The Smiley Smile Message Board

so I wanted to know the mystery behind the "Mistake" made in the live version of "Graduation Day",,first off was it a real mistake or was it done in fun (as a joke), also which one of the boys is singing it? I don't think I need to say what "Mistake" I'm talking about, it's pretty obvious....lol....

That's Dennis pulling a joke. Actually that's one of my favorite moments in the BB's library because it feels like Dennis was trying to bring some humor and rock and roll into what was being presented as a "serious" musical moment, and I love how it played out.

On the unaltered recording the other guys are clearly cracking up...

cool.... thanks.. for some reason I was thinking it was Dennis but I wasn't sure..it seemed like his personality.

He does it on both performances on Sacramento 1964 though, so it may have not been that spontaneous. The other boys laughing is actually on the second show, so either that's staged or they didn't notice the first time around. It's a fun moment to hear anyway, and I imagine Dennis standing up from his drum stool and spreading his arms like a crooner when I hear him doing that. :)

Would be a good question for the next Q&A: Did Dennis always do that?

It's also possible that it was quite staged and that they did it many times and that at the second show they were laughing not at him doing the vocal per se, but at some gesture he made or something else, related or unrelated, that we can't see.

P.S., I've always thought this is by far the best thing on the Concert album and much more fun to listen to than the studio version.

I always got the impression that the rest of the guys held back while Dennis hit the note, as rehearsed, right on time...then they laughed their arses off 'cause 'it' worked.  Funny enough, in fact, that they would then 'do it' to him again.

Could be wrong but I thinky they all made Denny the brunt of the joke there.  Humour was always a part of the group back when they were all gettin' along.  [in spite of Murry and HIS crap]

I'm sure I have read about this in the last few weeks in an old Brian interview. Unlikely to remember where but definitely staged!

When they did the song in the "campfire" scenes of the 1989 variety show, someone in the group mentioned how Dennis used to do that.

On a similar note... I've often wondered about Dennis's stumble on his spoken interlude on the Christmas Album. Surely that WAS an error and needed a retake ?

I never got the impression that was a mistake at all.

Dennis says " if you hap...happen to be listening to this record right now."  Wouldn't you have to be listening to the record to hear him?

Which leads to the story of the first time Jeff Foskett met Dennis, shortly after he was hired by The Beach Boys. Jeff introduces himself and says to Dennis, "I love your part on Auld Lang Syne." Without hesitation, Dennis replies, "You're fired."

For some reason, I used to think it was Carl on extended "daaaaay". Then I thought better of it & it can't be anyone but Dennis, indeed. Him sitting alone & far back, no one to guide him secretly when finish the line.

Oh, man, you're leaving out the witty parts. :)

That's pretty much what I heard. The meeting place: airport terminal. It was NYE or New Year's Day, I think. Dennis was sleeping off the prior night's activities. Jeff had a cassette player with him. He introduced himself to Dennis and said he loved the music, etc. He said, "How about this old one?" and hit play on the cassette, and it was "Auld Lang Syne." Dennis's response: "How about this old one: you're fired." and rolled back over to resume his sleep.

I guess I heard Jeff tell the abbreviated version or maybe I just forgot the details.  :) Great story though! Jeff's a funny guy.