Desper wrote about the "session" in his thread. Great story:
I wrote a complete story about the f--k sound at the ending of
All I Want To Do. That writing was one of those lost from Susan's old website. So I'll retell the story -- AND YOU GUYS OWE ME ONE!
I still have the isolated 1/4 stereo 15 IPS segment of that part.
Do it again is about a repeat climax!
All I Wanna Do is about . . . Dennis liked sex, what can I say.
One afternoon, if I remember correctly -- yes, that's right because I remember it was still daylight outside -- we were adding some parts to the song,
Do It Again. We were booked into Capitol studio one or two. Don't remember which one but they are both very large rooms and Sanatra amoung others have recorded whole albums in that studio. The control room has a large window that looks out into the studio but the control room is not as spacious as others. We were booked into this large studio because it was the only one available that day. I think all we were doing was adding a guitar part. It was Denny's session and he and I were the only ones there -- along with the token Capitol union engineer. We finished sweetening the song with the guitar but had some time left on our booking. Dennis had an idea for the end of
All I Wanna Do (or maybe he was just horny). He pulled me off to the side and told me what he had in mind. Now the equipment doors -- double sound doors -- opened to the parking lot or street outside the Capitol tower from this studio, so you could get to the street and bypass the normal security guards at the entance to the tower. So Dennis' idea was that he wanted to add some sex sounds to the end of 'wanna do and fade out with them. (Sounds like a ploy to get some afternoon delight huh?) So as Dennis slipped out the equipment doors I began to arrange for his plan. There were plenty of hookers (this is pre-AIDS) a block away on Hollywood Blvd and further down on the Sunset strip from the tower -- an easy walk in the afternoon California sun. So off he went. In the meantime I mounted the multi-track for 'wanna do. Then I got a large violiin raiser that was about two feet off the floor and six feet by eight feet, carpeted, and put it in the center of the studio. I got several acoustic padding blankets and spread them over the riser to give some softness to the carpet. I moved two Neuman U67 condenser mics, mounted on long booms, positioned to hover over the riser. I moved the mikes horizontal or parallell to the floor and about 30 inches above the riser. I got two sets of headphones. Then I got another violin riser and upended it so that it was blocking the view from the control room of the "action" riser. In about half an hour the door cracked open and in came Dennis with a girl -- nice looking too!! Obviously they had come to some pre-arrangement because they both were undressing as I moved back into the control room. So from now on I'm running the session blind. We decided to just play the song over the headphones from the beginning and record from the top. To later edit out the best sounds and then wild-track them back into the song at the end. So I ask Dennis to give me some levels. He groaned for me. OK. We started the song, and he started his task. All in time to the beat. That was the whole idea -- or hole idea --
As the song progressed, so did Dennis' action and responses. What a ham! Fairly soon, I noticed that visitors were stopping by the control room. Soon there were many executives at this Beach Boy session -- word was spreading quickly throughout the tower. The song ended and I ask the common question of the performer, "Was that good for you?" Trying to maintain a somewhat professional composure, Dennis said it was, especially the last part. I replied, ya it seemed to get more animated toward the end. To which he said that he wanted to overdub a second pass. So before I could get the tape backed up Dennis and friend were already starting. This time he heard the song with his first take coming back into the headphone mix to give a little encouragement to the second passes performance. As soon as the music started he got right into the beat -- drummer you know! Again played the entire song until reaching the end, this time he was satisfied. After some hasty dressing, Dennis came out from around the riser. The girl did not stay and left the way she came -- came into the studio that is. Actually I think she was a little embarressed as I asked her to sign a release -- didn't want a lawsuit later. Then Dennis came into the control room to a round of applause -- dirty old men -- and we listened to a mix with both tracks included -- isolating just the f--k tracks from time to time. I don't think you get to hear this type of activity in an acoustic enviornment with Neuman's capturing every nuance of detail in real up close sound stereo, very often. It was quite a thing to hear and it was all on two seperate stereo tracks. Then we found the parts he liked and edited it to the right length. Wild tracking it into the multi-track reqired that you start the seperate tracks at just the right time so the beats line up. It took a few tries but we got it and you hear it at the end of
All I Want To Do as Dennis really is Doing It Again.
Good Listening, ~Stephen W. Desper
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