Al, Y-Day at the Hollywood Bowl, and a mysterious Gibson SG...

[HeyJude]

Regarding "fretless wonder", I'm sure this was a nickname that either has lost its context to us, or might just refer to worn frets that needed replacement (though this guitar would have been pretty darn new back in late '63).

The following pics probably don't help much, but two of the few gigs where pics have surfaced that took place in between that Hollywood Bowl show and the "Lost Concert" in March '64 would be the two gigs from February 28, 1964 in the California Bay Area just a week or so before "The Lost Concert."

They played Cupertino High School in the morning/afternoon, and it's actually one of the few post-Dave shows that photos exist for where it's a Brian-less show, where they just did the gig as a four-piece. Here, Al is playing Brian's white Fender bass (note the March 20 notation on the yearbook page is incorrect):





I've found two photos of the evening show at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA, which offer a look at the amps to compare to the "Lost Concert" the following week:

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I think the Cupertino show is the first photographic evidence of the new White Fender Bass...

[guitarfool2002]

The SG is fretless??

That seems...very unlikely.

Also this still doesn't explain why Al still has the guitar a couple weeks later at Loyola.

'fretless wonder'

Note the single quotation marks. Possibly this was a nickname or something similar that we just don't understand. Clearly it is not fretless and I'm sure Brady is well aware of this 

It's not a fretless guitar - Not knowing this man or that specific guitar personally, I do know that I've heard other players use that term to describe the playability of a guitar and its neck especially one with a "fast" neck, low action, and a certain fret height or setup. For the players who use a light touch and prefer very low action, you barely have to touch the strings and it plays, and add the slim "fast" neck from this year SG, combined with the fret height and style, and you have that description of a guitar neck feeling like it's fretless. Another term is that the guitar "plays itself" for the same reasons.

Unfortunately the SG from those years looked terrific, but that vibrato tailpiece was sh*t, the construction of the neck joints and the headstock design caused notes to sag/drop when you played AND it caused the headstocks to break often at or around the neck and need repair, and the awesome looking gold plating on the pickups had a bad tendency to wear off way too soon considering the price.

Anyway...they looked cool and sounded great when they were in peak playing condition. 


And YES times a thousand...it still doesn't answer the question about that guitar showing up weeks later played by Al at a BB's gig.

[guitarfool2002]

Question which is perhaps relevant:

When did the Beach Boys (and Carl specifically) get their endorsement from Fender and when did they start appearing in ads for Fender gear? I do know that Carl has been cited as one of the first prominent players to endorse the Jaguar, but can't think of when that first happened or if it was more of Carl being seen playing a Jaguar on stage than him actually showing up in ads for the guitar.

[CenturyDeprived]

This is SUCH a cool thread.

Side questions - did the band lug their gear at all during this time period? Or did they by this point have roadies who took care of all that?

And was the reverb tank the only effects unit the band used at the time? Would be interesting to know all the various guitar effects the band used during live shows throughout the years, especially the 60s.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

The earliest ad I can think of is this one, funnily enough from well after Carl had stopped playing the Jaguar, and well before he picked up his late 60s Tele...

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

This is SUCH a cool thread.

Side questions - did the band lug their gear at all during this time period? Or did they by this point have roadies who took care of all that?

And was the reverb tank the only effects unit the band used at the time? Would be interesting to know all the various guitar effects the band used during live shows throughout the years, especially the 60s.

At some point, which is another great question as to exactly when, they recruited their friend Ron Swallow to be a roadie (and erstwhile studio tambourinist).

[CenturyDeprived]

The earliest ad I can think of is this one, funnily enough from well after Carl had stopped playing the Jaguar, and well before he picked up his late 60s Tele...

Mike looks a bit sad, wondering when there's gonna be a tambourine ad which he can be at the forefront of 

[CenturyDeprived]

This is SUCH a cool thread.

Side questions - did the band lug their gear at all during this time period? Or did they by this point have roadies who took care of all that?

And was the reverb tank the only effects unit the band used at the time? Would be interesting to know all the various guitar effects the band used during live shows throughout the years, especially the 60s.

At some point, which is another great question as to exactly when, they recruited their friend Ron Swallow to be a roadie (and erstwhile studio tambourinist).

Were Brian/Al/Carl ever using picks onstage at this point (and what brand)? Or just finger picking/strumming?

It sure would be fascinating to get a full-on detailed rundown of what things would have been like on the day of a show for these guys back then. No cell phones, no group text reminders, just hoping that everyone would show up on time, maybe they all met up at someone's house (Brian's?) and carpooled to shows? Or maybe for a local Hollywood Bowl show, they'd each go in their own cars. Every morsel of info regarding what this must've been like back then fascinates me to no end.

