Beach Boys myths/misconceptions?

[Forshorn]

1. For years I heard that Brian had spent eight years in bed doing acid. But in the Larry King interview with the pesky Melinda doing most of the talking, Brian said he had only taken acid three or four times.

2. People always say Mike sued Brian for writing credits to the songs, and this is in fact true. But it was Murry Wilson who had kept Mike's name off as lyricist, not Brian. I don't think there's much argument about this.

3. I always heard that Brian was deaf in one ear because his father beat him. But in an interview Brian said he was born with limited hearing in that ear.

4. It's frequently said that Bruce Johnston wrote "I Write the Songs" about Brian. But Bruce has said that he wrote it about "music," a spirit that influences writers and musicians. It's the spirit of music that speaks in the song.

5. Speaking of Bruce, Brian did not co-write "Deirdre," according to an interview with Bruce.

6. The Stones used a theremin on Sticky Fingers, but what was the sound on "Good Vibrations"? A Moog synthesizer? Not a theremin.

7. Dennis is the only Beach Boy to surf. Actually, although not an original Beach Boy, Bruce was an avid surfer, and was recording hit surfing music in 1962 with Bruce & Terry. Who did surf music first? Jan & Dean, who said the Beach Boys "stole our sound," Bruce & Terry (not likely), whoever did "Wipe Out," or The Beach Boys?

8. A rift was caused in the Beach Boys because Mike Love didn't like the less commercial direction of "Pet Sounds" and "Smiley Smile." Mike says it was the lyrics he didn't like, but he and Al say the rift was caused by drugs. They were clean-living chaps and couldn't deal with Brian's and Dennis's drug use. So they say. Mike seems stoned to me.

9. Mike sued Al Jardine over the use of the name Beach Boys. It was Brother Records that was responsible for this lawsuit.

10. Van Dyke Parks wrote the lyrics to Pet Sounds. Okay, this is not a big mystery, but Brian says as much in the Beach Boys: An American Band documentary. Tony Asher wrote these lyrics so closely associated with Brian. Why is he seldom mentioned?

11. Is the influence of Pet Sounds on The Beatles exaggerated? Okay, Paul McCartney liked "God Only Knows." But Sgt. Pepper doesn't seem similar to Pet Sounds in any way. Or is it Revolver that was supposed to be similar. Again...

More misconceptions? Arguments, answers?

[Wirestone]

6. The Stones used a theremin on Sticky Fingers, but what was the sound on "Good Vibrations"? A Moog synthesizer? Not a theremin.

The Bob Moog interview on this is incorrect. He was likely talking about devising an instrument for the touring band, which was a ribbon synthesizer.

That instrument, however, was not featured on the recordings. What was? An Electro-Theremin, also called a Tannerin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin

[37!ws]

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8591.msg198650.html#msg198650

[37!ws]

1. For years I heard that Brian had spent eight years in bed doing acid. But in the Larry King interview with the pesky Melinda doing most of the talking, Brian said he had only taken acid three or four times.

Brian says different things on different days. Once he said he took acid twice. Another time he said he took it a LOT. Hell, once, he denied ever dropping acid.

2. People always say Mike sued Brian for writing credits to the songs, and this is in fact true. But it was Murry Wilson who had kept Mike's name off as lyricist, not Brian. I don't think there's much argument about this.

That's absolutely true...but eventually it did become Brian's responsibility to make sure the proper credit was given.

4. It's frequently said that Bruce Johnston wrote "I Write the Songs" about Brian. But Bruce has said that he wrote it about "music," a spirit that influences writers and musicians. It's the spirit of music that speaks in the song.

I could have sworn that one time he DID say he wrote it about Brian...I'll have to check my references...

7. Dennis is the only Beach Boy to surf. Actually, although not an original Beach Boy, Bruce was an avid surfer, and was recording hit surfing music in 1962 with Bruce & Terry. Who did surf music first? Jan & Dean, who said the Beach Boys "stole our sound," Bruce & Terry (not likely), whoever did "Wipe Out," or The Beach Boys?

I think "Moon Dawg" is considered to be the first surf tune, so whoever did the original "Moon Dawg," which the BB covered on Surfin' Safari, probably deserve that credit.

BTW, yeah, the Beach Boys definitely did steal from Jan & Dean..."Surfin'" is VERY Jan & Dean, especially Mike's vocal...then Jan & Dean kind of borrowed from the Beach Boys' beach-and-car sounds...then Brian learned how to do the wall-of-sound stuff from Jan Berry.

9. Mike sued Al Jardine over the use of the name Beach Boys. It was Brother Records that was responsible for this lawsuit.

I have it on unquestionably one of the best authorities that this is true...but when I commented on that once, Matt Jardine PMed me and said that Mike absolutely did sue Al over the name...

10. Van Dyke Parks wrote the lyrics to Pet Sounds. Okay, this is not a big mystery, but Brian says as much in the Beach Boys: An American Band documentary. Tony Asher wrote these lyrics so closely associated with Brian. Why is he seldom mentioned?

When talking about Pet Sounds, Tony Asher is mentioned quite a lot. VDP didn't write any Pet Sounds lyrics. I THOUGHT VDP said he did in An American Band (Brian never said that in said documentary) but someone on this board pointed out that it's not what he really said...or meant...or something...

11. Is the influence of Pet Sounds on The Beatles exaggerated? Okay, Paul McCartney liked "God Only Knows." But Sgt. Pepper doesn't seem similar to Pet Sounds in any way. Or is it Revolver that was supposed to be similar. Again...

