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Author Topic: The Jon Stebbins Thread  (Read 139835 times)
Shady
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« Reply #125 on: October 21, 2007, 02:56:26 PM »

I would just like to add into the mix, that i loved the new book, a great read.

Thanks a lot John.
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« Reply #126 on: October 23, 2007, 07:49:44 AM »

I just wanted to say that I loved your David Marks book, too.  Absolutely great job.  It made me see him in a whole different light.  (And the insight into the early Beach Boys was incredible, too.)

Also, I got to meet and hang out with David Marks at Hobie's recent East Coast Convention and had a hell of a time.  A really nice guy.

I hope the book is successful for you.  Every single Beach Boys fan should read this book.  Congratulations!

        Love and merci,   Dan Lega
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Jon Stebbins
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« Reply #127 on: October 26, 2007, 09:32:05 AM »

Thanks to Dan and We'll Run Away for the kind words. It means a great deal to me (and to Dave) when we hear from people who enjoyed the book.

BTW..."We'll Run Away" is one of my favorite BW songs. I think it is so beautifully sung...and such a moving arrangement. Somehow Brian manages to blend Blues/Jazz and pure teen pop into something that sounds so simple, and yet is so unique. Brian's vocal in that middle eight might be my all-time favorite voice moment from him.Truly one of THE underrated Beach Boys songs.
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« Reply #128 on: November 07, 2007, 09:02:44 AM »

Thanks to Dan and We'll Run Away for the kind words. It means a great deal to me (and to Dave) when we hear from people who enjoyed the book.

BTW..."We'll Run Away" is one of my favorite BW songs. I think it is so beautifully sung...and such a moving arrangement. Somehow Brian manages to blend Blues/Jazz and pure teen pop into something that sounds so simple, and yet is so unique. Brian's vocal in that middle eight might be my all-time favorite voice moment from him.Truly one of THE underrated Beach Boys songs.

oh no doubt, it's in my top 5 bb songs of all time..brias lead is magic
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« Reply #129 on: November 10, 2007, 03:08:29 PM »

That middle eight is The Most Impossible BW lead for me to sing without going into falsetto.  It is truly amazing!!!
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« Reply #130 on: November 13, 2007, 12:49:54 PM »

I just noticed a David Marks interview in the October Goldmine.   Jons name and book is mentioned.

Straight forward question:  Is David involved in actually marketing the book?   How does this sort of thing work?

Is he paid?  Or is it just to his advantage?
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Jon Stebbins
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« Reply #131 on: November 13, 2007, 01:41:29 PM »

I just noticed a David Marks interview in the October Goldmine.   Jons name and book is mentioned.

Straight forward question:  Is David involved in actually marketing the book?   How does this sort of thing work?

Is he paid?  Or is it just to his advantage?


David co-wrote the book with me...so its his book too. He's the co-author and has the same responsibility to promote it, and the same stake in it that I do...well a bigger one I guess cause he's the subject too.
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« Reply #132 on: November 13, 2007, 05:22:58 PM »

That makes sense.  I guess I need to actually buy the book and read it.  I'm still working on Riot On Sunset Strip.

I just noticed David popping up here and there talking about his history with the band and wondered about the promotional tie in.

So, next question.   If I might ask.  How did this collaboration come about?  Or has this been discussed previously on this thread?   

For some reason I'm always curious about the backstory on these projects.

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« Reply #133 on: June 14, 2008, 09:22:45 AM »

Thanks for the informative and enjoyable POB liner notes Jon.
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« Reply #134 on: June 27, 2008, 06:26:45 AM »

Jon, do you have any idea if the Real Beach Boy book will be re-issued anytime soon?
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« Reply #135 on: June 27, 2008, 09:22:26 AM »

We're still working on the revised and expanded edition. It should be ready by late summer. Anyone who wants to reserve a copy can leave their contact info here.... www.therealbeachboy.com
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« Reply #136 on: July 02, 2008, 07:10:33 AM »

just got a copy of the lost beach boy yesterday from amazon. ended up reading the whole book before i put it down. it is a great story. thank you and david for taking the time and effort to put his story to print. would recommend it to anyone with an interest in david's story, his place in the beach boy's history and how his life has turned around.
thank you both once again.
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« Reply #137 on: July 07, 2008, 02:08:51 AM »

