Just compare how the songs were stripped down from Smile to Smiley, not just in sonics but also in song form and flow.

Sure: Heroes on Smiley has the same number of sections, and some parts of the song have more instruments than sections in the Cantina edit. Both edits use the main "wall of sound" verse section, although the cantina edit only uses 2.5 of these verses, while the June edit uses 3. The part 2 bridge section (Cantina, then Chorus) goes from piano and mandolin to electric harpsichord, piano, various percussion, and organ. Children Were Raised goes from just a piano to electric harpsichord and organ. The "flow" of both edit is very musical, which doesn't make either version a more difficult performance. And neither version of the song, nor any song on Smiley Smile, was played on the fall 1967 tour.

Compare how Wonderful was "stripped down" from Smile to Smiley: Instead of 2 keyboards playing similar parts, we have 4 different textures (piano, organ, melodica, and celeste) all playing against each other, and a bridge section in a completely different tempo which comes after a long pause. No version of Wonderful was added to the live set.

Going from April Vegetables to June Vegetables: Instead of a single piano and bass, it's now a bass and carefully tuned containers of water. A very simple song, not made much simpler. In October 1966, it was just a piano. The April verse shows up at the end anyways, with yet another keyboard. No version of Vegetables was added to the live set.

If Brian was trying to make it easy for the guys to do these songs, and that was the entire reason for scrapping the album called "Smile" (after accidentally predicting the future in a press release anyways), he wasn't doing a good job... and they didn't even end up performing them.

[ANYTHING]

And again, how exactly is ANYTHING on Smiley Smile easier to reproduce on stage? Why would the Beach Boys get mad at Brian because they couldn't reproduce clarinets and flutes in a concert, and then happily accept songs with 4 different keyboards and a children's choir overdubbed?

"Did Brian use those studios, those Wrecking Crew musicians, and go for that same kind of production with the Beach Boys after that track?"


Yes, yes, and yes.

If by "those studios" you mean Gold Star, then no, Love to Say Da Da was really the last time he worked there. But if you mean the general Hollywood studio scene, then yes, there were a few sessions at Sound Recorders and Western before Brian's home studio became the home base for the next project.

Chuck Berghofer, although not present on Da Da, was a wrecking crew musician who did a few sessions for the Beach Boys after this. It's not much but, look at what came before Da Da... Vegetables, which, beyond the elaborate fade section (which came halfway into the song's production), only used one session musician - Chuck Berghofer. And for months before that? Bridge to Indians, Mission Pak, Tag to Part 1, Cantina, Piano Theme, Whistling Bridge, all the chants... these feature vocals with no instrumental accompaniment, a single piano, or a piano + 1 or 2 extra instruments. Again, there wasn't a sudden change, but a general shift from track complexity to vocal complexity from October-July, with countermelodies being given more to singers than players, which was a gradual change, over months and months of Brian's music making. Once Brian got into a groove with his home studio recordings, he started to play everything himself.

And what are we classifying as "same kind of production"? From the start of Smile to the end of Smiley Smile, I hear Brian's production shifting toward this:

- songs recorded in sections, which often contradict each other in feel or style
- a focus on humor, darkness, and beauty, all at once sometimes
- a continuing shift toward vocal complexity, with countermelodies being given more often to singers than to instrumentalists
- lots of hard splices within songs
- group harmonies recorded together, with tighter parts and more unison
- backing tracks often limited to just a piano and a few more instruments

What is consistently there up to Da Da that suddenly drops off? What am I missing?

.

When the Boys returned to the US that May, Brian was still recording Smile. The Derek Taylor announcement, I think, was either premature or simply wrong when it was published. So the Boys return, upset at the criticism and here's Brian still recording tracks which could not be reproduced on the stage. There are possibly arguments, finger pointing, anger, etc.

I'm extremely confused... you think that the Beach Boys accidentally announced that their new album was scrapped, and then happened to scrap the new album later? All because Love to Say Da Da has clarinets instead of melodicas and children's choirs? The latter being somehow easier to reproduce on stage?

Brian's first mono mix of Wonderful from October 6 was labeled as a master.

