Thread for various insignificant questions that don't deserve their own thread!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Wait....he’s on Trader?

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[c-man]

Thanks for the info! Makes me love that song even more. Brian really wasn't that inactive during the So Tough sessions - not in charge by any means but still clearly a contributing member of the band. Makes me wonder what those early 70s albums would sound like if Brian had worked on everyone's material like this. I mean, I love those records the way they are but still...

There's a change of dynamics by 1972 in that while Brian worked a lot on his own songs (discounting Marcella & SOS), he very rarely turned up to contribute to the others' sessions. I think He Come Down, California Saga and The Trader might be the only ones to break the rule. By contrast he's somewhere on every Surf's Up track save for SDT, even if his parts tend to be minimal and he was going through a writing dry spell.

Is he on "Lookin' At Tomorrow"?

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[phirnis]

Thanks for the info! Makes me love that song even more. Brian really wasn't that inactive during the So Tough sessions - not in charge by any means but still clearly a contributing member of the band. Makes me wonder what those early 70s albums would sound like if Brian had worked on everyone's material like this. I mean, I love those records the way they are but still...

There's a change of dynamics by 1972 in that while Brian worked a lot on his own songs (discounting Marcella & SOS), he very rarely turned up to contribute to the others' sessions. I think He Come Down, California Saga and The Trader might be the only ones to break the rule. By contrast he's somewhere on every Surf's Up track save for SDT, even if his parts tend to be minimal and he was going through a writing dry spell.

You're certainly right about the changing dynamics. About the Surf's Up album, was it really a dry spell he was going through in terms of writing? I mean, he was working on quite a few songs that eventually didn't make the cut, like HELP Is on Its Way - or was that material from the Sunflower sessions? I always felt like the change in dynamics probably came because the band didn't want some of his songs on Surf's Up for whatever reason and that he went into a more passive aggressive mode after that, showing indifference towards most of the others' material instead of helping to make it sound good.

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[El Jefe]

I have a question about the multitrack for "Ding Dang," which seems plenty insignificant for this thread:

If you listen to the first "dang" in each repetition of "ding (dang) dang (woooo!)," those "dang"s are very clearly on a separate track that's briefly unmuted. You can tell because the beginning and ending of each "dang" get clipped off.

It seems like there must have been other stuff on that track right before, and right after, each "dang," and someone wanted to keep that other stuff out of the mix. So what else is on that track? Perhaps Brian reciting the long-lost lyrics to "In My Childhood"? The backing track for the second movement of "Surf's Up"? Or, far more likely, is it just the Beach Boys screwing around?

[NateRuvin]

Doug Supernaw, who sang Long Tall Texan with The Boys on S&S, passed away.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/doug-supernaw-country-singer-i-don-t-call-him-daddy-n1247847

[c-man]

I have a question about the multitrack for "Ding Dang," which seems plenty insignificant for this thread:

If you listen to the first "dang" in each repetition of "ding (dang) dang (woooo!)," those "dang"s are very clearly on a separate track that's briefly unmuted. You can tell because the beginning and ending of each "dang" get clipped off.

It seems like there must have been other stuff on that track right before, and right after, each "dang," and someone wanted to keep that other stuff out of the mix. So what else is on that track? Perhaps Brian reciting the long-lost lyrics to "In My Childhood"? The backing track for the second movement of "Surf's Up"? Or, far more likely, is it just the Beach Boys screwing around?

Could be some naughty lyrics akin to the original version of "Ding Dang"...

[phirnis]

One more early 70s "What did Brian actually do?" question. It always puzzled me that Brian seemingly did not work on Marcella in terms of production, especially considering that it seems to be a favorite song of his. That said, do we know whether or not it was him who came up with the vocal arrangement, especially for the tag? Also, was it his or Carl's idea to use a zither?

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[phirnis]

Thanks! I knew it, haha - some of what's going on sounds too much like Brian had at least some influence in it.

[c-man]

Thanks! I knew it, haha - some of what's going on sounds too much like Brian had at least some influence in it.

Yeah, but remember the "Brian Wilson-like" production of Sunflower's "All I Wanna Do" is actually a Carl Wilson production. Not only could Carl sound quite like Brian when singing, by this point he could also sound like him when producing...

[mtaber]

Re: When Girls Get Together - it’s a song that gets stuck in my head fairly often.  I’m in the minority in saying I like it. I know RangeRover absolutely LOATHES it...

[Bill M]

Re: When Girls Get Together - it’s a song that gets stuck in my head fairly often.  I’m in the minority in saying I like it. I know RangeRover absolutely LOATHES it...

I was actually thinking about this myself the other day.  When I first heard it, when KTSA was released, I absolutely hated it.  It has since grown on me so much, that I now believe that it, along with "Goin' On," are the only 2 tracks on the album that still hold up today.

[NateRuvin]

I absolutely love When Girls Get Together. Both the version from the 70's sessions and KTSA sessions have their merits.

BW, Bruce, Desper did a magnificent job with the production/arrangement. The way the vocals and instruments blend are so cool. i like the mandolins, electric keys, and percussion. Such a catchy melody. Im in the minority that digs the lyrics, just cause I find them silly.

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[phirnis]

Thanks! I knew it, haha - some of what's going on sounds too much like Brian had at least some influence in it.

Yeah, but remember the "Brian Wilson-like" production of Sunflower's "All I Wanna Do" is actually a Carl Wilson production. Not only could Carl sound quite like Brian when singing, by this point he could also sound like him when producing...

Yes, don't want to diminish Carl's role who did some very creative stuff around the time. Something about the groove and vocal arrangement of "Marcella" just sounds "very Brian" to me.

Re: the other recent posts, great to see some love for "WGGT"!

[HeyJude]

"When Girls Get Together" was also apparently remixed and considered for "15 Big Ones" in 1976; there's a "15 Big One Mix" on that 2000 "Brother Rarities" compilation. None of the mixes are like night-and-day different.

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[phirnis]

I just had another listen, what a track! WGGT feels very Friends-like to me, such a sweet combination of instruments.

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[c-man]

Speaking of, any idea who's most likely to have played the marxophone? Daryl Dragon or one of the session guys?

Informed sources say it was Daryl on an overdub. Haven't heard that session tape myself.

[SaltyMarshmallow]

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[HeyJude]

"When Girls Get Together" was also apparently remixed and considered for "15 Big Ones" in 1976; there's a "15 Big One Mix" on that 2000 "Brother Rarities" compilation. None of the mixes are like night-and-day different.

I think that's possibly an error drawing on the year it was prepared - it was included in a late '76 handwritten tracklist for the 'New Album' concurrent with Love You, so it might've been slightly later around the time Brian was also mining the vaults for My Solution and Good Time. The drums heard on KTSA are present in that mix (added '76 by Brian?) while other parts like the strings are removed.

Sure, I suppose "15 Big Ones Era" would be more accurate. Had it been used as a bonus track, it apparently would have been on the "15 Big Ones" reissue back in 2000.