The Smiley Smile Message Board

All thought on CE here please

Cabin Essence, since I first heard it on 20/20, has been one of my favorite Beach Boys songs and something that gave me hope about a how great a completed SMiLE would sound. That being said, this is a song that definitely benefits from being in stereo. That doesn't mean that the mono mix doesn't sound as good as it possibly could, but there is so much going on in this song that I think only a stereo mix can do it justice. Carl's vocal doesn't sound quite as clean, and some of the instruments get lost in the mix. Once again, that is not to say I think they could have done anything differently with the mono mix. For what a mono mix is capable of doing, it sounds great. Still one of my all-time favorites.

Always has been one of my favorite. Love the chorus vocals in particular. Really like whatever they did on Mike's voice (sped up?) at the end.

At 01:01 a lot of noise suddenly mutes in the middle of the chorus, bad job by Mark & Alan.

not on my copy :P

Yeah, that's on my copy as well. There a small click as well. I don't know what could have happened, a small mastering error or something?

Edit: I think the same thing happens at 2:17.

(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd353/thCOD/cabinspectral.png)

This is what you're hearing. :wall

It's not that, there is clearly a "click" and suddenly a whole lot less hiss on the track. Hrrrm.

That's what you see in the image. That big purple block is the hiss, with a click at the end of it.

How did this track end up sounding worse than any of the previous releases?

???

Oh! Gotcha.

And yeah, kinda puzzling. This is one of the tracks that you'd think would have been pretty simple to put together.

Hi, does anyone know if there's going to be a digital version available? If so, Capitol could fix things like these and let people download a 'fixed' version with errors like these repaired.

Wow. I didn't notice that at first but now it's pretty evident. I mean I doesn't ruin the song but it's very noticeable.

;D ;D ;D :lol

My personal theory: It's a 1966 Brian test mix of these sections, not a 2011 mix. Too bad there's no info on how the disc 1 mixes were assembled. The amount of session info is great though! :)

I don't know if its my EQ settings or what, but the "Truck-Drivin Man" vocals are SUPER present in the vinyl, like more than ever, and the ending tag sounded the best it's ever sounded to me.

Maybe something that IconFetch could ask Mark Linnett in his second interview? I think I read somewhere that we could suggest some new questions to the interviewer...

An excellent idea, and I would tend to agree with that theory.  They pasted Carl's lead and Denny's "Truck Drivin' Man" into test edits that Brian did, then edited them together.  The chorus kicks more ass than it ever has, and Mike's vocal is much more upfront than the '68 mix.  I feel like there has to be a reason for these things, other than just wanting this mix to sound different than the released version.

If I remember correctly, the multitrack tape with Carl's lead is missing now, so they couldn't paste it into anything. They used one stereo channel of the 1969 version for the verses.

It definitely sounds different than versions I've heard.  It may just be me but that viola/cello bottom end absolutely vibrates in the room unlike I have ever heard it.  The whole peice just shimmers with sound.

Interesting to read the posts about what was "flown in", edited etc in order to to get these"new" versions of these songs, many of which have been everywhere for years, but never quite like this. 

I've tried to improve this track a bit, by removing the clicks (which makes the hiss drop out much less obvious) and speed correcting and re-editing the 'Over and over' part.

Is it allowed to post the link here, or should I keep it PM only? Anyway, if anyone's interested, PM me.

It's a stunning track, obviously, but I prefer the 20/20 version. This new version sounds great - until the 'Who ran the Iron Horse?' chorus. Then it just sounds 'busy', whereas the '69 version sounds crystal clear. The verses and ending however sound as good as ever, but this is one of the few tracks where, to me, they haven't quite pulled it off. 

It is though a tremendous song, one that really shows how incredibly far ahead of everyone Brian really was at this point. Is that a sitar on Sessions CD 3, track 10? Spectacular! 

I think it's a banjo played with a bottleneck.

I prefer the TSS version, only the verses should have been mixed lower for better contrast with the busy parts. Oh, and the tag should have been louder. At least that was easy to do with editing software.

But surely the (perfect) 20/20 version already has all this, and thus is therefore superior to the (not-perfect) TSS mix.

