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Hawthorne, CA
The Beach Boys
Hawthorne, CA
Capitol Records
72435-31583-2-3
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Before you read these notes, a note from us at AlbumLinerNotes.com:
When this collection was originally issued, there were "expanded Liner Notes" available for a short time at Capitol Records website HollywoodandVine.com. When we placed these notes here, we checked the website to link to the expanded notes but they no longer existed.
Fortunately, we were contacted by Alan Boyd, celebrated Beach Boy documentarian (and, in this case, Liner Note writer). Mr. Boyd wanted to know if we were interested in the expanded Liner Notes, which of course we were.
So below, are the expanded Liner Notes. You will find them following a song with an asterick and bolded within [brackets] in the existing paragraph or sometimes completely following the released version. You will see how different some of the notes were, how much was edited out (due to space) and how much information is restored. Enjoy! - AlbumLinerNotes.com
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Brian Wilson: It was always a very close family, because you know…us three brothers used to harmonize. We used to harmonize in bed, we would all sleep in the same room.
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Our story begins at 3701 W. 119th Street in Hawthorne, California, “the city of good neighbors.”
That was the home of the Wilson’s: Murry, Audree, and their sons, Brian, Dennis and Carl. The three brothers grew up surrounded by music; Audree played the organ and Murry was a part-time songwriter who’d had one of his tunes played on the Lawrence Welk Show. Countless hours were spent around the families Hammond, with big brother Brian teaching Carl, Audree and Murry the intricate harmonies he’d learned from his favorite vocal group, the Four Freshmen. Middle brother Denny usually wasn’t around for these family sessions (more likely he’d be at the beach, surfing) but at holiday gatherings you could find all of the Wilson’s joining Murry’s sister Glee and her family, the Loves, for traditional Christmas carols.
Brian and his first cousin Mike developed a close friendship; late nights would often find them sitting in a Nash Rambler outside Mike’s house, singing along with the exciting new rock and roll and R&B songs that were pouring forth from the AM radio.
Then one day in 1961, at a crossroads on the El Camino College campus, Brian literally bumped into a high school football pal, Al Jardine. Al, and his friend, Gary Winfrey, just happened to be looking for singers for a folk song Al was hoping to record.
Al Jardine: We had this immediate kinship. It was as if we’d been singing together all our lives.
There began an unsuccessful quest to find decent singers at El Camino, with Al and Brian auditioning a series of harmonically-challenged football players in the campus music room. Then Brian suggested a visit to the Wilson home, telling Al, “My little brother Carl can play the guitar and can really sing, and my cousin Mike can sing baritone!” Al made the trip to Hawthorne, and the quintet was complete. Al’s folk music concept soon lead to an opportunity for the group to record their own brand of “folk music,” a song about Denny’s favorite pastime. Surfin’ was released in December, 1961, and was an immediate hit. Nearly 40 years later, the beach boys and their music have become an American institution.
Mike Love: Along the way we became “America’s Band.”
To many throughout the world, the Beach Boys are more than just America’s band. They are Americana itself, their songs spreading their gospel of the American Dream – in this case, a dream of perfect waves, true love, fast cars, and a world where the heartache and loneliness of growing up is, in it’s own way, as beautiful as a California sunset. As long time group member Bruce Johnston once pointed out, the music of The Beach Boys “is part of the American sound track for life.” But The Beach Boys were much, much more than a sociological phenomenon. Under the musical leadership of composer, arranger, and producer Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys created a revolutionary body of work that changed pop music forever, and continues to inspire and attract new fans the world over.
Carl Wilson: The music, on the face of it, is very simple, and you know, there was a time when people thought it was a little silly and lighthearted. However, musically speaking, a lot of it is quite deep and complex. I mean, it was about going to the beach and having a car – part of the American experience. But a lot of those songs were really master works. They were – and are.
And for this special compilation – named in honor of the South Bay suburb of Los Angeles where the Beach Boys’ story began – we’ve gone deep into the group’s archives in order to take another look at some of the master works from the first part of the group’s career.
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DISC ONE
1. Mike Love introduces Surfin’
(5/26/69)
2. 3701 W 119th St, Hawthorne California: The Surfin’ rehearsal
(Fall 1961)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
In the beginning, they were just a bunch of teenage guys who loved to sing together. Brian, Carl, Dennis, Alan and Mike were calling themselves The Pendletones (after the popular shirts that all of the surfers wore), and in the Fall of 1961 they were about to go into a real studio to cut a little doo-wop number that Brian and Mike had written about Denny’s favorite sport. On this fragment of tape we get to hear the boys working on an early version of the song that would become their ticket to overnight success. They were excited and prepared to work hard, but they were still just kids. Clearly, they had no idea where this musical adventure was going to lead. (Note on Mike introduces Surfin’ – Discovered in Beach Boys’ archives was a radio program the group prepared in May of 1969, an hour long special for which Carl, Dennis, Alan, Mike, and Bruce got together and reminisced about their career and introduced several of their hits. For this compilation, we’ve included several of this groups introductions from this show.)
*3. Happy Birthday Four Freshmen
(Circa 1960) (Composer unknown)
Lead: Brian
Brian: The Four Freshmen were probably the greatest harmonic group of all time…I immediately took to the sounds their voices made, and I started learning their harmonies. [Over the years, Brian has made no secret of his devotion to the vocal arrangements of The Four Freshmen, a harmony group that enjoyed great success with Capitol Records in the 1950's. He recalls that the first time he heard them sing, the sound of their voices "got me high," and he wanted to - no, he had to - figure out how they did it. With a single-mindedness bordering on obsession, Brian figured it out. He spent countless hours at the piano, dissecting the Freshmen arrangements, teaching the parts to anybody who happened to be nearby, and developing an ear for harmonies that, to this day, is legendary within the music biz.] When he was a teenager, Brian got a reel to reel tape recorder, and he began to use this new tool to experiment with harmonies, even employing a primitive “multi tracking” technique using a second tape recorder to overdub his own vocal[s tracks]. The sound quality is a bit rough, but on this fragment of tape [- discovered in Audree Wilson's garage -] we can hear Brian’s talent beginning to emerge on his own tribute to the wonderful sound of The Four Freshman.
4. Mike On Brian’s Harmonies
(3/20/98)
*5. Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring (Live Rehearsal)
(8/25/67) (Troup)
Original version available on the Smiley Smile / Wild Honey CD. Brian’s emerging skills as a vocal arranger were – and still are – nothing short of amazing to the other Beach Boys. One of Brian’s favorite vocal numbers was Bobby Troup’s Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring. [Eventually, the group rewrote the lyrics and turned it into a tribute to the late James Dean ("A Young Man Is Gone") on their Little Deuce Coupe LP, and they often performed the original lyric in concert and on television appearances throughout the sixties.] This rendition [(previously released on a bonus track on the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer)] was recorded during a rehearsal for a live appearance (with Brian) in Hawaii in 1967.
