"Good to My Baby"

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On Wednesday I listened to Today!, and I became really interested in the guitar part in "Good to My Baby," particularly the glissando.  So I figured that out, and then I got the chords too.

I waited until now to record and post an example because Pet Sounds and SMiLE still take precedence.  This is just a rare divergence.

There's an interesting feature at the very end of the verses.  The chords go from D major to G major to E major, within which there's a chromatic phrase (D, F#, A; G, B, D; E, G#, B).  They're half-step increments, the smallest interval.  The lyrics there are "And when I give her my love, it's between her and me" in the first verse and "And we stay together while other couples come and go" in the second verse.  That chromatic phrase seems to portray the lyrics both times.  Because it's the smallest interval, nothing can get between the notes, just like the singer/speaker's love is "between her and me."  Similarly, they're adjacent, in the same way that the singer/speaker and his girlfriend "stay together."

"Let's Go Away for Awhile"

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I'd forgotten the bass part for "Let's Go Away for Awhile" since I learned it in May, so I just re-learned it and was writing it out (in notation, because I've been getting more into actually notating things recently).  There's a transitional bit (at about 0:58) that I'm not sure how to notate, but after that, I think the time signature changes.

I'm still not very good at notation, so I might be wrong about this, but I think the first part is in 4/4 time, but the second half is in 3/4 or maybe even 6/8.  Some triple meter.

"Cabin Essence"

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I've been focused on Pet Sounds lately, so last night I thought I'd try figuring out something from SMiLE.  I figured out three parts from "Cabin Essence," but I don't own any of the instruments that they're actually played on.  Instead of banjo, I used guitar, and instead of clarinet and Eb harmonica, I used melodica (with the clarinet part panned left and the harmonica part panned right).  Eventually, I plan on acquiring the correct instruments and learning how to play the parts on them, but currently I don't have the money to do that.

It sounds a bit weird because I couldn't use the correct instruments, but I'm pretty sure that the parts themselves are correct.

"Sloop John B"

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Yester-day I learned the flute parts for the choruses in "Sloop John B" (or at least a chorus; they're each slightly different).  It sort of invalidates what I said about the resemblance between these flute parts and the guitar parts in "That's Not Me" because there aren't two measures of rests between each phrase.  That's only for the first half; the last two phrases are longer.

I don't own and don't know how to play a flute, so I just used the fake flute setting on my keyboard.

Pet Sounds

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Between yester-day and to-day, I listened to the third and fourth discs of The Pet Sounds Sessions (because otherwise I would have ended the year in the middle of the four discs), and I discovered a few things:

"You Still Believe in Me"

There's a slight ambiguity in "I try hard to be more what you want me to be."  It's either straight-forward like that ("I try hard to be more [of] what you want me to be," or it could be two different descriptions ("I try hard to be more, what you want me to be" or even "I try hard to be more [and] what you want me to be").  It's a question of whether "more" is just a regular adjective (modifying the relative clause "what you want me to be") or a substantive adjective.

"I'm Waiting for the Day"

The "blue" in "I know you cried, and you felt blue" has a melisma.  Where it would normally have only one syllable, here it has three (at least I think it's three; the double-tracked vocal there isn't spot-on).  The later syllables are at lower pitches, so as the word goes on, it falls.  Musically it adds a "down in the depths" kind of feeling to the blue sentiment that's already there in the lyric.

"God Only Knows"

This is probably a bit trivial, but - as far as pitches - the "stars" really are "above you" in "But long as there are stars above you."  "Stars" is sung to an F#, and "you" to a C#.

"That's Not Me"

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Last night, I figured out the second guitar part for "That's Not Me."  I didn't notice until I figured it out, but I think it's actually on twelve-string guitar.  That's what I used, and it sounds right, anyway.

I listened to the third disc of The Pet Sounds Sessions this morning (about which I'll have more posts later), and I realized that "Sloop John B" has a similar structure, just with flutes instead.  In the later choruses of "Sloop John B," there's a flute phrase and then about two measures of rests before an-other flute phrase.  That same pattern is here: guitar phrase, two measures of rests, and then an-other guitar phrase.