The chorus on the TSS edit just turn into a mess, and that's partially due to the horrific error on the track. I still prefer the '68 mix, even if Mike is a bit *too* distant on the tag. I'm sure it was intentional, going for effect, but it's just a bit too much. imo.

Fire?

That hiss you see there stopping after two thirds - recently a friend of mine lent me his car for a week, and on that car stereo system I noticed the hiss stopping actually for the first time. It's not that obvious to hear when I play it over my home system.

And even with that hiss I prefer the TSS version. Its overall sound is much more like the original Pet Sounds mix and the Good Vibrations single rather than the very clean sounding 20/20 version. This is obviously my subjective taste.

Love Cabin Essence. On the subject of the hiss etc, I have to say that I personally love that it's there. Things like that, to me at least, add a certain charm and honesty to the collection; because ultimately SMiLE is the great lost work. What we are listening to in TSS is a fractured approximation of what might have been, warts and all, which makes it all the more heart achingly beautiful in my opinion. This is something I've long thought about SMiLE... the fact that it was always something that 'might have been,' a lost master-work, simply heightens and enriches it all the more.

There are a whole ton of noise reduction muck-ups like this all over the whole Smile set, this one just happens to be one of the worst. It's kinda sad that this stuff got past quality control. Oh well... at least we have Smile.

The whole album approximation is sloppy. I really hope we get a remaster in the future without all these issues. I don't care how they release it or how much it costs. I want a version of SMiLE that sounds like it was done by professionals.

BURN!

You should.

So original and funny! Keep 'em coming, moron. :lol

I think he was implyin' you burned teh Marky Mark by saying he done a poor job.

Yeah, I thought the line "I want a version of SMiLE that sounds like it was done by professionals." was a pretty sick burn against Linett and Boyd. I don't agree that Smile sounds unprofessional, but I think it's a pretty sick burn.

if that offended you, COD, then that doesn't make me the moron. I really don't know why people have such a problem with my posts.

So how many Grammys has COD won for his work on archival releases, again?

I have come to prefer the mono mix of this. There is a drive and pulse in the mono that is not as aggressive to my ears in the stereo version. As far as the hiss, I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me on this site. I don't even notice it now. I guess my ears are tuned into the feel rather than the tech aspect. There is a lot of white noise in the stereo version anyways, so it really doesn't matter.



 :rock

GOOOOIN TO THE BEACH
GOOOOOIN TO THE BEACH
WITH MY BAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYBAY

Really late reply here, but how "done" were the lyrics and vocal melody in '66/'67, and were verse vocals ever recorded during the actual SMiLE sessions, or at all before Carl and Dennis in '68 or so?

The lyrics are from 66/67, so I'd assume the melody was, too. Nothing Brian or Van Dyke has said indicates it wasn't written during the actual Smile-era. As for any vocals recorded during the Smile sessions, I think the chorus and tag were done back then, but no version of the verses, as far as we know.

Yeah, lotta issues with Disc 1. Lotta issues. Glad I'm not alone; I feel like I have to walk on eggshells around here sometimes when I criticize such things.



Someone has to mention the never-used Reconnected Telephones lyrics. Am I alone in thinking they were supposed to be mixed into the first chorus at some point? I think that'd make more sense than TDM standing alone in the second one.

I don't know about TSS (I only have/need the single CD), but those vocals are brought out wonderfully well here:

https://youtu.be/1dje0M5b_9M

Thanks for sharing this, John!!

You're welcome. These are the lyrics (reproduced from Brad Elliott's book):

"Truck drivin' man do what you can
High-tail your load off the road
Out of night life, I'm a gas man
I don't believe I gotta grieve
I'm out of luck
With a buck and a booth
Catchin' on to the truth
In the vast past, the last gasp [is it really "past"? Could be anything to these ears]
Right in the dust, trust that you must (or maybe "Riding the dust")
Catch as catch can"

Poking around, I came across this JK post of more than two years ago and decided to bump it.

In the words of the uploader, "Truck Drivin' Man", from "Cabinessence" chorus, revealed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dje0M5b_9M

Always thought it was "last gasp." And the lyrics were actually printed in David Leaf's book.

 listening to that extraction I could swear I hear the lyrics “rock and Roll” in there rather than load off the road.