Alright, Cam Mott, here you go...but just remember I haven't updated this in a few years, so certain things like the dates of the vocal sessions are lacking...oh yeah, and it's actually three separate essays:
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FIRST ESSAY - analysis of the finished record:
First and Second Verses - Gold Star, 2/17/66. The very first tracking session, which actually commenced at 11:30 that night and continued 'til 3:00am the morning of 2/18. Highlights from this session, as well as the master take's stereo backing track, appear in the Pet Sounds box set from Capitol (on Disc Two). The two most prominent instruments, Fender bass and Hammond organ, are played here by Ray Pohlman and Larry Knechtel, respectively. Lyle Ritz plays the upright bass, and Hal Blaine is on drums. Cal Harris is the engineer.
First, Second and Third Choruses - Western, 6/2/66. The AFM sheet for this date lists the song title as "Inspiration", but the tape box says "Good Vibrations". It sounds as if further overdubbing was done at a later date, with more instruments layered on top (i.e. Theremin and percussion - probably tambourine - added on 6/12 at Western). Carl Wilson is on Fender bass, Don Randi on electric harpsichord, and Hal Blaine is once again the drummer.
First Bridge - Western, 5/4/66. Al de Lory on tack piano, Ray Polhman on Fender bass, Jimmy Bond on upright bass, Hal Blaine on drums, Jim Gordon on "cups".
Second Bridge - Western, 9/1/66. The "churchy" bridge. Dennis Wilson plays the Hammond organ, Lyle Ritz is on upright bass, Tommy Morgan plays harmonica, and hand-held percussion instruments are shaken by Hal Blaine and Carl Wilson. Henry Bowen David is the engineer (a rare occasion when a session was held at Western without Chuck Britz). This section was added relatively late in the recording process, replacing the "fuzz bass" bridge that almost made it to the master.
Third Bridge - Western, 5/4/66. This is the slow part behind the high vocals after the third chorus and immediately before the fade. It is from the same session that produced the First Bridge.
Chorus Fade - Sunset Sound, 5/24/66. The only part of the record featuring Carol Kaye on Fender bass (she had contributed to at least two other sessions, at Gold Star on 4/9/66 and Western on 6/18/66, but nothing from those sessions was used in the master). This time around, Jim Gordon is on drums.
Tracking was done on 4-track tape (on at least one occasion, two 4-tracks were linked together), and then transfered over to 8-track at Columbia Records studio for vocal overdubs. Additional Theremin and cello were also apparently overdubbed at Columbia, even though those two instruments were also used on many of the tracking dates. It is likely that this overdub was needed for only one or two sections (the Chorus and/or the segue between the Third Bridge and Chorus Fade). Unfortunately dates for the vocal and final mixdown sessions are unknown, but they would have taken place at Columbia, since that was apparently the only studio in L.A. at that time with an 8-track deck.
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SECOND ESSAY - the conclusion I've come to as to the sources of the various "sessions" appearing on the Sea Of Tunes label's box set "Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 15 (1966): Good Vibrations".
The set does indeed, as noted, include highlights from nine seperate tracking sessions, but the order, numbering, and indeed composition of these nine sessions are not accurately represented. Note the disclaimer included which states "All takes are combined into various sessions. They do not, however, represent the actual recording dates" (this appears on the insert included in the original box set, but I believe it is missing from the subsequent "3-CD jewel box only" repackage). This implies, as the evidence bears out, that the session groupings assigned by the good folks at SOT are not necessarily based on reality, but rather on their idea of convenience or musical flow.
DISC ONE
"Session #1" (tracks 1-8): this is actually the second "Good Vibes" tracking session, from Gold Star 4/9
"Session #2" (tracks 9-16): this is actually the first "Good Vibes" tracking session, from Gold Star 2/17-18
DISC TWO
"Session #3" (tracks 1-5, called "Insert"): Western, 6/16 (this session continues on Disc Three, tracks 11-19)
"Session #4" (tracks 6-8, called "Part 1", tracks 9-10, called "Part 2"): Western, 6/18
(tracks 11-13, called "Part 3"): Western, 5/4
(tracks 14-15, also called "Part 3"): Western, 5/27
(track 16, also called "Part 3" but a different musical segment): also Western, 5/27
(tracks 17-18, called "Part 4"): also Western, 5/27
(tracks 19-20, called "Part 3"): also Western, 5/27
(tracks 21-22, called "Part 3 Fuzz Bass Rehearsal"): also Western, 5/27
(tracks 23-24, called "Part 4"): Western, 6/2
DISC THREE
"Session #5" (tracks 1-9, called "New Track"): actually the second half of Western 9/1 session
"Session #6": track 10 is a "Free Jazz Improvisation" from an unknown date; tracks 11-19 are the continuation of the Western 6/16 session begun on Disc Two
"Session #7": tracks 20-21 are called "Part 3" but they are actually Part 1 of Sunset Sound 5/24 session; tracks 22-23 are correctly titled as "Part 2" of the same session; track 24 is Part 4 of the same session (conclusions based in part on the reproduction of this session's tape box lid, included in the package artwork)
"Session #8" (tracks 25-27, called "Bass Track", referred to on tape as "Piano/Bass Track"): the first half of Western 9/1 session, which concludes at the top of this disc
"Session #9" (tracks 28-32) are simply rough mixes and overdubs of different segments to be used in the subsequent master edits
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THIRD ESSAY - analysis of the montages:
