The Smiley Smile Message Board

Anyone got any idea who's calling the take numbers ?

And... this is vaguely related, but just had a major "DUH !" moment listening to some SOT stuff. According to the 2fer liners, the previously released "SG/LDC" single excepted, the whole album was recorded from the ground up on July 16th 1963. Nonsense, of course, unless they had something like a nine-hour session, but still no concrete proof.

Well, think I found it (no, wait, thank me later). Two tracks on Surfer Girl ("Hawaii" & "Catch A Wave") have Mike singing with such a bad cold that for decades everyone thought it was Dennis, right ?  OK, so on one of the three tracks we know was recorded on 7/16/63, "South Bay Surfer", Mike's singing loud and clear, no hint of snot, nary a sniffle, so unless he developed the fastest known cold in medical history, the vocals for "Hawaii" & "Catch A Wave" were not recorded on 7/16/63.

Yeah, I know, I should get a life... but this kind of stuff fascinates me, and it beats mugging little old ladies or drowning kittens.

Don't know the name offhand, but he also calls out the takes during I Do, which was about 9 months later.

Fascinating - not Chuck, then as the "I Do" track session was at RCA...

Perhaps the Capitol location for Ballad of Ol' Betsy was an error? I don't think engineers would jump back and forth between studios...

I don't think there were too many freelance engineers back then, plus RCA had the reputation of being the strictest union studio of all - I recall Bruce telling of Brian trying to touch the board there and someone slapped his hand away.

Not "everyone". The first time I can recall reading the error of those leads attributed to Dennis was in Brad Elliott's mid '80's book, then compounded in Ed Wincentsen's Denny Remembered book in 1991. I knew that info was obviously wrong. I'd never thought they were anyone but Mike since hearing them in the '60's, and the handful of hardcore Beach Boys fans and collectors that I knew in the '70's also routinely attributed those leads to Mike. The concept of those leads being credited to Dennis really came out of left field, decades after the fact, from my perspective.

OK... almost everyone.

Me neither :)  As for the mystery engineer, I've wondered that myself for several years now...he also engineered the vocal session for "In The Back Of My Mind".  In the credits on my "Today!" essay, I named him "Unknown Western Engineer", under the assumption those sessions were at Western.  Regarding "I Do", there's evidence of the track being engineered by Dave Hassinger and the mix being done at Gold Star.  I don't recall hearing that voice on the "Dance Dance Dance" tracking session (at RCA), but perhaps it is. 

[sigh]

OK... I used to think it was Dennis not Mike.  :thud

BTW, which song are we talking about here?  From Cousin Eddie's reply, I knew exactly which voice you were referring to, but not which song.

"Ballad of Ole' Betsey"

so on SG and catch a wave...........Mike has a cold?    I never noticed.....

No, "Hawaii" & "CAW".

I think Mike sounds better with a cold!