From Chris.Hilker Sent Fri, Jan 23rd 1998, 17:05
From Chris.Hilker Sent Fri, Jan 23rd 1998, 17:05
>>The world, as far as I >>can tell, like the Beach Boys so much because they wrote beautiful, >>melodic, pop music and you, me, idm should take note of some of the truly >>innovative production ideas they used. > >1) I couldn't 'take note' just by listening to them. Somebody had to >point out to me that they used a Theremin, because I'd be damned if I >could tell. It was in the background on the chorus or something, and if >that's innovative and daring, well...it aint, is it?! If you were listening for a theremin on "Surfin' USA," as you told me in private mail, it's no wonder you couldn't hear it. Wilson used theremin on two (released) tracks: "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and "Good Vibrations." The theremin is used fairly subtly on the former track. If you can't spot it in "Good Vibrations," you're deaf. >Of course, the above techniques could have been pioneering in those >bygone days, in which case, wow, do we have it good now! I take it all >back - less originality in music, please! When Wilson was doing what he did, the first eight-track recorders were just coming on the market. Stereo was a novelty, since pop records were recorded for AM radio. Synthesizers were only used by academics. MIDI? SMPTE? Digital effects? Wilson took the possibilities of the recording studio of his day as far as they could go. If you can't hear any evolution in his production and arranging style from, for instance, "Surfin' USA" and "Little Deuce Coupe" to "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and "Sloop John B" (let alone stuff from 'Smile' like "Heroes and Villains" and "Cabinessence"), then you're not listening. And, anyway, the Beach Boys' records don't stand or fall on whether or not they're "innovative and daring." They work. They provoke very specific emotional and aesthetic responses, at least in me, and IMHO that's one of the things good music does. This is particularly true of 'Pet Sounds,' IMHO one of the best albums ever, which you really should listen to if all you're basing your dismissal on is that you can't hear the theremin in "Surfin' USA." (And if you still don't get it on hearing 'Pet Sounds,' there's a new boxed set out that pulls back the curtain and shows just how much went into the production on that album. Probably only for completists, but most of the people on this list seem to be completists.) If I ever need to know whether a record is "innovative and daring" before I can enjoy it, I'll know I've forgotten why I listen to music in the first place. C. PS Poll results will in all likelihood be posted today or tomorrow. -- Chris.Hilker (xxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx) "Sex is the darndest nougat murder, something something e-mail something something la la la la beable beable trousers and dingaling nougat..."