*6. Surfin’ USA (Demo)
(Late 1962)
Previously unreleased (Berry)
Lead: Brian
Brian: I started humming the melody to this song Sweet Little Sixteen. And what happened was, I got fascinated with the fact of doing it, but I thought to myself, “God, what about trying to put surf lyrics to the Sweet Little Sixteen melody?” ["Surfin' USA" was the song that solidified the Beach Boys' hold on the pop charts, and gave them an anthem that would catapult them beyond the ranks of the countless acts that had a hit or two and then disappeared from the scene. On this record...] (For Surfin’ USA) ...The Beach Boys put their main influences – Chuck Berry’s driving rhythm and the close harmonies Brian learned from The Four Freshmen – together with the California dream they just happened to grow up in, and they came up with a magical call to arms that got under the skin of every landlocked kid in the country. [The Beach Boys had created their own vision of Americana, and on this track we get to hear where it came from.] In this late 1962 demo, Brian tries out the song, first solo at the piano, and then with some help from the group. Soon the guys would find themselves at Western Recorders in Hollywood, laying down the basic track.
*7. Surfin’ USA (Backing Track)
(1/31/63)
Previously unreleased (Berry)
Produced by Nik Venet
Original version on Surfin’ USA
Brian: Making a track calls for good concentration and a heart full of musical feelings to stay up on your toes and always have the overall sound and feeling in your mind. In 1968 Capitol released Stack O’Tracks, a collection of original backing tracks from 15 Beach Boys’ hits. It certainly seemed an odd collection from a group noted primarily for its harmonies, but longtime fans – and serious musicians types – found the package fascinating. The richness and ingenuity of Brian’s mid ‘60s production work was astounding to many, and on the earlier recordings it gave listeners a vivid lesson in just how important the groups vocals were to the success of The Beach Boys sound. On this compilation we’ve included several new track mixes (and a few session highlights) to show off some of the magic underneath the hits, and Surfin’ USA, proudly displays the group in all of their early garage band splendor. And be sure to “sing the words and play along!” [just as the original "Stack-o-Tracks" package commands!]
8. Carl Wilson Radio Promo
(1965)
*9. Shut Down (Live)
(3/26/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Christian)
Lead: Mike
The Beach Boys concert appearances immediately became a huge part of the groups success. [From almost the beginning they had an incredible repertoire of their own hits to draw from, and the band, led by front man Mike (Brian's favorite emcee), knew how to have a good time onstage.] To this day, a Beach Boys concert is a celebration of Fun, Fun, Fun, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement as several thousand people sing along with the band in word-perfect unison on hit after hit after hit. This recording dates from a show in Chicago in March 1965. Brian had officially retired from touring by this point in order to spend more time writing and recording, but he’s with the band on this date. A couple of weeks later, on April 9 1965, L.A. session musician Bruce Johnston would join the group onstage for the first time.
*10. Little Deuce Coupe (demo)
(1963)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Christian)
Produced by Brian Wilson and Bob Norberg
Lead: Brian
In 1963 Brian moved out of the Wilson family home in Hawthorne and into an apartment with good friend Bob Norberg, a fellow musician and songwriter with whom Brian [produced as a single ("The Surfer Moon" by Bob and Sheri)] worked on several projects. [Later, they would record together with friends Dave Nowlen and Rich Alerian as The Survivors, releasing a wonderful but unsuccessful single on Capitol called "Pamela Jean."] Bob was a sound recording enthusiast as well as a musician, and he rigged up a crude but effective [multi-track] recording system in their apartment. [He and Brian would spend hours writing, recording, and experimenting with sound, and there's no doubt that many of Brian's musical innovations were developed with Bob's help in that little apartment in Inglewood - particularly his technique of doubling parts, vocals and instrumental, to get the lush, swirling sound that became one of his trademarks. Bob would use a variable speed oscillator to change the pitch just enough on the second pass to create a "dual-track audio" effect.] This demo of Little Deuce Coupe, featuring Bob on guitar, provides a marvelous glimpses of the genesis of a hit record. [It's not quite there yet - the verse melody and some of the lyrics would undergo further revisions - but the excitement and the enthusiasm is infectious, and this recording shows off Brian's passion for a good boogie woogie shuffle.]
*11. Murry Wilson Directs A Radio Promo
(1965)
[Brian: Oh, he would go, "Get in there and kick butt! Get in there, write a number one song! Show me how good you are," you know, like that. And I'd say, "All right, dad, all right." And I would go in and I would do it. On this track we get a brief glimpse of Murry Wilson in the studio with his boys as they prepare a special radio message for DJ Murray The K.]
*12. Fun, Fun, Fun (Backing Track)
(1/1/64)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Original version on Shut Down, Vol. 2.
Another new backing track mix, this cut demonstrates how Brian was now highlighting the piano as a driving rhythm instrument. [Another selection for the "Stack-o-Tracks" fans, this cut demonstrates how Brian was now highlighting the piano as a driving rhythm instrument. According to the original musician's union logs, on this track the Beach Boys were augmented by some of the best of LA's premier session musicians, namely horn players Steve Douglas and Jay Migliori, bassist Ray Pohlman, and drummer Hal Blaine.]
*13. Brian’s Message To “Rog” – Take 22
(10/26/64)
[Like all pop stars, The Beach Boys had to do their share of promotional duties, recording jingles and messages for various radio stations. Sometimes these sessions would go on for hours. Sometimes they'd get a little punchy. Sometimes the whole darned thing would just fall apart - especially if you're Brian Wilson, and Al Jardine, Mike Love, and engineer Chuck Britz can't stop laughing. "Rog" refers to Brian's frequent songwriting partner, popular KFWB DJ Roger Christian, a hot-rod enthusiast who for years had been carrying around a notebook full of choice hot-rod slang. "Shut Down" had been their first collaboration, leading to "Little Deuce Coupe" and many of the songs on the Little Deuce Coupe LP. Later, Roger would write the words for "Don't Worry, Baby" one of the most beloved songs in the Beach Boys catalog.]
*14. Dance Dance Dance (stereo remix)
(Basic Track 10/9/64)
Previously unreleased (Wilson-Wilson-Love)
Original Version on The Beach Boys Today!
Lead: Mike and Brian
Carl Wilson came up with the infectious guitar riff, session guitarist Glen Campbell picked it on his 12-string, and The Beach Boys [- with some help from Hal Blaine (percussion), Carl Fortina (accordion), Jay Migliori and Steve Douglas (sax), and Ray Pohlman (bass) -] rockout in this new stereo mix of one of their best uptempo singles. [This new stereo version has been achieved by syncing the tracks from the original 3-track master of the instrumental parts with the vocals from a second tape (back in those days most recordings in Hollywood was done using 1/2" 3 track tape. Brian would record the band over three tracks, then mix the band to one track of a second three track tape, leaving two tracks open for vocals and/or overdubs.] (Note on the intro: “Rog” refers to Brian’s frequent songwriting partner KFWB DJ Roger Christian, a hot-rod enthusiast who wrote they lyrics for a number of Beach Boys’ classics, including Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down and Don’t Worry Baby.
*15. Kiss Me Baby (a cappella mix)
(1/15/64)
Previously unreleased (Wilson-Love)
Original Version on The Beach Boys Today!
