Behind The Sounds: Sloop John B.

[@charliekucharski2079]

One of my favorite Beach Boys songs of all time and probably due to Brian Wilson's precise and varied arrangement with the Wrecking Crew. Pristine !

[@ernestkovach3305]

Give Al some credit. Great idea and he brought the concept to a man he respected for his genius and can do ability. The rest is history.

[@michaelinminn]

I'm only 72 years old. This post was so sweet.🙂

[@BDUBZ49]

I love that we had so many groups from the 60s that could harmonize, yet each had their own sound and vocal stylings... Beach Boys, Mamas and the Papas, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Everly Bros, The Four Season, CSN, Peter Paul & Mary, The Turtles, The Byrds......

[@sunshinegirl1967]

This is my favorite Beach Boys song! So neat to hear Brian making sure the sound is just right. He really was a musical genius.

[@mariannesouza8326]

sunshinegirl1967 IS. 😀

[@zapper302]

Mari Anne Souza 1st concert, Beach Boys! Just started junior high 1973, been a big fan since before that and still am 😃🎸

[@jw0stephens]

Mine too.

[@jw0stephens]

I've heard the original beach boys (minus Brian and Dennis), Brian, the Mike Love band, and Al Jardine all do this. Can't get enough of it.

[@Barbara55126]

Is

[@Pihasanddunes1]

Part of Brian's genius is in hearing that the Glockenspiel would have such a major impact, and that the bass sax would actually work so well in the arrangement. He could hear into nooks and crannies of music not yet recorded. Sublime sound.

[@pinkrick333]

I've watched this particular video over a dozen times now..when those harmonies kick in at 5:12 I just about lose it! Amazing talents!

[@jontalbot1]

It’s such a simple song but the recording is magical. Immortal.

[@sapelesteve]

When I hear the name Brian Wilson two words come to mind "Musical Genius"! That pretty much sums it up! 👍👍📀📀

[@paulbradford8240]

I haven't heard the track for many years, but when I saw the title of the video, it was playing in my head. My parents had their records. I would have been seven years old when this was released. I've never heard this version, but it is superb, sounding so fresh.

[@stevenheimer113]

at 4:48 someone says "I feel so break up." I love how these little mistakes managed to find their way onto such an amazing masterpiece Brian Wilson.... Thank you

[@lorendigiorgi]

This is easily one of the most delightful videos I’ve ever seen on KZbin. Thanks for making and sharing this!

[@MatthewPlato91]

Really glad he added that A capella part, fits so well and sounds so great!

[@eamonnmorris5331]

Always good to see the session musicians identified and credited!

[@daveburns3886]

All of these session musicians must have been very proud that they contributed to one of the VERY best albums ever!I wonder what they thought of it at the time..

[@stargrazer216]

There's a documentary about these very session musicians called The Wrecking Crew. It's awesome.

[@gdaddy5193]

They were behind most of the best recording artists. Carol Kaye is estimated to have done over 10,000 sessions and resulting in an estimated 40,000 songs. My father was a studio musician in Manhattan and was always working. Nobody outside the industry knew him, but, he was well known within the industry.

[@NS9213]

Many in the Wrecking Crew did comment on it. They knew the music was very, very good but the BB's sessions were just part of a string of session dates that they were doing with many other artists of the time period.

[@LaskyLabs]

I forget who said from the group, but one of them mentioned something like: "We were just doing our jobs. The real magic came when they were laying down the vocals."

[@mateuszmattias]

It varied quite a bit. Some of them (like Hal Blaine) enjoyed doing this kind of session work, some saw it as a job in order to bring home the bacon (some gigs paid better than others of course, but a few of these could involve pretty good money for the time), and a few really disliked doing easy pop tunes since they were quite versatile musicians schooled in jazz. At the end of the day it paid their bills, but no, they were not all immensely proud of their session work. With the passage of time I guess most thought positively of their achievements, but not necessarily in the midst of it.

[@westsideken]

This is not only my favorite Beach Boys song, it is in my top 3 favorite songs PERIOD. Amazing.

[@barrycowan3540]

This song is just magical. I enjoyed learning how the magic was made.

[@us-Bahn]

I love the way Brian directs the studio players

[@ernestkovach3305]

He's very confident and already knows precisely what he's looking for in this song . Impressive mind.

[@dougsimmons60]

Great job spotlighting the making of one of my Favorite Beach Boys songs!

[@HSECMAN]

that harmony is so achingly beautiful

[@rockslide4802]

Wow, that was awesome. Thank you for producing this video!

