The Mark Linett Thread

[PhilCohen]

Well, at least, now(in February 2010), we now know why Mark has been mostly absent here for a while, and why he hasn't revealed if he's working on any future Beach Boys archival projects. As we now know, he IS working on archival projects. Our days of collecting Beach Boys CD product isn't coming to an end, after all. I breathe a sigh of relief.

UPDATE: No sigh of relief after all, since "Smile" just went back into the limbo where it has been for 43 years.

[Mahalo]

Mark Linnett-

Just sending a quick SSMB "Thank You" your way for doing all the work on the SMiLE sessions and whatever could be done to help get this music out there...I am not a Beach Boys expert, just a real fan...this SMiLE release is a moment of a lifeime... Cheers!

     (Happy Dance!)

[hypehat]

Our dear friend, Leslie Nielsen, puts it better than I ever could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmHeP9Sve48

 

[onkster]

Mr. Linett-
Since Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains from the box set are now out, are you able to comment on these particular edits?

Of particular interest are:
- the melting strings at the tail of H&V
- the extended fade on GV
- the absence of the "tape explosion" and the theremin on H&V
- the backing during the H&V chorus: "Smiley" organ vs. multilayered bass/tambourine/keyboards

I understand if you're legally obligated not to say anything yet; I'm just asking in the event you're able to.

By the way, these mixes sound fantastic. Anxiously awaiting the finished set!

-Onkster

[desmondo]

Mr. Linett-
Since Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains from the box set are now out, are you able to comment on these particular edits?

Of particular interest are:
- the melting strings at the tail of H&V
- the extended fade on GV
- the absence of the "tape explosion" and the theremin on H&V
- the backing during the H&V chorus: "Smiley" organ vs. multilayered bass/tambourine/keyboards

I understand if you're legally obligated not to say anything yet; I'm just asking in the event you're able to.

By the way, these mixes sound fantastic. Anxiously awaiting the finished set!

-Onkster

Good questions

[hypehat]

I wonder when he's allowed back on the internet? 

[drbeachboy]

Well, he showed on the Hoffman Board last weekend, but only made a couple posts. You know if shows in here he is going to be inundated with questions. Can't blame him for laying low.

[petsite]

Mark,

We have all seen this cassette inlay card for years. My questions about it are:

1.) Where were you allowed to look for the SMiLE tracks (given the few that are listed).

2.) I know Andy Paley helped you, but, was there really momentum at the time to actually put a SMiLE CD out, or just to kind of inventory the tapes.

Thanks in advance!

PS-Thanks again for all of your hard work pulling all of the boxsets together and mastering them with alot of care. They have all been wonderful to listen to over the years!

Bob Flory

[buddhahat]

Hello Mark,

Many thanks for all the hard work you and Alan Boyd did in putting together the MIC boxed set. It's a real treat to hear previously unreleased material such as Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again, Where Is She, Meant For You alternate version etc. and also some of the 'new' mixes - Do It Again a particular favourite of mine. Then there's the live stuff ... Ultimately though the sequencing is one of the highlights for me. There's a beautiful flow to the whole thing which makes it the archetypal Beach Boys sampler.

Of specific interest to me was the I Believe In Miracles vocal snippet. A version had been circulating with this part edited on to sections from Can't Wait Too Long. As I understand it this edit was made by you in the 80s - is that correct? If so, could you please shed some light on Miracles' relationship with CWTL? It certainly fits musically on the booted edit. Did you put the pieces together because Miracles is an early snippet of what would grow into CWTL, perhaps you based it on a vintage Brian edit, or just for no other reason than the sections go well together?

Any info much appreciated!

[branaa09]

Hello Mark,

I have a really quick question to ask you, I noticed that on MIC that Fun,Fun,Fun and Warmth of the Sun are better Stereo Mixes than what we had from the 1963 and 1964 Chuck Britz Mixes, Stereo Backing Track for Fun,Fun,Fun and Stereo Background Vocals for Warmth of The Sun. When did you and Alan come into possession of the original Multi-Tracks for these songs and how, because they have been missing for years.

[thebaron]

Mark, after exhausting my ears listening to the Smile Sessions for a few years now, I went back and really listened to Brian Wilson Presents Smile. I really gotta congratulate you on the engineering job you did on that album. It sounds better, while still retaining that vintage feel.

[Stephen W. Desper]

Hey Mark:

Great job in the movie. Don’t know if you knew Chuck Britz, but having worked with him I can tell you that you captured his working personality quite well. Also saw in credits that you were involved with the superb soundtrack of the movie. Especially liked the unusual use of the surround speakers for the “internal thinking” sequences of Brian. Also admired the several creative seques of moving from one time line to the next using reverb and other bridging sounds. Well done man! You were the perfect pick to play the part of the great Chuck Britz and bring acknowledgment to all the engineers who worked with Brian over the years. ~Stephen W. Desper 

[yrplace]

Thanks Stephen. That means a lot coming from you. I met Chuck a few times when we were doing the GV box. Great guy. I asked him why he. Had quit engineering records at such an early age. His response was " Mark I couldn't stand all that overdubbing"

Btw I was initially hired to provide all the original sessions and tracks for use in the film and to oversee the creation of the studio scenes. I must give praise  to the set and prop people who were able to make Western Studio 3 look almost exactly as it did in 1966.

My playing Chuck was a decision made by the director to have an engineer play the part rather than having me teach someone how to act like an engineer. Made sense since they hired musicians to play the Wrecking Crew.

Having worked with Brian for over 25 years I guess I had rehearsed the part enough. It was a unique and fun experience, that I would gladly repeat if I got the chance.

