The Smiley Smile Message Board

Has there ever been a list? I feel like I’ve asked before. Maybe I dreamed it.

I don't think he played drums much, but that's a great question!

I'd be surprised if somebody other than Brian played drums on Funky Pretty.

These are the songs that I remember that Brian plays drums on.

The Wanderer (live)
Sandy She Needs Me (?)
Funky Pretty
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
about 2/3rds of Love You (all except Good Time, Honkin' Down the Highway, Mona, I Wanna Pick You Up, Ding Dang, and The Night Was So Young)

iirc, Brian doesn't play on sandy. Another instance of him drumming is where is she (he also plays the guitar on that)

I think it is quite possibly Brian who drums on "Sandy"...the drums were overdubbed, with Dennis seemingly absent.

ah ok, didn't know that

Improbable that it's anyone other than Brian on drums, really, given the playing style, Carl busy on guitar, and the only other two people in the room being Bruce and Ron Swallow.

"Surfin" and parts of Love You

Ah yes, "Surfin'" and, of course, "Luau".

Brian's the drummer on much of Lei'd in Hawaii. Good possibility of a number of Wild Honey era tracks too, with one that he's confirmed on being Can't Wait Too Long. And of course, he's the multitasking percussionist on Diamond Head and Take a Load Off Your Feet. There are quite a few through the years. The 1962 version of Surfer Moon is a likely other.

Just to clarify the point in bold: Do you mean the Heider re-record studio sessions? I've been listening to that material for years and just assumed it was Dennis as it was on stage in August '67 for the original shows, with Brian on the Baldwin. Is there more info that has come out in recent years?

The studio sessions; Dennis didn't play or sing on any of the re-record material. Brian and Carl shared drummer duties on those, with most of it being overdubbed onto very sparse basic tracks.

Interesting! Considering how sparse Dennis' drumming (and drum setup in general) was in Hawaii, it wasn't too hard to do basic beats on a snare to remake the tracks.

Yeah, he was already basically dialling it back to exactly whatever Brian told him to do at those shows!

Most of the studio remakes were run down in an incredibly simple way, just Brian playing through the setlist on organ and Bruce providing basic guide percussion, everything else overdubbed. Then they went back to remake a few tracks and fill gaps with a slightly fuller 'band' setup. Brian's the drummer on the initial batch, with the rest presumably dotting between Brian and/or Carl.

Couple of photos.

Should note that Ron Swallow could drum and I am pretty sure (memory ain’t what it used to be) that he told me that he did so when Glen performed as opening act for the BBs in late May 1965. however that doesn’t mean that he drummed on any BBs tracks. he did, however, often add extra percussion. He was young and not bad looking and there was some talk of him taking Brian’s spot in the touring band when Glen left. But Ron did not know bass. Glen offered to teach him but they were both too busy to make it happen. 

Yeah, Ron did verifiably whack a snare drum at one session. I had no idea he actually could drum, and played drums on stage - that's fascinating if so! For a while he may as well have been the designated studio tambourineist. Suppose we shouldn't rule him out on Sandy then, but the drumming does scream of Brian's quirks to me.