When I was recording this though, I discovered that the first two phrases don't follow that structure.  There's the first phrase, then three measures of rests, and then the second phrase.  I'm pretty sure that's a deliberate departure since the line immediately before that phrase is "You needed my love, and I know that I left at the wrong time."  There's a wrong time in the music and in the lyrics.

"Blue Christmas"

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January's Cloak:

A few days ago, I listened to a Beach Boys Christmas album, and I noticed something about their version of "Blue Christmas."  At about 2:00, some brass instruments (I think French horns) quote a phrase from George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  I can't find a score of the Rhapsody in Blue in order to look up the notation, and the phrase is too complex for my novice notation skills, but in "Blue Christmas," the phrase is D, Eb, F, and then an F an octave lower.  In the Rhapsody in Blue, it's G#, A, B, and then a B an octave lower.  (In the recording of Rhapsody in Blue I have by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, it's at about 11:31.)  It's the same phrase, just transposed down for "Blue Christmas."  (For what it's worth, it's also the phrase that starts "Rhapsody in Blue (Reprise)" on Brian Wilson's Reimagines Gershwin album, although that's E, F, G, and then a G an octave lower).

I did some research and discovered (in the entry for 18 June 1964 in Keith Badman's The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio) that the Beach Boys' version of "Blue Christmas" was arranged by Dick Reynolds.  While Wilson didn't arrange it himself, he probably had a hand in putting in that quotation because he's acknowledged Gershwin's influence and mentioned Rhapsody in Blue in particular.  The Reimagines Gershwin album provides ample evidence.

Purely as a reference, it's also interesting because "blue" is in the title of both works (and in the lyrics of "Blue Christmas").  To some degree, quoting Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue gives more depth to "Blue Christmas."  There's the feeling of "Blue Christmas" itself, but then - because of that quotation - there's an injection of the feeling of the Rhapsody in Blue too.

I transcribed "Blue Christmas" when I listened to the album a second time, and I found something interesting about the song itself, not just the Beach Boys' version.  The lines in the first verse all have line-ending rhymes ("without you" rhymes with "about you," and "tree" rhymes with "me"), but that same structure isn't in the second verse.  The first two lines rhyme ("certain" with "hurtin'"), but not "You'll be doin' alright with your Christmas of white / But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas."  Instead of line-ending rhymes, there's internal rhyme in the third line ("alright" and "white") and no rhyme at all in the fourth line, either within the line itself or with any other line.  That surfeit of rhyme in the third line and the lack of rhyme in the fourth poetically mirror the lyrics themselves.  "You'll be doin' alright" with internal rhyme, "But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas" with no rhyme at all.

I'm still sticking with just Pet Sounds and the SMiLE sessions for now, but I found this Gershwin quote in "Blue Christmas," and I felt I should reblog it here.

"That's Not Me"

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I knew I hadn't posted anything on here for a while (I didn't know it was three months though!), so I picked out and learned a part after listening to the second disc of The Pet Sounds Sessions to-day.  It's one of the guitar parts from "That's Not Me."  I'm pretty sure I have the whole thing (there's a string of F# notes near the end that I didn't include because I thought it would be boring to listen to without any other instruments), but there might be some more variation in the part when it's repeated.

In learning this, I've discovered that there's a key change on the "soon" in "I soon found out that my lonely life wasn't so pretty."  It adds a kind of musical jolt to accompany the realization mentioned in the lyric.

"Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"

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I listened to SMiLE to-day as part of my new listening schedule, and I thought the ascending and descending phrases at the beginning of "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" would be pretty easy to figure out.  I was surprised to find that they're actually chromatic and that - while some instruments modulate up a fourth - the organ phrase remains the same.

I used only guitar and organ, but I think the guitar part is also played on piano and bass.

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"

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Last night I finally figured out the rest of the chords for the verses of "Wouldn't It Be Nice."  I've been working on this since January.  I had the main part, but I got stuck when the rhythm changes.

