The Smiley Smile Message Board

Okay, what BB songs through out the years feature Brian playing something other than piano (other than on the first album)? I'm trying to compile a complete list. I know he played drums on Funky Pretty...is that the only song he did so on? Love You...I've never gotten a straight story on that. Some say Brian, some say Dennis. I know this will likely turn into a large list, but since there's a vocal credits thread, I figured this might prove interesting. Didn't somebody say Brian played guitar on a track or two, too?

Brian drummed on Surfin using a box I think. Probably played bass on much of the first three or four albums. The 67-71 period probably saw Brian play bass a number of times.

According to Desper, Brian played guitar on 'Breakaway'.

Brian played almost all the bass on the first two records, then sporadically after that. (cuts like 'Dance, Dance, Dance', 'Then I Kisser Her', 'Girl Don't Tell Me', etc.)

He played the xylophone on 'All Summer Long'. Played the harpsichord on 'When I Grow Up'. Supposedly played the harmonica a few times, 'Susie Cincinnati' perhaps?

I believe Brian played drums (as well as bass) on "Sandy She Needs Me", and drums on "'Til I Die".
I think the xylophone on "ASL" is actually a marimba.

On "Love You", the drums are about half Brian and some Dennis.  The Dennis-drummed cuts are "Mona", "Honkin'", and "I Wanna Pick You Up", plus maybe a couple of others. 

There's: glockenspiel (Lana) and celeste (Noble Surfer), marimba (All Summer Long), harpsichord (When I Grow Up), drums (The Wanderer as well as the other songs mentioned), Tympani (Probable; Then I Kissed Her), Probable Tambourine (Party! album tracks), then a whole lot of synths on 15 Big Ones and BBLY, plus Harmonica (Susie, Santa Ana Winds), Bells, Chimes and other mallets of various stripes (15 Big Ones)

I once read that he played everything on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".

Correct. According to Earle Mankey, who engineered the session.

Wasn't that a drum machine?

I think pretty much most of Love you, except for a few guitars and drums is Brian too, but in fact, take away the drums and guitars and all thats left are keyboards anyway!

On the new tracks on Love You, only "Mona" & "Highway" have Dennis drumming (and Steve Douglas on sax, too) - pretty much all the other percussion, which is usually a snare, is Brian.

I don't think it is a drum machine, altho I agree it sounds like it could be...

It was a drum machine, according to many sources, the best being the original console tape.  Specifically, it's a Gibson/Maestro Rhythm King.

At the end of the song, a single acoustic snare does come in to emphasize the back beat.

That the same doo-dad that Dennis used on "Lady" ?

Yep.  They also used it on the original Big Sur, and it's on the multitrack of HELP, too though I don't think it was mixed in at all.

I've never owned one or used one, but the rhythm king basically generates a preset rhythm pattern which you can adjust.  I think you can make it faster or slower and maybe adjust the tone a bit.  It was also Family Stone's "There's a Riot goin' on."  Cool little box, I'd like to pick one up.

Also, one place where Brian has been credited with playing something and didn't actually play it is bass on Suzie Cincinnati.  That was probably Daryl Dragon, but could have been just about anybody, other than Brian.

Really? Were there other cases like that?

Didn't Brian play either a bass line on the low organ notes or on the organ pedals themselves ( a la Bill Wyman on Paint It, Black)  on Susie though?

I think you'll find that pretty much all the instrument credits for Brian during the 2nd Landy era are, shall we say, open to question ?

Even the keyboards on Crack of your ass, I mean, "Crack of your Love" ;) ?

Sorry, I meant the solo stuff.

That's what I'm talking about...I'm guessing that's Brian (or maybe Carl).

Andrew,
then in that case, you can include the post-Landy stuff too!

I remember reading that Brian played some bass on BWPS. Not sure if that came from Mark or someone else.

That's interesting, considering Dennis and Rikki Fataar weren't exactly overwhelmed with studio work in Holland!

I don't believe Funky Pretty was recorded in Holland, I think it was one of the songs that was done back in LA.

Not to mention Dennis had a hand injury that kept him from playing drums until late 1974.

Jon, you're probably the guy to ask...

What's the story on Dennis' hand injury - when did it happen, how did it happen, how long was he out of action, etc.

He put his hand through a sliding glass door and severed tendons in the right hand in mid 1971. The doctors said he wouldn't be able to drum again. Being Dennis of course he tried to a few times before the hand was healed and messed it up even more. Convinced he was never going to play again he  left it alone until the last third of 1974. He tried playing a bit at rehearsals and in the studio and found he had adequate power again. For a while towards the end of '74 he played sporadically at live gigs while Ricky was still there, they double drummed on occasion.  And once Ricky left for good in early '75 he took the job back full-time with Bobby Figueroa as his back-up.

Ricky said in an interview awhile back that he thinks he had a bad cold the day "Funky" was recorded so stayed away from the studio that day, which is why Brian played the drums.  In an article from the "Holland" era though, Carl said that he, Brian & Ricky did all the instruments on that song, which would indicate Ricky did some kind of overdub(s) at a later date (other that drums...I think there's some congas on there, so maybe that's Ricky).