I’ve had a very short bootleg of this song since the mid 70s. I know there is an extended version with The Beach Boys (Bruce and Al) singing the intro then a segue into  long version with someone else’s lead.  I was surprised that any version of this song did not show up on the Feel Flows box set since it was early 70s.  Can anyone shed some light on this song.  I always liked the intro boot that I had and whoever did the long country version did a nice job.

What you've heard is a fan edit that combines two completely different recordings. The slow organ version, which has appeared on various bootlegs over the years, was recorded for the Holland album, but ultimately left off. The faster, longer version is the original recording of the song, with a lead vocal by Don Goldberg (who cowrote the song with Brian). This one was recorded for Carl & the Passions. Neither appeared on Feel Flows, as that release focused on the Sunflower - Surf's Up era.

Yes, and the one session that took place at Sunset Sound was not used in the final version. The only thing from Sunset you can hear in the final mix is the piano during the first bridge, which was actually moved to Western for that date. So the backing track is made up of pieces from just Western and Gold Star - Gold Star being the verses, and Western being the rest. Overdubs, like the theremin, cello, tambourine, and all of the vocals, were recorded at Columbia. Despite some comments from Brian and Chuck Britz, RCA was never used for Good Vibrations.

A few questions, Mark -

I can't afford to buy the score as of now, but I was wondering, is the written piano part on Dead Man's Curve identical to what Brian plays on the recording? I've always been curious to know if it's something Jan made him play note-for-note, or if Brian deviated from the sheet music a bit. Since Brian had a hand in writing the song, and had his own unique way of playing, it would surprise me if he just read the part without throwing in his own ideas.

And speaking of "It's As Easy as 1, 2, 3", there isn't a piano on that, is there? Same question for Rockin' Little Roadster - did Brian get called in that day just to play on "Barons"?

There were four songs on the November 14, 1963, session: “Dead Man’s Curve”; “Hot Stocker”; “Surf Route 101”; and “Drag Strip Girl”

Three keyboardists were present—Leon Russell, Al DeLory, and Brian Wilson—but all three may not have played on every track during the session (though that's possible). The division of labor is not entirely clear. We know Jan refers to Leon's playing during the recording of "Dead Man's Curve." Maybe Brian sat in on "Surf Route 101." He's credited as a co-writer of "Surf Route 101" on the Drag City album packaging but not in the copyright filing for the song. Maybe Brian was present as a consultant. Hard to say for sure.

The piano chart for "Dead Man's Curve" shows the chords, with slash notation in the treble clef. The bass clef (left hand) is pitch notation that doubles the bass line. Jan often did that for his piano charts. Sometimes they kept it, and sometimes they crossed it out. An arpeggio sweep is notated across bass and treble clefs leading to the recitation.

In general, the keyboard players would have played in their own way, based on the piano charts. They worked so much with Jan they knew what he liked and wanted. Jan often provided specific notation for certain piano parts (like when he wanted the whole ensemble to play the same rhythmic pattern). Otherwise, the pros did their thing. If Jan didn't like something, he'd stop them and they'd work it out.

Obviously, Jan's arrangements are not three-chord ditties. Depending on the song, you'll see 6th, 7th, minor 7th, 9th, diminished, augmented, etc.

"It's As Easy As 1, 2, 3" and "Rockin' Little Roadster" do have piano parts (with Leon Russell and Brian Wilson listed on that session). Jan's arrangements always had a keyboard part. For "It's As Easy As 1, 2, 3" it's a chord chart with no slash or pitch notation. For "Rockin' Little Roadster," it's a combination of chords and slash notation, with specific pitch notation in certain parts. ("Rockin' Little Roadster" is part of my publishing project).

"Barons, West L.A." is interesting because Jan assigned specific players to parts (in the score and consequently on the charts). He assigned the piano part to Brian Wilson and the organ part to Leon Russell. And Brian was listed on the session—so, strong documentary evidence that Brian played keys on "Barons, West L.A."

Two other items of note . . .

For "Ride the Wild Surf" and "Surfin' Wild," Jan wrote "Brian Wilson Left Hand" on the piano part, on the bass clef (score and chart)—a style instruction for the keyboard player on the sessions.

Thanks for the response, Mark! Really valuable stuff. So if Brian was playing anything on that date, it wasn't Dead Man's Curve? You're right, Surf Route 101 seems most likely, since he co-wrote the song (By the way, like Dead Man's Curve, Brian's name wasn't on the initial copyright filing, but amendments were made to include his name).