Hi Jon, did Dennis already have the song title "pacific ocean blue" before he asked Mike to write lyrics? basically im wondering did Mike actually come up with the name for the album? even though i know it was intended for 15 big ones at the time.
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« Reply #138 on: July 07, 2008, 10:39:47 AM »

Hi Jon, did Dennis already have the song title "pacific ocean blue" before he asked Mike to write lyrics? basically im wondering did Mike actually come up with the name for the album? even though i know it was intended for 15 big ones at the time.
I don't know the chronology of that collaboration, but the song title is Pacific Ocean Blues, and it is a blues progression. The LP title is something else...Pacific Ocean Blue...not blues. That seems like a concept that came later, especially since the working title for that LP was originally Freckles.
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« Reply #139 on: July 07, 2008, 02:29:59 PM »

Yeah, but wouldn't you say that the album was named after the track?
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« Reply #140 on: July 08, 2008, 09:31:41 AM »

Yeah, but wouldn't you say that the album was named after the track?
I would say its named after a line from the song..."I Love You...Pacific Ocean Blue"...but if it were named after the title of the song then the LP title would be Pacific Ocean Blues right? I think the distinction is intentional.
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« Reply #141 on: July 09, 2008, 03:55:03 AM »

so did dennis already have the title for the song before he called Mike to write lyrics?
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« Reply #142 on: July 09, 2008, 05:20:34 AM »

so did dennis already have the title for the song before he called Mike to write lyrics?

Apparently he did...from what Brad Elliott uncovered in research for his book in 1981, the February 12, 1975 session yielded the titles "Holy Man", "Slow Blooze" (although Brad misinterpreted those two as one single title), and "Pacific Ocean Blues".  That title turned up again in a group of sessions later that year.  In August of '76 Dennis quoted the title to Timothy White as "Pacific Ocean Song", but that may have been a mere slip of the tongue, rather than an actual (albeit brief) change in titles. 
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« Reply #143 on: July 09, 2008, 05:23:22 AM »

so did dennis already have the title for the song before he called Mike to write lyrics?

Apparently he did...from what Brad Elliott uncovered in research for his book in 1981, the February 12, 1975 session yielded the titles "Holy Man", "Slow Blooze" (although Brad misinterpreted those two as one single title), and "Pacific Ocean Blues".  That title turned up again in a group of sessions later that year.  In August of '76 Dennis quoted the title to Timothy White as "Pacific Ocean Song", but that may have been a mere slip of the tongue, rather than an actual (albeit brief) change in titles. 

cool. thanks
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« Reply #144 on: September 25, 2008, 01:17:23 PM »

Jon, I don't know how much you're stopping by these parts these days, but if you happen to check in, I was wondering if, in the process of the Dennis release, you ever talked equipment geek kind of stuff with Hanlon.

Or Earle, for that matter.  Obviously, as you may know, I'd like to know with which finger and how hard was the record button hit for each take and what clothes the engineers were wearing at the time....but less ridiculous than that, did you ever discuss the philosophy behind recording drums for Dennis' stuff?

I'm eternally interested in recording drums, perhaps because that's the only thing I struggle with getting to sound good when I record them, but I find that time period to be an interesting one for drums.

I've seen a good many tracksheets for POB at least, and what's interesting to me (about the era which produced POB)is the transition in the drum mix from the sixties, where there was the philosophy of getting the drum kit with minimal miking, treating the whole kit as one instrument, to the current philosophy, where each element of the drumset is often miked twice, or even thrice, and then each part is heavily processed separately, etc.

I particularly knocked out by the drums on Holy Man.  They capture exactly what I'm talking about; the drums are punchy and "there", indeed moreso than the drums on Pet Sounds or even Sunflower...but they're not "in your face" and they still feel like one instrument.  You can almost here the space around the hi-hat, yet according to the tracksheet, it wasn't miked nor was any special attention paid to it.

