Carl On Keyboard

[Pretty Funky]

There is a new video of the Beach Boys playing 'All This Is That' in 1994. I know this should be under the Media heading but Carl is on keyboard!!!

[the captain]

Um, people might find this useful...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6BDeIegBN60


I don't know that Carl plunking out the chords on a keyboard is why it's worth getting excited about, though. After all, he played keyboards at times live in the past, and it isn't like his fingers had fallen off by '93 or '94. If it's worth getting excited (and I'm not sure it is), it's for Al's kid's (I dont' know which one that is) rendition of what was once Carl's falsetto ending.

[Aegir]

I think Carl is playing keyboard because there is no guitar in the song. Note Al playing tambourine.

[Jonas]

Who cares what he's excited about? Let him freakin be, man.

[c-man]

Carl played electric piano quite a bit in the early '70s, in fact I think several of the tracks on the "In Concert" album include his keyboard playing:  "Sail On Sailor", "The Trader", maybe "Leaving This Town" and "We Got Love".  In those days he also played the e.piano on "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" when they did those live, and probably "Woinderful".  Bruce posted somewhere that Carl was playing keyboard on "Wonderful" in '93.  

In the Largo MD 1977 and Melbourne AUSTRL 1978 videos, Carl plays e.piano on "Feel Flows" and "All This Is That", but I believe Al was playing guitar on both of those back then.

[the captain]

Who cares what he's excited about? Let him freakin be, man.

Yes sir. But note that I'm just disagreeing, not fighting, name-calling, threatening him or anything. Hope that's OK with you.

[Loaf]

Thanks for alerting me to this. I love the song and it's a very nice version.

I love the Jardine family pipes. I am looking forward to Al's solo album.

[adamghost]

Carl had an interesting approach to keyboard, too...he did his left hand notes almost like a karate chop on the keyboard.  His right hand clusters were really dense.  He liked using these weird passive voicings like 6ths and added 2nds which made a lot of his material sound very soft focus and woozy.  It's cool.

[the captain]

Carl had an interesting approach to keyboard, too...he did his left hand notes almost like a karate chop on the keyboard.  His right hand clusters were really dense.  He liked using these weird passive voicings like 6ths and added 2nds which made a lot of his material sound very soft focus and woozy.  It's cool.

I always wondered if his keyboard voicings were inspired by Brian's work specifically on Surf's Up. That sort of sound seems to have permeated his parts, esp in those early 70s songs.

[c-man]

Carl had an interesting approach to keyboard, too...he did his left hand notes almost like a karate chop on the keyboard.  His right hand clusters were really dense.  He liked using these weird passive voicings like 6ths and added 2nds which made a lot of his material sound very soft focus and woozy.  It's cool.

I always wondered if his keyboard voicings were inspired by Brian's work specifically on Surf's Up. That sort of sound seems to have permeated his parts, esp in those early 70s songs.

Well, you're probably right about that...I don't think Carl played much keyboard until the "Surf's Up" album, and while "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" may have been written and recorded before the decision to resurrect "Surf's Up", I think Carl may have really gotten into that particular style by learning that song on electric piano, since that's the instrument he played on the live version.  That in turn may have influenced him in his keyboard playing on "All This Is That" and "The Trader", for instance.

[the captain]

He definitely plays that same block chord style that Brian does. (The style of the non-keyboard player?) But his chord choices really reflect his big brother.

[adamghost]

The block style is definitely similar...but his chord choices are a little different from Brian's.  They're alike in the use of weird bass roots, but Carl's right hand chords tended to be kind of clustered together in a distinctive way.  It's not like Brian never played like that, but he tended to use broader voicings.

"Long Promised Road" is one of the most complicated songs I've ever learned.  It makes absolutely no sense until you figure out how Carl voiced it.  Then you realize he's just moving his hand around and making certain shapes with his hands.  It has less to do with any kind of chord theory and more about a certain kind of internal logic that you'd hit on if you were a non-player.  It's hard to explain without actually playing it.  Let's just say that, coming at it from being a more trained keyboardist, it was REALLY hard to memorize.

I've been told that all three of the Wilsons (Dennis to a lesser extent) could basically pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in a fairly short time.

[Emdeeh]

Weren't the Wilson brothers and David Marks taught to play piano by Audree? Maybe her playing style had some influence.

[c-man]

The block style is definitely similar...but his chord choices are a little different from Brian's.  They're alike in the use of weird bass roots, but Carl's right hand chords tended to be kind of clustered together in a distinctive way.  It's not like Brian never played like that, but he tended to use broader voicings.