Lead: Mike and Brian
[Without a doubt,] Kiss Me, Baby is one of the group’s most heartfelt recordings, a standout selection on their superb 1965 LP, The Beach Boys Today! [The story goes that Brian wrote the song late one night while on a European tour. Depressed and lonely, and missing his fiancee, Marilyn Rovell, terribly, he commandered a piano in the cafe of Copenhagen's Royal Hotel and poured his heart into this song. After he returned home, it became one of his lushist and most complex productions to date, with an elaborate yet delicate instrumental track that displayed all he had learned from his idol, Phil Spector.] The majesty of the instrumental track – one of Brian’s most elaborate productions to date – was matched only by the aching beauty of the vocals, which we’ve presented here a cappella [the first of a handful of "Stack-o-Vocals" recordings on this compilation.] Note the way Brian and Mike’s leads complement each other, and how the group’s vocals communicate the pain and longing of a breaking heart. Notice too, how Brian doubles all the vocal parts to give them the richness that has become a trademark of The Beach Boys sound. Brian: Sing it once, then sing it again over that, so both sounds are perfectly synchronized. This makes it much brighter and gives it a rather shrill and magical sound without using echo chambers. It makes it sound spectacular, so much power.
*16. Good To My Baby (backing track)
(1/13/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson-Love)
Original Version on The Beach Boys Today!
[Another instrumental mix, this rocker from...] (This instrumental mix of a rocker from) ...The Beach Boys Today! LP stands out as one of Brian’s best uptempo arrangements, and like I Get Around before it, this track features a break in the intro and on the chorus, a hole that would soon be filled with an intense circular 5-part double-tracked vocal. Listening to the backing track on its own, however, on would be hard pressed to imagine just what is supposed to be going on in those sections. Not that it matters. Brian knew exactly what he was doing. [This track features the best of the LA session musicians, with Billy Strange, Bill Pittman, and Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Carol Kaye (bass), Don Randi (organ and piano), Jay Migliori, Steve Douglas, and Plas Johnson (sax), Julius Wechter (percussion), and Hal Blaine (drums).]
*17. Chuck Britz on Brian in the studio
(10/99)
Brian: Oh, he was my right hand man, he kind of co-produced with me. He made me feel like I could do my thing.
The late Chuck Britz was the [Beach Boys'] group’s engineer at the legendary Western Studios in Hollywood, and through his expertise and unfailing good humor and patience, he was an absolutely vital element in The Beach Boys’ story. [He first worked with the group on one of their earliest sessions, back in April of 1962 when they recorded the demo tape (including "Surfin' Safari," and "409") that got the Beach Boys their Capitol Records contract, and he was always there for Brian.] (Chuck was always there for Brian, and) there was a deep, genuine affection between the two that never faded with time. [and not long before his death Chuck visited Brian at one of his 1999 solo gigs, and later took a moment to reflect on Brian's work in the studio.]
*18. Salt Lake City (session highlights)
(3/30/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
[By early 1965 Brian had retired from the road, opting instead to stay home and write and record the group's records. Despite initial resistance from Murry and some of the other Beach Boys, it soon became clear that this was a wise move, for Brian was finally able to concentrate on the music he was hearing in his head.] Mike: He devoted more and more time at his piano and in the studio. And we would come home from a tour and there would be tracks done that we would sing on. [Bruce: I think it probably made it a lot easier, because how can you write it, arrange it, produce it, and sing it, and then take it on the road? How can you do all of that? That's really hard...I think staying off the road really helped him to grow, you know, as an artist.] By early 1965 Brian had retired from the road, opting instead to stay home and write and record the group’s records, and he was finally able to concentrate on the music he was hearing in his head. [It was in 1965, on sessions for the group's Summer Days LP, that Brian really began stretching out, and on cuts like "California Girls," "Let Him Run Wild," and "Salt Lake City" he came into his own, displaying the ingenuity and confidence that would soon culminate in "Pet Sounds." Brian was now fully...] (By this time he was now fully) ...committed to working with the top session musicians who’d long performed most of the hits and movie and TV music coming out of L.A. They’d sharpened their skills with Phil Spector, and Brian was using their skills to forge a new sound of his own. [One of the secrets of his new sound was the fact that these gifted players weren't just rock and rollers.]
[Carol Kaye: He knew that we were jazz players. Because most of the people that did the dates in those years were from the jazz ranks. But we'd say, "shh, don't tell anybody we play jazz!" Because some of the young guys in the booth didn't like to hear that. Brian, unlike a lot of rock performers at the time, was not at all intimidated by these musicians' long and varied resumes. And they liked him, too. They couldn't help but hear that something special was going on in these sessions.
Carol Kaye: And Brian liked the way that we admired him back, you know. And I think that that helped me grow, to be around us, too. And we were jamming here...I think he heard some of the things that we would noodle on and would give him some ideas and he'd go home and try that, you know. So, I think being around helped him grow. Brian had great rapport with these players, and they all loved to play on The Beach Boys' dates.] It was hard work, but everyone had a good time – as can be heard on this excerpt from the original tracking session for Salt Lake City.
On this date, the band consisted of: Carol Kaye and Lyle Ritz (bass), Billy Strange, Jerry Kolbrak, and Howard Roberts (guitar), Al DeLory and Leon Russell (keyboards), Frank Capp (vibes), Roy Caton (trumpet), Steve Douglas, Jay Migliori, and Plas Johnson (sax), and Hal Blaine (drums).
*19. Salt Lake City (stereo mix)
(3/10/65: vocals added 5/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Original Version on Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!)
Lead: Mike and Brian
Brian: The audiences there were unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable…that and the pretty girls. [A tribute to one of the group's favorite cities, a place where the crowds were always ecstatic and the girls were...well, as Brian sings, "girl for girl, they've got the cutest girls in the western states." Perhaps these were the ones Brian and Mike were wishing all could be California Girls (perhaps, considering the fact that the track for "California Girls" was recorded just one week after "Salt Lake City.")] This is another new stereo mix of a song previously only available in mono. By this time, Brian was recording many of the group’s vocals on the newly-introduced 1” 8-track format, which gave him added flexibility in overdubbing.
20. Wish That He Could Stay (session excerpt)
(5/24/65)
Previously unreleased (aka And Your Dream Comes True)
(Wilson – Love)
*21. And Your Dream Comes True (Stereo Remix)
(5/24/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Original Version on Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!)
Brian: We recorded it in sections, 8 bars at a time. We could never remember the whole thing. How we ever learned those songs I don’t know. In 1965 Brian took the group back to their roots with a gorgeous, Four Freshman-style number that would close the Summer Days LP. [By this time, Bruce had joined the group in the studio, but since this song was written with four parts in mind (Brian on top, followed in descending order by Alan, then Carl, and finally Mike on the bass notes) for this session Brian relied on Bruce to be his "ears" in the booth. Bruce: Brian Wilson was absolutely General Patton and Rachmaninoff. I mean, he was great in the studio. And he would just move us around...He'd physically move us around so the balance was right around one mike. Mike Love had a separate mike because he used a different mike cause he sang so low in the harmony part, as opposed to his lead that he would do later.] On this selection, we’ve paired an excerpt from the original session with the finished master (mixed, for the first time, in true stereo), giving the listener a chance to hear how the harmonies sound before and after they’ve been doubled by the group.
