The Smiley Smile Message Board

Here's another preview track for our Jan Berry / Jan & Dean Tribute Album:

Blowin' My Mind (http://jananddean.proboards29.com/index.cgi?board=tribute&action=display&thread=1142180966)
(Berry - Freese - Gaines)
Carnival of Sound - 1968

Produced by
Cameron Michael Parkes and Mark A. Moore

Cameron on vocals . .

Based on Jan Berry's original music scores (transcribed and adapted).

This is still very much a rough draft . . . There are things to fix and add yet . . . but this is where we're headed.

Enjoy . . . some Jan & Dean sounds from the Psychedelic / Sunshine Pop era.

Posted for a limited time . . .

M.

Great song, and you guys did a great job with it. My only problem with it is that it sounds so digital and the synthesizers don't help. That's the main reason I didn't like most of Cameron Parkes' tribute to Brian Wilson. Is it too late for you guys to use real instruments. Sorry, I hate to be a downer but if you're going to go through all the trouble to do this tribute, you might as well do it right. It just feels synthetic. Still a great song though. I like the vocal.

By the way, on the Carnival of Sound bootleg, who sang the lead on Blowing My Mind back from '68? I can't believe it wasn't released. So good, so fucking good.

Find us a budget, and we'll hire a full orchestra. Ha! We have music charts for one and all . . .

Just understand that this project is about highlighting the original arrangements, as they are written, from the '60s, note-for-note. We're using high-quality samples for our brass, woodwinds, etc. . . . the same stuff often used for film and television.

I have the original sources for this stuff . . . so we're trying to give people a sense of what the parts sound like with modern production.

This is crucial for Jan's legacy . . . the parts are still authentic. With Carnival of Sound, the acetates and bootlegs are of poor quality.

But yeah . . . live brass and woodwind players would be sweet.

M.

That would be the Rhinestone Cowboy himself, Glen Campbell.

It's great you guys are doing this project, keeping the spirit of Jan & Dean alive.

Very nice. I need to listen to the original to compare it (I do have it) but it sounds very good. I do agree about the production being too synthy or whatever, but the song itself is well done.

Well, there are a lot of different versions of "Blowin' MY Mind," as Jan and his team experimented a lot with this tune. For our version, we took the original music charts, and assembled the version that features the "ba-ba" vocal harmonies . . . together with the brass and woodwinds, straight from the charts.

With Jan Berry . . .  brass, woodwinds, and strings are a major part of the arrangements. And we have to use samples for those, because hiring such players is a budget problem. Asking music school students to participate is a good idea, but logistically, it's a nightmare.

We're highlighting the authentic arrangements, and individual parts . . . so for the purpose of this project, listeners can at least hear the brass parts, etc., in a clearer way . . . as opposed to the poor quality of the Carnival acetates and bootlegs.

M.

God, I just can´t stop listening to this piece of music. Mark, thank you very much for all the hard work.

I got the original version from that thread on the old board....

It's too bad it's not Dead Man's Curve-quality. That's such a great recording.

Yeah, that's "a" version . . . but not necessarily the original. There were a bunch of takes and experiments.

Our version is from an alternate take of the Warner Bros. 45 version . . . which combines the brass and woodwinds with the "ba-ba" harmonies. (We'll also be adding a muted bass to double the bass line . . . which will give it more presence, "a la" 'Sloop John B').

If I remember correctly, the version posted online was the one with the heavier lead guitar. Some versions had crazy sound effects, etc.

M.

The lead guitar on that version makes the song rock.  Without it, it's just...pop.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Yeah, the electric guitar version is a cool one . . .  They have different twists. But the 12-string riffs in the other takes . . . in the opening, and in the bridge . . . are really catchy. The feel of the song definitely changes from version to version.

M.