The Smiley Smile Message Board

A sweet thought from Burton Cummings from his FB page - The Guess Who did a lot of recording there in Studio 2. There was a time when I just came
and went into Studio 2 and if no one was recording I could just sit and play their fabulous
Steinway…it had been pounded a lot and had the most metallic sound of any grand I've
ever played…to this very day…one night, I was there at the same time as Bruce Johnston…
to this day I don't know why we were both there, and it was late at night…I told him how much
I loved "Disney Girls"…and he played and sang it for me.
A moment in time never to be forgotten…he played and sang it for me.

I thought it was kinda hilarious a few years ago when Cummings totally tore apart "That's Why God Made the Radio" (the album) for using autotune. I appreciated that he wasn't so much angry or trying to be snarky; he seemed genuinely frustrated. I appreciated that he actually sat down and (presumably) listened to the entire album.

The Guess Who are the Canadian BBs! ;D

I love the Guess Who, and for me, they were one of the great late 60s and early 70s bands...

THAT was more the 5 Man Electrical Band.  Back when they were still called The Staccatos...they used to do spot-on Beach Boys, and also 4 Seasons, medleys.  The Guess Who just had a penchant for some often great harmonies and they, in addition, provided fans with a variety of totally well done styles of music.  Guess Who original Randy Bachman [pronounced BACKman] would go on to write songs with Carl and BTO would tour with the Boys at least one summer.

I read an interview with Randy Bachman where he said he wanted to help take The Beach Boys into a more hard rock direction going into the 1980s, and the title track to KTSA was supposed to be the first step in that direction, but the production watered it down. 

Thanks a lot, Bruce.  :lol

I'm not sure if this can be defined as ''totally tearing apart'' unless he made other remarks?

Pretty much.  The Knebworth version had a little more life, but I think the song itself is very run of the mill.  And if Randy Bachman was going to help make the Beach Boys a hard rock group, I dont think the ode to "ice cream weather" was the right vehicle.

Well, the description says he was "fuming", and he says pretty emphatically he was not impressed. I'd say he tore the album a new one in a rather concise fashion. It's a pretty scathing comment, even in its brevity.

I'm not impressed with Bruce's "unique" direction with the album.  In my opinion, everything sounds sloshy.  Keepin' the Summer Alive sounds better as a live track because in the studio, the instrumentation and the vocals are so ho hum and workman-like.

The autotune on TWGMtR doesn't bother me as much as the fact that the album was apparently rushed out and the actual BB's didn't have time to lay down their vocals before time was up. 

I find it hard to understand, IMHO, how any production choice on *any* BB album could bug a listener more than the autotune on TWGMTR. Besides the fact that it's super off-putting to hear a human glitch out and sound like a robot, it's just so poorly done and obvious, and actually doesn't sound like it was done with care or taste. A rough opinion, but just being honest.

Kinda how there's a right way to manipulate a vocal by double (or triple) tracking, such as Mike's lead on California Girls, or a really blatantly obvious bad glitchy double tracking job that was probably due to rushing, such as Mike's clunky double tracking on parts of Drive-In (like the Smokey the Bear part). This would be like if an entire BBs album had Drive-In-esque double tracking for the entirety of nearly every line on every song.

The properly implemented Autotune that's present on albums like Gershwin was clearly done with care, and to not stand out. TWGMTR seems like the Autotune was done by an intern, or by farming it out to an overseas factory, like so many '70s Hanna-Barbera cartoons did with their cheapie animation.  I think it's been established that TWGMTR was rushed to completion to meet a predetermined street date, right? Feels like those scenes in CG-heavy movies where some shots just stand out from being rushed and look like unfinished animatics.

Cummings was spot-on, even if it's hard to wanna knock a project so hard that's part of the band's cannon. The truth hurts. But there are still some killer songs in there.

The Boys should have covered Get Back featuring Burton Cummings on keys, ala Billy Preston.  He could have been referred to variously as the sixth, eighth, ninth or whatever BB depending on when it was done....they could have released it on Bropple Records....

Big Burton fan, I especially enjoyed GW during their post-commercial years, kind of reminded me of BBs 67 through 69 period for being very good and under-appreciated.  When I was in college in the early seventies, there was a little local AM station that played all those singles, like Orly and Sour Suite that I never heard anyone else play....I was like, how are these songs not hits, but they really weren't.  Same station also played Sunflower in its entirety upon its release, and this was a little 500 watt AM station, not a college station either.  I really miss those days, they were even playing Move singles like Do Ya upon its release.