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Volume #0394 March 9, 2000
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Teenage Symphonies To God
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Subject: wall of celluloid
Received: 03/09/00 3:42 am
From: Jack Madani
To: Spectropop!
Jamie LePage mused:
>I had a similar feeling watching the Sonny & Cher
>docudrama a while back. When they show Spector at work in
>the studio, you seldom hear Spector related music. Instead,
>it is ambiguous wall-of-sound ambience that alludes to
>Spector's music.
>
>In the case of the S&C flick, it was a rather superficial
>facsimile.
I recall being greatly disappointed by the lameness of the
music in that S&C show.
>
>With the BB flick, I
>understand Gary Griffin, who produces Jeffrey Foskett's
>wonderful records, was in charge of the music, and if that
>is so, I imagine the incidental music was every bit as
>delightful as Jack and John describe it.
That would certainly explain it. GG has really figured out
how to get that sound, hasn't he?
>
>Spector portrayed in other recent film/TV movies...
>That Tina Turner film had a few scenes with Phil,
>including that great scene depicting the recording session
>for River Deep. Yeah, of course the vocal and strings and
>BG chorus were not recorded simultaneously, and that glass
>vocal booth smack dab in the middle of the (far larger than
>Gold Star) room didn't look all that authentic either.
>Still, the scene was chilling. Thumbs up on this one.
I didn't have the same reaction, Jamie. I remember
thinking, that looked far too easy for Tina. Didn't I read
somewhere that Phil had Tina singing so many takes, had her
shouting at the top of her lungs for so long, that she
soaked her blouse through and took it off and sang in her
bra, sweat pouring down her as she belted it out?
Actually, given the way that that movie showed Tina being
used and abused by practically everyone in her life, I
thought it was a missed dramatic opportunity to show her
being kicked around, as it were, once again by yet another
man.
It used to bug me a lot to see all those scenes in show
after show where the singer is singing at the same time
that the musicians are playing, but I finally decided to
just concede the point and let the movie/tv-makers show it
that way, because it wouldn't be as interesting to the
viewer to see someone standing in a telephone booth with
egg cartons all over the wall.
Finally, is it just me, or does every actor who pretends
to be in a recording studio singing end up doing a pale
imitation of David Cassidy in the Partridge Family?
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Jack Madani - Princeton Day School, The Great Road,
Princeton, NJ 08540
"You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred."
--Henry Cabot Henhouse III
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Subject: Re: 5D reissues & Spector sessions
Received: 03/09/00 3:42 am
From: Little Richard Chamberlain
To: Spectropop!
David Ponak wrote:
>According to ICE, the first 5 Fifth Dimension LPs's (Up,
>Up And Away, Magic Garden, Stoned Soul Picnic, Portrait,
>and Age Of Aquarius) are all scheduled to be reissued on
>CD with bonus tracks by Buddah on April 18.
Just in the USA or internationally?
Jamie LePage wrote:
>The good news is that there are unofficial Spector tapes
>in circulation [...]
>Spector is far more animated than Brian Wilson is on his
>session tapes.
The session for "Hold Me Tight" is pretty funny, Spector
talking to the musicians with a phoney Liverpool accent,
calling Hal Blaine "Ringo", and things like that...I also
find the "Rudolf The Red-nosed Reindeer" session funny,
with a couple of musicians arguing back and forth to which
Spector bursts out laughing "whooah, what the hell's going
on here?! You guys sound like a football game!" Still,
nothing as amusing as Brian Wilson telling Carol Kaye to
take the highs off her guitar and then "just whack off"
during the "Salt Lake City" session :)
Tobias
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Subject: Rockin' in LA (no In A Gadda Da Vida content)
Received: 03/01/00 2:19 am
From: Jamie LePage
To: Spectropop!
To Michael Marvin:
Great post on Gold Star and Jim Hilton. Thanks for the
info. Hilton must have come in as a "second" and then been
given some of the newer clients' dates to train on. Levine
went to A&M shortly thereafter; I suppose taking many Gold
Star clients with him. But I think Levine stayed close with
Stan and everyone at Gold Star during the A&M era. Of
course I could be completely wrong about all of this, but
it is something I have thought about from time to time.
