"The Sound of Free"

[bgas]

I have a demo of Sound of Free and looking at it this morning, the date 4/12/70 is clearly printed on the label. I knew it was released on Dennis' birthday but I was surprised that the actual date was shown. I don't buy many singles but most of the others just seem to show the year.

If it's different from the other variations shown at the Starline site, it would be neat if you could send them scans so everyone could see it! 
http://www.beachboys45.nl/UK-SOLO-DW.htm  ( main site:  http://www.beachboys45.nl/     email:  info@beachboys45.nl   )

[Andrew G. Doe]

Pretty much all promo/A label singles from the mid sixties in the UK have the exact release date on them. A boon to researchers !

[Micha]

Lady sounds more like a demo than a finished product.

How many demos do you know that feature a strings overdub?

[HeyJude]

I can see how someone would say "Lady" sounds a bit demo-ish, especially the original mix (or even the booted stereo mix that appears on various "Landlocked" reel boots). Mostly the very beginning of the song, with the rhythm box and very dry, up-front Dennis vocal has that vibe. Before the strings come in, it *does* sounds somewhat like a studio demo. Once the strings come in, that kind of covers everything up enough to sound like a conventional finished recording.

[CenturyDeprived]

I can see how someone would say "Lady" sounds a bit demo-ish, especially the original mix (or even the booted stereo mix that appears on various "Landlocked" reel boots). Mostly the very beginning of the song, with the rhythm box and very dry, up-front Dennis vocal has that vibe. Before the strings come in, it *does* sounds somewhat like a studio demo. Once the strings come in, that kind of covers everything up enough to sound like a conventional finished recording.

I do almost wonder if the drum machine on Lady and Til I Die was originally intended to be a placeholder, that would be re-recorded with real live actual drums, played by a human drummer, and that this final step never got done... or that it was eventually determined that the drum machine sounded cool enough to not need replacing.

For the record, I dig the drum machine on both songs.  A different flavor, and fascinating to hear the BB utilizing that sound; an interesting transitional era in music technology.

[Ang Jones]

I have a demo of Sound of Free and looking at it this morning, the date 4/12/70 is clearly printed on the label. I knew it was released on Dennis' birthday but I was surprised that the actual date was shown. I don't buy many singles but most of the others just seem to show the year.

If it's different from the other variations shown at the Starline site, it would be neat if you could send them scans so everyone could see it!  
http://www.beachboys45.nl/UK-SOLO-DW.htm  ( main site:  http://www.beachboys45.nl/     email:  info@beachboys45.nl   )

 

Not much difference except for a big A across the centre of the label but nice to have that date.

Edited to add that I scanned and emailed to the above mentioned address.

[Micha]

I can see how someone would say "Lady" sounds a bit demo-ish, especially the original mix (or even the booted stereo mix that appears on various "Landlocked" reel boots). Mostly the very beginning of the song, with the rhythm box and very dry, up-front Dennis vocal has that vibe.

I think Desper was/is a genius mixer, and that Dennis' first lines are bone dry is just perfect. The emotions raw in your face, and then, when he first sings "Lady", the reverb expands and transcends the whole thing. When I first heard Linett's mix, I thought: "Oh no, what did he do? Reverb on Dennis' first lines?!? That's not how it's supposed to be!" Nothing demo-ish to me there. Deliberate molding of a piece of art.

[c-man]

I can see how someone would say "Lady" sounds a bit demo-ish, especially the original mix (or even the booted stereo mix that appears on various "Landlocked" reel boots). Mostly the very beginning of the song, with the rhythm box and very dry, up-front Dennis vocal has that vibe. Before the strings come in, it *does* sounds somewhat like a studio demo. Once the strings come in, that kind of covers everything up enough to sound like a conventional finished recording.

I do almost wonder if the drum machine on Lady and Til I Die was originally intended to be a placeholder, that would be re-recorded with real live actual drums, played by a human drummer, and that this final step never got done... or that it was eventually determined that the drum machine sounded cool enough to not need replacing.

For the record, I dig the drum machine on both songs.  A different flavor, and fascinating to hear the BB utilizing that sound; an interesting transitional era in music technology.

I think the fact that a real live actual snare drum, played by a human drummer (or at least a human - I'm thinking Brian or Carl) was overdubbed onto the last third or so of "Til I Die", is indication that they determined it was a cool enough sound to not need replacing.