Actually, here's "Paperback Writer"... sung by a square wave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dutZznT_2mg

The last verse is especially bad.  It's like a human never went anywhere near it.

There is definitely some pitch correction going on but as long as it doesn't sound as obnoxious as it did on Paul McCartney's live album Good Evening New York City, I can live with it.

That record might actually feature the most appalling application of Autotune in the history of live albums, though, so we're not exactly setting the bar high here.

I have it but am too lazy to give it a listen? Off topic, but what is the best example on that album? [If it'll make me feel better about this CD]

I can't check just now, because it's the only CD I've ever returned to vendor for being too horrible to listen to.  But if you Google "good evening new york city autotune" you can find all kinds of threads all over the internet complaining about it.  The Steve Hoffman forums seem to be homing in on the first "oh yeah" in "I've Got A Feeling" as a particularly egregious example.

There is definitely some pitch correction going on but as long as it doesn't sound as obnoxious as it did on Paul McCartney's live album Good Evening New York City, I can live with it.

That record might actually feature the most appalling application of Autotune in the history of live albums, though, so we're not exactly setting the bar high here.

1996 - Stars And Stripes - an album of Beach Boys' covers; except for "I Can Hear Music", all taken from 1966 and earlier, the surf & turf era. While I'm sure a project such as this had to be cleared by the group, if you had to make an educated guess, which Beach Boy do you think worked the most behind the scenes to get this project done?

I'd guess it was the album's executive producer.  Oh, hang on.

Lovely stuff, very intimate.  Surprised he didn't do more from his new album(s); the set list was very much the same as, well, the one he normally does, but I so love to hear "Orange Crate Art" and "Delta Queen Waltz" and "FDR In Trinidad" and "Sailin' Shoes" and "The All Golden" that it would be churlish to complain.  He signed my copy of Songs Cycled at the end and was the perfect gentleman.

Also in attendance this evening: Loudon Wainwright III.

Encouraging, in that it suggests that the concerns about the state of his memory are unfounded.

http://duck.fm/The+Beach+Boys/Made+In+California

If this is the real track list, it's not quite everything I hoped for.

But yes, I agree Brian hasn't shown a big propensity for very obvious use of Autotune

I don't know, it's pretty apparent on Pet Sounds Live.  Though whether that was Brian's decision is not specified.

That's used to tune the vocal, though, not as an effect in itself.

I'd assumed that the heavy-handedness of the Autotune on TWGMTR was simply a result of an aesthetic judgement call not to let any (even tiny, or perceived) intonation issues "mar" the record, rather than a conscious artistic decision to replace the Beach Boys with robots.  The latter idea is currently putting me off my dessert.

Vinnie Colaiuta is one of the greatest living drummers, but even with the best will in the world it's hard to imagine Brian producing something that gives him space to stretch out and do his thing.  I'm intrigued, though.

But yes, I agree Brian hasn't shown a big propensity for very obvious use of Autotune

I don't know, it's pretty apparent on Pet Sounds Live.  Though whether that was Brian's decision is not specified.

This obsession with the song is getting weird. Its not like beachboys fr. has the completed 1967 Smile album, its ONE song.  

What is "Smile"?

I think that this might be my favourite post of all time.

You must not read many posts.

I've read all of yours.

And I've read all of yours.  And have enjoyed them.

Now I just don't know what to think.

This obsession with the song is getting weird. Its not like beachboys fr. has the completed 1967 Smile album, its ONE song.  

What is "Smile"?

I think that this might be my favourite post of all time.

You must not read many posts.

I've read all of yours.

This doesn't even make sense:

THE SHIRT YOU ARE BIDDING ON DEPICTS BRIAN WEARING THIS SHIRT AT UNIVERSAL AMPITHEATRE, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 4-10, 1979.

 

Wow, a recursive shirt.

This obsession with the song is getting weird. Its not like beachboys fr. has the completed 1967 Smile album, its ONE song.  

What is "Smile"?

I think that this might be my favourite post of all time.

Oh, that promo!  I've had a copy of that for years.  I didn't really think much of it until I just saw this thread.  Anyway, since everyone's so interested, here's that track.  (Incidentally, if anyone from BRI sees this and thinks I really shouldn't be sharing it, just let me know and we can hopefully reach some agreement.)

http://www.spoonfeeding.org/audio/wibntla.mp3

Shame he had such an awful end.

It really is quite a particular type of message board that responds to the news that a person of interest was ACTUALLY MURDERED with a barrage of willy jokes.

I very much miss the angry, bitter, drunken voice and piano version of "Caroline No" that Brian would definitely have recorded if he'd given up on Pet Sounds partway through the sessions and done something else instead.

Also, have you heard the bass line on Run Chico, Run? Pure sex.

That's totally appropriate for that particular tune, as Chico himself was apparently quite the ladies man,

Oh!  I thought it was just a reference to the fact that the bass line finishes a couple of minutes before the end of the song.






I've said too much.

silly opinion.

I'll let this speak for itself

I rather assumed that it did already, unless the "tongue in cheek" card is yours alone to play.

Ha, I wondered when pity would come up. You pity me all you want, my musical tastes span about 8 centuries, so believe me, I'm missing out on nothing, I was brought up on the Beatles, so I've heard about all I need to hear thanks.

Well, you quite literally are missing out, compared to somebody whose musical tastes span 8 centuries but who also likes the Beatles.  They simply enjoy more music than you do.  But I will defend to the death your right to hold this silly opinion.

Anyone with a passing interest in world-class pop music of the 1960s who can't find the whole spectrum from Giddy Pop Euphoria through to Devastating Emotional Punch (to say nothing of Mould-Breaking Innovation) in the music of BOTH the Beach Boys and the Beatles is, at the very least, missing a trick, and quite possibly also deserving of pity.

Not to derail, but they always seem to refer to every line up before Frank briefly retired the name in 1969 as "the original Mothers of Invention". There were what, 6 - 7 line ups between Freak Out! to Weasels Ripped My Flesh?

Line-ups of the "original MOI" extend into double figures if you count stage line-ups that didn't necessarily appear on record.  (By these criteria, Van Dyke Parks was an original Mother too.)

i think this came from Al Kooper (not known as a druggy so possibly more reliable than others but this was decades after the event)

You should possibly read his autobiography!

It became a trend, the whole "Baroque" sound coming into pop and rock music in the mid 60's. Once a hit record has a certain "new sound", it gets copied by others.

There may also have been an element of bands opportunistically making use of instruments that had been hired in for other musicians' sessions and which had been left in the studio.  (The Zombies are a classic example of this.)