22. Carol Kaye Session Highlights
(10/13/65)
Previously unreleased (aka The Little Girl I Once Knew)
(Wilson)
*23. The Little Girl I Once Knew (Alternate Version)
(10/13/65)
Previously unreleased (Wilson)
Original Version available on The Greatest Hits, Volume 2
Lead: Carl and Alan (with Mike)
Originally released in October, 1965, The Little Girl I Once Knew was somewhat of a [sales disappointment] (flop) for the group, its sections of complete silence probably confounding radio program directors who might otherwise have placed this complex yet catchy single in heavy rotation. Brian was about to embark on Pet Sounds, and this record, with its lush arrangement and eccentric structure, is clearly a significant step in that direction. [Interestingly,] (Note:) on the original tape box for the session, the track is titled ["Carol K"] “Carol Kaye” in honor of one of Brian’s favorite musicians. [The recording features most of the same musicians (all except Leon Russell) who were present for the "Salt Lake City" tracking date, plus James Horn (woodwinds), Barney Kessel (guitar), and Lawrence Hulley (guitar).] The alternate version presented here [comes from a vintage tape found in The Beach Boys' archive], an original unused mix of The Little Girl I Once Knew, features different vocals and an [unexpected] a capella break [a technique that Brian would soon return to on "Sloop John B."]
24. Alan and Dennis Introduce Barbara Ann
(5/26/69)
25. Barbara Ann (Session Excerpt)
(9/23/65) with Dean Torrence
Previously unreleased (Fassert)
*26. Barbara Ann (Master Take without Party Overdubs)
(9/23/65)
Previously unreleased (Fassert)
Original version available on Beach Boys Party!
Lead: Brian and Dean
[By the fall of 1965, Capitol Records was looking for some new product to hit the stores in time for Christmas, and Brian, already looking towards "Pet Sounds," was in no mood to be rushed. The Beach Boys had to come up with something. Mike: So we said, "well, what can we do quickly and easily?", and we decided to do this Party album.] In the fall of 1965 the six Beach Boys, with Hal Blaine on bongos, got together in Western Studios 2 and recorded what was, essentially, a “Beach Boy’s Unplugged” album. Later, they invited friends and family in for a unique overdub session at which chatter, singalongs, clinking glasses, and various munching sounds were added, and voila! Beach Boy’s Party!, which came complete with a sheet of fan photos and (at selected retail outlets) a free baggie of Beach Boys' Party potato chips. The album was a huge success, eclipsed only by the single Barbara Ann, which rocketed to the top of the charts. For that song, they were joined in the initial session by Dean Torrence, taking a break from a Jan and Dean recording session. Dean had to be careful – their respective record companies weren’t too pleased with the idea of The Beach Boy’s and Jan & Dean singing on each other’s records. [Dean: And Jan said, "Oh you know, it's too bad that we can't be on the project, it sounds like a fun project. But you know, they said that we're not to do that." I said, "Yeah, okay." So I said, "Will you excuse me for a few minutes?" He said, "You better not go down there!" I said, "Don't worry, you know, I-I won't - I won't go down - I'm just going to the bathroom." (LAUGHS) I go out the door...yeah, yeah, yeah, I go right down, knock on their door, I walk in, "Hey Dean, What's happenin'?" "Great!" "You want to sing a song?" "Sure!"] On Hawthorne, CA, we’ve included some of the highlights from that session, and added a new mix of Barbara Ann minus the Party overdub.
27. Mike on the Everly Brothers
(3/20/98)
28. Devoted To You (Master Take without Party Overdub)
(9/15/65)
Previously unreleased (Bryant)
Original Version on Beach Boy’s Party!
Lead: Brian and Mike
The sessions for Beach Boy’s Party!, were an opportunity for the group to “revisit some old friends” and on this track – presented here without the Party overdub – Brian and Mike take a trip back in time to their own musical roots. Imagine it’s late at night, and that these are two teenage guys sitting in a Nash Rambler outside Mike’s house, singing along with the radio…
29. Dennis Thanks Everybody / In The Back Of My Mind
(1/13/65) (Wilson – Love)
Dennis’ message: 5/26/69
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DISC TWO
*1. Can’t Wait Too Long (a capella mix)
(circa 1968)
Previously unreleased (Wilson)
Original Version available as a bonus track on The Smiley Smile/Wild Honey CD.
Brian: Totally pure. The boys are absolute angels when they sing. We open Disc Two with a stunning a capella fragment from one of The Beach Boys legendary “lost” songs [, a tune that they never quite finished but which they kept coming back to again and again and again. Based on a progression from the original "Smile" version of "Wind Chimes," "Can't Wait Too Long" was finally released in its unfinished state on Capitol's Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer after garnering a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest unreleased tracks in the group's archive.]
2. Dennis Introduces Carl
(5/26/69)
*3. Good Vibrations (Stereo Track Sections)
(Various Sections – 1966)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Original Version available on Smiley Smile.
[Bruce: Well, here's the way I see it. Its' all about songs, arrangements. Brian - for my money, he wasn't burdened with technology. He had to get it on four track, he had to use the EQ and tape delay. There weren't a lot of tricks. You couldn't gate the drums, you couldn't do a billion things. You couldn't throw it off in Pro Tools and change the pitch and move it around. He had to do it the old fashioned way. He had to be an orchestral producer. So he had to write it into the arrangements.] Brian: I had this feeling…I have this feel for music and for rock. And I got this pattern on the tape and it came aglow, like magic. It was – it was meant to be. It was meant to be that I would have done Good Vibrations with a Phil Spector push. (Laughs) I believe he’s a ghost producer. I always have. I always thought he was present in the room when we did that record. [Brian's masterpiece, Pet Sounds had alerted the world to the fact that The Beach Boys had progressed far beyond the simpler themes of girls, cars, surfin', and "Fun Fun Fun" that had put them on the map in the early 1960's.] Good Vibrations, started during the Pet Sounds sessions and released a few months later in October, 1966, startled the music industry and took the world by storm, racing up the charts all the way to number one. Complex, even avant garde, the Brian Wilson – Mike Love song nevertheless had a catchy sing-along vibe that listeners couldn’t help but respond to. It didn’t happen overnight, though; Brian spent a lot of time in the studio recording and re-recording the basic tracks, experimenting with different arrangements and trying a number of instrumental combinations before he was satisfied. [The final version was an edit of several sections, recorded at different times and different studios. Brian would later expand on this modular approach to recording with "Heroes and Villains" and the brilliant, unfinished Smile album.] This audio montage presents – for the first time in true stereo – several of the unused sections from the 1966 Good Vibrations tracking sessions.