I don't have an accordion, so I just did this on (fake) piano.  I've been practicing, but I'm still not a very good piano player, so this isn't the best, rhythm-wise.  I also figured out an-other instrument part (I think it's saxophone), which I included too, just so the ending isn't so abrupt.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile" and "You Still Believe in Me"

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I just listened to some of the recordings I made for this project.  The last two I did were the bass parts for "Let's Go Away for Awhile" and "You Still Believe in Me," and - even listening to the first few measures - I thought they sounded slightly similar.  So I played around with my recording software, and after plotting some MIDI notes, I confirmed that they have the same rhythm (for some sections, at least):

(That notation is meant to indicate only the rhythm; the pitch isn't relevant.)

Almost from the very beginning of this project, I've been wondering if there are certain musical elements that tie the Pet Sounds songs together.  I'd actually been thinking more about tonality, but rhythms certainly apply too.

"Pet Sounds"

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A few days ago, I listened to the last disc of The Pet Sounds Sessions, and I noticed a phrase in the bass part of "Pet Sounds."  I started figuring it out, but I don't have much more than the first phrase.

What I found interesting is that - when notated - that phrase forms a cross:

I should note that this phrase doesn't occur on the first beat as my notation would seem to suggest; it actually occurs on the third beat of the first measure the bass is in.  I'm not sure of the key, but based on what I know of the guitar part, I think it's Bb major.

I first ran across this idea of inscribing crosses in music while reading John Eliot Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven.  He illustrates how Bach does this in Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4:

I'm not sure if Brian Wilson was aware of this sort of thing, but I've read a few things where he talks about how he wanted the music on Pet Sounds to be spiritual.  In the liner notes to the 1990 CD re-issue, he says, "Carl and I were into prayer.  We'd pray together, and we prayed for light and guidance through the album."  That quote is included in the comments about "God Only Knows," but it seems that it could apply to the title track and its inscription of the cross too.

"You Still Believe in Me"

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I haven't posted anything here for almost two months, but I've been regularly listening to the box sets of The Pet Sounds Sessions and The SMiLE Sessions.  I listened to the third disc of The Pet Sounds Sessions this morning, and the bass part to "You Still Believe in Me" sounded like it would be pretty easy to figure out, and it was.

"Wind Chimes"

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Recently I'd been reading Peter Ames Carlin's Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.  I finished it last week.

Near the end, Carlin quotes from "Wind Chimes" - "Now and then, a tear rolls off my cheek."  It got me thinking about the music that accompanies that part, and I realized that after that line (in both the 1966 and 2004 versions), there's a glissando on (I think) xylophone followed by a staccato note.  Presumably, that glissando is the tear running off the cheek, and the staccato note is the tear falling off and hitting an-other surface.

I checked the version of "Wind Chimes" from Smiley Smile, but that glissando and staccato note aren't present there.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile"

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I listened to Pet Sounds on the 16th (since it was the 49th anniversary of its release).  I figured out a guitar phrase in "Let's Go Away for Awhile," but since it's only four notes, I don't feel it's worth it to record a version until I learn some more parts.

Little Deuce Coupe

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Two weeks ago, I listened to the Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long re-release, and I noticed something interesting about the Little Deuce Coupe album.  "Little Deuce Coupe" - the song that starts the album - begins with what I can describe only as a drum shuffle.  That same drum phrase (or at least a very similar one) is also in "Cherry, Cherry Coupe" and "Custom Machine."  In "Cherry, Cherry Coupe," it's after the line "It's the sharpest in the town and the envy of my group," and in "Custom Machine," it's after "Step on the gas, she go…."  That particular drum part might be in a few other places in the songs too, but those are the ones I could find quickly.

Having that same part (or similar parts) within those three songs provides even more consistency (it also helps that all of the songs are about cars and two are specifically coupes).

"Let's Go Away for Awhile"

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I tried uploading an audio file to an-other of my tumblogs, and that seemed to work, so I'm attempting to post the recording of the bass part to "Let's Go Away for Awhile" that I did a few days ago.

