The Smiley Smile Message Board

On that performance on the Jack Benny show in 1965 with the band performing California Girls, I know its a pre-recorded track and the backing vocals seem to be pre-recorded. But has anyone noticed the odd thing with Mike's vocal? Is that done live. Like it starts out sounding like the record but then after "dig those styles they wear" it sounds like it's actually Mike singing. Is that the only live part on that performance (if it is live)?

Brian and Mike's lead vocals are live and Brian even goes momentarly off key.

I think you're hearing/watching the Malcolm Leo-ized version...he spliced the audio from the record onto the first seconds of the TV clip for the American Band doc. in 85. I think the orig. TV version has the live vocals right from the start.

Yeah Brian sounds live too on the choruses of course. Why did they always have to lip-synch parts of it though.. So stupid, they still sounded good even without just miming!!

Oh ok interesting. Why on earth though is it only for the first few seconds that it's like that though? Weird..

After the sketch they sing some acapella "California girls", which sounds just great.

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

Here's how it actually sounded. Minus the skit.

Thanks Rob...its nice to see/hear it in its original form.

The skit as seen in AAB is also edited as well.  The whole thing has been booted  as part of someone's homemade VHS collection of BB tv clips.

Edit: it was originally broadcast in color: this is the black and white kinescope. I don't think I remember  seeing the performance of Barbara Ann from this show in color.

The whole thing is going around in color. The black and white version was from a semi legit VHS from the 80's

Speaking of lip synching, what about the dialogue piece that followed?  From the clip shown in the AAB video/DVD,  I've noticed Mike's mouth doesn't move when his voice replies "17.50" to Jack Benny's "...for 14.50?"    ::)

Again...this is not the way it appeared originally...but the way it appeared 20 years later in the American Band documentary...there was some strange editing there...probably to truncate it.

There are other things that they changed in that movie-for example the group's promo film for Sloop John B was shown with Wouldn't It Be Nice playing instead.  The footage of the BBs onstage in Hawaii with Brian in 67 has a different version of God Only Knows dubbed onto it.  The part where the group is recording Time To Get Alone-actually was filmed at sessions for that song-but was originally shown on 60s TV to accompany I can Hear Music. There are also some tricks that they played-in the context of the film and the discussion of Brian's return in 76-you'd think that the scene of Brian onstage singing In My Room with the group must be 1976, but it was filmed at the Summit in Houston in 1978

It was his lawyer offstage

with audio from 1964.  ::)