The Smiley Smile Message Board

I hear two harpsichords in the stereo master backing track. It sounds like the 2nd one was an overdub at a later date, since it's not present in the session tapes that I've heard. They sound like different harpsichords too.

I have always believed this to be the case as well.  There are definitely two harpsichords, they're playing in different octaves at times and sounds like different stops as well.  The fact that you can't hear two on the tracking sessions and that the second one seems totally isolated on the backing track remix would suggest to me that it was an overdub, however Mark Linett has denied that this is the case without going into much detail about why the second harpsichord can't be heard on the basic tracking.

A lot of the SoT stuff seems like they only playing back 3-tracks of a 4-track tape, so this could be the case here.

Thanks for pointing that out...one of my favorite cuts from Pet Sounds...I will listen for that...but I would not know an "over-dub" from an "over-flub."

And, timelessly magnificent.  8)

Well, the tracking basic sessions WERE only 3 tracks, most of the time.  It wouldn't be unprecedented, Pet Sounds (the track) was as close to assembly line tracking as it got, they put down one track at a time for that one.

So there are harpsichord (s) in addition to the plucked piano strings?

The piano strings are on the intro only, and were done at a separate session.  It's just the plucked strings on the intro.