Recording Sunflower: a blog

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I started another blog, not about me this time, about the recording process behind the Sunflower LP:

http://recordingsunflower.blogspot.com/

Feel free to correct or add info.  I'm drawing upon Steve's book, my personal archive, contemporaneous reports, and my ears to document the work that went into creating a unique sonic masterpiece.

[Rocker]

Great ! I'm looking forward to read this !

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That's a great idea!

[Jonas]

rad! Id love to see something like this for Holland and So Tough!

[punkinhead]

I agree with Jonas and I can't wait to read!

[punkinhead]

btw, i read where someone said this album is the Sgt. Pepper of the Beach Boys, i disagree...what did they mean by that?

[Aegir]

Wow, this is great. If only there was one of these for every album. I love knowing who played on what track and how.

[c-man]

btw, i read where someone said this album is the Sgt. Pepper of the Beach Boys, i disagree...what did they mean by that?

Probably that it was their "crowning achievement" studio-sound wise. 
I would maybe call it their "Abbey Road". 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

rad! Id love to see something like this for Holland and So Tough!

Actually, I'd love to see this for all of the post-Capitol albums, as there's much less in-depth session info for post 1969 material. I mean, the fact that the bassist on "Slip On Through" is unknown  ,for instance, bears this out.

[Jonas]

Well lucky for us we have Desper's books on Sunflower/Surf's Up so that pretty much covers those. Thats why something on Holland/So Tough which are virtually unknown would be wicked.

But yeah, throw in 20/20, Wild Honey, and Friends - then we'd be golden!

[Andrew G. Doe]

btw, i read where someone said this album is the Sgt. Pepper of the Beach Boys, i disagree...what did they mean by that?

'Someone' was a UK review - might have been Melody Maker. 

[Boiled Egg]

H - a techie question.  why would basic tracks have been recorded on eight-track and transferred to sixteen?  why not straight to sixteen?

[8o8o]

Excellent work! Thanks!

[c-man]

H - a techie question.  why would basic tracks have been recorded on eight-track and transferred to sixteen?  why not straight to sixteen?

Because Brian's Home Studio didn't have a 16-track deck until late '69...so a few things were originally cut on 8-track, filling up the tape, then transferred to 16-track (after they got one) to add more overdubs.  Such was the case with "Forever":  the basic 8-track tape is from early '69 (Gold Star), then it was transferred to 16-track later that year for extra vocal overdubs.

[Loaf]

Thanks, Aeitzsche, for the blog. Sunflower is my favourite BBs album (after Smiley Smile), and i can't get enough of it.

What really seems to come out so far is how integral Stephen Desper was. He is like a 7th/8th/9th Beach Boy, and it's a shame that his involvement didn't last longer. Holland would have sounded so much better had he gone to Holland, or , more likely, had the BBs not gone.

You know you're a big music nerd when you have favourite recording engineers, but I am and Desper is joint top with Stephen Barncard (who had a way of recording acoustic guitars that can make you cry - check out Crosby's solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name).

These two guys were coming of age at the same time, and does anyone know if they knew each other? Was there some great cult of audiophiles who hung out together in the 60s and 70s passing joints and trading secrets about mic'ing moogs? Please tell me there was...

[Rocker]

btw, i read where someone said this album is the Sgt. Pepper of the Beach Boys, i disagree...what did they mean by that?

Probably that it was their "crowning achievement" studio-sound wise. 
I would maybe call it their "Abbey Road". 

-Edit-

I believe the same newspaper said that the sound is alot better than on "Abbey Road".

I'd call "Holland" their "Abbey road" btw...

[chris.metcalfe]

btw, i read where someone said this album is the Sgt. Pepper of the Beach Boys, i disagree...what did they mean by that?

'Someone' was a UK review - might have been Melody Maker. 

I think it might even have been 'Disc and Music Echo' ! Very influential in 1970.

The point about that quote is that it reflects the situation at the time, due to two factors:
1. There was a sudden boom in 69/70 in the sale of stereo equipment, reflected for example in the sales figures for 'Bridge over Troubled Water'. Suddenly everyone wanted highly produced stereo LPs.
2. The BBs had up until 'Sunflower' let the music world down on that score - post-Smile, three low-key, all-but-mono records without the production values they could display.
Hence the 'Sgt Pepper' quote - the UK press had been waiting for something which sounded that impressive from the BBs for three years. What we may think of the comparison now is irrelevant.

[Ian]

Cool site. By the way-make sure that you check the Gigs/Sessions part of AGD's Bellagio site for dates of sessions. AGD has done alot of work on getting corrected session dates.  The session info for 1969 and 1970 is straight from the tape boxes-so many corrections to previous info. Notably for your blog so far-there was a session for Add Some Music on Oct 28 1969. Check it out

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Thanks, Ian.  And everybody for their input.

I'm so bad with dates.  For some reason I tend to forget those but remember musicians and stuff.

For those people who like this kind of thing and would like to see more, don't forget, of course, C-man's incredible beachboysarchives.com site with ridiculously deep analysis of mid-sixties sessions.

Also, if the stars align, there may in the future be a more substantive and physical resource following the basic idea of the sunflower blog, but for the Beach Boys' whole career.  Keep your fingers crossed.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That'd be the greatest thing ever.

[c-man]

That'd be the greatest thing ever.

Well...since sliced bread, anyway. 

[Big Bri]

Great Blog Aeitzsche!
   I can't wait 'til you post the stats on "At My Window".I've often wondered who did what vocals on that favorite track of mine.
   Oh,and who played the Acoustic Guitar on that? Anybody?

Cheers,
Big Bri

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That'd be the greatest thing ever.

Well...since sliced bread, anyway. 

Man, screw that! Call it Sliced Bread #2, cause it's twice as good!

[SloopJohnB]

Not-so-off-topic: does anyone know when Steve Desper's updated book will be released? We haven't heard from him recently... 

[Quzi]

So sad to see this wasn't finished, I'd love to know more about how All I Wanna Do was recorded in particular. Hopefully one day it'll be completed