Brian the instrumentalist...

[c-man]

To answer a few of the questions above...

I believe Al is playing bass on "Wendy", as he did on most cuts from '63 and '64 that have Brian playing piano and/or organ.  The basic track seems to be Brian on piano, Carl on guitar, Al on bass, Dennis on drums, with organ & more guitar overdubbed.


Dennis Dragon is the drummer on "Slip On Through" (according to Desper's book, in which he also says the drums on that song were recorded outdoors, probably on the deck outside the home studio). 

The basic track for "Raspberries & Strawberries" was played by session musicians:
Stan Levey - drums (I only remember them being being used very minimally on the record)
Mort Klanfer - bass
James Burton - guitar
David Cohen - guitar (including 2 "doubles")
Carl Fortina - accordian (or concertina)
Jay Migliori - probably flute
David Sherr - probably oboe, maybe flute

Mort Klanfer played electric bass as well as string bass in his career, so perhaps he played both here, with the string bass being mostly mixed out.

[CosmicDancer]

Thanks for clearing up the drummer on Slip On Through.  I have always wondered who it was.  Kudos to Daryl Dragon for that one!  I have always loved the drums on that song and it is a fairly difficult part.  On the verses, the drums sound a little "inside out" yet it still fits so well.  Awesome!!!

[c-man]

Thanks for clearing up the drummer on Slip On Through.  I have always wondered who it was.  Kudos to Daryl Dragon for that one!  I have always loved the drums on that song and it is a fairly difficult part.  On the verses, the drums sound a little "inside out" yet it still fits so well.  Awesome!!!

DENNIS Dragon, you mean... 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Thanks for the replies!

Re: At My Window: When I said organ, I was thinking of the instrument that plays the intro - is that something else again? Is it a mellotron, or not even a keyboard at all?

Sounds like a flute to me.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

It is a flute. A mellotron sounds nothing like a flute.

[Uncomfortable Seat]

It is a flute. A mellotron sounds nothing like a flute.

What does a mellotron sound like?

[the captain]

It can sound like several things--it used tape loops, sort of a cross between an organ, synth and sampler. The most famous example is probably the intro to Strawberry Fields Forever. (I wouldn't say it sounds NOTHING like a flute...)

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Considering the Mellotron is playing actual tapes from a flute, I would say it sounds very much like a flute.  Yet not.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Okay, I stand corrected.

[Uncomfortable Seat]

Okay, now tell me what a Hohner Pianet N, a celeste, and a clavioline sound like - just kidding, sorry!

[the captain]

a celeste

That one's easy. Listen to the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning."

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Alright...good to know!  So...the piano and organ must've been overdubbed?  On the finished track, I hear piano, organ, bass, drums, percussion (temple blocks or plastic orange cups ala "God Only Knows"), and 12-string electric guitar (plus horns, overdubbed later).   What does the basic track you described sound like?  Is it pretty sparse without the piano, organ, and "cup" percussion"?  Do the ukulele and clavinet survive to the finished product in a way that's not obvious ('cause I sure never noticed them before), or is for instance the line I always assumed was a 12-string guitar in fact the clavinet (y'now, the part in the wordless bridge before the final chorus)?  I'm dying to know! 

If Badman is correct with the date of this song being the same as that for "Susie Cincinnati", then perhaps the lineup on THAT song actually has Bruce on clavinet (instead of Daryl), Daryl on bass (instead of Brian, as you said), Brian on harmonica (as the credits say), Dennis Dragon on drums (as the credits say), along with Carl & Al on guitars (as the credits say)....On the "Susie" tape, can you tell who's playing clavinet?  Is the harmonica live on the basic?  Again...I'm dying to know! 

OK, responding to this now...here's the tracksheets and/or console tape from Good Time:

GOOD TIME
1 - drums
2 - drums
3 - bass
4 - clv
5 - clv
6 - harmonica
7 - uki
8 - blocks
9 - organ
10 - gtr
11 - high hat - lead o/d
12 - horns
13 - horns
14 - lead
15 - bg
16 - bg

As far as I can tell, they only were using the first 7 tracks for the basic session.  The basic session is pretty darn sparse at times.  I seem to remember that they had some issues keeping the tempo together at first.  The uke is on the final mix but incredibly low.  It plays little upbeat chords on the verses.  The clavinet is very prominent, and in fact I think what you are thinking of as organ is actually the clavinet.  I think an actual organ doubles the clavinet at times, but it doesn't help that the clavinet is played through a leslie, I think.


Susie Basic:

1 - drums left
2 - drums right
3 - bass
4 - Al gtr
5 - piano left
6 - piano right

Can't seem to find a full tracksheet from the final version.  As for the basic track, Al is definitely the only guitar.  It seems very much that Bruce is on Piano, although the piano is mixed incredibly lower than it appears on the final mix to the point of near-inaudibility.  No harmonica, Brian certainly is not in the live room and possibly not even there.  Doesn't seem to be any clavinet on there, though I have seen another tracksheet that has it listed as track 7 and 8 in addition to the above list.  That's about all there is to say about it...it's real stripped down, featuring Al's uh, visceral rhythm guitar.  That guitar, btw, seems to have been completely replaced in the final version.