Surf City also intrigues me. Have you heard that basic tracking session? Was the piano played live, or overdubbed? If it was live, is there a chance Brian played it? And, interesting on that last remark. Makes sense that Jan would notate that left hand part, since those are both songs they wrote together - he must've really liked the way Brian played them, and wanted to be sure they retained the same feeling in the studio!

A few questions, Mark -

I can't afford to buy the score as of now, but I was wondering, is the written piano part on Dead Man's Curve identical to what Brian plays on the recording? I've always been curious to know if it's something Jan made him play note-for-note, or if Brian deviated from the sheet music a bit. Since Brian had a hand in writing the song, and had his own unique way of playing, it would surprise me if he just read the part without throwing in his own ideas.

And speaking of "It's As Easy as 1, 2, 3", there isn't a piano on that, is there? Same question for Rockin' Little Roadster - did Brian get called in that day just to play on "Barons"?

As far as Carl and John-Roger, if the program can bring more Carl-like souls into the world, them I'm all for it.

"As far as Dennis and Charles Manson, if the family can bring more Dennis-like souls into the world, then I'm all for it."

"As far as Brian and Eugene Landy, if 24-hour therapy can bring more Brian-like souls into the world, then I'm all for it."

These are all equivalent statements that make no sense when you think about them for more than 2 seconds. No one should be "all for" cults with sexual abusers in positions of high power.

The ending harmonies are all the guys, minus Dennis. 5 part harmony sung by 5 Beach Boys.

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And Carl is on acoustic guitar on that track right?

Nope, but he's on electric. Al Vescovo plays the acoustic, and the banjo.

For the record, Little Bird is completely a Brian Wilson arrangement and production, just like everything else on the album. He also wrote more than half of the song, but didn't take any credit, in order to encourage Dennis to write more. Dennis was watching and learning during the session. Most of the backing vocals were done without him, too.

One thing I’ve been curious about is if there ever was a song Dennis wrote that he didn’t actually play an instrument on (It’s About Time is the first thing that comes to my mind).

Little Bird and Be Still, for one.

Dennis plays harmonium on Little Bird.

The harmonium was played by Brian, at first on the basic track, and later, as an overdub.

One thing I’ve been curious about is if there ever was a song Dennis wrote that he didn’t actually play an instrument on (It’s About Time is the first thing that comes to my mind).

Little Bird and Be Still, for one.

I can think of one example of what might be Brian using falsetto - on the fade of Smiley Smile Wind Chimes, he sings a high backing part that goes "oh well oh well oh well." It's a very soft part, and it gets really whispery. Falsetto can get whispery, but it can't get reedy or raspy the way head voice does. But that still might be head voice, not certain. "Columnated ruins domino" also gets pretty whispery, but I think that can be safely classified as head voice. Beyond maybe Wind Chimes, I can't think of a single other example.

Lead sheet was done in December 1968, transcribed from the recording

Lead sheets for Beach Boys songs are generally not very reliable. Some of those that I've seen for the Little Deuce Coupe album have completely misheard lyrics, by whoever was listening to the records and copying down what they heard. "The Border, the Southland, had seen some strange things"... what? Pretty funny stuff. When Tandyn Almer and Stanley Shapiro urged Brian to dig up some old tunes to rewrite, they were shocked at how many chords were completely wrong.

I don't really know how these things were done, and I'd love to learn more about the process that Brian and the boys had to go through, but seeing as this specific copyright was filed after the recording date, I'm guessing someone was just listening to the record and writing down what they heard. A barely audible Dennis part in the chorus was probably not detected.

Not sure if you've seen The Beatles: Get Back, but toward the end of Episode One (on the day George quits the band, IIRC), they are visited by their publisher, the very Murry-like (in appearance, but seemingly a pretty nice guy) Dick James. The Fabs, Glyn Johns, and he get into a discussion on this very topic. Someone (Glyn, I think) says sheet music chords are very often completely wrong, to which Mr. James replies how the process works:  the records are transcribed by someone in his office (who, he says, is very very good, but could still make a mistake now and then), after which the transcriptions are sent to George Martin for review and possible vetoing.  If any mistakes make it past that point, well it's basically down to human error. Not sure if that's how the process worked with Brian's music, but most probably it did, except maybe the transcriptions never made it to Brian, or maybe he just didn't bother with them?