[@Greg-up3hd]

The instruments sound is still so soothing. Thank you guys. Greg

[@yamstar1johnson991]

Another masterwork of instrumentals by the Wrecking Crew

[@raywalsh9152]

Truly the greatest band of all time. So many hits, so little credit.

[@jameshayden3952]

Wish they were credited at the time. I was a kid picturing Beach Boys playing everything. Especially Dennis on drums. Hal Blaine beat for almost everyone.

[@Doggie-m3y]

I grew up with The Beach Boys. My earliest memories were listen to to them on my little transistor radio. I lived about 10 miles from where they grew up. They are about 8or 9 years older than me so I was too young to run in their circles. I did happen to sit next to Dennis at a Fleetwood Mac Concert when he was dating Christine Mcvie. He was wasted and almost fell over the railing trying to get down and back stage after her song.

[@tedecker3792]

Around 1958 I got a six transistor radio. Today I’m listening on an iPhone with a ridiculous 15 billion transistors.

[@themanfrommalpaso6753]

Watching Brian work, you can see and hear the perfectionist in his nature. I’m sure all the session musicians, sound techs, other band members had their patience tried. But this is a genius truly at work with his God given talent. Brian could hear the music in his head, and wanted it to come out exactly as he heard it. Truly a gift to the music world and a once in lifetime talent!

[@beagle7622]

One of my favourite songs ever

[@stephencollins7515]

I am in awe. This is the greatest account of how a great song becomes a great hit I have ever seen. A wonderful tribute to the Wrecking Crew, and of course Mr. Blaine, at the center. Thank you, thank you.

[@jmodmon2]

I was a huge Beach Boy fan from the age of 8, so that makes it 50yrs at this point; I was blessed with a cool mom who took me to a concert in 1965 at Cobo Arena

[@ricky4001cs]

When I listen to this I wish I had moved down to LA and gotten into music production when I was young. This is some of the best production (especially vocals) ever put down on tape!

[@ChrisCreel]

These videos are just fan-freaking-tastic. I hope you are immune to all of the copyright bulls*** sweeping across youtube right now, because this stuff is pure gold.

[@kens2328]

And remember how young Brian was when he did this. Early 20’s at the most, right? Just crazy.

[@Athabina]

Absolutely awesome! another Beach Boys classic thanks to Brian's brilliant arranging and harmonizing.

[@dimebars]

All these " behind the sounds " are absolutely fascinating , Thank you very much for posting and I really cant wait for the next part of God only knows .

[@BehindTheSounds]

@briney1973 If you think Al Jardine had the power to insist the final tracklisting of an album in 1966 you're dreaming. The common myth is that Capitol insisted it be included, which to my finding has no evidence of being true. It's incredible to me how people can't seem to accept such a great song on a great album...and constantly keep fabricating fairy tales to explain its presence.

[@markmmcaulay]

This is fantastic!!!!! Thank you

[@skyprop]

The best of vocals!!

[@Athabina]

The background sound is AWESOME! Great work by great musicians and all arranged brilliantly by Brian.

[@gatner1]

Fantastic. Thanks for putting this together. I enjoyed all of them. This is Brian at the top of his game.

[@pheeshankar4731]

"" WOW JUST WOW "" CLASSIC !!!! PURE TALENT ALL WRITERS & MUSICIANS !!!! AWESOME !!!! 🤘✌👍🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦 !!!!

[@zachsmith3]

5:21 i love that. i love when you added the band back

[@Eric31477]

@ 2:44 - The isolated bari sax is awesome!!!!

[@leysmed]

It is a bass saxophone....sounds way too low for a baritone. I didn't know that a bass sax even existed until I googled it.

[@Eric31477]

​@@leysmedThanks! I just googled "saxophone" and it turns out there are nine different saxophones!!! The video states that Jack Nimitz is playing a baritone saxophone, that's why I wrote "bari sax"

[@leysmed]

@@Eric31477 Yes, they gave us a bum steer when they pictured the baritone sax.

[@leysmed]

If you want to see how big a bass saxophone is watch the video of the Fendertones doing Sloop John B. At 1:07. they show a few seconds of a guy playing a bass sax...huge.

[@Eric31477]

@@leysmed --- Thanks! I checked it out in that thing is massive! Google says that thing between 24 and 25 lbs!

[@lisamann]

"Is that as low as you can go, Frankie?" "Uhhh, it's a GLOCKENSPIEL, man." Of course, there's Carol Kaye! This is a great history lesson, pre-Pro Tools!

[@JAKEDRB]

this is awesome! thanks for puttin in the time to make this

[@fanfanackapan]

Love you Brian! Thanks for all the wonderful music.