*4. Good Vibrations (Concert Rehearsal)
(8/25/67)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Lead: Carl
In August, 1967, the Beach Boys [- with Brian (Bruce stayed home) -] traveled to Hawaii to record a pair of concerts for a [new] live [LP] record, Lei’d in Hawaii [that they hoped would fulfill a past-due album obligation for Capitol Records]. By this time, Brian’s ambitious Smile LP had been abandoned [after nearly a year of intense media scrutiny and intense strain on Brian and the rest of the group) and it's replacement...], (and it’s replacement,) ...the home grown and rather bizarre Smiley Smile, was about to be released. [Lei'd In Hawaii itself was never completed, but the tapes survive - and some of the most fascinating material from that Hawaiian adventure comes from the afternoon rehearsals for the gigs. In this live rendition of "Good Vibrations" it's possible to get an idea just what "Good Vibrations" might have sounded like if it had been re-recorded for the Smiley Smile.] On that album, Brian and the group took a number of the songs that had been produced originally for Smile, and re-recorded them in Brian’s home studio with a very simple, almost minimalist approach [- and one of the hallmarks of these new versions was Brian's use of a Baldwin organ on just about every track.]
Alan: And some of those wonderful things we reduced to their essential parts…It was very elemental and very, very nuts and bolts. In fact we used on instrument primarily, and that was the Baldwin organ. That was a big organ that they donated to Brian, someone gave him as a gift and he loved it so much that he just orchestrated everything on this organ.
[For Lei'd in Hawaii, Brian had the organ shipped to Honolulu, and it's especially prominent on this recording of "Good Vibrations."] For Lei’d in Hawaii, Brian had the organ shipped to Honolulu, and it’s especially prominent on this recording – and in this live rendition it’s possible to get an idea just what Good Vibrations might have sounded like if it had been recorded for the Smiley Smile LP. [Incidentally, these shows in Hawaii represent the very last time that Brian would be heard publicly singing his original high parts in the group vocals to "Good Vibrations." By the time he rejoined the group onstage in 1976, the falsetto vocals were being handled by Al and Billy Hinsche, and later, Bruce, and then backing band members Bobby Figueroa, Adrian Baker, Jeffrey Foskett and, by the 1990's, Al Jardine's son Matthew.]
5. Heroes and Villains (Stereo Single Version)
(1966-1967)
Basic track (verse) recorded 1966; basic track (chorus) recorded 2/67; lead and backing vocals (verses) recorded late 1966; vocals (chorus), "Barbershop" section, and "My Children Were Raised" recorded 6/12-6/14/67.
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Parks)
Lead: Brian
For a while in late 1966 and early 1967, Heroes and Villains, the musical and thematic centerpiece of the legendary lost Smile album, was the most famous, most hyped, most eagerly anticipated single in the history of rock and roll[. People who had been privileged to hear the work-in-progress could barely come up with superlatives to describe what they'd heard, and the newly-emerging rock press - fueled no doubt by The Beach Boys' new PR man, Derek Taylor (one-time press officer for The Beatles and, later, Apple Corps) - made it clear that something very special and very revolutionary was on its way.
Brian (1966): Heroes and Villains [will be] a three minute musical comedy. I'm using some new production techniques that I think will surprise everyone. I can't actually describe the effect - you have to hear it.] With lyrics by Brian’s new collaborator, Van Dyke Parks, the upcoming Beach Boys single promised to be a rollicking saga of the wild west, with different “movements” that would encompass all facets of the old west experience [- everything from a barroom brawl and a subplot about a saloon dancer, to a mini "Barnyard" suite complete with clucking hens and various other farm animals in the background. Most importantly, there would be humor - maybe even actual dialog - in the impressionistic tale of "the Spanish and Indian home of the Heroes and Villains."] But while the pop world eagerly awaited, this new milestone from the creators of Good Vibrations, Brian, Heroes and Villains, and Smile began to unravel. The story is well-documented elsewhere – suffice to say, by the late spring of 1967 the dream had died, the moment had passed. And yet, The Beach Boys HAD to release a single. And then an album. There were serious contractual obligations to fulfill. So Brian assembled a version of Heroes and Villains, re-recording several sections in a makeshift studio newly installed at his home, and using just a few segments from the original Smile sessions for the new single [(the verses, and the track for the chorus - logged as "Heroes and Villians Side Two" on the original tape box)]. [The single was released in...] (It was finally released in) ...July of 1967, and the reaction was mixed, to say the least. Somehow, it just didn’t live up to all of the expectations. [Those who had been around during Smile noticed that incredible sections of the original song were, inexplicably, missing. Even some of The Beach Boys felt that Brian had, perhaps, unwittingly sabotaged his own creation.] And yet, the released version of Heroes and Villains is still an incredible piece of music in its own right, a dizzying trip through multiple music genres that’s utterly unlike anything The Beach Boys – or anybody else, for that matter – had attempted in rock and roll up to that point. [The outlines of the original story are still there, and the vocals - some of the best in the group's catalog - manage to communicate a number of different moods within the record's three minutes and thirty-five seconds. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Perhaps it was just too much to digest on a car radio in the "Summer of Love."] For this compilation we’ve prepared a new stereo mix of [the single version of] Heroes and Villains.
6. Vegetables Promo (Instrumental Section)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Parks)
Brian and Hal Blaine 11/16/66; chants 11/66; Vegetables fade track 4/12/67
*7. Vegetables (Stereo Extended Mix)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Parks)
Insert (a capella) 3/3/67; coda 4/67; main verses 6/67. Original Version available on Smiley Smile
Lead: The Group (featuring Brian and Alan)
Brian: I wanted everyone to get healthy. Another song intended for Smile, the Smiley Smile version of Vegetables is certainly one of the oddest, yet catchiest tunes ever released by The Beach Boys, and the groups vocals on this track are some of the finest they ever did. On the coda, keep this in mind; the only instruments are a piano and a bass. Everything else, including the bubbling sounds and the various “yips” are The Beach Boys. Brian had mastered the art of using his brothers, cousins, and friends as musical instruments.
[Bruce: But what I like about the Smiley Smile album is you're sitting there with Hendrix and everybody making incredible psychedelic sounds. You know, the Yardbirds and all that stuff's going on, and Brian's doing it vocally. And I don't know if he planned that, but it's a totally brilliant album, Smiley Smile.] For this compilation we’ve gone back to the original multi-track tapes and prepared a new stereo version of Vegetables, including a whistling and chomping section that was edited out of the original mono master. We’ve also pieced together a little ‘promo” for Vegetables using some improvised dialog between Brian and Hal Blaine and chants that Brian had recorded during the Smile sessions, over a portion of the original Vegetables fade track. By the way, Brian recommends carrots for use as a percussion instrument[!].
*8. You’re With Me Tonight
(6/67)
Previously unreleased section (Wilson)
Lead: Carl and Brian
An unused snippet of a tune that was first attempted during the Smile session, and later turned up in a radically different form on the Smiley Smile LP. [This section was recorded around the same time as the Smiley Smile version of "Vegetables" - note the similarity of the backing vocal parts.]
*9. Lonely Days
(10/28/67)
Previously unreleased (composer unknown)
Produced by The Beach Boys
Lead: Carl, Brian, and Alan
By October, 1967, The Beach Boys were hard at work on an all-new album that would become Wild Honey, released in December, 1967. Unused and unfinished from those sessions was Lonely Days, a sweet, and slightly sad little tune [("dark and dreary, the afternoons are weary and I've got to get in the endless line..")] that might have fit perfectly on the group’s 1968 LP, Friends. [At one point, the group did intend to finish it for Wild Honey - it was included on a preliminary track list submitted to Capitol in the fall of 1967.]
