Gee I thought that perhaps actually having listened to every tape while working with the group’s tapes and catalog for 30 plus years and winning a Grammy for it gave me some small bit of authority on this subject. Sorry if that’s ruffled someones feathers.
The simple fact is there are not any added or re-recorded bass parts on any classic Beach Boys records and while it is certainly possible additional bass was recorded for the Beach Boys Medley single releases (there were two diff ones) to help tie the original records together, I don’t hear any on the released record(s) and the multi-track tape used that was assembled from copies of the original tracks which is at Capitol lists percussion overdubs which can be heard on the finished record, but not any bass.
I have remixed many of the group’s records from the session tapes and supervised the remastering of the original singles and albums several times, and the session tapes contain exactly the same performances as on the 45 rpm singles I bought when they were first released starting with their first Capitol single "Surfin Safari".
As for the "lost" tapes …… those mentioned in the article were not discarded by Capitol. They were apparently at the Wilson house in Hawthorne where they were taken from Western Studios and along with the other tapes for the Shutdown Volume 2 LP discarded most likely by Murry Wilson. I have a picture somewhere that was taken in the Wilson kitchen where tapes can clearly be seen stacked up above the cabinets.
The fact is almost no tapes other than final stereo and mono masters were ever stored at Capitol which is why the group still has almost all of their recordings including the complete original sessions. Shutdown Volume 2 was the biggest exception, but the tapes described in the article along with the rest that were found a few years later made the groups archives almost complete, and the few others lost appear to have been either discarded in the same way or destroyed when a couple of studios went out of business and discarded the tapes left behind.
And we still continue to find things. Just last year we located the masters for Kokomo, two copies in fact. One was still at the studio where the songs was completed and the other was with the engineer who recorded it.
And again until 1966 the Beach Boys backing tracks were all recorded in mono on a 3 track machine so having the original tapes wouldn’t have made it any easier to increase the bass as claimed, and there would have been no way to replace the original bass parts either. And by the way, the engineers who recorded those records; mostly Chuck Britz at Western and Larry Levine at Goldstar were masters at getting the sound of those records and especially the bass exactly right. Those recordings still stand as amazing achievements in every area; writing, arranging playing , singing and recording all done without the benefit of "modern" recording technology where everything can be tuned time shifted and edited to make it "perfect" but devoid of soul.
So to repeat again what I said in my first letter, overdubbed bass was never used on the Beach Boys classic records , and the writer making that claim is mistaken. He may have played on something but other than perhaps the Beach Boys Medley nothing was ever released, and no tapes can be found with those bass overdubs.
Mark Linett
Brother Records Inc.
P.S. Let me just add that I am not saying the bass overdub session never happened, just that if it did the results were never released by Capitol as claimed by Mr. Lewis . This could have been for any number of reasons including the fact that the Beach Boys have always had approval over their catalog releases. I simply want it made clear that neither the bass or anything else was ever re-recorded and released on the Beach Boys' records.
______________________________________________
From: Ted Schreiber
Subject: Re: More Mailbag
RE: Kenny Lee Lewis
Hey Bob,
Every now and then a feud comes up on your page and it's like "oh no, two of my favorite uncles are fighting." You versus Van Dyke Parks a while back comes to mind. I don't have much of an attachment to Kenny Lee Lewis, but I love the old Steve Miller records and I'm a bass player myself - so he's great. (And I'm sure he knows all about Wild Mountain Honey, which is key) But to disrespect Mark Linett when EVERY Beach Boys fan who has purchased one of their CD's since the 80s has heard Mark's mixes & remastering is bullshit and unprofessional. Nobody knows what's on those tapes better than Mark. HOF status aside, if Kenny can provide supporting research on his end -- and not even bother to google "Mark Linett Beach Boys" -- then he probably should not be writing letters to you on his own behalf. Here's Mark showing off modern plug-ins on old Beach Boys recordings.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PveMm1yqo54.
______________________________________________
Thanks Bob for reposting my retort to Mr. Linett. Unfortunately John Palladino passed five years ago and took our little secret to the grave with him so I guess me and Mr BB archive dude will just have to agree to disagree.
Kenny Lee Lewis
______________________________________________
From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re: More Mailbag
My Kenny Lee is feisty. haha
I have known and loved Kenny since I was a teenager. Great player. Kenny and his wife hired me when I was kid of 18 to play the Midnight Special with them. Diane was the 'acid queen ' in the Bee Gees Sgt Pepper. Nice soulful-talented people.
I also have also known Mark Linnet since he was a 2nd engineer at Amigo studios ( Warner Brothers LA) way way back. We did Ricki Lee Jones-Randy Newman and ton more . I believe the great Lee Hershberg RIP was the head engineer back then. Great team. Mark is very talented as well.
Seems a nude mud wrestling match would define a winner here. Please film that for youtube.
I had to sign NON -disclosures for parts I replaced on 'famous peoples records' in my younger years. Most never even knew I did. I was the guy they called to FIX shit.
No love....But I know. The producers know! shhhh
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