The Smiley Smile Message Board

That irritates me every time I hear the song. Fortunately, it's at the very end.

What is it? THE FADE IS TOO SHORT!!! It's the best part of the song ... where it should turn into a wild freak out of a celebration, but we get about a second of it before it's gone. A shiver went down my spine recently when I saw a performance of the song where Carl sang that wild, floating melody right at the end of the single as the band expanded a bit on it. Really captured how great it is.

I guess it was probably done to meet some requirements or something for the radio. Or maybe Brian and Chuck and whoever else just made a mistake?

Chuck Britz wan't making mistakes, nether was Brian. Beach Boy fades were  often short. Whenever I mixed a track,  I often requested a "Beach Boys fade." That's what some people (in LA) called a short fade back in the day.
If you listen to some of the group's alternate material, it is obvious that  they were limited to the amount of fade that was good before players (session guys, or the group) started getting loose...

or hearing Brian say "cut it" or whatever

agree with what you said but still, i feel GV could've used a second or two more.

Oh, for sure. I've always wanted a longer fade on that single.

As others have pointed out, Brian typically used short fades, so it isn't all that surprising that he used one here as well.  In addition, Good Vibrations was already quite long for a radio single back in 1966.  Three and a half minutes was pushing it to begin with, so Brian probably didn't see the need to bring it close to the four-minute mark, which would have been seen as abnormally long.

That said, I do enjoy the "extended" fade that Brian did on BWPS and that he does in concert.  I just don't think it would have worked on record in 1966.

Mainly I'm talking a few extra seconds. It's difficult to say how many because a second can be a long time. Just a little more room to allow that wild melody at the end to breath, then fade. I feel like the fade was done a second early.

I have a Beach Boys' Greatest Hits comp from Razor & Tie and the "Good Vibrations" version clocks in at 3:45, a good 10 seconds longer than the original single.

Didn't Steve Hoffman issue a version with a longer fade on (I think) the DCC edition of Endless Summer?

On the tracking session, Brian stops them quite a short way in and says something like 'we don't need too much of that, it's going to fade out very quickly'. I think at the most there's about 5 to 15 more seconds of it.

Yes, but he's stated on his forum that he spliced the fade in from another part of the song - that is, he concocted it, not Brian.

we have all seen BB live do extended versions in concert..i liked when they would not drag it out + Mike would say ..You do that + we will add other parts..The parts they added were real cool + im sure i saw them throw in the HUM DE DUM part a couple of times..i know this isnt the final fade just throwin it out there..

I know. That's why I said Steve Hoffman issued it.

I guess he's used it more than once, since he also did the Razor & Tie comp SJS mentioned.

I really want to get a hold of that. I'd use it on Smile mixes.

Make your own: Hoffman said he got the end from the full instrumental track found on the "Good Vibrations" box set, folded it to mono and spliced it onto the end before applying his own fade. (He's probably since deleted this information from his website, as he has an irritating tendency to do.)

There, I've probably saved you a fortune!

I think that 'Meant For You' is way too long, esp. the fade.

Bah. I know you're being sarcastic (or you really hate "Meant For You"), but it always bugged me how that song started and ended. Comes in somewhat abruptly, fade is super quick, etc.

i've always heard that dip in the volume at "and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair". 

It may surprise you, but I love that song eternally. Precisely as it is. The fadeout makes you long for more, tantalizing, I know, but it works...