Mark

[guitarfool2002]

Thanks Stephen. That means a lot coming from you. I met Chuck a few times when we were doing the GV box. Great guy. I asked him why he. Had quit engineering records at such an early age. His response was " Mark I couldn't stand all that overdubbing"

Btw I was initially hired to provide all the original sessions and tracks for use in the film and to oversee the creation of the studio scenes. I must give praise  to the set and prop people who were able to make Western Studio 3 look almost exactly as it did in 1966.

My playing Chuck was a decision made by the director to have an engineer play the part rather than having me teach someone how to act like an engineer. Made sense since they hired musicians to play the Wrecking Crew.

Having worked with Brian for over 25 years I guess I had rehearsed the part enough. It was a unique and fun experience, that I would gladly repeat if I got the chance.

Mark

Mark, there would be none better than you to play Chuck Britz in this film, in this fan's and I'm sure most if not all other fans' opinions too. Wonderful work. And awesome to see your Bill Putnam console in all its glory. It felt like a time machine looking at those scenes.

[yrplace]

Thanks. It was a very interesting experience, and people I haven't heard from in years have been getting in touch to  praise the film and my small role in it.

And I don't think I have ever worked with a nicer group of people .

Needless to say Chuck is one of my heroes and someone who thru his work made me want to be a recording engineer in the first place.

I wish he were here along with some of the other greats, like Larry Levine and Stan Ross who figured into the making of so many great records, sculpting the sound that had me a kid of 12 fascinated by what came out of those 45 rpm singles i heard on the radio and bought at the local tv repair shop. I don't know that my work could ever equal what was created on daily basis at Western Goldstar, Sunset and so many other studios in Los Angeles in the 60's , but it has been fun just the same.

Mark

[guitarfool2002]

Thanks. It was a very interesting experience, and people I haven't heard from in years have been getting in touch to  praise the film and my small role in it.

And I don't think I have ever worked with a nicer group of people .

Needless to say Chuck is one of my heroes and someone who thru his work made me want to be a recording engineer in the first place.

I wish he were here along with some of the other greats, like Larry Levine and Stan Ross who figured into the making of so many great records, sculpting the sound that had me a kid of 12 fascinated by what came out of those 45 rpm singles i heard on the radio and bought at the local tv repair shop. I don't know that my work could ever equal what was created on daily basis at Western Goldstar, Sunset and so many other studios in Los Angeles in the 60's , but it has been fun just the same.

Mark

Your work in preserving and presenting all of those amazing sessions and getting that incredible music to us fans for several decades would, I'm sure, put a smile on the faces of Chuck, Larry, and Stan. You've been keeping the torch lit and passing their legacy on to new generations, ensuring many more smiles from this music for years to come. And all those tapes you've preserved and released have influenced many fans like me to go back and study the work of Chuck, Larry, Stan, and all others who were a part of recording them. Your work is and will always be very much appreciated!

To see a visual depiction in 2015 of a 1966 Pet Sounds session play out on the big screen, and done with such respect and attention to the smallest details...beyond overwhelming. 

[Lee Marshall]

Mark...I see that you're 'about the place' and as a long time fan [1963] of the Boys and Brian I just wanted to THANK you and Alan for all of the sensationally time consuming work you and Alan put in over the past many, many years to provide us all with MORE of what we love...namely Beach Boys music.  I had some correspondence with Alan a few years back and thanked him at THAT time...pre Smile and Made in California.

Anyway.  I really appreciate what you've done and I hope that it was ALL worth it to you.  It certainly paid dividends for the rest of us.

Thanks a LOT. 

Lee Marshall 

[Andrew G. Doe]

The Putnam console... 

[guitarfool2002]

In terms of film props, that UA console in my eyes is on the level of Rosebud. 

[LeeDempsey]

Mark,

Let me add my kudos on the job you did in the film.  I could watch 2 hours of just that portion of the movie...

Are you able to comment on what changes had to be made to the appearance of Western 3 in order to turn back the clock, and do you know if EastWest is going to leave that vintage look in place?

Lee

[orange22]

Mark, thanks for your work in the movie AND on the music. Love the stereo mixes.

[yrplace]

Mark,

Let me add my kudos on the job you did in the film.  I could watch 2 hours of just that portion of the movie...

Are you able to comment on what changes had to be made to the appearance of Western 3 in order to turn back the clock, and do you know if EastWest is going to leave that vintage look in place?

Lee

It was transformed just for the film, and was back to "normal" a day after we finished shooting. The large Trident console in the control room was covered with a white formic top whhich amazingly made it look the same as it did in 66 when the Putnam tube console sat on a large white table top. We removed all the current outboard gear , and brought in the period console and tape decks . The set people rebuilt the back wall of the control room and also the lower part of the walls in the studio

[sea of tunes]

I think this film finally made some of the stereo mixes finally grow on me.  Seeing them with their respective scenes really was revelatory.  The film just came out so perfectly, I've seen it seven times and I'm enamored with it.

Might there be any news on the soundtrack/score front? 

[Misterlou]

Awesome job in Love & Mercy Mark! I really appreciate the attention to authenticity by Pohlad and company, and having you in it just made it that much more special. And a big thanks to you for your great work with the music of the Beach Boys!

[sea of tunes]

Hi Mark,

I saw a recent comment you made (I think?) on Amazon about a 'likely' release of Pet Sounds in 2016. Do you have any insight about if that will be the previously announced Blu-ray Audio disc? Or might we possibly see a deluxe re-issue of The Pet Sounds Sessions?

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MUNJYC3UGU2P/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000G03Q2S&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=5174&store=music#wasThisHelpful

Sorry, just fishing for answers.

Thanks,
Jason