Behind The Sounds: I'm Waiting For The Day

[eoras77]

Only 3 people could come to such great compositions and melodies... Mozart, Beethoven and Brian Wilson!

[Jwlez]

Pretty much describes my current state in life completely.

[elstroshitnonstop]

western recorders looks like a really small long room, is it?

[MrRio855]

man my fav beach boy song

[IvyNirvana]

@MrRio855 mee tew

[uncccut23]

When listening to the first part of this video I notice that Carol Kaye (or whoever it was) is playing a bassnote I didn't think was there in this song. It's at 0:31. Just before the F#minor chord. She seems to play G in the A chord. But it makes the song even more exciting actually! Thanks for uploading! By the way, love Brian's cough. Such a funny guy

[slayerized86]

@uncccut23 Brian used a lot of those major chords with the seventh note at the bottom. Not to mention the fifth. I think it's one of his musical trademarks. :)

[BasementBeginnings]

"That was out of sight, I mean it, it really was - how did you play that? Hahaha, how did you play it... daa na naa na..."

It must have been great working with Brian Wilson and these professionals.

[kinskifreak]

where can one purchase this 'behind the sounds" material?? it's incredible - thanks for uploading that!!

[Seej1982]

@kinskifreak This is compiled from The Pet Sounds Box Set (with session highlights, backing tracks, and a-cappella mixes), the 5.1 release from 2006, and various bootlegs.

[kinskifreak]

@Seej1982 thanks =)

[Rikenrocker]

I'm Waiting For The Day In The Life....

[notfragile33]

Those glasses make "THE GENIUS" look really smart! (And the big drums are a nice touch, too)

[wippokeman]

My Favorite little fill of all time was actually a mistake, oh thank god for mistakes like that :)

[lakefloor]

The musical brilliance behind this never fails to amaze me. Nothing compares to this today and noone has caught up!

[StarsAreForStaring]

I'm sooooooooooo thankful that you've made all these great videos. It's much appreciated.

[cruzman3608]

@SuperPinheadMan

Not necessarily.. I hate it when people think that these guys (Beatles, Dylan, etc..) wrote their songs 'high'. Grass probably did play a role, however small, but none of them used it as a MEANS to writing. Brian is a musical genius, with or without grass. His biggest inspiration for writing Pet Sounds was Rubber Soul, not marijuana, and he could have taken or left drug. He even states in an interview later in life that he didn't 'utilize' grass to write songs.

[dutchgoing]

@cruzman3608 People often think that smoking grass will make you 'creative'. As you say it merely puts you into a state of mind or gives you an experience which you can reflect on later. If you dont have creative ability then you aren't going to write songs etc.

[mothafuckajones666]

@cruzman3608

There's a QTV interview where he says the exact contrary to that.

[Sarc37]

The background music in this song brings tears to my eyes, it's so beautiful.

[glidslem]

Backround: Top Ah by Brian, middle Ah Al, Duh and Baby dont you know by Mike, No! by Dennis.

[mangoshakess]

@SuperPinheadMan that's bull. You talk to any of the wrecking crew and they'll tell you how professional brian was when recording with them. Didn't even have alcohol in the studio.

[TheDaddyCokes]

I like how the string bassist Lyle Ritz chimes in at 4:05 that they are soon into "overtime" (and sorry but he looks like someone who could use the cash). LOL, its like "nice song Brian, but hey we're session players afterall and the clock's ticking" Typical :>)

[ROCKSTARCRANE]

Brian's confidence and command in the studio for his age was unprecedented...

[ottawangel]

Wow what an ear!!!

[MusicBySav]

great song thank you for uploading! Where did you find this?

[bobareebop]

Clearly, Brian was not on anything while these tracking sessions were being recorded. No way.

[kirkbzzz123]

I never did like that TV show "Friends".

[menoziinrevoltado]

Drugs stimulate creativity, not production.

Brian was clean in the studio for sure.

Nobody is able to work decently on drugs.

Pet Sounds was very personal to Brian.

