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

[Rocker]

I just had another look at the picture from the later gig with Al holding the SG.





For the Hollywood Bowl gig we wondered if Al maybe showed up unexpected and therefore had to borrow a guitar. That didn't really make sense because he wore the same outfit as the rest of the Boys. But in this case it sure looks like he wore a different outfit. Look at the pants. So would the scenario of him not having planned to be there (or being called just shortly before the gig) make sense? Or did he really didn't own an electric guitar and for whatever reason couldn't lend one from Carl (who at this point owned more than one)?











EDIT:

On a totally different topic, I found this online discussion about Carl's guitars:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/carl-wilsons-early-fender-years-jag-jazz.566054/


I thought maybe one of you guys would wanna help. Especially on some of the obvious misconceptions regarding the Boys' playing on their own records.

[HeyJude]

I could envision a number of reasons Al didn't have his own guitar. Remember, even in 1963, the Beach Boys were *the Beach Boys*, they were weird from the get-go and could from time to time not have their s**t together.

I could picture Al assuming a guitar would be ready for him, and the rest of the band assuming Al would have a guitar.

Or maybe they all knew he didn't have a guitar ready, and felt they didn't need to buy or rent one immediately and that they could easily borrow a guitar from one of the other acts.

Is it possible they *did* rent some really crappy guitar for Al, and he preferred to borrow the nice, deluxe SG?

As I recall, this Hollywood Bowl gig was a *very short* show, even shorter than the usual short shows they did back then. Wasn't it like a five-song set or something? Considering the short show, and the scant few shows booked around this time, maybe a guitar didn't strike them as a high priority?

Did Al own an electric guitar during the pre-Dave era? When he was sitting in on BB sessions in '63 playing bass while Dave was still in the band, I would assume he just played Brian's bass or whatever bass was around in the studio.

It's not too crazy to imagine Al didn't own an electric guitar upon rejoining. What seems laughable is that nobody thought about supplying the rhythm guitarist re-joining a big, hit band with an actual instrument.

[HeyJude]

Here's an undated photo from Getty (purports to be circa 1963) which seems to be likely later '63 or early '64.

[guitarfool2002]

I don't see the Ampeg cabinet in that photo, unless you're thinking it's what the Bassman head is sitting on? If so, the Ampeg head and cabinet were pretty much kept together, I never saw players run a Fender head of that era through an Ampeg cabinet. I think that may be a Fender cab in the photo. Or I'm just not seeing the Ampeg cab.

[HeyJude]

I don't see the Ampeg cabinet in that photo, unless you're thinking it's what the Bassman head is sitting on? If so, the Ampeg head and cabinet were pretty much kept together, I never saw players run a Fender head of that era through an Ampeg cabinet. I think that may be a Fender cab in the photo. Or I'm just not seeing the Ampeg cab.

Yep, I can only tell that it's a mis-matched (color-wise) speaker bottom, which could still be a Fender bottom (though the size seems off from the typical Fender bottom being used around that time). It just appears Brian had a matching speaker bottom at some point by 1964, so who knows when this is or what sort of anomaly it may be. A lot of these early era shows had a lot of gear from a lot of bands on stage, and I'm sure sometimes multiple bands used the same gear from time to time.  

Here's another undated "Circa 1964" Getty photo that seems to be from the same show, and while one clear Bassman with Fender speaker bottom can be seen, it's difficult to tell if that black speaker bottom is further in the background or not:



Same gig, other side of the stage:

[guitarfool2002]

EDIT: Oh sh*t, I think I see it now, I think...masked behind the Getty watermark, behind Al and next to the PA speaker? If so disregard the above. I never was able to see those hidden pictures where you have to blur your focus to see them, my bad. 

I know that's a Fender cabinet because you can see the holes on the side where they removed the leg/stand device, and my own cab from that era looks the same way.

Even more curious, I also just noticed that the Bassman head on top of that cab is not plugged into that cab...weird. They don't seem to be using it. There's no 1/4" speaker cable connected to the back of that head running to the cab.