Of course, I know Brother had magnificent acoustics for drums, which always helps...but I would love to hear the thoughts of the guys in there recording the drums.



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Jon Stebbins
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« Reply #145 on: September 26, 2008, 01:34:01 PM »

It was definitely fun sitting in the studio with Hanlon while he mixed the Bambu stuff. I tried to take as many notes as I could but most of the time I was just grinning or getting misty. One thing that made a lasting impression is Dennis' use of the Hohner Clavinet, it hit me that Dennis was writing "guitar" style progressions on the Clav...Tug of Love is a great example. Its like he used the Clav as an acoustic guitar on that one. Also the Fender Rhodes usage was really important. We all talk about the grand piano being prevalent in the POB/Bambu sound...but really the Clav and the Rhodes had at least as much impact. That was my tangent... almost completely unrelated to your question.

I also love the drums on Holy Man...I guess we figured that its Ricky on that one. Holy Man really seems to fit the Holland vibe...it would have been great on there. But to your question, in general the drum strategy seems to be one of experiments, trial and error, there was undoubtedly lots of mic placement evolution. But even the feels themselves seem to be in constant evolution. Dennis used cloth, shirts, to deaden drums(on Dreamer), and used the wrong end of sticks, wrapped the sticks, used mallets...he liked to search for the sounds he had rattling around in his head. But usually the search would stumble onto something else, and to him that was just as good or better. People from the sessions always say Dennis never played anything the same way twice, and i think he encouraged those who were there playing on the sessions to have that same approach. And then when the right moment materialized Dennis was tapped in enough to recognize it, capture it, and move on to the next layer of the experiment. I don't have much tech expertise to add, but i would encourage you and others to interview Hanlon and Mankey and Murphy and Moffett while they are still around...again they will say the spirit was one of experimentation and exploration. Everyone agrees that it was usually positive and productive until the latter part of Bambu, and that Dennis was a guy who could do just about anything except save himself.
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« Reply #146 on: September 26, 2008, 01:44:22 PM »

It was definitely fun sitting in the studio with Hanlon while he mixed the Bambu stuff. I don't have much tech expertise to add, but i would encourage you and others to interview Hanlon and Mankey and Murphy and Moffett while they are still around...again they will say the spirit was one of experimentation and exploration.

Also, the musicians who played on the album or those who were to be in his touring band would be good folks to talk to; Eddy Tuleja, for example. He has stories. I think he's living in Tasmania.
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« Reply #147 on: September 26, 2008, 08:23:18 PM »

It was definitely fun sitting in the studio with Hanlon while he mixed the Bambu stuff. I don't have much tech expertise to add, but i would encourage you and others to interview Hanlon and Mankey and Murphy and Moffett while they are still around...again they will say the spirit was one of experimentation and exploration.

Also, the musicians who played on the album or those who were to be in his touring band would be good folks to talk to; Eddy Tuleja, for example. He has stories. I think he's living in Tasmania.

Yep, I contacted him and he did provide some great info, as best as he could remember.  As he put it, "If you remember the '70s, you weren't there".  The best quotes I got from him are in my POB essay on my website. (www.beachboysarchives.com).  I'm progressing on a Bambu essay that also has loads of great quotes from people like Tommy Smith.

Regarding the drum sounds on Dennis' solo stuff, I think it's interesting that there seemed to be a shift in mic'ing style when Tom Murphy started doing the sessions:  he used a more "close" mic approach, as opposed to the Mankey/Hanlon "room" mic approach. 
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« Reply #148 on: September 26, 2008, 08:32:01 PM »

Quote
Regarding the drum sounds on Dennis' solo stuff, I think it's interesting that there seemed to be a shift in mic'ing style when Tom Murphy started doing the sessions:  he used a more "close" mic approach, as opposed to the Mankey/Hanlon "room" mic approach.

Indeed.

Good stuff, Jon, thanks.
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« Reply #149 on: September 27, 2008, 01:46:41 AM »

Quick question:
For those who've heard early versions of Holy Man with Carl doing a draft vocal; is the melody similar to the Taylor Hawkins version?
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