Michael wrote:
> I'm not really sure if Buffalo Springfield's "Expecting
>To Fly" was recorded at Gold Star. The song may have been
>recorded at Sunset Sound.
Coulda fooled me. I can't check the LP unfortunately because
it and I are separated by too many miles, I'm afraid...
>I listened to the drum echo on that song, and it sounds
>somewhat like the same drum sound that you would hear on the
>Doors' signature song "Light My Fire".
The Doors and Buffalo Springfield! Wow! That made me stop
and think for a minute. But I guess that's sorta what I
meant by "Gold Star-ish tracks like Expecting to Fly."
You're right about that. If anything still holds great
appeal to me about the Doors, it would be that particular
echo on that particular snare that you mentioned. Good
call! In my mind another of the last recordings with at
least one of the endearing qualities of the mid 60s LA
sound.
It all happened at once I guess with 16/24 track. You
can't blame studios for upgrading with the latest gear,
but just as that happened the musicians like Carol moved
to TV and film while multi-track allowed for individual
track punch-ins and more isolation through separate
recording of instruments, etc. It was just different than
before.
>The Spector connection to "Expecting to Fly" is
>that the strings were arranged by Jack Nitzsche.
Without a doubt. I thought Nitzsche produced it, too. But
once again, I can't check. Anyone know? Now that you
mention it though, the echo on the strings is exactly what
made me call it "Gold Star-ish."
For some reason I thought Expecting To Fly was planned to
be a Neil Young solo single, was recorded at Gold Star and
produced by Jack Nitzsche without the Buffalo Springfield
members. Later, it was included in the "Again" album after
Neil rejoined the band. I must have read that somewhere
but I can't recall the specifics. "Again" certainly
qualifies as a latter day "mid 60s LA sound" recording; I
am interested to learn more about how it was made.
Something very strange happened to the album track
Bluebird. That banjo-featured ending seems to have been
tacked on, and I would love to know why that happened. The
original recording of that long version had an entirely
different ending, and a far better one as I recall.
---------------------------------
A couple of things from recent issues...
I mentioned One From the Heart as a film featuring
faux-Spector music during certain scenes, but as was
brought to my attention by Gary Spector in private email,
I rather meant to refer to Grace of My Heart. Sorry for
that and thanks Gary.
About the "Brian Wilson portrayed as monster" thread, I
haven't seen the TV program under discussion but I am not
surprised that Brian would be portrayed that way. Someone
mentioned to me that there was a disclaimer during the
credits that said something like "fiction based on a real
story." The story of a tortured genius is going to have
better draw among the lowest common denominator than
something more in line with reality. In addition, Mike
Love probably had approval rights on the script and he may
have "helped" the script writers get the story "right" if
you know what I mean. All I want to say about this is that
Carol's comments on Brian and the drama are most
appreciated. We know Brian had problems starting from just
about the time Carol and many of the others lost the BB
account. I personally just don't need or want to hear or
see that same old unbalanced portrayal of Brian anymore.
The SOT sessions clearly reveal that Brian was in complete
control at least up to and including Smile, particularly on
the tracking dates, and I applaud Carol for stressing his
fine qualities as a producer. It helps balance the
perspective. We Beach Boys enthusiasts have been bombarded
with titillating and exploitative accounts of Brian as the
Mad Genius in articles and books far too often. My
interest in all of this is the music, and I am happy to
see attention drawn to Brian's accomplishments rather than
having to suffer through another exaggerated rehashing of
personal problems he may have had later on. Thanks again
for your comments, Carol.
Jamie
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Subject: BBs Movie
Received: 03/09/00 3:42 am
From: David Mirich
To: Spectropop!
I agree with Carol that the caricature of Brian Wilson
portrayed in the BBs movie was an insult to the great man.
Maybe some day they'll get it right. I also bristled when
the Sunrays were displayed in such a negative, disparaging
manner. This fine group WAS NOT a BBs clone. Ot the many
60s pop CDs that I own, the Sunrays box has more great
music than most of the others. It is unbelievable how many
excellent tunes are on this comp. If you don't have it, get
it now. It got a great review in Rolling Stone when it came
out.
Dave Mirich
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Subject: The real Brian
Received: 03/09/00 3:42 am
From: James F. Cassidy
To: Spectropop!