[HeyJude]

Another "Circa '64" closeup of the back of one of the Bassman amps with dark speaker bottom:

[HeyJude]

One has to wonder if some sort of deal was on paper with Fender to show their gear.

Here's a late '64 TV show where a bunch of un-mic'ed Fender speaker bottoms are prominently displayed on stage with no visible heads:



It was common practice for TV shows of the era, even when bands played truly live, to keep amps/speakers off-stage. This is a weird case where they may have been doing that, but then also had prop Fender cabinets for the TV show?

[guitarfool2002]

Yes, THAT Bassman head on the other photo is connected to the cabinet! lol


And the photo from the other side of the stage shows that it's a Fender cabinet behind Al with the footswitch on top, I don't see the Ampeg unless it's tucked between and not visible.

[guitarfool2002]

The heads could be behind the cabinets - for whatever reason - so you couldn't see the leads. Or they could be for show too, a lot of stage setup back then was as random as the stages and venues where these bands played. And they're using RCA 77 ribbon mics for vocals, which I guess would make sense if this was a TV appearance and that was still a go-to broadcast mic, but it's odd seeing those 77's with a rock band.

[HeyJude]

It took me some time to figure out that all these scattered photos (minus the TV show and the live show with Dennis singing) from Getty are from the exact same gig. Here's a nice shot of the back of the gear from the same show:

[guitarfool2002]

And THAT one shows the Bassman head behind Brian is in fact unplugged from the power line entirely...the plug is laying behind it. What a crazy setup!

[Rocker]

Maybe this m. o. explains why Carl's guitar is almost inaudible on some of the live recordings/footage.

[Rocker]

BTW if you want to listen to the show on Y-Day, here's the full radio broadcast from that day:


https://pastdaily.com/2012/07/07/y-day-at-the-bowl-1963-the-beach-boys-surfaris-the-routers-the-challengers-past-daily-pop-chronicles/


Thanks to the owner of that website. Here's the order of the appearances:


Part 1: The Routers
Mike Clifford
The Cornells
Paul Petersen
Soupy Sales
The Mixtures
Keith Colley
Eddie & The Showmen
Dodie Stevens
The Fleetwoods
Vic Dana
Duane Eddy
The Honeys

Part 2: The Challengers
Jan & Dean
The Surfaris
Bobby Rydell
The Beach Boys

[c-man]

And THAT one shows the Bassman head behind Brian is in fact unplugged from the power line entirely...the plug is laying behind it. What a crazy setup!

Well, assuming that it's the Beach Boys' Bassman...the close proximity to Dennis implies that it is, but there's the Hammond organ to our left of the amp, which obviously is still onstage from being used by a different act on that bill. Its it possible that this Fender amp similarly belongs to another act, left onstage during the Beach Boys' set, and that Carl's and Al's amps are out of frame, to our right of Dennis?

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

And THAT one shows the Bassman head behind Brian is in fact unplugged from the power line entirely...the plug is laying behind it. What a crazy setup!

Well, assuming that it's the Beach Boys' Bassman...the close proximity to Dennis implies that it is, but there's the Hammond organ to our left of the amp, which obviously is still onstage from being used by a different act on that bill. Its it possible that this Fender amp similarly belongs to another act, left onstage during the Beach Boys' set, and that Carl's and Al's amps are out of frame, to our right of Dennis?

I think Brian and one of the guitars are plugged in to the amp directly to Dennis's right, and then another guitar is plugged in to the amp that's waaaay over to Dennis's left, past the organ.  You have to go to big zoomed out photo to see it over there.  Or maybe Brian's cord just loops back behind him to it.

[guitarfool2002]

And THAT one shows the Bassman head behind Brian is in fact unplugged from the power line entirely...the plug is laying behind it. What a crazy setup!

Well, assuming that it's the Beach Boys' Bassman...the close proximity to Dennis implies that it is, but there's the Hammond organ to our left of the amp, which obviously is still onstage from being used by a different act on that bill. Its it possible that this Fender amp similarly belongs to another act, left onstage during the Beach Boys' set, and that Carl's and Al's amps are out of frame, to our right of Dennis?