10. Bruce on Wild Honey
(3/26/98)
11. Let The Wind Blow (stereo mix)
(11/67)
Previously unreleased (Wilson – Love)
Produced by The Beach Boys
Original Version available on Wild Honey
Lead: Mike and Brian
Brian: We were all going through a weird trip, we just squeezed it out. One of the standout tracks on the Wild Honey album was this gem, an edgy and moody ballad with an unusual (for The Beach Boys) undercurrent of desperation and anger. Comprised almost entirely of minor chords, and with an insistent, driving piano that underscores the tension, Let The Wind Blow may be expressing some of the emotional fallout resulting from the collapse of Smile and the shifting dynamics within the band. By this time, Brian was beginning to step back from his role as the group’s leader, and the rest of the group – particularly younger brother Carl – were doing their best to take up the slack. This is another new stereo mix of a track previously available only in mono.
12. I Went To Sleep (a capella mix)
(6/68) (Wilson – Wilson)
Original Version available on 20/20
Lead: The Group (featuring Brian)
Brian: I was sure that we would never sound cooler than on the cut "I Went To Sleep". By June, 1968, The Beach Boys had released at least 15 albums, over 180 songs, and they’d had some 33 singles on the pop charts – all under the leadership of big brother Brian Wilson, who hadn’t yet turned 26. Could anyone blame him for being tired? On this song from the 20/20 LP, Brian (with co-writing help from Carl) seemingly turns his weariness and newfound “lack of ambition” into a simple tune about napping. But don’t be fooled by the deceptively simple packaging – as this new a capella mix demonstrates, there’s a deep level of complexity to this little number, which boasts one of the group’s richest vocal arrangements.
*13. Time To Get Alone (alternate version)
Previously unreleased (Wilson)
Original Version available on 20/20
Basic Track 10/14, 10/15/67; Lead vocals 11/67, Backing vocals 10/68
Lead: Carl and Brian
One of the group’s prettiest numbers, Time To Get Alone was originally produced by Brian for the group Redwood – later know as Three Dog Night. [In late 1967, not long after the release of Smiley Smile, Brian began working with a new group, Redwood - Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron and Cory Wells, who would later change their name to Three Dog Night and become one of the top-grossing acts of the 1970's. Brian was especially taken with the group's soulful vocals, and he wrote and produced some songs for them, including "Darlin'" and "Time To Get Alone."]
For a variety of reasons the Redwood master was never released, and the song was eventually finished and released [as Beach Boy tracks] (by The Beach Boys on the 20/20 album in 1969). [Over the next year The Beach Boys would lavish a great deal of time and energy on "Time To Get Alone," producing not one but two reduction mixes (allowing room for further overdubs), and finally adding new lead vocals and releasing the finished songs on the 20/20 album in 1969. Interestingly, the original tape logs indicate that about a week after they finished mixing down the 20/20 version of the song on November 15, 1968, Carl and Dennis went back into the studio and recorded an all new instrumental track on November 21. That recording remains unreleased.] This alternate version was found on one of the Wild Honey session tapes, and features different lyrics, an instrumental section edited out of the 20/20 version, and a sparkling lead from Brian on the choruses, the bridge, and the final verse.
14. Alan and Brian talk about Dennis
(Alan: 3/18/98 – Brian 5/1/98)
*15. A Time To Live In Dreams
(11/1/68)
Previously Unreleased (Wilson – Kalinich)
Produced by Dennis Wilson
Lead: Dennis
Brian: I was totally blown out – he snuck up on me. I didn’t expect it when he started writing songs like that. I was totally shocked. To most people, the late Dennis Wilson was “The Sex Symbol,” “The Rebel,” a hyperactive non-conformist with uncontrollable nervous energy, and a short fuse that reminded many of the Wilson’s father, Murry. [Apparently, he was larger than life and sometimes a little scary - even to members of the group. Brian (in a 1966 fan magazine interview): Oh dear! The most messed-up person I know. He's too nervous. He has to keep moving all the time...I really worry about him...It's like everyone else is on 33 1/3 rpm and he's on 78...I only hope he'll grow out of it as he gets older. I pray for Dennis a lot.]
[Unfortunately, Dennis never really did grow out of it. and ...] After years of battling drugs and alcohol, the group’s original surfing inspiration drowned in [his beloved Pacific ocean] (December, 1983) at the age of 39. Chronology may be misleading, however; Dennis packed more life into those 39 years than anyone could have imagined. Even more misleading, however, is the rowdy, bad-boy image that Dennis projected to the world. While there was certainly that side to him, there was also a very sensitive, generous, and creative side that found its highest expression in his music.
Recently discovered in the group’s tape archive, A Time To Live In Dreams is a stunning reminder of that gentle side of Dennis Wilson, a previously unheard collaboration with Stephen J. Kalinich, an L.A.-based poet who co-wrote Dennis’ first two songs (Be Still and Little Bird, both featured on the 1968 Friends album) [and later went on to work with Brian and Carl on a variety of projects, including an entire album of music and poetry with Brian, the still-unreleased A World Of Peace Must Come.] Steve and Dennis spent countless hours together writing, singing, and reflecting on the nature of love and the role that spirituality could play in healing a troubled world. Steve Kalinich: I knew the sensitive side was there because I thought why else would he want to go and read to the homeless and the sick kids in the hospital, and why else would he respond to this poetry if it didn’t touch some truth within him? [Steve Kalinich: It was out of the genre of "Be Still," a sort of prayer to the world.]
[Although short, "A Time To Live In Dreams" is quite powerful. When Dennis sings, "a child's joyous tear, with innocence he has not fear/now I know what love really is" it's impossible not to hear the raw vulnerability in his voice. Steve Kalinich: Dennis definitely had a child's sense of wonder, he'd get excited over ideas...He had such an awe and such a wonder about God in the sense that God is the creative process...He was a choir boy in that sense, and I know he was the last guy most people would call a choir boy, but it was like, this music came from the soul.]
Personal note: In December 2000, Brian Wilson got to hear A Time To Live In Dreams for the first time. When it started playing he said, “Wait – I don’t remember this one. What album was this done for?” A little later, when the organ comes up and Dennis sings, “In this new day, change your heart, forgive your brother…” Brian suddenly sat straight up, listened very carefully, and said softly, “Wow. What a great song.”
16. Be With Me (backing track)
(10/2/68)
Previously Unreleased (Wilson)
Produced by Dennis Wilson
Original Version Available on 20/20
Be With Me, released on the 20/20 album, was Dennis’ most elaborate production to date, complete with strings, horns and a lush arrangement that perfectly complements the eerie romanticism of the song. This new instrumental mix displays Dennis’ often-overlooked talent as a producer and arranger.