He would never miss the chance to overcome Rubber Soul.

[BasementBeginnings]

@menoziinrevoltado What are you talking about? Brian Wilson didn't write great songs because he used drugs. Brian was just a genius who happened to get high. It's not like monkeys and typewriters. It's not like you get high enough and then Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper just comes out of you.

[RBIKO5]

"He hurt you then..." The flute line there just blows me away every time. So simple. Vocal on the fifth, flute on the third, but playing a major chord inversion. Not quite sure of my maths, but it's brilliant - the flutes play a major chord (backwards) over two minor chords. (E over Abminor and Csharp minor, then D over A and A minor)

[Helen25243]

It is fascinating listening to the work that goes on behind the scenes in these recordings. Brian was indeed a perfectionist, but my God, it shows in the final production. He was so professional, clever, funny, hands on, knowledgeable, the list goes on. I doubt we will see/hear the likes of Brian's superb talent again. Least not in my lifetime.

[fundy76]

I love how everyone is an expert on what happened 40 years ago.

Give me a break man.

These videos are what make youtube worth checking out. Very well done BTS! and thank you!!

[davo67]

..the creative process is a difficult and often exhausting one. It is impossible to maintain the level of intensity the creator needs to accomplish his work. This is his heart and soul he is recording. Once the recording is complete it becomes as timeless as the universe. If the man had to get high to maintain the intensity then that was his right to do so.

[BehindTheSounds]

@SuperPinheadMan NOT during the tracking sessions!

[tomthefunky]

I didn't know Jim Gordon played on this album. He later went on to be the drummer for Derek and the Dominoes and wrote the famous piano interlude in Layla. He was a schizophrenic and murdered his mother in the early eighties. He's been locked away ever since. On a lighter note: Thanks so much for these videos, Behindthe Sounds, they are really well made.

[Brainkid88]

nobody should of doubted brian in any thing he decided to do. he pretty much is the beach boys

[jimet409]

Brilliant!

[AndyKofHB]

Brilliant, thanks for posting this video.

[giles422]

I'm not sure that Mike Love was sucha bad guy, really... from his point of view Brian was drugging out and producing weird, bizarre songs for the band to sing... he had a right to his opinion. Love must have felt held hostage to Brian's imagination- Van Dyke Parks "inspiration" and the move away from what he and the others knew and understood. Even Brian says he withdrew Smile because it was inappropriate for the BB's at that time. Give Love a break. Everybody was freaking out.

[bobshenix]

Songcycle,

Of course it is the hard drugs/alcohol that ruined Brian... but this was only the sad reality AFTER Brian was bullied into submission, then gradual withdrawal from the band altogether. 

It cannot be overstated that all the undue pressure from Capitol, Mike Love, Murry, everything... did its part in shattering Brian's initiative, ambition, and will to go on.

Once he was already a defeated man, he let the cocaine and alcohol ruin him. It did not have to happen that way...

[bobshenix]

If Brian wasn't so unfairly chastised for his unorthodox musical visions and experimentation with less addicting drugs like hash/pot & psychedelics, he would never have collapsed into the paralyzing depression and fits of hard drug abuse that he did.

Working amidst all the resentment and infighting proved too much for Brian's fragile psyche-- and after rising to new heights artistically, Brian's ambition and hard work ended up in vain as the band patched together a weak, career-halting Smiley.

[twjr80]

I believe I hear a little of Carl and Al doing the background vocals.

[tonyrivers]

Great video thanks.

[DonZabu]

EPIC COUGH!

[BehindTheSounds]

Seriously, this myth that he showed up to these sessions baked, drunk, on acid or whatever is ridiculous once you listen to these sessions.

[bobshenix]

@BTS

It's clear in these clips that Brian was not outwardly intoxicated, drunk, or using psychedelics while WORKING in the studio.

But as thorough as the BTS videos are, they only feature a portion of the archived tapes in existence.

By 1966 Brian was in fact experimenting with multiple drugs-- most frequently hash and pot as well as amphetamines, which helped fuel his feverish work pace during this period.