There are still a few parts of this I'm not absolutely sure of, but they're at least close.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile"

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While listening to Pet Sounds a few days ago, I thought the bass part at the beginning of "Let's Go Away for Awhile" sounded pretty easy to figure out.  So that night, I sat down with the intention of learning it, and I actually got the whole thing.  The next night (last night), I worked a little more on a part I was unsure of and recorded a version of the whole bass part.

I've been trying to upload it here, but I keep getting errors.  So, I guess a text post will have to suffice for now.

"I Know There's an Answer"

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About three weeks ago (on the 11th), I listened to George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and remembered (and heard) that there's banjo in it.  Some time before this, I'd realized that there's also banjo in one of the Pet Sounds songs and wondered whether there was a connection between the two.  But I couldn't remember which song it was.

So I listened for that when I listened to Pet Sounds this morning.  It's in "I Know There's an Answer."

I've read a few things about Gershwin's influence on Wilson (and, of course, there's the Reimagines Gershwin album), so - while I haven't found anything to confirm it - I'd like to think that the inclusion of banjo in "I Know There's an Answer" is a slight nod to the Rhapsody in Blue.

"Workshop"

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A few weeks ago, I mentioned the sawing cello in "Workshop" and how I thought it might be a sort of a joke.  Listening to the 1966 version last week, I noticed that - along with the cello and the vibes - it has drums played with a brush.  Even if the inclusion of a cello isn't a joke based on the phrase "sawing cello," each instrument provides a sound that's related to workshops: the cello sort of resembles sawing; the vibes mimic hammering; and the drums played with a brush sound like sanding.

I went back to see if the 2004 version has that drum part, and it's either not there or so faint as to be virtually inaudible.

"Cabin Essence"

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Every other year, I try to listen to all of my music, and while doing this (successfully!) last year, I started to notice the many different ways in which trains can be musically portrayed.  This included the sweeping vocal parts in "Cabin Essence" (I wrote that post really early in the project and got a lot better at writing things as it went on).  At the time, I didn't have the SMiLE Sessions box set, but once I did get it, I also noticed the dobro in the 1966 version of "Cabin Essence" (in track 9 on disc 3 ["Cabin Essence: Chorus"], Brian Wilson mentions it specifically).  It provides a sound that's apparently meant to reflect the hammering of railroad spikes.

Last month, I got a CD of Die Goldene Sieben - a German big band group from the mid- to late-30s.  One of their songs ("Weil der D-Zug-Führer heute Hochzeit macht" ["Because the Express Train Conductor Is Getting Married Today"] credited to Schröder and Beckmann and from 1938) also has - at the very end - this plinking sound to resemble hammering on railroad spikes.  I'm not sure if it's a dobro, but the same effect is achieved.

I remembered this when I listened to disc one of the SMiLE Sessions a few days ago, so I thought I would mention it here.  I don't think it's likely that Brian Wilson knew about Die Goldene Sieben or even "Weil der D-Zug-Führer heute Hochzeit macht" specifically, but I thought it was interesting that there is historical precedence for that dobro effect.

"Cabin Essence"

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I've switched to the 1966 version (The SMiLE Sessions Box Set) for a while.  I listened to the first disc this morning and noticed a few things I'll be writing about for the next few days.

First: the last lines of the first halves of the verses of "Cabin Essence" are doubled with a flute:

Light the lamp and fire mellow
Cabin essence timely hello
Welcomes the time for a change

And

I want to watch you, windblown, facing
Waves of wheat for your embracing
Folk sing a song of the grange

It's present in both versions - the 1966 one and the 2004 one.  (I took the lyrics from the liner notes of the 2004 version, but I've changed the line breaks so it's easier to see how it's articulated.)

I don't really have anything to say about the vocal/instrumental doubling by itself, but I found it interesting that Wilson re-uses this effect.  It's also present (with viola) during the first verse of "I'm Waiting for the Day" from Pet Sounds.

"Pet Sounds"

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I listened to Pet Sounds last week, and I learned some of the guitar parts for the title track.

