Last night, watching my DVD, I came across an old Night Court season 3 episode (originally aired on NBC in late 1985).

It's called "Up on the Roof" and centers on a rock star who is controlled by a greedy psychiatrist, who manipulates his actions; when he is momentarily "freed" from his shrink's grip, he winds up enjoying life, but quickly regresses when the shrink catches up to him and throws him under a spell again.

I couldn't help but think of the obvious parallels between these characters and BW + Landy. I'm wondering if this was an intentional reference, or if the episode was at least partially inspired by BW + Landy? Just how much common knowledge was it in the pre-internet days of 1985, of the dysfunctional nature of BW + Landy's relationship?

-Ben

Mike on "Hawaii". Thought it was Dennis. Must've been that cold. Also thought the SMiLE version of Wind Chimes was Brian for the longest time.

The SMiLE version of Wind Chimes isn't Brian? Who is it, since this is news to me...

I know that in the ‘60s, pre-Pro Tools and such, Brian had to rely on the “live” performances of his band or other musicians in the studio, which inevitably lead to “imperfections” in recordings.

Sometimes these “imperfections” have their charms of sorts, but sometimes they just plain annoy me. I’m not talking about extraneous noise that wasn’t edited out (like the infamous “Wendy” cough), but things where a glitch in someone’s playing sticks out like a sore thumb every time you hear the song. 1 more take and they could have nailed it! These are the kind of things that you largely DON’T hear on Pet Sounds.

Examples:

-   Certainly a great deal of “Surfin’ Safari” suffers from musical imperfections, and an overall “rushed” sound, but c’mon... 1 more take would have done “Summertime Blues” some good, the way the drums come in late around 1:24 right after “ain’t no cure for the summertime blues”

-   Right when the drums come in at the beginning of Land Ahoy, they are about ½ second late, which bugs me.

-   At 0:04, the 3rd bass note in Wendy is late... in the pre-click track days, I can just see the bass player waiting to see when everyone else was gonna hit their notes, just to get it right in sync with everyone else...but they blew it and got it late!!

-   Probably my all time biggest annoyance, especially since it’s with a Pet Sounds-esque and –era recording, is The Little Girl I Once Knew, where the 1st drum/percussion hit of the comes in glaringly late, in an otherwise very ornate and detailed production. C’mon, 1 more take, Brian!

I know there have got to be a bunch more, particularly in the sloppy-yet-charming Love You era. Anyone got more examples, or comments on the ones above?

-Ben

This has always fascinated me, as I’m sure it has many people over the years, when listening to the vast BB catalog... moments where you actually think you’re hearing 1 BB, only to find out it’s really someone else. Or, moments where you know it’s someone singing, but they momentarily capture the sound of another BB.

Some examples:

-  “This Car of Mine” – at 0:43, when Dennis sings “No clunker”, it’s so bizarre, almost sounds like Brian for that one line. Especially on the phrasing in the “ker” in “clunker”.

- For some reason, for a good long while after getting the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 2-fer, I thought that Bruce sang lead on “Aren’t You Glad” (I must have overlooked the liner notes or info online somewhere, that it was Mike on lead vocals). A very un-Mike vocal performance, I totally dig it. Not that Mike doesn’t have his share of good or great leads, but to my ears, this is sort of a different kind of styling for him.

- All Dressed up for School – I’m confused on this one... I thought I’ve heard from different places that it’s Carl singing, or that it’s actually Brian. Who is it? I can’t quiet tell.

Anyone had the same experience(s) as above, or got any other examples?

-Ben

Truck driving man, do what you can
High-tail your load off the road
Out of night life it's a gas man
I don't believe, I gotta grieve
In and out of luck, with a buck and a booth
Catchin' on to the truth
In the vast past, the last gasp
In the land, in the dust, trust that you must, catch as catch can!

I just listened to the song while reading these lyrics, and was blown away at how these were there all along, but never properly heard by me until now.

Are these lyrics a fan's deciphering, or from some sort of official source?

-Ben

There were two shows that were documented for The T.A.M.I. Show on October 28 and 29, 1964. Although there were two nights' worth of concerts — as well as an afternoon how that was filmed on the second day without an audience present — the footage that makes up The T.A.M.I. Show was taken exclusively from the second night's concert, which took five hours to film.

The crowd was made of primarily of students from Santa Monica High School.

My mom was a senior at Santa Monica High (a.k.a. SAMOHI), and as she remembers it (vaguely after 45 years at this point), her and her friend Gail both got asked by an audience recruiter of some sort if they wanted to come back later in the evening (a few hours after school would end that day) across the street to the Santa Monica Civic Center to see a live music concert being filmed.

My mom wasn't really a big fan of the Beach Boys and was most excited to see James Brown, but got totally enthralled by seeing The Rolling Stones (especially Mick's swagger) that night. No idea if she saw the 1st or 2nd night filmed.

Both her and her friend somehow wound up meeting the band The Barbarians right around this time (she doesn't recall how exactly, or if it had anything to do with T.A.M.I), but they wound up hanging with them at  some pre-or post show stuff, and she has a few B&W snapshots of The Barbarians in front of, and inside their motel (presumably in Santa Monica?).

Wish she had more (or any!) Beach Boys-related T.A.M.I. stories to tell about!

Having read this article over the course of a few weeks, I don’t recall if this has been mentioned yet or not, but…

While I have tried to see Mike in a light other than being an outright “villain”, it’s pretty hard to think of the man as essentially a gigantic tool at the core of his character, when one considers his actions (at least as far as I’ve read about online and such) regarding his refusal to acknowledge Shawn Love as his daughter. It smacks of Mike doing so out of fear of losing any kind of money.

Even on her deathbed, didn’t Mike refuse to acknowledge her or help her in any way? (I would see this as an obvious action by Mike, because “help” of any kind would be an acknowledgment of some sort). I think these are just 2 of many examples of rather low and reprehensible actions from a person.

Gotta say... I think the extended version is the best, regardless if it was the original intent (same with California Girls, the ending of which is 'extended' depending on which mix you listen to on which compilation CD/album).

With such a great outro, I just don't want it to ever end...

Does anyone know the story of how Brian got the idea to have a James Bond song? Was it recorded for You Only Live Twice (1967) or possibly Thunderball (1965) and got rejected by the Bond creators?

And does anyone know if the song Pet Sounds is the exact recording (unaltered) from its incarnation as a Bond song candidate?

-Ben

Love the song, but I've always felt the production seemed a bit 'rushed' and there are a few production flaws that just jump out at me and annoy me (especially the intro, where the very first drum beat audible is blaringly late, and the subsequent beats get back into sync).

Sorta reminds me of how the first album Surfin' Safari had a rushed feel to it.

Of course the comparatively gargantuan production of this song is miles ahead of anything on the first album, but there's just a few too many of these similar flaws present on TLGIOK that Brian seemed to have weeded out months later by the time he recorded Pet Sounds.

Don't mean to diss the song or anything, I just wish Brian had done a few more takes to get it more perfect!

-Ben