The Smiley Smile Message Board

I've had this song for a while. Can someone, preferably AGD, give me the background behind it? Was it written by Murry? And when was it recorded? And despite what I have read, is it really Brian and Carl sharing the lead? Sounds like kinda, but no sure. Thanks in advance.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's both of them....I think it's from 68-69 era

I first heard this song a couple of weeks ago. I really like that little vocal intro. I wonder if Murry wrote that alone or if he had help from Brian.

written by Murry, demoed 8/24/71 for the Beach Boys at Sunset Sound Recorders Studio B by Rick Henn, Marty DiGiovanni, Don Ralke and Ray Pohlman. Dennis helped with the arrangement and provided backing vocals. No other Beach Boys participated.

It's a Sunrays song, or rather a post-Sunrays demo cut by Rick Henn (at Sunset 8/24/71) as a demo for the BB - according to the liners of the 3CD Vintage Rays set, Dennis is on backing vocals/assistant on arrangement.

The composer credit is just "Wilson" - I strongly suspect Murry. Exactly how Carl & Brian got on to the track that's been booted is a damn fine question.

[oh well, now you got it in stereo.  ;D  Interesting that Rick & Brian would very soon be working on the Spring album...]

The date on the 2" master for "Won't You Tell Me" is 6/19/71.... and the mixdown tape (“Brian and Carl up, backgrounds down, mix 1”) is dated 8/24/71.

Thanks for that - looks like the author of the liner notes was either misinformed or misread the documentation. Easily done.

On the version I have, the engineer says "Brian and Carl up, take 1", and I can clearly hear both Brian and Carl singing.

I don't quite follow exactly who is singing this one. In the stereo version the lead is Rick Henn and I only really hear brian and carl at the end. But the acetate version seems to be Brian and maybe Carl. Can anyone clear this up?

I was always under the assumption that after Rick Henn, Dennis & co recorded the demo for Murry, Carl & Brian then added their vocals at a later date to give it a 'Beach Boys' involvement ...

But why?  Was it being considered for a Beach Boys album?  Or was it just to make Murry happy?

It was suppose to be for the Sunrays I think.

which is why it doesnt make sense that brian and carl would be on it. there must have been some reason to record it, and i'm assuming not for the sunrays if brian and carl (and dennis supposedly) are on it.

There were no Sunrays in 1971! As AGD wrote: "Won´t You Tell Me" is a post-Sunrays demo cut by Rick Henn as a demo for the Beach Boys.

To quote Rick Henn from the liners of the 3CD "Vintage Rays" set (the liners are credited to Stephen McParland btw):

Murry wrote "Won´t You Tell Me" for the Beach Boys a few years after the Sunrays broke up and asked me if I would arrange it for him and cut a demo. After I finished working out the band and vocal arrangement we booked a session for Sunset Sound in Hollywood. Just as we began cutting the tracks who showed up but his son, Dennis Wilson. My immediate thought was "Oh god, here we go; he´s going to move in and start changing charts and this and that and make my life miserable." Quite to my surprise and relief he was very gracious and simply said: "Gee Rick I love the chords, I like what you´re doing with the bass line, but I want to try something." Here´s what he did:
He had us record some guitars and piano rolling chords down one octave than usual with the tape machine at half speed and than when we played it back at normal speed, it shot everything back up an octave and gave it kind of a shimmering mandolin/string, bowed tremolo effect in the background. When Murry heard it, he went through the roof; he just loved it. He was proud of what his son had done for this song. Then Dennis, Marty DiGiovanni, Don Ralke and Ray Pohlman and myself went on to do the vocals. *) The whole thing was a real celebration of love and friendship. Murry poured his heart out writing that song because at the time he was worried for his sons because they were having trouble getting a chart record. I remember Carl listening to it a couple of days later when we were mixing it down in Studio A at Goldstar and he said: "Wow...you really got it for my dad...good going Rick." It may not have been a hit song but there was this real nice feeling surrounding that tune.

*) which of course is nonsense; "the vocals were done by Marty, Don & myself (Rick Henn)". Read the original interview in Stephen McParland´s magazine California Music (CM 74, 1988).

Ah thanks for clearing that up!!

Which still doesn't explain why there's a version with (allegedly) Brian & Carl on vocals.

Where is this version?

It's on Get the Boot.

Okay, so let me see if I have this straight.  The acetate version on Get The Boot ("Brian and Carl up, take 1") is Brian and Carl (obviously). 

But there's another version, in stereo, that sounds like its sourced from tape.  Its on a boot called the Sea of Tunes "All This Is That".  It doesn't have the engineer announcement at the beginning... is that the version with Rick Henn and company singing?  I don't have the Vintage Rays set, so I've never heard that... is this the same recording as what's on the boxed set?  The vocals sound very similar on the two versions I've heard, but I don't think they're 100% the same.

I haven't listened to this song for a while, but if I recall correctly the version on the All This Is That boot is just a stereo mix of the 'Brian and Carl version' of the song.

Mikey is right, those two are the same version