Jim

just for your own curiosity, do a quickie search on a group of musicians called The Wrecking Crew. It was a group of about 30 studio musicians (some floated in and out on jobs), that did the most amazing music - and were never, ever mentioned on album covers.

You will be surprised as to whom they did music for, how long they did it. There are even some video's out there of these musicians working - they could sight-read music and lay down production quality tracks - in some cases, they even modified the music for the artists and made it better - some of the riffs (particularly base lines for Sonny and Cher) were written by TWC bass player in the studio.

I don't have much curiosity about it. As I say, I was a musician back then but not into R&R.

I knew back then that many of the local popular garage bands were so not because they were good musicians but because one or more band guys could make the girls throw their skivvies on the stage.

The bands that made it big were usually very good themselves. The Beatles were reputedly very good. I thought the Rolling Stones were likely not until I heard them play live. They could play!

Many years ago, I read that the Beach Boys were a better studio band then a stage band, but I didn't think about that much, maybe because their songs were usually elaborately scored, more voices and instrumentation that would be tough to duplicate at a concert.

Many of the musicians I played with were very, very good. I don't have the slightest doubt that the wrecking crew could exist. Didn't Glen Campbell do a good bit of that? He could really play!

that is true - Glen was part of the BB and did tour with them for a while. Glen was actually one of the original guitarists for TWC who later became a solo artist

they were the bands for Jan & Dean, Sonny & Cher, Barry McGuire, the Mamas & the Papas, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and The Monkees.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:

Netflix had a documentary on Brian Wilson 6 months ago or so. They showed him in the studio working. He was very talented and knew exactly what changes he wanted as they tried each song. My brother that has a music store has a huge collection of Brian Wilson bootleg and studio sessions. I think I have heard 30 or more versions of Sloop Jon B. The final version is worded a little different from how it started out. At the start, they have a sort of Jamaican accent that doesn't make it to the final cut. His early music is mono as he couldn't hear out of one of his ears as a result of his father slapping him in his head.

No doubt Brian is/was a very talented guy, none whatsoever.

I am surprised to hear a claim that the released tracks are not played by the Beach Boys themselves but studio musicians.

I've not been into rock and roll much, but this is like saying the Dukes of Dixieland didn't play those songs on the album, we hired other guys for that, but these are the guys in the photos and on the road when you buy a ticket to see them. Most of the time, the liner notes list who played what by name on the track that made it into the album.

There may be a difference in how recordings are made too. On the albums I was on, the entire band was there, we set up, placed the microphones and the whole band played the number. Maybe we did 4, or 5 plays. Then they picked which one they liked best. An engineer could fiddle with the mix, make the sax a little louder, the bass a little softer, but that was it.

The albums that you hear or have are of the Beach Boys. After the studio musicians fine tuned the songs, the Beach Boys were brought in an shown how to play the tunes.

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The Beatles were reputedly very good.

Yeah, you could say that.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:

The bands that made it big were usually very good themselves. The Beatles were reputedly very good. I thought the Rolling Stones were likely not until I heard them play live. They could play!

Many years ago, I read that the Beach Boys were a better studio band then a stage band, but I didn't think about that much, maybe because their songs were usually elaborately scored, more voices and instrumentation that would be tough to duplicate at a concert.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who were some of the handful of early 60s bands that played their own instruments, even though Ringo was replaced on Love Me Do because George Martin wanted to use a proven drummer first. Same with The Who's first single I Can't Explain"; Jimmy Page, a session guitarist, played rhythm guitar.

The Beach Boys certainly played their own instruments on their first half dozen or so albums without studio musicians, including songs Surfin Safari, Surfin USA, Little Deuce Coupe, Surfer Girl, Fun Fun Fun, I Get Around, etc. By the time of California Girls, studio musicians started to appear more prominently on their records and by the time of recording Pet Sounds, The Wrecking Crew took over for a couple of albums, with the Beach Boys mainly contributing vocals. After Wilson stepped away from the leadership role, they started to record as a band again.

According to Beach Boys expert John Stebbins, the whole Wrecking Crew thing was a bit over blown. The Beach Boys were not The Monkees, they were a real honest-to-goodness rock 'n' roll band.

To those who do not think these guys can sing or play their own instruments, here is a great sample from 1964, shortly before Wilson stopped touring. No lip-syncing, no Autotune, no computers, they didn't even have stage monitors (let alone ear monitors). "Help Me Rhonda" is great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a4YupnT1sM

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Originally posted by oddball:
To those who do not think these guys can sing or play their own instruments...

I don't need to listen to it. I recall how good they sounded in my high school and college years.

Now, fast forward three decades (when I saw them), listen to them from 100 feet away, w/o Brian Wilson, in an open air venue, and I stick by my earlier comment: they can't sing.

But, I still have several of their albums, and enjoy the studio sound.