"Long Promised Road" is one of the most complicated songs I've ever learned.  It makes absolutely no sense until you figure out how Carl voiced it.  Then you realize he's just moving his hand around and making certain shapes with his hands.  It has less to do with any kind of chord theory and more about a certain kind of internal logic that you'd hit on if you were a non-player.  It's hard to explain without actually playing it.  Let's just say that, coming at it from being a more trained keyboardist, it was REALLY hard to memorize.

I've been told that all three of the Wilsons (Dennis to a lesser extent) could basically pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in a fairly short time.

Adam, regarding what you just said about "Long Promised Road"...it's eerie that Don Was said virtually the same thing about "Til I Die".  He was freaked out that it was in no exact key whatsoever, so he asked Brian how in the world he wrote it.  Brian told him he just put his hands on the piano in certain geometric shapes that he liked, and those became the chords of the song.  Was wasn't sure if he was kidding or serious, but was afraid to ask him.

And what you said about the brothers being able to learn any instrument...haven't people like Hanlon said Dennis was actually pretty good at that?

[Pretty Funky]

Hey thanks for the informative posts.
No I was just surprised to see a tune I never new was played live (sorry Eric) but more so seeing Carl in the 90s on keys.
As the old saying goes...You learn something every day.


Another version from 78.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wICop7517tQ

[c-man]

Hey thanks for the informative posts.
No I was just surprised to see a tune I never new was played live (sorry Eric) but more so seeing Carl in the 90s on keys.
As the old saying goes...You learn something every day.


Another version from 78.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wICop7517tQ

I actually saw Carl play keyboards live at a concert in 1987.  It was in the encore...on "Wipe Out".

[adamghost]

The block style is definitely similar...but his chord choices are a little different from Brian's.  They're alike in the use of weird bass roots, but Carl's right hand chords tended to be kind of clustered together in a distinctive way.  It's not like Brian never played like that, but he tended to use broader voicings.

"Long Promised Road" is one of the most complicated songs I've ever learned.  It makes absolutely no sense until you figure out how Carl voiced it.  Then you realize he's just moving his hand around and making certain shapes with his hands.  It has less to do with any kind of chord theory and more about a certain kind of internal logic that you'd hit on if you were a non-player.  It's hard to explain without actually playing it.  Let's just say that, coming at it from being a more trained keyboardist, it was REALLY hard to memorize.

I've been told that all three of the Wilsons (Dennis to a lesser extent) could basically pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in a fairly short time.

Adam, regarding what you just said about "Long Promised Road"...it's eerie that Don Was said virtually the same thing about "Til I Die".  He was freaked out that it was in no exact key whatsoever, so he asked Brian how in the world he wrote it.  Brian told him he just put his hands on the piano in certain geometric shapes that he liked, and those became the chords of the song.  Was wasn't sure if he was kidding or serious, but was afraid to ask him.

And what you said about the brothers being able to learn any instrument...haven't people like Hanlon said Dennis was actually pretty good at that?

Right...but careful, I think you may have missed a nuance.  I said all three Wilson brothers could learn just about any instrument, just Dennis to a lesser degree.  But I did include him.  That's from a longtime friend of Dennis'.  Also I also said Brian did sometimes play the same way Carl did, but that particular "crushed" style of playing wasn't peculiar to Brian.  It's really just a question of how spread out your hand is.  It probably wasn't a distinction worth making, but Carl's particular style, from what I've been able to glean, was really peculiar to him, even though there were some similarities to Brian's.

[c-man]

Understood.

[Jon Stebbins]

Emdeeh's right, Audree taught them all how to play very early on...although Brian always cites his dad. But David Marks witnessed Audree showing the Wilson boys(and himself) how to boogie-woogie on the keys. Its a very distinct style...and tons of BB's songs are based on it.

[Jay]

The block style is definitely similar...but his chord choices are a little different from Brian's.  They're alike in the use of weird bass roots, but Carl's right hand chords tended to be kind of clustered together in a distinctive way.  It's not like Brian never played like that, but he tended to use broader voicings.

"Long Promised Road" is one of the most complicated songs I've ever learned.  It makes absolutely no sense until you figure out how Carl voiced it.  Then you realize he's just moving his hand around and making certain shapes with his hands.  It has less to do with any kind of chord theory and more about a certain kind of internal logic that you'd hit on if you were a non-player.  It's hard to explain without actually playing it.  Let's just say that, coming at it from being a more trained keyboardist, it was REALLY hard to memorize.

I've been told that all three of the Wilsons (Dennis to a lesser extent) could basically pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in a fairly short time.

You do realise that now that you've posted about this, you MUST upload a video of you playing Long Promised Road on YouTube, right? 

[c-man]

And not only that, but WHEN can we expect a DVD of "Long Promised Road" (not just the song, but "Long Promised Road:  Songs of Dennis & Carl Wilson")?