Yes! Absolutely fascinating stuff. The tricky thing is, some of those copyrights were done before release, or even before recording. I Get Around is a weird one, because even though it was made after the recording, the lyrics differ (presumably they're Brian's before Mike edited them), and Brian's intro is used instead of Mike's ("Well there's a million little girls just waitin around..."), so that one must've been Brian playing piano and singing to someone who transcribed it. And in some cases, there were no recordings to go off of, e.g. I'm Waiting For the Day in 1964. I wish we had a better idea of how those sessions went.

Lead sheets for Beach Boys songs are generally not very reliable. Some of those that I've seen for the Little Deuce Coupe album have completely misheard lyrics, by whoever was listening to the records and copying down what they heard. "The Border, the Southland, had seen some strange things"... what? Pretty funny stuff. When Tandyn Almer and Stanley Shapiro urged Brian to dig up some old tunes to rewrite, they were shocked at how many chords were completely wrong.

I don't really know how these things were done, and I'd love to learn more about the process that Brian and the boys had to go through, but seeing as this specific copyright was filed after the recording date, I'm guessing someone was just listening to the record and writing down what they heard. A barely audible Dennis part in the chorus was probably not detected.

There is not and has never been a published reference to "truck drivin man" from before 1968, so let's not use that as a source for any speculation until someone directly pulls up a quote from a contemporary article. Inferring the vocal melody from "melodic lines in the instrumental tracks" is also not a possibility because... the melody is not played on the track. I agree that it's a huge stretch to even consider that the melody and lyrics weren't written by Brian and Van Dyke in '66, and that discussion is a little pointless. The only real question here is when the leads were recorded, and how they came about - either Brian was consulted, or Carl and/or Dennis simply remembered the song that they spent several days recording just a year prior. Or both.

That lead sheet was written up after the recording, for copyright purposes.

If I put on my old Smile research thinking cap for this one, I remember there is either an article or an interview where Brian mentions recording the rhythmic Truck Drivin Man rap with Dennis, and I believe it was from late 66. Anyone else remember that? I'm away from my archives and can't check, but I think that is on the record at least from late 66, and if it wasn't Brian then, it may have been Carl saying that later...but my memory says Brian.

Which would suggest, if all that is accurate, that the Truck Drivin Man rap was at least attempted during the original sessions.

Your thinking cap may be a little loose... the 'article' you're writing about does not exist.

Either way, we know that all the lyrics were written in '66 by Van Dyke; it's the recording date that isn't clear. But yes, the precise terminal vibrato in Carl's performance and the overall timbre of his voice suggest 1968 to me. It sounds much more like I Can Hear Music and Time To Get Alone than Good Vibrations or Wind Chimes, as Will pointed out.

Interesting. Walkin' the Line went through a few rewrites before Nick's involvement, but the final lyrics that Nick seems to be taking credit for here were actually written by Gary Usher back in 1986. Landy tried out a few versions along the way, but Gary's original lyrics were ultimately used, with the exception of 2 lines that were changed to rhyme. The only change made to Gary's chorus was the addition of "runnin' out of my mind", which apparently came from Paley. I'm not sure Nick can take credit for any of the lyrics in the song, unless he came up with "and that's no lie" and "'til we find a way", but that's minor anyways. His big contribution was changing the melody in the verses from the repetitive, march-like "I walk the line, I walk the line..." to the held "Iiiiii walk the liiiiine."

I liked Brian's melody better.

Brian was working on both Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long and I Feel This Love around the same time, with lots of overlap. BLYHGL also dates earlier as a composition. Similar melodies, but neither turned into the other

However Brian's music is presented, I think there's a happier medium than having Don Was say "Woah, what's that? A banjo and harmonica together? What a genius!" about a song with neither banjo nor harmonica.

It was a real, 7 hour session, part of which was filmed. The Smile Sessions box set disc 5, tracks 14-16 are from that date. I'm sure it was deflection because she wasn't at that date - but that session didn't produce anything in the final mix either!