[CosmicDancer]

Thanks for clearing up the drummer on Slip On Through.  I have always wondered who it was.  Kudos to Daryl Dragon for that one!  I have always loved the drums on that song and it is a fairly difficult part.  On the verses, the drums sound a little "inside out" yet it still fits so well.  Awesome!!!

DENNIS Dragon, you mean... 

Right    Sorry 'bout that!

[matt-zeus]

I have some mellotron samples myself and I would say that the beginning of 'At my window' sounds just like a mellotron flute noise.
I'd love to hear the backing track for this, to me it sounds very early-Genesis like, the combinations of acoustics (12 strings or not?) and piano chiming together are very similar to the sounds of Genesis Trespass album from 1970. I don't imagine that either band heard the others record though (though Tony Banks was a Beach Boys fan so he might have heard it, though they had been using that sound for a while).

[c-man]

Alright...good to know!  So...the piano and organ must've been overdubbed?  On the finished track, I hear piano, organ, bass, drums, percussion (temple blocks or plastic orange cups ala "God Only Knows"), and 12-string electric guitar (plus horns, overdubbed later).   What does the basic track you described sound like?  Is it pretty sparse without the piano, organ, and "cup" percussion"?  Do the ukulele and clavinet survive to the finished product in a way that's not obvious ('cause I sure never noticed them before), or is for instance the line I always assumed was a 12-string guitar in fact the clavinet (y'now, the part in the wordless bridge before the final chorus)?  I'm dying to know! 

If Badman is correct with the date of this song being the same as that for "Susie Cincinnati", then perhaps the lineup on THAT song actually has Bruce on clavinet (instead of Daryl), Daryl on bass (instead of Brian, as you said), Brian on harmonica (as the credits say), Dennis Dragon on drums (as the credits say), along with Carl & Al on guitars (as the credits say)....On the "Susie" tape, can you tell who's playing clavinet?  Is the harmonica live on the basic?  Again...I'm dying to know! 

OK, responding to this now...here's the tracksheets and/or console tape from Good Time:

GOOD TIME
1 - drums
2 - drums
3 - bass
4 - clv
5 - clv
6 - harmonica
7 - uki
8 - blocks
9 - organ
10 - gtr
11 - high hat - lead o/d
12 - horns
13 - horns
14 - lead
15 - bg
16 - bg

As far as I can tell, they only were using the first 7 tracks for the basic session.  The basic session is pretty darn sparse at times.  I seem to remember that they had some issues keeping the tempo together at first.  The uke is on the final mix but incredibly low.  It plays little upbeat chords on the verses.  The clavinet is very prominent, and in fact I think what you are thinking of as organ is actually the clavinet.  I think an actual organ doubles the clavinet at times, but it doesn't help that the clavinet is played through a leslie, I think.


Susie Basic:

1 - drums left
2 - drums right
3 - bass
4 - Al gtr
5 - piano left
6 - piano right

Can't seem to find a full tracksheet from the final version.  As for the basic track, Al is definitely the only guitar.  It seems very much that Bruce is on Piano, although the piano is mixed incredibly lower than it appears on the final mix to the point of near-inaudibility.  No harmonica, Brian certainly is not in the live room and possibly not even there.  Doesn't seem to be any clavinet on there, though I have seen another tracksheet that has it listed as track 7 and 8 in addition to the above list.  That's about all there is to say about it...it's real stripped down, featuring Al's uh, visceral rhythm guitar.  That guitar, btw, seems to have been completely replaced in the final version.

Thanks!  Does the bass guitar on the basic track seem to be the one used in the final mix?  Just wondering if maybe Brian's credit on the "15 Big Ones" sleeve is b/c he retracked it later...not real likely, but just wondering. 

[John]

I have some mellotron samples myself and I would say that the beginning of 'At my window' sounds just like a mellotron flute noise.

That's what I thought. It didn't sound like a flute to me, it sounded like a flutey organ or a mellotron on flute setting.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Thanks!  Does the bass guitar on the basic track seem to be the one used in the final mix?  Just wondering if maybe Brian's credit on the "15 Big Ones" sleeve is b/c he retracked it later...not real likely, but just wondering.

It's definitely the same bassline, wasn't re-tracked.

I have some mellotron samples myself and I would say that the beginning of 'At my window' sounds just like a mellotron flute noise.

That's what I thought. It didn't sound like a flute to me, it sounded like a flutey organ or a mellotron on flute setting.

I guarantee you it's two flutes.

[John]

Fair enough.

[adamghost]

I LOVE this thread!  Just posting to keep it on the front page.

AGD -- any other Brian performances on guitar that we know of?  Is the "Breakaway" guitar part the prominent acoustic?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Not to my knowledge - no, yes, there is: he plays guitar on "After The Game" according to Bob Norburg.

[Aegir]

I think Brian's guitar part on Breakaway is the lead.

[HighOnLife]

Desper said that the piano and guitar Brian laid down for Breakaway is on the 'same side'.