Wouldn't It Be Nice - the single

[mikeyj]

Okay can someone explain to me, the evolution of the Wouldn't It Be Nice single. I just want to get things straight, in the United States was it originally released as the B-side to "God Only Knows" in July but then just by default it became the 'A-side' after radio stations flipped the record over? Or was it re-issued as the A-side or what? I'm confused.

[Alex]

I really don't have an answer to your question, but I have another question about WIBN. Last summer I was listening to an oldies station and they played a really weird mix of WIBN. It was a mono mix, but not the version from the album. The vocals, especially Brian's, were mixed wayyyyy louder than the album version. It didn't sound right to my ears. I've also heard the same mix in a youtube video. Was there a different mix for the single version of the song back in '66, like how they do it today with "radio edits"?

[c-man]

I really don't have an answer to your question, but I have another question about WIBN. Last summer I was listening to an oldies station and they played a really weird mix of WIBN. It was a mono mix, but not the version from the album. The vocals, especially Brian's, were mixed wayyyyy louder than the album version. It didn't sound right to my ears. I've also heard the same mix in a youtube video. Was there a different mix for the single version of the song back in '66, like how they do it today with "radio edits"?

Somewhere along the line, a version with an alternate lead vocal was released on a compliation or two (I know it's on the "Still Crusin'" album, and maybe "Made In USA" before it).  Not sure if it was ever on a single, but maybe someone else here knows.

[petsite]

Wouldn't It Be Nice was released as the A side here in the states and the B side in the UK (not sure about the rest of Europe).

As for the weird mix of WIBN, here is the lowdown dirt. When an album was already released (verus a single coming out ahead the album) and a song was pulled off the LP, Capito would literally pull the album master, cut the track out of the tape that was to be the new single, and store that track on a "single phono reel" meaning the LP would be missing that track. Sometimes, they would splice a copy of the track back on to the album reel, but not always. And in the case of WIBN, Cap spilced a duophonic copy of the song back onto the LP reel.

Fast forward to the mid-80s. When Capitol started to do reissues, the used only mono tracks of tunes that were only cut that way (songs from Today, SDSN and Pet Sounds, etc.). They couldn't find the single reel of WIBN so they pulled the PS album master. That had the duophonic version on it. The someone (I think it might have been Larry Walsh) came across a rough mono mix of the track and used it for the Made In The USA release. From what I am told, Larry never liked the BB and really didn't care if it was the wrong mix. That tape was used on the Reader's Digest double CD (a great package BTW) and Still Crusin.

Now here comes the really, really weird part. Mark L. requested the NYC master of PS and pulled the single version of WIBN from there. This is the version that has been used ever since (YEAH Mark!). Now with all the twofers out in 1991, Capitol decides to
 
A.) Release a 2 CD set of greatest hits highlighting the newly remastered CDs
and
B.) Issue out a 14 track twofer sampler to radio stations and record stores.

And what do they do? They use the rough mix of WIBN on both. This was AFTER Mark had found the correct version and had used it on the 1990 PS release. Could these people have their heads any further up there collective butts???

At the sametime, EMI-Canada issues a great 2 CD set of greatest hits called California Gold. And they managed to use the correct version of WIBN. Imagine that?

Bob 

[Ron]

It just shows you that it's frankly all about the money to the people involved back then.  Hell they might not even hear the difference in the two tracks.  When I was younger, before I got interested in-depth in music... I would hear things on the radio all the time and never even pay attention the lyrics, would know the entire song word for word but never even thought about what I was singing.  These execs probably don't understand why anybody would care if it was stereo mono or duo, to them it all sounds the same.  A guy like Mark though is dedicated professionally and as a fan to making this music the best it can possibly be and archive it for history.   How many dozen BB's tracks have we heard that sound better than the original release because Mark touched it up?  Guys like him are the reason people will hear these songs in crystal clear quality 400 years from now. 

[mikeyj]

Wouldn't It Be Nice was released as the A side here in the states and the B side in the UK (not sure about the rest of Europe).