[@a11ison912013]

these are amazing videos. pure magic

[@zymmer4]

The Beach Boys was a hard gang to get together..they had hobbies and always were somewhere or there..but, dam..did they ever make some songs..

[@BehindTheSounds]

@FREISTUDIOS No, I posted all of the videos in order of their track listing. This was the seventh video I posted on this account. I have videos posted on another account that were also never converted over to MP4. KZbin circa 2008-2009 was sometimes very spotty when it came to this, and as a user, you have no control over correcting it other than re-uploading the video.

[@MrMjp58]

For an 8 year old living in rural Lancashire, this meant more than most things I encountered at that time.

[@HSECMAN]

i dont know bout the rest of you but that blast of four part harmony at 5:11 damn near blasts my socks off.

[@JeffOfTheMountains]

Brian's musical genius is second to none. To this day, in his mid 60s, Brian's still kicking ass with vocal harmonies. Thanks for uploading. 5/5

[@BehindTheSounds]

@FREISTUDIOS As I recently stated to user sanfranciscobay, not all of these videos were converted to MP4 when youtube began supporting it. Flash video is not supported on iPhones and other such devices.

[@italianboy1963]

i was 13 in 1963 and loved the beach boys music and had a 1969 camaroz/28,1967 mustang fastback GT,1970 camaross 396 ahhh those were the days.Wish i kept those cars.

[@jw0stephens]

3 years younger, and a friend had a 68 Camero with a 6 pack a few years later. Could watch the gas gauge move when you were driving, but did you move.

[@mightyjerseys93]

god i love the sounds of the 12 string guitar on this song. it's so beautiful that it gives me goosebumps.

[@JJuno11]

unbelievable!!! the most useful video i've ever found in youtube. congratulations!

[@lali170]

Love this song

[@SlimTwisted]

Wow- what an amazingly insightful view of a well-known production. I've been quite obsessed with the Beach Boys of late (though these tracks were well before my time). I'm really interested in the production work of Brian Wilson. Thanks for a great video!

[@starsinmybeard]

Why are there any thumbs down ? I just don't get it. This is as good as music and production gets, as with all of Brian's songs. And especially on this masterpiece , 'Pet Sounds'. Do I put any thumbs down on the current pile of crap I hear on the radio ? Today's 'musik' and a lot of the 'musik' from the past 20 years really isn't worth even listening to whatsoever anyway.

[@jw0stephens]

This is my favorite cut of any, hum it for hours afterward after hearing it. Love the background behind this. Al Jardine tells the story about the song in his history type show he does, "Postcards from California". If you ever get a chance to see him and his son Matt, and whoever is doing the keyboards, you should go.

[@stevefisher1036]

Nothing says California more than the music of the Beach Boys.

[@cinemaipswich4636]

The Beatles absolutley loved the Beach Boys. The multi voice, multi track layers were the pinicle of recording to them. That is why they went to the US in the first place. They were invited to New York first, but they went to California as quick as they could. The multi-track technology was what they wanted. Most of the Beatle's music up until then was mono, or 2 track.

[@FREISTUDIOS]

@BehindTheSounds, thanks for the information.

[@bbb462cid]

Excellent

[@Inacatsuit]

All of these are amazing. I really appreciate you doing this.

[@Funny4450]

This is SO BEAUTIFUL. Thanks so much for posting it.

[@thomthum2000]

This video is very inspiring. A must see for all aspiring musicians.

[@martyheller7562]

Amazing ....thanks posting. Did not know the background story to this great music.

[@adfsm343]

Looking forward to the Wrecking Crew movie coming out in '14. We'll get much more on an insight to the production of these gems.

[@Theearthtraveler]

Thanks for sharing this. I think this is their best song.

[@bobareebop]

That electric bass sound from Carol Kaye is just outstanding. Lots of bottom end but you can still hear the pick striking the strings. Perfect sound.

[@elizabethcrowley3321]

Always loved this song. Played it on the guitar and sang it to my children. Thank you! X

[@TanBarbieGirlxox]

The vocals sound so godly... The end clip of them in the pool is hilarious!!!

[@capitolemiproducer]

Just amazing beautiful

[@2liter8]

the baritone sax is so fucking awesome!

[@peterpanassow7814]

Sheer brilliance. 👍

[@brendaamata9233]

He's amazing!!

[@aunch3]

Man what a score for Frankie. Gets the $500 (about $5k today) plus the amp and 12 string.

[@jrh11254]

@aunch3 - any idea the make/model of the 12-string?

