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Smiley Smile Stuff => General On Topic Discussions => Topic started by: willmansell on December 07, 2022, 03:24:02 PM



Title: Won't You Tell Me - is it mandolin?
Post by: willmansell on December 07, 2022, 03:24:02 PM
Been playing the Won't You Tell Me 2019 mix and Brian's demo on repeat for a while and thinking about trying to recreate the instrumental...

Does anyone know what instrument is being used on the verse from around 0:22?

It's fast picking/tremolo and I'm pretty sure it's a few mandolins being played.

Just wondering if anyone can shed any more light on this? Perhaps there were track notes released for the session that have a mandolin player listed.




Title: Re: Won't You Tell Me - is it mandolin?
Post by: bossaroo on December 07, 2022, 04:27:17 PM
what a song.

it definitely sounds like mandolin, or mando-guitar like Barney Kessell sometimes used. could it have been Barney? hard to say if I'm hearing more than one.
some serious drumming on this track too!

I don't have any info on the session but the Feel Flows liners say:

Produced by Murry Wilson & Rick Henn
Basic track recorded June 29, 1971 at Sunset Sound

Rick would be the man to ask  ;)






Title: Re: Won't You Tell Me - is it mandolin?
Post by: Rebel on December 07, 2022, 08:08:01 PM
I don’t think it’s a mandolin. I recall reading a Rick interview where he discusses the song. Rick say Dennis came in, and Rick thought he was going to change this and that, but all Dennis did was slow down and then speed up … whatever it was, and it ‘gave a shimmering mandolin’ effect. I can’t remember much else. But that Rick liked Dennis contribution and spoke highly of them and Murry. I know someone knows that interview. I remember ‘shimmering’ being used as an adjective.


Title: Re: Won't You Tell Me - is it mandolin?
Post by: NocNocNoc on December 07, 2022, 08:16:10 PM
Rick Henn spoke about it in the Sunrays “Vintage Rays” linter notes. The exact quote is such:

"He (being Dennis Wilson) had us record some guitars and piano rolling chords down one octave than usual with the tape machine at half speed and then when we played it back at normal speed, it shot everything back up an octave and gave it a kind of shimmering mandolin/string, bowed tremolo effect in the background.“