Thank you, Carol Kaye, for providing some first-person
correction to the dreadful portrayal of Brian Wilson in
the TV movie. I only wish you had an equal amount of
network time to set the record straight!
I think you're right, Carol; most people are sharp enough
to know how out o' whack it was. I guess showing Brian as
professional, competent, bright, funny, and warm wouldn't
have been very interesting, would it?
Your final words said it best:
>Thank God people have the great music and genius of Brian
>Wilson to listen to ...
Brian's body of work stands as the greatest testimony to
his competence and brilliance. Fortunately for all of us,
it will be remembered, enjoyed, and admired long after the
TV movie fades from memory.
Jim Cassidy
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Subject: different perceptions
Received: 03/09/00 3:42 am
From: Rex Patton
To: Spectropop!
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
Carol wrote:
>Brian is totally portrayed like a horrible monster (imo),
>that's totally out and bizarre...how many more times
>before they even come close to getting it right with this
>gentle giant of a genius-man?! Most of that stuff did NOT
>happen in the studios at all...we tracked everything, he
>never offered his gold records, never acted like that at
>all.
>
HERE'S A QUOTE FROM HAL BLAINE'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY OM
RECORDING WITH BRIAN WHEN THE BEACH BOYS STARTED DOING
SESSIONS AT BRIAN'S HOME STUDIO -"WITH EVERY PASSING DAY
BRIAN SEEMED TO HAVE MORE MENTAL PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS WE
KNEW NOTHING ABOUT. HE GOT INTO MEDITATION AND I DON'T
KNOW WHAT ALL. WE'D CATCH A GLIMPSE OF HIM IN HIS PAJAMAS
AND HE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE ANYONE. HIS HAIR WAS
SHOULDER-LENGTH AND HIS WHISKERS MADE HIM LOOK LIKE AN OLD
MAN, UNKEMPT AND IN A GENERAL STATE OF DISHEVELMENT.....IT
WAS SAD TO WATCH." ANOTHER QUOTE FROM HAL IN STEVEN GAINES'
BEACH BOY BIOGRAPHY - " AROUND THAT TIME (RIGHT AFTER
MURRY SOLD SEA OF TUNES OUT FROM UNDER BRIAN) DRUMMER HAL
BLAINE RECEIVED AN UNUSUAL CALL FROM BRIAN, WHO WANTED TO
COME BY AND SEE HIM. BRIAN ARRIVED WITH A CARTON 'FILLED
WITH HIS GOLD RECORDS,' SAID BLAINE, 'AND WANTED ME TO
HAVE THEM ALL.'"
> NO, never saw Murry like that in
>the studio, don't remember exactly if he was there -- he
>may have popped in for a moment, but only that, and no
>never addressed us. Yes we cut always tracks and never
>with the Beach Boys....and no, I've never been to Brian's
>house.
ANOTHER QUOTE FROM HAL IN HIS BOOK - "BRIAN'S FATHER MURRY
WILSON WAS OFTEN AT THE DATES AND HIS PRESENCE CAUSED A FEW
CLASHES. ....AFTER A WHILE, BRIAN BARRED HIS DAD FROM THE
SESSIONS AND THEN EVERYTHING WAS SMOOTH SAILING."
NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE STUDIO
DIALOGUE (albeit chopped up and spread throughout the film)
FEATURING MURRY IS QUOTED VERBATIM FROM A 20 MINUTE
BOOTLEG TAPE THAT DOCUMENTS MURRY'S DRUNKEN VISIT TO THE
"HELP ME RHONDA" VOCAL SESSIONS. HE MAY NEVER HAVE
ADDRESSED THE STUDIO MUSICIANS, BUT HE WAS A FREQUENT AND
DISRUPTIVE FORCE IN THE CONTROL ROOM.
IF CAROL HAS NEVER BEEN TO BRIAN'S HOUSE, THEN SHE MISSED
OUT ON PLAYING ON A LOT OF BEACH BOYS SONGS THAT WERE CUT
THEIR FROM 1967 ON.
There were many people around in those days and a lot of
them have different perceptions, failing memories, rose
colored glasses or a combination of all three. Keep that
in mind when you hear someone act as if they are giving
the definitive information on a certain topic. As the
saying goes "History is hearsay."
RP
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