Revolver did have a bit of Pet Sounds influence -- I think "Here, There, and Everywhere" was McCartney's attempt to do his own "God Only Knows."

But an album doesn't need to be similar to be an influence, but you can definitely hear the influence. Of course, we know about "God Only Knows," like you pointed out....and in Anthology McCartney said that he was trying to get a Beach Boys-esque sound for "Penny Lane." Well...I couldn't understand what the heck he meant because I always thought it was NOTHING like anything the Beach Boys ever did...but...when the Mrs. and I saw Love the first time, it hit me when they were playing Beatles backing tracks before the show started, and "Penny Lane" was among the backing tracks. (Man, what I'd do to befriend whoever's in charge of the pre-show music....) And it hit me: "Penny Lane" = "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

But yeah....Sgt. Pepper's clearly took some cues from Pet Sounds:
- Both albums had 13 tracks, which was unusual. (American albums usually had 11 or 12; UK albums had 14.)
- The music was a pretty far departure from both bands' prior output, yet it was still unquestionably them.
- Pet Sounds had animals at the end. Sgt. Pepper's had animals near the end.
- Probably just coincidence, but Pet Sounds was the only new Beach Boys album of 1966, and Sgt. Pepper's was the only new Beatles album of 1967. [Remember, Magical Mystery Tour was only an album in the U.S.]

Not just Paul, but George Martin also has discussed several times the importance of Pet Sounds and its influence on SPLHCB.

[rn57]

Re #7 - it's true Bruce surfs, but he wasn't in the BBs when they were actually writing and recording their classic tracks about surfing. ("Surf's Up" doesn't really count, and I'm leaving aside the Baywatch-era surf references.) So Dennis would have been the lone surfer back then.

[guitarfool2002]

If you dig deeper into the smaller, less obvious production and recording details of Sgt. Pepper, the Pet Sounds influence is in fact running through many of the tracks on Pepper. Geoff Emerick wrote that a turntable was brought into the control room so they could listen to Pet Sounds during the Pepper sessions. That music was a presence, like an undercurrent of influence during that period, especially on Paul who seemed to be the most taken by the sounds he was hearing from Brian.

Penny Lane is a terrific example, I have mentioned that and WIBN as well when pointing to a specific example. Penny Lane was a track built on Paul's keyboard parts, multi-layered overdubs. Those keyboards - NOT drums - created the groove of that record, and that is also a foundation of some of Brian's work too. Listen to how sparse some of the 1966-era drum parts on Brian's records really are: The groove often came from other instruments and was solidified but not based around a drum part. That, and the sounds and effects on the record, is Penny Lane. It's a shuffle based on Paul's piano playing, whereas a typical Beatles record would be grounded in the drums.

I know there are also specific examples where various members or recording staff have pointed to a direct influence from the Beach Boys regarding parts of Pepper, I just can't remember specifics.

[JohnMill]

Paul's bass playing post "Pet Sounds" was certainly influenced by Brian Wilson.  After "Pet Sounds" Paul got far more into what he termed as "melodic bass lines" than what he was doing previously.  A lot of the bass on the "Sgt. Pepper" was heavily influenced by the bass sound on "Pet Sounds".

In regards to the songwriting credits dispute between Brian and Mike, is there any truth to the rumor that Mike held a grudge for years against Brian for not properly crediting him despite Brian's pleas with Mike that it was an honest mistake.  Dom Priore in his book makes this a major bone of contention between the two cousins which ate Mike up for years.

[NHC]

Re #7 - it's true Bruce surfs, but he wasn't in the BBs when they were actually writing and recording their classic tracks about surfing. ("Surf's Up" doesn't really count, and I'm leaving aside the Baywatch-era surf references.) So Dennis would have been the lone surfer back then.

Didn't Mike surf?  That's the inference from his comments about writing Do It Again, going surfing with an old high school buddy at some of the old spots.

[Tilt Araiza]

I'm sure I once read/heard that Van Dyke Parks surfed at some point.  I didn't hear it in the BBC Radio 1995 documentary about Smile, but I do think it was there that I heard Parks saying something about how he and his friends knew that the BBs weren't surfers and labelled them "flatlanders".

[hypehat]

Re #7 - it's true Bruce surfs, but he wasn't in the BBs when they were actually writing and recording their classic tracks about surfing. ("Surf's Up" doesn't really count, and I'm leaving aside the Baywatch-era surf references.) So Dennis would have been the lone surfer back then.

Didn't Mike surf?  That's the inference from his comments about writing Do It Again, going surfing with an old high school buddy at some of the old spots.

Maybe he learnt. But at the start, Dennis was the only only one, and certainly the only one 'on the scene'

Also, no, Van Dyke can't surf. VDP could obviously say that without knowing the ins and outs of surfing.... I mean, look at 'em!

[ontor pertawst]

If Mike Love surfed, I'm guessing we would've been treated to huge promo pictures of it every chance possible.

[runnersdialzero]

If Mike Love surfed, I'm guessing we would've been treated to huge promo pictures of it every chance possible.

I think he's said it a few times, albeit not recently.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

If Mike Love surfed, I'm guessing we would've been treated to huge promo pictures of it every chance possible.

I think he's said it a few times, albeit not recently.

I think Mike surfed like many kinds growing up a few miles from the beach surfed.  Not seriously, but it was a part of his life.