[@craigrheberling]

the fender electric 12- with the "hockey stick" headstock- would be a good guess. i've seen pics of carl playing one of those, about that time.@@jrh11254

[@NS9213]

You mean for Billy Strange

[@FiniteLoss]

I just discovered the a capella recording a few days ago, and it just reaffirms that this is my favorite Beach Boys tune. Vocal acoustic harmony orgiastic experiences at 5:10 and 6:11.

[@parkside5252]

This had to be a lot of work... might be the best vid I've seen on KZbin in a long time.

[@Eeohippus]

I saw Brian in concert last night!!! They played this song and it was beyond incredible. Brian looks good, sounds good, and he absolutely surpassed all my expectations. Seeing him was a dream come true and I feel like if I die tonight, it will be ok because I've heard his songs, sung by him, live!!!

[@nokie2]

Thanks for doing all the work and research and putting this together, it's fascinating!

[@60sflowerpower]

words cannot explain how much i love your channel, oh my gosh

[@h.markhorton8188]

Beach Boys music will live forever and ever.

[@NobodyUR]

Yet to meet anyone who dislikes them. Glad I got to take my other half to see them last week. Wish she was able to see them with AL and Carl as I did the first time. Dennis was gone and Brian is a rare sighting live even then. Still a great live performance even with all the fill ins these days. Literally 2 straight hours of timeless hits

[@kens2328]

And so will Brian. God bless the Wilson boys.

[@LadyRanger]

truly it really takes time and hard work to connect it all

[@Jon-yb4so]

I think Jim Horn is also on some Rolling Stone songs. I see Carol Kay on bass. The Doors often had a studio bass player usually following the organ bass.

[@mattskustomkreations]

Not just “a” bass player. It was Jerry Scheff, perhaps most famous as Elvis’ bass player in the 70s live band. Dude is a monster bass player.

[@carlmoore19]

Notice display of July 12, 1965 date at start of this video. That's a week after the release of "Summer Days (and Summer Nights)" LP, which some call the "last unadulterated look at summer fun in the sun" LP for the Beach Boys.

[@wxphotoculture2022]

Amazing!

[@novemberecho28]

I've got this on vinyl (stereo) it's godly.

[@jw0stephens]

Bought a new 45 recently.

[@hipbootsprod]

So glad I found this...amazing...thanks for posting

[@LinKov08]

Bravo another great video, thank you

[@cynthiarowley719]

This is so rich. It's never sounded this good

[@LadyRanger]

truly a great archive - makes it interesting - it takes repetition

[@merickbrother2122]

The sounds of angels grace these records.

[@BehindTheSounds]

You're assuming that it was a "ghost" session when there appears to be paperwork that the overdub session took place at Western Recorders on Dec. 29, 1965 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m with Billy Strange on 12-string electric guitar. This info is included in Brad Elliot's sessionography for the 1999 release of Pet Sounds. How would this info be known without a contract of some sort? Of course, it could all be made up right? /rolleyes

[@jw0stephens]

I've heard this as well, backing up the story. Might ask Al Jardine or Brian to verify it, they're still around.

[@13sunny]

OMG, I love this post. Thank you!!!! wow

[@designermite]

Very well done. Thank you. Informative as well as entertaining...you kept my attention...now to see what else you have done. ;)

[@mightyjerseys93]

omg i love the 12 string guitar sound so much on this track. now i want to practice this song.

[@FREISTUDIOS]

Some of the videos play on my iPhone and some like this don't. Also, on my Sony BluRay player that has KZbin on it only 5 of the 8 of this series shows up. Very odd. Great series though! I love them! Excellent job.

[@GypsyRose2o0o]

~ Wow amazing sound ~ that's sounds so awesome ~ I love the harmonies ~ I miss the Beach Boys on how they were back in the day with Carl and Dennis : ( ~ Best American band around and I'm also a big fan of 'The Bee-Gees also!! ( The 3 brothers also )

[@TheRockinryan]

If you haven't listened to this in headphones before, you should. The original LP was released in mono, but this "behind the sounds" clip is in pristine stereo. The fidelity is excellent, especially for a 45 year old tape

[@JeffOfTheMountains]

It blows my mind how Brian was able to tell the flutes were out of tune. As musically talented as I am, I couldn't tell they were out of tune until Brian said something. The man's a musical genius.

[@digidanshow]

See, I told ya... once upon a time folks really did make music.

[@BehindTheSounds]

@1obxeclipsedriver The flute issue wasn't about pitch, he was balancing them (Telling them to move closer/farther from the mic) so that they had the same loudness.