I didn't see anyone mention this one: Brian played harpsichord on the Smile version of Wonderful, didn't he? If I'm not mistaken, you can hear him complain about his mistakes and sticky keys during the sessions.

How about the songs recorded for New Album/Adult Child?

Yep I'm pretty sure you're right about that one. 

We should also add a bunch of tracks from Smiley, as I beleive Brian played all those organ parts with his Baldwin (H & V, Fall Breaks, Wind Chimes, Wonderful, With Me Tonight).

What song(s) did Brian allegedly play bass on BWPS?  As I recall he is only credited with piano (on Wind Chimes, I think).

It's interesting how little bass Brian has played on BB sessions and yet he has the reputation of the "bassist" of the group, no doubt from his playing bass on live shows in the early days - I remember Paul McCartney assumed Brian played bass on all of Pet Sounds! 

Since posting here, I've come to think of Al as the bassist...

Yeah, Al and Brian played (very) roughly the same amount of bass on Beach Boys records over the years, and Al played bass live an awful lot too.

Still, I wouldn't say Brian, or Al for that matter, didn't contribute a good amount of bass.  Let's just say they've played more bass on Beach Boys records than I have.

Plus, Brian was completely responsible for most of the basslines he didn't actually play himself.  So in some sense, despite sharing the actual playing with Al, Ray Pohlman, Carol Kaye, et al, you could still get away with calling him the group's bassist, in my opinion.

How much bass did Bruce play in the studio? Aside from Party!, I mean? Any ideas?

That might be it.

Yeah, it was surprisingly little.  Party!, Wild Honey the song, He claims "Add Some Music", and a few others here and there.

I thought Brian played bass on 'Add Some Music'? :)

That's what Desper said in his book.

Just to clarify for those who may not know, "I Wanna Pick You Up" is a "15 Big Ones" outtake, and has Dennis playing the drums.  "Ding Dang" is from a few years earlier, and that could be Ricky.  "Good Time" is from the "Sunflower" era, and the drums could be Dennis Wilson, Dennis Dragon, or someone else....Badman says it was recorded the same day as "Susie", so therefore Dennis Dragon is the likely drummer, but the pattern is very "Brian-esque", and the drums sound very much like they were added as an overdub instead of being played on the basic track...which suggests Brian may have played them himself.  That's the way Brian's drum peformances were played on "Sandy", "'Til I Die", and "Funky Pretty", and they were probably done that way on the other "Love You" cuts as well.  The basic track for these songs were played to a "time-keeping device" other than drums:  on Sandy, it was Ron Swallow holding down the tempo on tambourine, for "'Til I Die" they used the Rhythm Ace, and for "Funky" they probably used a click track (or metronome if they didn't have a click track)...and I would suspect the "Love You" stuff also used a click or metronome.  Then the drums were added later. 

Good Time is unequivocally Dennis Dragon, played live on the basic track with Bruce on Clavinet, Carl on Ukulele, and Brian on Harmonica.  Likely Daryl on bass but it could be Al, I suppose.  Whoever it is doesn't speak up on the session tape and might have been in the booth anyway.

This is, for me, one of the greatest things about the Beach Boys. The basic track for a pop/rock 'n' roll band includes drums (ok), bass (sure), harmonica (hmmm), clavinet (uh...) and ukelele (wtf?). Talk about creative instrumentation and arrangements.

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!  :)

I love these threads...vocal and instrumental credits, I'm like a junkie for them!

While we're Sunflowery, can anyone answer:

1) What kind of organ is that on At My Window, and do you know who played it? And who played bass?
2) Did Denny drum on Slip On Through and It's About Time? That'll be Dennis Dragon on congas, right?


(Also, can one of you dog-ears please hit the vocal credits thread and confirm or deny whether Denny sings on Lord's Prayer? And Auld Lang Syne, for that matter!)

I don't believe Dennis drummed on 'It's About Time'. That might have been Dragon.

It's about time was Earl Palmer on drums and Dragon on Congas.


Not sure about organ, can't even remember any on the track from memory...  Bass, I have no idea.  On the basic track for Raspberries Strawberries (which became At my Window) there is actually a string bass that seems to be all but eliminated on the final mix.  It played kind of lumbering lines only here and there.  Probably played by "Mort Klanfer."

I'll get to your questions in a little bit, Craig.  I'll have to go listen to the final mix of Good Time.

I hear him on "ALS"

Who played bass on 'Wendy'? Was that Pohlman, Brian, or Al?

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?

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.

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...  :)

Sounds like a flute to me.

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

What does a mellotron sound like? :listening

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...)

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

Okay, I stand corrected.

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

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

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.

Right  :-[  Sorry 'bout that!

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).

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. 

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.

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


I guarantee you it's two flutes.

Fair enough. :D

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?

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

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

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