It is entirely possible that he showed up to the studio a bit stoned on occasion.

[BehindTheSounds]

Virtually all of the tracking sessions during this era have been booted (With the exception of a few Smile sessions that may or may not exist). Just because these videos only feature portions of these tapes doesn't mean I haven't listened to them.

Brian knew he was working with a group of musicians that expected professionalism, and that time was money.

[BehindTheSounds]

There's simply no evidence on ANY of the sessions I've listened to that suggest he showed up stoned or intoxicated in any way, and in interviews with various members of the wrecking crew, they all posit that if there were any issues with drugs, he never brought that into the session dates.

The only sessions where drugs played any sort of a role were several "Smile" vocal overdubs.

[bobshenix]

BTS-

I am just stating all of this matter-of-factly. Many fans who enjoy Brian's wonderful music do not approve of the kinds of things he did during his most productive period, including Brian himself nowadays, but facts are facts.

Brian has long been extremely honest about all this. It is well documented... and absolutely none of it takes away from the remarkable accomplishments in music he gave us all, at least IMO.

The most unfortunate thing is that he let the drugs ultimately ruin him.

[BehindTheSounds]

I'm not denying that he used drugs, but simply saying that all of that happened OUTSIDE of the recording studio. There have been no claims by the Wrecking Crew or anybody involved in the day to day session activities during this period that Brian was high during these sessions...which is essentially the claim you're making.

Listen to the sessions, and hear how alert and quick his decisions are about the music. He hears everything. It simply isn't the countenance of a guy stoned on hash.

[bobshenix]

@BehindTheSounds

Alright... gotcha. Well I don't wanna make a huge thing about this. I'm not even trying to condone anything Brian did.

If you saw one of my replies you would see that I was pretty much joking about the hash thing being a direct cause (for the cough), and that his drug use heavily influenced his thinking and music-making OUTSIDE the studio.

However, I only said it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities he was a little stoned from a hash session hours before studio time.

[mangoshakess]

@bobshenix i think an issue is why does it matter if he was stoned before studio time? there's nothing in this video to say that. so it's just weird and improper to make that assumption when you weren't even close to being there. and if this is about the cough, did i miss that hash makes you cough a few hours after using it??

[bobshenix]

lol no... but you apparently DID miss the part (twice) where I said unequivocally that I was joking about any misunderstood assertion that I did in fact know that Brian's cough, caught on tape here, was *directly* the result of a hash smoking session which Brian may or may not have partaken in earlier that day.

You also missed the part where BTS and I have ended this silly discussion, and put any misunderstandings behind us-- I do not wish to further taint this thread with Brian's drug history.

[bobshenix]

@BehindTheSounds

And that being said, it would only be an occasional thing by happenstance. It was much more likely he was on amphetamines which he abused heavily... as stimulant drugs would not impede his ability to work with the Wrecking Crew whatsoever - apart from perhaps acting more compulsive.

Also, I did state Brian experimented with LSD and this is very well known. I never said that LSD was one of the more regular drugs he took... just had several experiences or so.

Great videos!!

[mangoshakess]

@bobshenix "the most unfortunate thing is that he let the drugs ultimately ruin him"

lots of wrong inferences in this statement.

[songcycle]

@bobshenix

Mike Love, Capitol Records, and an ignorant public ruined Brian.

Being told you're nuts doesn't lend itself to sanity. Brian had taken all of his LSD trips by the start of Pet Sounds and he is not only Lucid, but brilliant.

He lost it when others made him doubtful. If he had been supported, just look what finishing SMiLE has done for him. Being open to any and all things was what made him great/happy, until the stress and doubt just killed his spirit. Long after acid.

[songcycle]

@bobshenix

Also the drugs that ruined him were the *hard drugs* like heroin and cocaine. These weren't used until the late 60's. And I think that and his highly sensitive imagination had a lot more to do with the auditory hallucinations and things that were haunting him.