But in various books etc.. (such as the Pet Sound Sessions book - the thin one) it says that God Only Knows was released as the A-side (it doesn't state what country it is talking about, but I assume it's the United States as it then says that WIBN got flipped over and became the bigger hit - #8...which of course was where it charted in the US)... but then I'm sure I have read in other books that Wouldnt It Be Nice was always the A side in the United States.. whats the deal? There seems to be conflicting opinions on the issue.

But when it says in the Pet Sounds Sessions book that God Only Knows was the A-side it says that it was released in August, whereas most people seem to say that the single was released in July?

[Jon Stebbins]

Wouldn't It Be Nice was released as the A side here in the states and the B side in the UK (not sure about the rest of Europe).

But in various books etc.. (such as the Pet Sound Sessions book - the thin one) it says that God Only Knows was released as the A-side (it doesn't state what country it is talking about, but I assume it's the United States as it then says that WIBN got flipped over and became the bigger hit - #8...which of course was where it charted in the US)... but then I'm sure I have read in other books that Wouldnt It Be Nice was always the A side in the United States.. whats the deal? There seems to be conflicting opinions on the issue.

But when it says in the Pet Sounds Sessions book that God Only Knows was the A-side it says that it was released in August, whereas most people seem to say that the single was released in July?

No conflict...WIBN was the a-side in the U.S. July 18, 1966.

[yrplace]

I noticed this thread in passing and was surprised to see my name mentioned , and I appreciate the kind words.

Couple of remarks on WIBN and Pet Sounds in general that might be of interest.

In 1990 when we went to do the GV box which btw was mastered by Larry Walsh who did a superb job, it was discovered that the original mono analog master of Pet Sounds had vanished from the EMI vaults never to be found again. As a result we were forced to use an original analog safety copy made in 1966 for the GV box, the PS sessions box (mono mix) as well as the 2001 CD with the mono and new 1993 stereo mix on it. Oh yeah and the DVD-A as well.

For the 4oth anniversary edition we did an extensive seacrh of the EMI vault and while the analog master was not found , we did find a flat digital copy that I had made in 1987 (?) prior to the 1st release of PS on CD. That version was marred by the use of Sonic Solutions Noise Reduction which was used due to the poor nature of digital to analog conversion technology at that time, and is my least favorite version except for the fact that we included Trombone Dixie.

I thought the original flat transfer without the noise reduction had been lost, but when we found it and played it we were shocked at how much better it sounded than the analog safety from 66 that we had been using for the past 19 years.

As a result I did a totally new mastering of the mono version of the album and it appears exclusively on the 40th anniversary edition CD/ DVD set which was released in 2006.

Finally the original mono album sounds the way it should imo, and you might want to check it out if you have a chance.

Sadly the liner notes for the set are wrong and indicate that the mono is the same as the 2001 CD, not a  new improved version.

Mark Linett

[Alex]

So when are we going to get stereo remixes of Smiley Smile and Wild Honey? If ever? If not, no big deal. I'e just always thought they would sound a lot better in stereo, though Mark has done an excellent job cleaning up the mono mixes.

[mikeyj]

Wouldn't It Be Nice was released as the A side here in the states and the B side in the UK (not sure about the rest of Europe).

But in various books etc.. (such as the Pet Sound Sessions book - the thin one) it says that God Only Knows was released as the A-side (it doesn't state what country it is talking about, but I assume it's the United States as it then says that WIBN got flipped over and became the bigger hit - #8...which of course was where it charted in the US)... but then I'm sure I have read in other books that Wouldnt It Be Nice was always the A side in the United States.. whats the deal? There seems to be conflicting opinions on the issue.

But when it says in the Pet Sounds Sessions book that God Only Knows was the A-side it says that it was released in August, whereas most people seem to say that the single was released in July?

No conflict...WIBN was the a-side in the U.S. July 18, 1966.

Thanks. It's just been bugging me for ages