I think the second phrase should be an octave higher than I've played it, but I haven't found a good way to play it that high yet.  Also, it might be on twelve-string in the original; I just played it on six-string because on twelve-string it becomes really obvious when you shift from the strings that are the same note in different octaves to the strings that are the same pitch.  I still find glissandi on twelve-string difficult too, and this requires a few of them.

"Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"

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An-other thing I noticed when I listened to SMiLE about a week ago is that there's contrary motion among some instruments at the beginning of "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."  The guitar and piano go down and then up while what I think is an organ (it's organ in the 1966 version at least) goes up and then down.  It results in a kind of musical pulling apart that's kind of unsettling, which actually works pretty well in imparting a sense of the apocalyptic fire.

"Workshop"

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A pretty minor thing I noticed when I listened to SMiLE about a week ago is that (aside from some vibes, which - as a percussion instrument - sort of blend in with the hammering) the only instrument present among the cacophony of power tools in "Workshop" is a cello.  I'm wondering if this might be something of a joke because playing a cello is sometimes described as "sawing."  With that description, the cello would fit in with the other power tools present on the track.

Some of the books I've read (I think they were Domenic Priore's SMILE: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece and Keith Badman's The Beach Boys) mention that around the time of SMiLE, Brian Wilson was also interested in comedy records.  So the sawing cello in the workshop might be a musical indication of that.

"Surf's Up"

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When I listened to SMiLE a few days ago, I got thinking about the "Are you sleeping, brother John?" in the lyrics of "Surf's Up."  The music doesn't match, but the lyrics are from "Frère Jacques."   However, I think there may also be a subtle Beatle reference within that quotation.

The line "Frère Jacques" sung to its original melody is in the backing vocals for the third and fourth verses of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer."  According to Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, the "Paperback Writer" single (b/w "Rain") was released on 10 June 1966 (but apparently the American release was earlier).  In any case, "Paperback Writer" was released around the time as SMiLE was being written and recorded.  It's probable that Brian Wilson knew "Paperback Writer," and since he felt a degree of competitiveness with the Beatles, it's possible - perhaps even likely - that he (or Van Dyke Parks who wrote the lyrics for SMiLE) took a few things from them, like that "Frère Jacques" quote.

Even if they did take it from the Beatles, it's a different way of using the same source material.  The Beatles used it more melodically, but on SMiLE, it's used more lyrically.

"Heroes and Villains"

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I was just going to say that one of the things I noticed while listening to SMiLE a few days ago is that there's an ascending melody during the "My children were raised" part, apparently to reflect the raising.   But then I got wondering about the intervals, so I figured out that part.  It's actually based around the C# scale (C#, D#, E#, F#, G#).  Including each note in the scale (at least up to the fifth) helps emphasize the increments and thus the growing that's mentioned in the lyrics.

I'm not sure I have the very end of this right.  There's a D#, but I think there's also an-other note.  I just played an-other D# an octave higher.  As a basis for this, I used track 33 ("Heroes and Villains: Children Were Raised (Remake)") from disc 2 of The SMiLE Sessions [Deluxe Edition].

There also some consonance between "raised" and "rise" in the lines:

My children were raised
You know they suddenly rise

"Roll Plymouth Rock"

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Listening to "Roll Plymouth Rock" a few days ago, I thought that the bass part for one section was just two notes.  Later, I confirmed this and learned a few more parts.

It sounds really disjointed without either vocals or percussion (and there are some other instrumental parts I'm still missing too), but having just a few parts makes it really obvious how modular the songs are.

"Barnyard"

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After listening to SMiLE a few days ago and realizing that the bass part for "Barnyard" is only two notes, I figured I could do an updated version of it.

I'm still not very happy with my guitar tone though.

SMiLE

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Yester-day, I listened to SMiLE (the Brian Wilson version - I think I'm going to use that as a basis at least for now because the 1966 version has a lot of alternate parts), and I discovered something about "Roll Plymouth Rock," "Barnyard," and "Cabin Essence" - they all have two-note bass parts for at least large sections (the ends of "Roll Plymouth Rock" and "Cabin Essence" start to diverge).  They aren't always the same two notes, but they're always the root and either the fourth or fifth.