And what about Smiley Smile? I'd rather have a person who took LSD and created Smile as a bunch of novices who didn't take it producing an album that sounds like a bad acid trip. Mike Love oversaw most of those sessions.

[Dodo251]

I must be unconsciously smoking hash because that's exactly how I clear my throat/cough at times. -.-' That's a real dumb comment from you.

[bobshenix]

OK - Honestly, the hash thing was a joke. I was not seriously suggesting that smoking hash was the *direct cause* of this particular giant cough/throat clearing of Brian's.

However, it is an absolute fact that Brian WAS, for better or worse, smoking copious amounts of hash/pot during this period of his career.

Accounts from those close to him, band members, VD Parks, and his ex-wife Marilyn verify this. Brian himself has readily admitted it and still speaks very candidly about his drug use.

[bobshenix]

Moreover, it is well documented that hash/pot was not all Brian was using.

He was also experimenting with other drugs - altering his consciousness with LSD and regularly using amphetamines... the latter of which undoubtedly exacerbated his OCD-like perfectionism in the studio.

This period of experimentation certainly had a profound impact on Brian's thinking - he became ever more serious about his music.

Like it or not, the truth is that Brian's drug use influenced some of his greatest works.

[BehindTheSounds]

Did you know that Brian has stated he only used LSD a handful of times? His use of it is wildly exaggerated.

And again, drugs influenced his work OUTSIDE of the studio. Your argument that he was high during tracking sessions with the wrecking crew is lacking any credible evidence, and is just bogging down this comment section with unfounded speculation and sheer fallacies.

[vanhalen5150u812]

that might just be the greatest cough ever recorded in the history of history

[fasterthanbolt]

Ah ah Brian was critic on his vocals in this song. I've always thought it is the best Brian's voice ever. Just a bit more than perfect.

Paolo

[SMiLEReconstruction]

Am I the only one who thinks Mike's bass vocals in the left channel sound funny?

[dmcguire70]

Im pretty sure its Brian doing all the backing vocals on this one.

[PeterMayer]

Is the the Jim Gordon on drums? Layla, All Things Must Pass?

[poohen223]

And Gary Coleman on Tympani! ( lol, same J.G. but probably not 'watchoo talkin' bout, Willis' on the Tympani, tho' that'd be a sight...)

[TomaxBackwards]

This song is so incredibly awesome. One of my absolute favorites from the BB. Parts of it sound as though they might have inspired "Don't Pass Me By" by the Beatles.

[Chimelad4]

holy crap di anyone hear that huge cough?

[1obxeclipsedriver]

I love how Brian just blows Al de Lory's mind at 2:14.

Brian: Al, that was really a great mistake, I mean it

Al: No kidding... I thought it felt wrong....

Great song. Thanks for uploading.

[Huddiethegreat]

could Brian read or write music?

[iferraro]

yes, he certainly could. However, he was self-taught. He also had perfect pitch in high-school. He would play four freshmen records and learn every chord and note verbatim and by ear.

[runeguldberg]

What question is that. Brian Wilson invented music. He is not alone. Maybe the first was an african hammering with a stick some 50,000 years ago. Brian is one of the most significant inventors.

[Huddiethegreat]

The question was asked because of conflicting facts. Somewhere it says Brian only had a few weeks of music lessons, so I wasn't sure exactly if Brian could write proper sheet music

[runeguldberg]

Brian Wilson's father Murry Wilson told of Brian's unusual musical abilities prior to his first birthday, observing that the baby could repeat the melody from "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along" after only a few verses had been sung by the father.

[XxXBanannaWaspsXxX]

nice cough

[sly74]

my own two cents, i've always thought that it sounded like Brian is doing all the backgrounds on this.

[DonZabu]

You mean background vocals?

That's cause he was.

[BehindTheSounds]

:sigh: I've found that there's absolutely no evidence of this. It's not represented on the bootlegs, one of which is essentially a track by track dump of the master tape. From what's on there, it's led me to believe the vocals were overdubbed on four track tape, and many of the vocal parts (Including the backing vocals) were recorded as inserts.