17. Dennis introduces Cotton Fields
(5/26/69)
18. Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)
(stereo single version)
(basic track recorded 8/15/69)
Previously Unreleased (Ledbetter)
Produced by Alan Jardine
Original Version Available on The Greatest Hits, Volume 2
Lead: Alan
Alan: Cotton Fields was an expression of a song that was written by Huddie Ledbetter, and I thought it would be fun to adopt it to the Beach Boys’ style and give it some personality. And so I just made up this kooky idea about a guy, a hitchhiker who’s on his way to California. And he wanted to get there lickety split. [Brian: I really love that record!] After co-producing a version of Cotton Fields with Brian that opened side two of the 20/20 album, Alan (not quite satisfied with the first effort) took the Beach Boys’ touring band – augmented by legendary pedal steel guitarist Red Rhodes – into Sunset Sound and produced this upbeat remake. Ironically, it was released at a time when the group’s popularity was at its lowest ebb stateside – this rockin’ slice of Americana was a major hit for the group just about everywhere except the U.S. This version of Cotton Fields is presented here for the first time in true stereo.
19. Alan and Carl on Break Away
(5/26/69)
*20. Break Away (alternate version)
Previously Unreleased (Wilson – Dunbar)
Produced by Brian Wilson and Murry Wilson
Original Version Available on The Greatest Hits, Volume 2
Track recorded 3/31/69; Vocals recorded 4/69
Lead: Brian, Alan, Carl, and Mike
Co-produced and co-written by Murry Wilson (AKA Reggie Dunbar), Break Away was The Beach Boys’ last single of the 60’s and a significant step towards the sonic wizardry of Sunflower, their 1970 debut for Warner Brothers. This alternate version features Brian’s original lead vocal on the first verse (he was eventually replaced in favor of Carl) and includes several vocal parts in the tag that were mixed out before the song was finally released. ["Fathers and mothers and sisters and brothers are breaking away!"]
*21. Add Some Music To Your Day (a cappella mix)
(Late 1969)
Previously Unreleased (Wilson – Love – Knott)
Original Version Available on Sunflower
Lead: Mike, Bruce, Carl, Brian and Alan
[Written by Brian, Mike and friend Joe Knott, "Add Some Music...] (Add Some Music)...To Your Day was the group’s first single for Warner Brothers/Reprise, and although it wasn’t a major hit, it’s still one of the group’s favorite recordings. It was included on the superb Sunflower LP, and like just about every track on that record, it’s a stunning display of harmony, melody, and the group’s mastery of the recording studio [- thanks in no small part to audio engineer Stephen Desper, who brought a degree of technical expertise and innovation to Brian's home studio that's reflected in the shimmering sonic quality found throughout the album. Having such a talented engineer and such a sophisticated studio right there in Brian's home had a lot to do with the album's musical success].
[Bruce: That's my favorite, favorite Beach Boys album. Because when I close my eyes and think about it, I remember the times. I remember the great engineer, Steve Desper doing it with us, and Brian's home studio, and it was just a fantastic thing to do.
Steve Desper: The fact that they could come and go pretty much as they wished and didn't have to book things was very conducive to them being there, and once they were there, they were creative. I was there. All the tapes were there. Whatever they wanted to work on. Whenever they wanted to work on it. And, I liked to think that it was fairly conducive to unusual creativity...like a lot of experimentation.]
[Another important factor was that Sunflower was the group's first album finished on 16 track, and the added flexibility of 8 extra tracks gave the group more room for vocal overdubs. And on this a capella mix of "Add Some Music To Your Day" one can hear just how this new flexibility and room for "unusual creativity" was leading to some exceptionally imaginative vocal arrangements.] Even without the instrumental backing, Add Some Music To Your Day, featuring one of Mike’s strongest leads, sounds like a fully realized production, with The Beach Boys providing their own “Orchestral” accompaniment.
22. Dennis Wilson
(Late 1980)
23. Forever (a cappella mix)
(late 1969)
Previously Unreleased (Wilson – Jakobson)
Produced by Dennis Wilson
Original Version Available on Sunflower
Lead: Dennis (with Brian)
Another new a capella mix from Sunflower, this song is considered by many to be Dennis’ strongest ballad, and features exceptionally full group vocals – as well as a wonderful counterpoint harmony from Brian on the song’s tag.
*24. Sail On, Sailor (backing track)
(11/28/72)
Previously Unreleased
(Wilson – Parks – Almer – Kennedy – Rieley)
Produced by Carl Wilson
Original Version Available on Holland.
In late 1972 The Beach Boys returned from a terribly expensive journey to Holland with a brand new album that their record company promptly…rejected. [Led by Carl, the group booked a studio in L.A. and re-recorded a song that Brian had been working on for awhile...or did they?
Steve Desper contends that the group's version of "Sail On Sailor" sounds "an awful lot" like the version he'd recorded with Brian in late 1971, although examination of the session tapes would indicate that this was a newly-recorded version. In any case, it's still a great production, and this "Stack-o-Tracks" mix gives a closer look at one of the group's most highly regarded recordings crom "The Brother Years." Listen for some hot guitar licks, and some group vocals at the tag!] Needing a strong single, the group – under Carl’s direction – revamped a song that Brian had been working on for a while, and quickly came up with this soulful classic. This instrumental mix takes another look at one of the highlights from the critically acclaimed Holland LP.
*25. Old Man River
([unreleased] vocal section)
(6/68)
Previously Unreleased (Kern – Hammerstein II)
Produced by The Beach Boys
[This brief item was a complete surprise, discovered almost accidentally on the tail end of the original multi-track tape for "I Went To Sleep."] This previously unheard rendition of Jerome Kern’s Show Boat classic[, pieced together from a few unfinished takes,] may be one of the most breathtaking vocal arrangements that the group has ever done.
Those familiar with traditional versions of the song will immediately realize that The Beach Boys have taken some [pretty audacious] liberties with Kern’s original melody and chord structure; they’ve made the song their own, somehow, and there’s a melancholy quality to the arrangement that, although it recalls Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, takes the song beyond a traditional Four Freshmen approach. [Another unfinished version of "Old Man River," much more upbeat and boasting a fairly elaborate backing track, was recorded around the same time and was included as a bonus track on the Friends/20/20 two-fer. Perhaps this section was intended to be part of that version. Perhaps not. Brian doesn't recall this particular recording, and it may have been just a "throwaway," a casual experiment in his living room studio with the guys on a summer day in 1968.]
26. Carl Wilson
(6/11/96)
Brian: We used to call him the Rock of Gibraltar. He brought a lot of emotional security for us.
In many ways, the late Carl Wilson was the band’s steadying force, a calming influence that helped the group weather the rough passages of a long and very turbulent career. In this brief excerpt from one of his last interviews before his untimely death from cancer in February, 1998, Carl speaks eloquently about the spiritual qualities of the group’s music. There’s no doubt that, growing up, all of the Wilson’s found spiritual comfort and solace in music.
27. The Lord’s Prayer (stereo remix)
(summer 1963) (Malotte)
Original Version Available as the B-side of Little St. Nick.
Brian: I think – I think we’re instruments that God plays. And I could be a flute and God plays me.