[guitarfool2002]

Those are some of the photos exhibited at the Fender museum, showing Carl touring the Fender factory...some say 1964, some say 1965. Anyway, I'm sure there is more info on this visit, but it would make sense that a series of photos would be taken if Carl were going to be a Fender endorsed artist in an ad campaign and other marketing. I don't know if these photos help pin down when that happened, exactly, but it shows the relationship and also worth noting the Boys got a Fender endorsement and visited the factory again several years later during the Blondie/Ricky years, and those photos appeared in Guitar Player magazine.

And yes, Carl was one of the first prominent players to be seen using the Jaguar early in its history, sharing it with Al on stage. And album covers like "Beach Boys Concert" were some of the better advertising shots Fender could have asked for, I'm curious if at that time the band had an endorsement which would explain such photos prominently displaying Fender gear OR if the endorsement came as a result of such photos.

[guitarfool2002]

Were Brian/Al/Carl ever using picks onstage at this point (and what brand)? Or just finger picking/strumming?

Brian used his thumb on the bass, Carl and Al used picks. You couldn't play surf guitar from this era without a pick!    (tremolo picking a la Dick Dale, and the muted picked sound was what made the characteristic pings and boings pop out even more through the Fender reverb tank).

For those with a Fender reverb tank or a simulation/copy...dial in "666" for the tone. Not my favorite but apparently the 666 was the go-to setting for the surf sound in some circles.

[HeyJude]

It would be pretty funny if a band appearing on stage like this didn't have at least an endorsement deal (e.g. free instruments in exchange for playing them) with Fender, considering nearly all the instruments and backline gear is prominently Fender:



It may have only been later that they were paid to actually appear in print advertisements, I dunno.

[HeyJude]

Here's a bit of a 1981 interview Carl did with Billy Hinsche which discussed his early era guitars (take with a grain of salt; I doubt Carl remembered or cared about precise dates). The full interview can be seen here: http://www.billyhinsche.com/story4.html

Billy Hinsche: When did you first become interested in learning how to play guitar?

Carl Wilson: I remember growing up always loving the guitar. I used to love to watch the people play on the Country Western shows on TV. My folks told me that when I was just a toddler, I used to pretend I was playing a guitar on a toothpick. A family friend came over when I was about twelve years old and left his guitar for me to play. I got really interested in it and learned how to play a few chords. My folks got me a single cutaway Kay. It was acoustic but it also had a pickup. That's the guitar I learned to play on.

BH: Were you self-taught?

CW: I took guitar lessons at a guy's accordion studio. There was a guitar teacher there and I took lessons from him for a couple of months, but it was too boring 'cause I was just reading notes. Stuff like “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” I took lessons from John Maus too. He was one of the Walker Brothers [“The Sun 'Aint Gonna' Shine Anymore”]. The funny thing was that his house was almost directly across the street from the accordion studio. It was just a real casual thing. He had a [Fender] Stratocaster that I thought was really fantastic and we used to sit in his room and jam. He would show me how to play certain things. It was sort of by example. I had been playing for about a year and a half when the Beach Boys formed. When our folks went to Mexico on business, we would take the food money they had left us and we would rent instruments from Hogan's Music Store on Hawthorne Boulevard. I was playing a 6-string Rickenbacker for a few weeks. When the group really got going we bought a Fender Stratocaster, a Precision Bass, some drums, and some other guitars. I played a Stratocaster for a couple of years.

BH: Did Fender eventually endorse you?

CW: Yes. After the group got real popular, Fender asked us to endorse their instruments. I think the deal was they'd give them to you then you'd let them print ads and stuff like that. This was around 1962.

BH: Have you endorsed any other make of guitar?

CW: I don't think so.

BH: Who influenced your early style?

CW: Chuck Berry. John Maus too, because I was most directly involved with him as far as playing.

BH: What combination of guitar and amp did you use in the early to mid-'60s?

CW: It was a Stratocaster and a [Fender] Dual Showman.

BH: At that time in the '60s, what guitar players did you admire?

CW: In the early part of the '60s I was influenced by the Ventures. We [Beach Boys] learned how to play all of their songs just by listening to the records. So we learned how to do it by ear.

BH: What other guitars did you own at that time?

CW: I had a Fender Jaguar for a while.

BH: What kind of strings were you using?

