhaps he posts on here and can verify this. He lived in West London and I met him through a guy who used to front the band The Bluetones. I definitely got my copy from him.

He had stacks of cassettes, and I remember hearing stuff I havnt heard since, such as a very long tape of the Fire sessions. I was quite worse for wear though so could well be misremembering.

[Andrew G. Doe]

This may or may not be true. I met a guy in the early 90s who claimed to have worked for the BBs in the 70's. He claimed to have made copies of stuff straight from the masters. This was on cassettes. As far as I remember the PLMW tape was one of these. Perhaps he posts on here and can verify this. He lived in West London and I met him through a guy who used to front the band The Bluetones. I definitely got my copy from him.

He had stacks of cassettes, and I remember hearing stuff I havnt heard since, such as a very long tape of the Fire sessions. I was quite worse for wear though so could well be misremembering.

Initials of RJM ?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

This may or may not be true. I met a guy in the early 90s who claimed to have worked for the BBs in the 70's. He claimed to have made copies of stuff straight from the masters. This was on cassettes. As far as I remember the PLMW tape was one of these. Perhaps he posts on here and can verify this. He lived in West London and I met him through a guy who used to front the band The Bluetones. I definitely got my copy from him.

He had stacks of cassettes, and I remember hearing stuff I havnt heard since, such as a very long tape of the Fire sessions. I was quite worse for wear though so could well be misremembering.

Initials of RJM ?

I have absolutely no idea. It was a strange evening. This was '93, and he was in his 40's or 50's. He was British. That's about all I remember of him.