Excellent work. It's long been one of my favourite Beach Boys songs, thanks for giving it this treatment!

Gotta love Al, nice to see him highlighted.

So, c-man once said he thought it was an electric harpsichord, then later said he wasn't sure. Has this "mystery" been settled?

Last comment, I love how the little flourishes add colour to the song. I'd call it an inventive arrangement but then I'm no scholar. Hearing it isolated it doesn't really give away the main melody and harmonies, which shows how much is going on.

Yeah, I started my J&D journey around these parts many years ago, thanks to great discussions over the years on many of the things that you brought up. They do offer a nice bit of compare/contrast as contemporaries and collaborators.

I guess DHMLS was intended for Spector, as mentioned in the video.

Any plans to look at Jan Berry's influence on Brian around this time? (For some reason this song reminds me of Surf City, and made me wonder).

Also, I'm psyched for any harpsichord talk, so looking forward to the next one! I know you aren't going to focus on the guitars as much but I should mention that performance on Ready Steady Go as an interesting variant, particularly with the different drumbeat.

Fantastic, yet again!

I couldn't think of a better thread for this than the random instrument hub. Any idea what the hell that whooshing noise is at the end of the a capella break in the single version of Heroes and Villains?

(am aware Probyn used a Tannerin on BWPS but that seemed to get a very different sound)

If it's the part I'm thinking, I've heard it as one of those ring whistle things that chews your lip if you're not careful. I think one instance is at normal speed and it appears later in the song slowed down, which gives it a theremin-like sound. That's just conjecture on my part, though.

Thoughts:
Kokomo by way of San Miguel, ha!

WIBN: it's uncanny how the vocal almost sounds like Carl in '76, and then "together" isn't far off Brian's demos of the era, like In the Back of My Mind 1975. I think if it were less jaunty and a little more plodding it would be even better.

Nice experiments!

If Smile took 37, then I guess I'm in for a wait...

I'm still waiting for you to finish your Smiley Smile version of Cabinessence!

I'll give these a listen tomorrow, hopefully.

I always wanted to cover this one since the riff seemed like it would be fun to play (it would be good for Rock Band, like Livin on a Prayer or White Wedding), but I never got around to it. The "track only" version was somewhat of a revelation (though it should be said that pretty much ALL of the BBs track/vocals-only mixes are beautiful, life-affirming slices of music).

You've done it justice here, and I really appreciate hearing all of the fiddly bits more clearly. Hope it was as fun as I assumed!

Great stuff, as usual. Any thoughts on the solo itself, or Carl's abilities in that area? Do you know much about his approach (like, say, improvised vs. written by Carl vs.
directed/written out by Brian)? It's interesting how all these subtle licks get buried and can go unnoticed.

That was right around when GV hit #1, too.

 

7 years ago, I told you that your WIBN research amazed me. This opinion hasn't changed.

Thanks for all of the work you've done and the inspiration you've provided.

Love it! Can't wait to hear the official backing track, hopefully with the faders up.

I've been poking around the board in anticipation of the hopefully-upcoming 1969 copyright set, and was pleased to stumble across this nugget. Keep up the great scholarly/performance work in uncovering the intricacies of the Beach Boys' music! Fantastic stuff.

Queries:

1. Why hadn't the 1966 Track Mix for CIFOTM been released previously? Is it a new discovery?

2. Is it Stephen Desper on the talkback (e.g. Meant For You)?

I can try to answer #1. Alan B., are you still reading? This is the IIGS I heard on one of Durrie's acetates. If this was the source, then I understand. There was a quick search for those acetates back in the day but they weren't found, so it was thought they were no longer in existence. Then in 2012 several acetates were discovered when her storage locker was cleaned out.  So that was obviously after the box set came out.

I listened to all of the acetates, and this IIGS was on one of the H&V acetates. It wasn't the only unique piece on that acetate, so I'm curious as to why the other pieces didn't make it out.

Thanks for confirming this! It's good to know that the mystery IIGS you'd described is now available for us to hear, such as it is. I'd love to learn more about it and the Durrie Parke acetates. Fascinating.

Once again, this music is incredible and a welcome addition to the catalogue. Thanks to all who made it happen!

If I recall correctly, the footage of Brian in the red shirt is indeed from that night, but likely taken from a home movie camera (and played back at the wrong speed). There's a photo of Dennis holding it in the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey twofer liner notes.

Mark, one thing I'm curious about is why Brian wasn't credited on Folk City, given that the melody is largely a rehash of Surf City. Have you addressed that anywhere?

Thanks for that info, Mark. (I recall reading that it was "A Beginning from an End", fwiw). Thanks for the mp3, too!

I think it's important to distinguish between influence by way of personal interaction and influence by way of, let's call it creative inspiration. Both groups influenced each other in both ways (and even covered each other), I'd say, but it was the personal side that is less obvious to outsiders.

The most crucial thing to me is that, as  I understand it, Jan verbally encouraged Brian to use session musicians to augment/supplant the Boys, saying something like "As long as the Beach Boys are singing, no one cares who played the backing tracks." Now, I may be wrong about this or maybe it's been disproven with new information, but that example is that personal influence that really has nothing to do with one band being better than the other.

Falsetto, probably not.

Jan Berry, absolutely (as has been said, by Brian himself).

I do enjoy Jan & Dean's music but it's definitely not lost on me that most of their best songs were cowritten with Brian. Also, Save For a Rainy Day is my favourite of their albums and that has no Jan at all.

I  also agree that Jan's music can be more academic than Brian's (see Pop Symphony No. 1), and it mostly lacks the energy of The Beach Boys'. That said, check out something like Quasimoto, or even the aforementioned Ride the Wild Surf.

Next, I was one of the people positing that "Meet Batman" was a precursor to Smile (as a concept), but not in a meaningful way, just that there are parallels.

Lastly, who wore the horizontal-striped t-shirts first? (I've seen photos of Dean wearing the same ones that Brian sports in some of the Smile-era studio shots)

One more thing, I assume it's the same harmonica as the one used on Help Me, Ronda...

My understanding is that it is a chromatic harmonica, though I don't know what further evidence exists.

Frankly, the revelation that the harpsichord may have been electronic was surprising enough!

Just because the Beatles may have been more popular at the time doesn't mean that they actually achieved what the Beach Boys did.

I may be biased (this is a Beach Boys forum and I'm a Beach Boys fan) but in 1965, the Beatles were very good, and essentially great, and the  Beach Boys were also good and essentially great. The difference being that the Beach Boys, at their best, were  celestial/divine, and the Beatles were merely great.

- the end of ‘Wind Chimes’ backing vocals - indescribable how beautiful it is.

Had to post to say something about this. Beautiful indeed.

Once again, thanks to all those involved in putting these special releases together!

So... How do we convince the powers that be to release the entire Heider "live" sessions a cappella?