CW: Heavy. I think they were Fender. Then I switched to Ernie Ball medium gauge in the mid '60s. As the years have gone on, I started to play regular Slinkys. That's what I use now, but I'd like to switch to a lighter string for more flexibility and ease in playing.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

It would be pretty funny if a band appearing on stage like this didn't have at least an endorsement deal (e.g. free instruments in exchange for playing them) with Fender, considering nearly all the instruments and backline gear is prominently Fender:



It may have only been later that they were paid to actually appear in print advertisements, I dunno.

It is a glorious expression of Fenderness, isn't it?  If I were Fender, I'd lean way into that legacy.  There'd be a full-on Beach Boys line of Fender equipment.

[guitarfool2002]

Sure, the "Lost Concert" closed-circuit performance was a great Fender ad, but how about when the #1 album in the country, Beach Boys Concert, features not just a Fender-heavy cover photo in color but also multiple color photos of the band playing their Fender gear, including two flagship models (Strat and P-bass) along with the new entry in the Fender line (Jaguar), and that great backline of brown tweed piggyback Fender amps:



That's incredible advertising for an instrument brand, especially when all the instruments are in a matching color, on an album that was #1 for, like, a month. What a great look for a stage band, and I've read other players from back in the day say that covers like that were what made them want Fender gear when they "made it" or could afford it. It just looked cool! Same with the early Ventures covers before they switched to Mosrite.

[Don Malcolm]

The SG is fretless??

That seems...very unlikely.

Also this still doesn't explain why Al still has the guitar a couple weeks later at Loyola.

And...is that Brett's SG that Al has on the cover of BB CONCERT?

I think he created a diversion, hopped a bus...and absconded with that guitar!! 

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

The SG is fretless??

That seems...very unlikely.

Also this still doesn't explain why Al still has the guitar a couple weeks later at Loyola.

And...is that Brett's SG that Al has on the cover of BB CONCERT?

I think he created a diversion, hopped a bus...and absconded with that guitar!! 

That's Al's Fender Strat on Concert.

[Howie Edelson]

Believe it or not -- last week I LITERALLY asked Al about the Hollywood Bowl SG.
He had no recollection of it, nor of EVER playing a Gibson SG.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Believe it or not -- last week I LITERALLY asked Al about the Hollywood Bowl SG.
He had no recollection of it, nor of EVER playing a Gibson SG.

Show him the photos!

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I had the opportunity to indirectly pose a lot of gear questions to Al about 20 years ago (I was too stunned at actually being in his presence to ask him stuff when I was in his presence) -- he didn't remember anything I wanted to know.  I really wish that some of this information could be recorded for posterity.

[Ian]

Yeah Al didn’t have much memory of touring with David marks either -even though we now know they played a lot of shows together in 1963

[Rocker]

I think not remembering what kind of guitar you played on a certain date, after touring for 60 years and playing in front of millions of people, can be excused.  These people just live their lifes, it is us who analyze it.
That said, did anybody try to contact Brett on Facebook and ask about the later gig?

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I think not remembering what kind of guitar you played on a certain date, after touring for 60 years and playing in front of millions of people, can be excused.  These people just live their lifes, it is us who analyze it.
That said, did anybody try to contact Brett on Facebook and ask about the later gig?

Well, I didn't ask him about that kind of thing -- I asked him general questions about how they recorded, which, of course, Al did hundreds if not thousands of times.  I think it comes down to the fact that he's just not that interested in that side of things.  Of course, Brian was interested in that but doesn't remember anything, either.

[HeyJude]

There are certain things Al has an interest in and an interest in remembering, and others that he obviously doesn't.

When I met him before a little private gig in 2005, I mentioned an equally obscure show I had seen of his in 2000 (one of the late era "Family & Friends" shows), and he remembered the venue before I even mentioned it. Obviously, it was only five years previously, but normally even with a reduced touring schedule I wouldn't have expected him to remember or care.

When it comes to guitars, I think Al has always viewed them as a tool. Look at his tour riders from back in the 2000s (outside of touring with Brian); he usually doesn't even bring his own guitar and all he asks for is an American standard Strat.

That's not to say he has no interest in guitars. He let Fender take his old white Strat (even though it apparently isn't *the* old white Strat, but rather his later red Strat repainted) and replicate it in the early 2000s. He obviously had enough fondness for his old 50s "Black Beauty" Les Paul that he put feelers out however many years ago when it was apparently sort of stolen (does anybody know if he ever got it back?).

I find it interesting and fascinating that weird pics of the BBs with weird guitars *do* stick out so much, because they usually went long stretches playing the same guitar.

So when a pic of Al in 1963 with an SG surfaces, it does look weird. Or Carl pics like these:

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

That's great.  Someone should photoshop the classic lineup playing Ibanez 8-strings.  That would be truly jarring.