The Smiley Smile Message Board

Here is a photo:

(https://i.ibb.co/hBH8wN4/byron-instoo.jpg)

A. Anyone care to attempt to date it?
B. Where is this at Western?  It has a small, 4-input console, and clearly looks out into a studio?  Could it be a mixing suite or something?

Here is an additional photo:

(https://i.ibb.co/N1pYRyV/randi.jpg)

A. Again, anyone want to hazard a guess as to the session and/or date thereof?
B. Note the RCA 77!

In the second photo, it looks like Melcher at the piano, but I'm guessing it could be Don Randi?

I think it's Don.

In the second photo - if Don Randi (and I really think it is), and if not Western - then likely Gold Star. It looks like "Good Vibrations"/SMiLE-era Brian (well, the shirt certainly does - "GV"/SMilE era or later), and Don played on a couple of those sessions at Gold Star. Of those sessions, the only one held at a studio other than Gold Star that included him was the 6/2/66 "Good Vibrations" session at Western.

So, if Gold Star, the possibilites are:
"Good Vibrations" - 2/17 or "Wind Chimes" - 8/3

Photo #2 is Don Randi. And I think that may be from Spring '67. Brian had a bunch of those Hawaiian shirts custom made for him, and in photos from Spring '67 into '68 you see multiple photos of him wearing those custom tailored shirts.

Photo #1. That is a little board that sat off to the side of Western #3. There is another photo showing that board with Brian and an unidentified girl sitting on the table where the board is installed.

Right, this one:

(https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/s/smile14brianatwestern-7vT2r5q1ijQQWKFEUBBfQqlBJILrhLIl.jpg)

Are you saying you think that's within the studio 3 control room?

I bet it's one of those two.

Yes, that is Studio #3. Just to the left of that latest shot would have been where the iron railing was as seen in some of the photos from Smile. And if you'd turn left after that, you'd be at the board and the chairs behind it.

And if you notice the clothing Brian is wearing, most of the '66 shots show him wearing T-shirts as he is there. The Spring '67 photos and beyond show him wearing the more colorful Hawaiian shirts I mentioned as well as more button-downs. You can often nail down the photos' dates by the clothing choices.

So that window looks into the studio itself?  And the door doing out into it is between that and the main board?

As far as I remember and know - yes.

And the Hawaiian/psychedelic shirt photo: There were sessions outside the Beach Boys that Brian was doing in Spring '67 and beyond. One that comes to mind is The Honeys, as photos from Honeys sessions post Spring '67 exist showing Brian wearing those similar shirts.

The second photo with Don Randi is from December 1968, recording Goodnight My Love and Tonight You Belong to Me for the Honeys at United. There are other photos in ESQ.

Like this one:


(https://dangerousminds.net/content/uploads/images/Hbknknkm,ljgc.jpg)

Same shirt - same session?

Thanks to Dangerous Minds for their link - I don't have access to my collection to post my own at this moment lol.

That same photo of Brian with Don is included cropped in the collection with the others, so I'd say it's the same day.

Aha!

Gosh it really is enough to break you how bad the photographic record is.

That Honeys' session is at United Recorders Studio A, Hollywood, CA, Monday December 9, 1968, 8:00pm-11:00pm.
Don Randi was present, according to the AFM contract - so that nails it!  :)
EDIT: Salty beat me to the punch. :(

I'm tellin ya', look to the shirts for the dates!  :lol   Brian's shirts help to date a lot of these photos and even a few film clips too. Once he got those custom Hawaiian shirts, he wore them regularly especially from Spring '67 well into '68.

Great shirts BTW, I'd love to have one similar. And dig Ginger's groovy shades in that shot.  8)

Great photos of BW in his element! I had some of those vintage t-shirts BW wore in 1966 and they were stylish as hell. :hat

So, top photo in thread: Western Studio 3
Bottom photo(s) in thread: United Studio A

Here is the wider view of the Western photo:

(https://i.imgur.com/uWAmHE1.jpg)

(I had time to access some of the old folders, so expect a few photos to pop up in other discussions too  ;D  )

Betcha that's Diane on the right...unless other photos exists showing the face as someone else's.

Here are others from the Honeys session with Don Randi:

(https://i.imgur.com/DJYtQ35.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/SM4gAOb.jpg)

Who's the other dude?

Also, great to see Brian in Hollywood at a session in late '68.

The guy with the checkerboard jacket, yes I've been trying to suss that one out too! Any info from the contracts as to who it might be? He seems to be hands-on in the session like a musician rather than studio staff.

And I always thought it could be Diane in the Western shot as well, unfortunately it's cut off even in the full version so you don't see any features beyond what's there.

So taking a look at other Western shots - And I may have one hidden somewhere showing that little board setup but I doubt it - you can kind of see where that setup would be in the control room by piecing it together. It was clearly behind the glass, facing the live room, and I think it was as I said previously right off to the side from the "gallery" in front of the console where guests would sit. These don't show it specifically but you can look to the right on this one and that is where I think this project board was located:

(https://i.imgur.com/1ixcVY2.jpg)

And this one of Brian and Robbins at the railing: Was this the railing inside the control room, or was it on the floor? I believe it was through the door from the floor to the control room, along the right side walking from the live room, so you'd walk along that railing and get to the main board by turning left...I think lol

(https://i.imgur.com/L8LcCTP.jpg)

And this one just for fun (and potentially a forthcoming warning to remove it... ;D ) of Van Dyke and Lenny Waronker at Western:

(https://i.imgur.com/L2QnpTj.jpg)

Arranger Al Capps?

Mike Eder would be a good person to ask, as he has carefully studied Brian's various looks over the years. Note the distinct differences in the hair between the photos.