It's interesting that - for all of the complexity in the songs - the bass parts are just a few notes.

Since I have those notes figured out, hopefully I can make some more progress on learning the parts above them.  I've already gotten a few more parts for "Roll Plymouth Rock," which I plan on posting in a couple of days.

"I'm Waiting for the Day"

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I hadn't done anything on this project for awhile, so I decided to start listening to the albums regularly in the hopes that I'd become more familiar with the songs, which would then help in learning them.  In listening to Pet Sounds two days ago, I found a similarity between "I'm Waiting for the Day" and the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four," which I wrote about here.

Then I decided to learn the little piano part in "I'm Waiting for the Day" (figuring that it would be pretty easy), but I ended up learning the chords.  I'm not sure if I have the right voicings in the organ part though.

My version ends just before the string section, because I have no way of duplicating it (and haven't learned the notes anyway).  I just resolved it on E major.

I figured out a bit of the bass part, but most of what I figured out is the part after that string section (it's just a descending E major scale), so I didn't include that either.

I tried doing the vocals too, but they're not the best.  Some of the backing vocals might sound a bit weird because I don't usually sing that high.  I'm also missing the "He hurt you then, but that's all done" because I can't sing that high (or at least not that high and in key).

"Caroline, No"

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On Sunday, I listened to They Might Be Giants' Indestructible Object, including their cover of "Caroline, No."  While listening to it (and then later referencing the Beach Boys' original), I learned most of the bass part to "Caroline, No."  Yester-day, I learned the rest of it.

I discovered that I have to use the version on The Pet Sounds Sessions as my main referent because that version is at the original speed.  The version on Pet Sounds is sped up, so it's in-between F major and F# major.  At the original speed, it's in F major (which works well with what I mentioned about keys and unity here). Incidentally, They Might Be Giants' version is in F# major.

Some of the notes in the melody are Bs, which is an accidental in F major.  In the first verse, they're all on verbs too:

Where did your long hair go
Where is the girl I used to know
How could you lose that happy glow
Oh, Caroline, no

It's an interesting way to add emphasis.

I figured out the instrumental part near the end, which is pretty close to the melody in the vocals, and I continued the phrases to the end, instead of fading out.  I didn't really pay any attention to what instrument it's on though.  At this point, I'm concerned more with accurate notes.

In one phrase of that instrumental part, the melody is sort of an inversion of the bass part.  Much of the bass part is the repeating phrase G C A G F G, and that instrumental part has C G F G A (corresponding to "Oh, Caroline, no" in the lyrics).  So there's something of a trill between G and F either preceded or followed by an A.

Acquisitions

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Yester-day, I went to Half Price Books, and I found a few things that might have some influence on this project, if only indirectly.

First, I found They Might Be Giants' Indestructible Object, which contains a cover of "Caroline, No."  (I also got it just because I like TMBG.)  I just listened to it, and their cover sounds pretty close to the original.  I'm sure there are some differences in instrumentation though; I haven't compared them that closely (or really at all).

I also found Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson by Peter Ames Carlin.  I have a few other books about the Beach Boys (I think this is the fourth), so I've heard of this through bibliographies and such, and I figured I would get it since I'd found it.

More tenuously related to this, I found a compilation album of the Four Freshman.  Except for "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring," which the Beach Boys recorded (it's a bonus track on the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey reissue) and - if I'm not mistaken - used for the melody for "A Young Man Is Gone" on Little Deuce Coupe, none of the titles looked familiar.  I might recognize one or two once I actually listen to them though.  In any case, it'll be interesting to hear how they influenced Wilson's vocal arrangements.  I've read that they're pretty similar.