I think Brian and one of the guitars are plugged in to the amp directly to Dennis's right, and then another guitar is plugged in to the amp that's waaaay over to Dennis's left, past the organ.  You have to go to big zoomed out photo to see it over there.  Or maybe Brian's cord just loops back behind him to it.

I'm assuming it's the BB's Bassman head and cab because it's the same model Bassman head seen on stage with them during this time, in shows like the "Lost Concert" with only a different Fender cabinet underneath. The cabinets were pretty much interchangeable unless you wanted to attach the head to the cabinet and use those side legs to tilt the amp back, then you'd have to attach the head to the cab with the right size screws to fit. I also don't think the other opening acts would have their gear left on stage like that, it would usually be moved back like you can see in one of the photos a full grand piano, a drum kit, and other assorted gear pushed behind the BB's. 


More interesting is something to look for in the far right on one of those photos. So in another you can see Brian's cord going from his bass toward where Carl and Al were standing. So that assumes his amp was on that side too.

Now - Look close behind the Fender cabinet (black) with no head. There is a cardboard box with 1/4" cords running in and out of it. A cord also seems to be going into the speaker input of that Fender cab from that box. It looks like something is in that box which *could* be acting as an amplifier. It could be a reverb tank, but it doesn't look that way...

So what if they made an ad hoc amp or had a different amp for Brian to run his bass through that was being fed into that cabinet with no head behind Carl and Al?

What if the Bassman head blew a fuse or crapped out in some other way and they had to rig up something else for Brian's bass? That would make sense and explain why that Bassman is sitting there unplugged and unused, perhaps it malfunctioned and they had to rig up a replacement. And whatever is in that cardboard box is not only plugged in, but it seems to be connected to that stray Fender cab. The other two guitar amps are on Brian's left next to that Hammond, and directly behind Carl and Al on stage. You wouldn't run a reverb tank directly into a speaker like that...it's like a guitar pedal today, inserted between the guitar and the amp. And experiences tell me too that a Fender guitar head, even if it's a higher-wattage Showman, would most likely blow out if you ran both a guitar AND a bass through it at the kind of volume they'd have on a stage of that size. So maybe Brian and Al or Carl are running through the same head, but I doubt that setup would last long because of the amp blowing out or worse due to the overload.

They're just scenarios of course, but check out that cardboard box and I think whatever is in there is the amp Brian's bass (connected to that stray cab behind Carl) was running through for whatever reasons that night.

[Ian]

Yeah all those are definitely 1964-probably the summer safari tour-my guess would be one of the big California shows. When I did my book I decided I only wanted photos that I could precisely date and it was a disappointment when I emailed with the photo archivist at Getty about the details and he said that they just had lots of undated photos (including Earl Leafs entire collection). I’ve told this before but he wrote to me and said he’d appreciate it if I dated the photos for them! I actually started to do it and they added my updates to like 250 photos but than I got busy with other things. Anyways the site is a lot better than it was as a result. I recall that they had 1980 photos listed as 1964 and 1966 photos listed as 1962, etc. it would be cool to precisely date those 1964 photos but the trouble is that it is so hard to find old photos of all the old venues that they played to compare them to.

[guitarfool2002]

Any guesses on that cardboard box? I'm looking at it close, and I'm guessing it could be one of those old, standard tube PA heads or amps that any venue would have being used as a bass amp due to the size. Or it could be an actual bass head, but the size looks off. However there is no doubt that is an amp to my eyes, it's plugged into the power lead around the back, there is a 1/4" cable going toward the front of the stage, and another 1/4" cable connects it to that Fender cabinet. That's all it can be in my opinion, the question is how did that come about (and was the Bassman out of commission that night).