At one time in the late '80s Capitol was considering a "SMiLE" sessions CD release, and in anticipation of that, they had a montage prepared consisting of segments from various "Good Vibrations" sessions, rumored to last 30 minutes in duration, and consisting of mostly unreleased material. Portions of this montage leaked out onto bootleg releases beginning in the late '80s and continuing into the early '90s, both on vinyl and CD. Variations released by Capitol were included on (1) the "Smiley Smile"/"Wild Honey" twofer CD, released in 1990, and (2) the "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys" box set, released in 1993. These two variations are identical, except that the second one is slightly longer, with additional material appearing at the end. Since the dawn of this "montage age", Beach Boys fanatics have pondered the question: "which sessions do these tantalizing musical morsels come from?". The liner notes for the "Smiley Smile"/"Wild Honey" twofer CD proclaim that the material is from "Various sessions at Gold Star - 2/18 & 4/9, Western - 5/4, 5/27, 6/2, 6/16, 6/18, 9/1, and Sunset Sound - 8/24". It would appear that the last of these dates is a typo (certainly not unheard of in the Capitol twofer liner notes world - typos and downright errors, especially regarding dates, abound!). The only Sunset Sound "Good Vibrations" session for which existing documentation is known to collectors (both an AFM musicians' contract and a dated tape box) give the date as May, not August 24. It is, of course, possible that two or more "Good Vibes" sessions were conducted at Sunset Sound, but due to the similarity between the two dates (5/24 and 8/24), the abundance of typos existing in the Capitol liner notes, and the fact that with the exception of the Sunset Sound date, the dates given above correspond to all known "Good Vibes" sessions for which documentation exists (not counting one or two overdub "sweetening" sessions), it seems likely that the August 24 date is erroneous and is, in fact, May 24.
The official Capitol montages consist of the following material:
(1) Session dialog, commencing with Brian's slate "'Good Vibrations', Take One", and proceeding through an early take, more dialog ("Hold it, please - let me hear the organ...another stop, please...", "I would like to start it out now, this time, with the organ and the Fender bass...", "Larry, can you switch that motor on for the verses and off for 'B'...", "Are we all set for that thing where everything drops out...builds up?", "Wait a minute, where are we?...See, what it is, is, the organ's on 2-4 and you guys think it's the "one" beat, don't you?", "Play hard and strong, all the way. And watch me on that part now". All of this musical and spoken material is from the very first session, at Gold Star, the evening of February 17 into the early morning of February 18. Since it was recorded in the heart of the "Pet Sounds" era, it also appears on the "Pet Sounds Sessions" box set from 1997. Cal Harris, the engineer, is heard calling the final take, "Twenty-eight", but instead the montage takes us straight into...
(2) ...what has been referred to variously as the "overtone", "tack piano", and "toy piano" version, from the second session at Gold Star, April 9. From this session we hear a verse and a chorus, and then we go to...
(3)...the original second bridge, cut from the final master and replaced with the new "church organ" bridge. This bridge begins with a fuzz bass riff, soon joined by harpsichord, cups, and other percussion, finally ending with an overdubbed drum pickup, and was recorded at Western on May 27. This is quickly followed by another attempt at a bridge section,
(4), recorded at the same May 27 session. This bridge starts with a piano playing higher and lower octaves simultaneously, tympani, flutes, and piccolo. This bridge is similar, but not identical, to another piano/tympani/flute bridge, recorded at Sunset Sound three days earlier, and left out of Capitol's officially-released montages (but appearing nonetheless on the above-mentioned bootlegs). After a slight pause, we hear...
(5)...the "guitar melody" version (aka "Toy Piano"?), in which an electric six-string (played by Carl Wilson) replaces the Fender bass as the primary melodic instrument. This was culled from a June 18 Western session, and we hear a verse and chorus before segueing immediately into...
(6)...the "Dano bass melody" version. As you might have guessed, for this rendition the melody line is played by the Danelectro 6-string bass instead of the standard Fender 4-string bass. The Danelectro, like the Fender VI 6-string bass, is tuned an octave higher than conventional 4-string bass, making it sound somewhat like the low to mid range of a conventional electric guitar. Although appearing second in this "alternate melody" medley, it was actually recorded two days before the "guitar melody" version, at Western on June 16. We hear a verse (where a "freaky clarinet", as Mike Love put it, joins in), and a chorus. From there we go...
(7)...to church. Dennis Wilson's organ bridge, soon accompanied by some unreleased vocals of the "Hum-de-dum" variety. This was recorded September 1 at Western (I checked and, no, September 1, 1966 was not a Sunday...it just sounds like one). This is where the "Smiley Smile"/"Wild Honey" twofer version of the montage ends, but the 1993 box set version continues with...
(
...the first bridge from the released master version, minus vocal and instrumental overdubs, into a chorus from the same session, then to the slow bridge before the fade, and back to the chorus section. All of this is from the May 4 Western session. It appears that in assembling the final edited version, Brian simply took this entire section, excised the chorus, replaced it with, originally, the "fuzz bass" bridge, but ultimately with the September 1 "churchy bridge", left the "slow bridge" intact, added a brief cello/Theremin interlude, and replaced the chorus fade with the one from Sunset Sound, May 24. Finally, we hear...
(9)..."Really felt good, let's play it". Brian's comment is the only material from that May 24 Sunset Sound session used in the Capitol montage.
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