"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.