"I Know There's an Answer" / "Wouldn't It Be Nice"

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Last night, I spent a bit of time trying to figure out the opening keyboard part to "I Know There's an Answer" (I'd previously noted that there's an organ part and a piano part combined in an unusual way) and the chords to "Wouldn't It Be Nice."  I made some progress on both, but I don't think I know enough to post anything yet.

However!  I discovered some interesting musical things.  From what I know so far, I think "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "I Know There's an Answer" are both in F major.  Along with this project, I do this same sort of thing for the Zombies, and lately I've been looking at the keys of the songs on Odessey and Oracle.  I have this idea that some of the unity of that album has to do with common tonalities.  So now I'm wondering if that could apply to Pet Sounds too.  I'll have to find out what keys the other songs are in to be sure, but I felt I'd at least mention the common key of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "I Know There's an Answer."

Secondly - and more interestingly - in figuring out the chords to the first part of "Wouldn't It Be Nice," I discovered that the "nice" in the lyrics falls on the F major chord (the tonic) both times in the first verse:

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong

Having that particular word fall on that particular chord (in that particular key) weds the musical feeling of centrality with the idyllic nature that the song describes.

I think the phrases start on down-beats too, so while "nice" is in the middle of the line, it manages to be on the first beat of the measure, which works nicely with how it falls on the tonic chord - it's primary in both pitch and meter.

"Barnyard"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I'm starting with the easier parts, like the guitar part in "Barnyard."  It's just two phrases that are alternated throughout the duration of the song (so this is not a very interesting audio example).  I was sort of surprised to find that it's in C# though.

"Good Vibrations"

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A couple years ago, I learned the bass part to "Good Vibrations."  I haven't verified it recently, so this is it as I remember.  I'd thought I knew the organ part during the beginning, but it sounded weird, so I didn't include that.

I'm pretty sure the organ part I do have is right, although the C major on the original sounds lower, so it's probably an inversion.  I'm not a very good harmonica player, but I did the harmonica part too.

"You Still Believe in Me"

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This is one of the few parts to Pet Sounds that I already know - the opening piano figure for "You Still Believe in Me."  I'm fairly certain I learned this in October last year, after discovering that the "You Still Believe in Me" on M. Ward's Transistor Radio is, in fact, the same "You Still Believe in Me," although arranged differently.

I don't have the same effect on this that's on the original.  Off the top of my head, I don't remember exactly what it is, but I think it's something like holding down all of the keys and then hitting the strings, which is obviously something I can't do with an electronic keyboard.

Introduction

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Last summer, I used some of my college graduation money to buy the deluxe edition of The SMiLE Sessions.  I was really late to the SMiLE bandwagon and didn't even find out about it until those original recordings were released.  While I couldn't afford them for a long time, I did get the 2004 recording, and that - along with a lot of reading about the album - certainly sparked my interest.

A few weeks ago, I listened to The SMiLE Sessions again, along with The Pet Sounds Sessions, and it occurred to me that the way the box sets are formatted is sort of multi-directional in terms of construction.  Sections of the songs are presented in different mixes or different takes, and overdubs are isolated so that the listener can start to see how Brian Wilson pieced together the songs.  But it could also work the other way - as a sort of blueprint to putting together the songs yourself.

At the time, I'd been looking for an-other band whose catalogue I could learn.  In 2012, I started doing this with the Zombies (my favorite band), and - while I'm still working on that (and will probably never finish) - it's progressed much further than I had originally thought.

I'm pretty nervous and apprehensive about this (especially considering the complexity and fame of the albums), but I'm going to try to learn all of the parts to the songs on Pet Sounds and SMiLE.  (Eventually, I might add some other Beach Boys songs, but Pet Sounds and SMiLE are my foci for now.)  I'll probably never finish, but I'm hoping the experience will be similar to what's happening with learning the Zombies' songs.  Even though I don't know a lot of the parts yet, I've gained a much better understanding and appreciation of the music.

I don't own a lot of the instruments that are present on the albums, and it'll take time to learn the parts, so at the beginning things will be incomplete and very probably wrong.  But I have to start somewhere.  My primary focus is still the corresponding Zombies project, so things might be a bit sporadic here.