[guitarfool2002]

And just a point on Ian's photo dates, it's easy to forget just how *primitive* and relatively new the skill of running live sound for a rock band really was in 1964. Just look at the setup in those '64 outdoor photos, and look at the size of the venue and the crowd. Two big ol' VOA PA speakers with top horns for vocal mics, a backline of Fender (and other) amps not mic'ed up relying solely on the volume of those amps, and no mics on the drums. Most likely a 4-channel PA mixer and whatever amp was available to drive the PA. No compensation for reflections or delays hitting the back of the venue, or the way the sound carried and bounced around.

No on-stage monitors for the band!

So it's amazing they could even hear themselves play while spread out like that, especially for Brian if he's on the opposite side of the stage from his bass amp, and no sound coming back toward the singers for them to adjust pitch...yet they're still doing 4-part harmony while playing.

Major props to the band and all the other bands who managed to stage musically solid shows while running through primitive and woefully underpowered sound equipment being run by people at the venues who had no experience doing sound like that for these new band combos playing rock music. If a bluegrass band showed up, you'd put one or two mics through the same PA speakers, same with other genres. But the new music and new bands required new techniques and they just were not there in 1964.

I remember reading in the case of The Beatles that Neil Aspinall actually had to either run or oversee the house sound and light systems at some venues in the US because the people the venues had would be clueless as to running sound for a rock show. It didn't become a thing to travel with a dedicated sound engineer until a few years later when the artists and audiences demanded better sound at these concerts, not the same PA setup they'd use for a baseball game or hog-calling contest at the state fairgrounds.

So I often wonder just how the Beach Boys sounded to those people sitting in the audience in those photos, especially those sitting in the back rows. I'm thinking all you'd hear would be vocals and maybe some lead guitar if loud enough, but drums would get washed out and echoed to where it would maybe be a snare you'd hear, and the rest would be hit or miss. You don't get a sense of how these shows really sounded from the available recordings or TV appearances because those were more controlled and mixed.

So again, I wonder how it sounded to those people sitting on the lawn in the back rows.

[Ian]

Yeah if you read Peter guralnick’s definitive two volume Elvis biography you might recall that he discusses that when Elvis played in Houston in early 1970 he was baffled when he came to rehearsal and saw monitors onstage. The young promoters were astounded that he had never used them-meaning these 1970 shows were apparently the first time Elvis and his band could ever hear themselves onstage while they were playing. Elvis was quite excited that day by this.

[Ian]

Also I’d add that I’ve seen many comments from musicians that make it clear why so many 1960s concert albums had to be doctored in the studio.  For example, in my book on The Rolling Stones in concert-I quoted bill wyman about the 1966 Got Live If You Want It album and he noted that when they took the live tapes back to the studio they’d often listen and suddenly micks vocal would stop for part of a song (because a fan tackled him and he dropped the mic) or Brian Jones guitar became inaudible because two girls attacked him and pulled the guitar cord from the amp. Or one of the mics was defective and you couldn’t hear the bass. And because the artists couldn’t hear themselves their instruments might be out of tune for a whole show.

[Ian]

Therefore I imagine that the BBs sounded much better in the late 60s and early 70s at those big shows than they would have on 1964 but of course the early band probably had a youthful energy that can never really be recaptured.  I mean with the Stones-clearly later concert Lps are far superior to the 66 partially doctored lp but if you listen to “I’m Alright” or “Get off of my cloud “ on that 1966 lp it is unbelievable!! The Stones play with an insane speed driven energy that they’ve never recaptured. It’s punk rock before there was punk rock

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

As an aside, I'll mention that our own Steve Desper had a hand in the development of a truly modern live sound reinforcement system for a rock band, and as such, the Beach Boys live sound around the turn of the decade from 60s to 70s must have been very very good.

[Ian]

Also I think those late 1950s and early 60s concerts were like “events “ more than “concerts “ . Fans went to see Elvis in 1957 or the Beatles, STones, BBs in 1964 and 1965 to get an autograph and grab a lock of hair and not really to sit in a seat and intently listen to the artists. The Beatles have all testified that the screaming covered up for their sins-because by 1966 they were not even rehearsing much for the gigs.