Back in 1963 The Beach Boys gathered in the studio and recorded this gorgeous a capella rendition of Albert Hay Malotte’s musical adaptation of The Lord’s Prayer, a number that had been a devotional standard in the 1940s and 50’s, and which was, most likely, one of those songs that Brian and the boys had grown up listening to at church services and family gatherings. Boasting one of their most complex Four Freshmen-styled arrangements, this recording displays The Beach Boys’ gospel roots, and demonstrates, again, their amazing vocal abilities.
28. Carl Wilson – Coda
(6/11/96)
Carl Wilson was often asked to explain the timeless appeal of The Beach Boys’ music. We’ll leave it at that.
Alan Boyd
January, 2001
[Silverlake,] Los Angeles, CA [about 15 miles from Hawthorne]
P.S. In the early 1990’s, 3701 West 119th Street was torn down to make way for the new 105 freeway.
Alan Boyd directed and edited the Grammy nominated Endless Harmony – The Story Of The Beach Boys (available on VHS and DVD from Capitol) and The Beach Boys: Nashville Sounds.
To view an expanded version of these Liner Notes, please visit The Beach Boys at Hollywoodandvine.com (ALN: Nope, you've just read them here!)
_________________________________________________________
Technical notes on the making of Hawthorne, CA:
This is a project that I’ve wanted to present for a long time.
I’ve had the privilege of listening to hours of Beach Boys’ session tapes, and I’ve been able to learn a great deal about what went into the creation of some of the greatest records ever made. My hope is that this compilation will provide the listener with a greater understanding of The Beach Boys’ creative process.
The bulk of this set has been mixed from the original 3, 4 and 8 track master tapes (16 tracks for Add Some Music and Sail On, Sailor). The tapes were transferred to 24 bit digital for editing and mixing, and the final mixes were digitally mastered. The mixes utilized both a custom API console as well as one of the original tube consoles from Western Studios in Hollywood where The Beach Boys made the majority of their records.
Some of the stereo mixes on this set, including Dance Dance Dance and Salt Lake City were created by synchronizing the three track or 8 track vocal overdub tape with the original master instrumental tracks (usually 3 or 4 track). The vocal overdub tapes which were used for the original mixes contained only a mono mix of the backing track.
As with the PET SOUND SESSIONS box set newly created multi-track masters with all of the elements separated allowed the first ever true stereo mixes of the songs. Mono was always Brian Wilson’s preferred mode because it presented the listener with the exact sound that he, as the group’s producer, wanted. Brian’s partial deafness in his right ear wasn’t a significant factor; like his mentor, Phil Spector, he felt that stereo simply allowed too many variables in the listener’s playback equipment to change the sound that The Beach Boys worked very hard to create.
In addition, The Beach Boys made their records to be heard on mono AM radio, the dominant music outlet of the day. As a result, although stereo mixes of much of The Beach Boys catalog was released by Capitol, the mono versions were the only official mixes made by Brian and the group prior to the release of the Friends album in 1968.
The stereo mixes on this set are presented as a new experience for the listener – an alternate way of exploring familiar recordings. They aren’t meant to be better, just different.
Mark Linett
January 2001
Glendale (east of Hawthorne), CA
(Grammy ® nominated producer and engineer Mark Linett has engineered and co-produced the entire catalog of The Beach Boys’ Capitol era CD releases, including the landmark Good Vibrations and The Pet Sounds Sessions box sets. He continues a long relationship with Brian Wilson, most recently engineering his Live At The Roxy Theatre double CD).
_________________________________________________________
Add Some Music To Your Day and Sail On, Sailor appear courtesy of Brother Records, Inc. Little Deuce Coupe (demo) appears courtesy of Bob Norberg. Chuck Britz interview appears courtesy of Chuck Britz and John Anderson/Superior Street – Chicago.
_________________________________________________________
The Beach Boys are: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine and Bruce Johnston (1965-1972, 1978 to date) David Marks (1962 – 63), Blondie Chaplin (1972-73), and Ricky Fataar (1972-1974)
All tracks produced by Brian Wilson, except as noted
Compilation Produced by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd
Engineered and Mixed by Mark Linett at Your Place or Mine Recording, except:
The Little Girl I Once Knew (alternate version) mixed by Chuck Britz at United Western
_________________________________________________________
Original Engineers: Chuck Britz, Larry Levine, Steve Desper, Jim Lockert, Bob Norberg, Armin Steiner, and others.
Additional audio editing by: Alan Boyd at Westside Post, Inc.
Mastered by: Mark Linett at Your Place or Mine Recording Session Research: Elliot Kendall
Executive Producer: Paul Atkinson
Project Managers: Joseph McElmeel, Herb Agner
Art Direction: Andy Engel, Darren Wong
Design: Andy Engel Design, Inc.
Digital Imaging: Eric Heintz
A&R Administration: Christopher Clough, Michelle Azzopardi
Production: Bryan Kelley
Licensing: Frank Lopez
A&R Coordinator: Tricia Deaton
Photos Courtesy of: Capitol Archives
Beach Boys Management: Elliott Lott, Brother Records, Inc.
Special Thanks: Ross Schwartz, Marcia Martinez, Joe Gastwirt at Oceanview Digital, Lewis Lipstone, Skipper Paden at Pacific Title Archives, Bob Norberg, Daniel Rutherford, Stephen J. Kalinich, Jon Anderson, Maggie Magee, Steve Desper, Carol Kaye, Dean Torrence, Kevin Gershan, Bob Hanes, Lee Dempsey, Jon Hunt, Cameron Mott, Panayiotis Bogdanos, Margaret Gwynne, Maria Cubas, Michael Legat, Shannon Ward, Irene Liberatore, David Leaf, David Beard, Barry Parker, Ed Roach, Dean Britz, Leon Lively and the Pet Sounds Mailing list, Roy Lott, Rick Stewart, Les Chan and Kirby.
For More Beach Boys’ Information:
Sites: The Beach Boys Band: www.beachboysband.com
Brian Wilson : www.brianwilson.com
Al Jardine: www.aljardine.com
The Carl Wilson Foundation www.carlwilsonfoundation.org
P.O. Box 1708 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-1708
David Marks: www.davidleemarks.com
Dennis Wilson: Dreamer: www.denniswilsondreamer.com
Publications: Endless Summer Quarterly The Premiere Brian Wilson/Beach Boys Publication
In The World - P.O. Box 470315, Charlotte, NC 28247 USA
www.esquarterly.com
Beach Boys Stomp 22 Avondale Road, Wealdstone, Middlesex HA3 7RE England
California Saga (German Beach Boys Fanclub) c/o Christian Haschke Luitsenfeld 4 41748 Viersen Germany www.mountvernonandfairway.de
Newsletters:
BBFC (The Beach Boys Fan Club) Mail Stop 504, 252 Convention Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89109 www.beachboysfanclub.com
Mike Love Fan Club 114 Gov. Winthrop Road, Somerville, MA 02145
www.mikelovefanclub.com
Brian Wilson Fan Club Breakaway with Brian Wilson 15030 Ventura Blvd., #PMB 710 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 www.celebritymerch.com
Beach Boys Britain 3 Mill Grove, Lutterworth, Leicestshire LE17 4BS, England
www.angelfire.com/la/Beachboysbritain