Is it so hard to believe that The Beach Boys actually sang on this Beach Boys record?

[DonZabu]

Okay, I get it.

[BehindTheSounds]

I recently isolated a few of the Pet Sounds 5.1 mixes, and the BGV on IWFTD are in stereo, which means it must have been recorded on 8-track.

While this does leave the possibility that Brian recorded the backing vocals by himself, the lower counter voice sounds more like Mike or Carl when spread out in stereo. I'm leaning towards Mike, since he was definitely at the vocal recording session (Besides the alternate lead he recorded, that's him you hear doing the interjections of "No!" at the end)

[SMiLEReconstruction]

Wait, since when could Carl go that low?

[BehindTheSounds]

This is not referring to the bass vocal BGV...it's about the other ones.

[jdelfini]

grazie, bellissimo, meraviglioso!

Ciao dall'italia

[pellegrino2]

Amazing ! Mac Cartney was right!

[ericynot]

BTS, thank you for putting these videos together. They're a delight and an inspiration. Brian Wilson is a national treasure and you are appropriately honoring him -- while entertaining the rest of us music junkies :)

[stumptacular]

what planet do men like Brian Wilson come from?

I have tinkered with sounds and instruments for over 20 years and I just cant understand where that much creativity and productivity as a writer come from... much less the sheer beauty and complexity of most of his best material...

how do you understand music at that level with all the key changes,bridges, hooks, harmonies and nuances?

nobody else can do what BW did. not before. not since. maybe not ever.

He is still the best!

[longfade]

Well what freaks me out is how he had all these sounds in his head. There wasn't a lot of trial-and-error on these sessions, except maybe when Brian would be telling parts of the orchestra what he wanted and they didn't get it. You read interviews w/orchestra members and they always say he knew exactly what he wanted but they didn't think it was going to work b/c they'd never played stuff like that before. Anyway, yeah, it's beyond my comprehension how someone could have that much vision.

[Jonathan6561]

I've always thought that Brian is like a modern Mozart, with his amazing creativity and ingenuity. Plus, as many know, Mozart himself wrote entire symphonies in his head.

[caats19]

let's also not forget he was 23 at this point.

[stumptacular]

wow 23 years old... the amazing brian wilson... he really is the best.

[HappilyWithMonotony]

It fascinates me so damned much as well. I can't imagine how many musicians have mastered all the possibilities with using one instrument, let alone an orchestra.

[BeachBoysGuy1]

I just love this whole series ! thanks so much JHP

[hasbeenshaken]

bts, you're detailling the golden pages of pop history here, thank you for that!

[capitolemiproducer]

love the photos from the San Diego Zoo. I sy6ncd the Pet Sounds backing and Acaeplla on a 4 track and it took forever

[mattiamilone]

the lyrics of this song are talking for sure about me

[Markgr122]

Wonderfully done,thank you very much!!One unfortunate thing about the stereo mix is that it loses what sounds like Lyle or someone else playing seperate bass lines or counterpoint melodies under Carol Kaye's main bass line.THANK VERY MUCH FOR EVERY BEHIND THE SOUNDS-PET SOUNDS,THANK YOU!!

[ncarolinaluv]

Baby dontcha' know -- my fav pet sounds song!

[Rickenbacker350V63]

The Western Recorders Studio should have been dubbed the "West Coast" Abbey Road Studios. Every serious student of music ought to take a course in PET SOUNDS. Love and Mercy.

[joelba1]

Another gorgeous vid, many thanks!! ^_^

[fireplace911]

Awesome presentation...fantastic in stereo

[ncarolinaluv]

my fav pet sounds song

[SurfinNoodles]

I love these videos. Thank you for uploading this one! I look forward to the rest, as always.

[derMenschohneNamen]

the first known mentioning of the song was on a mid 1963 handwritten tracklist by Brian with new songs that had to be copyrighted.

[BehindTheSounds]

1964 actually. Written during the same period as songs from "Today!".

[motorwawt]

yeah even though it was written around that time I have a suspicion the chords sounded alot different around the time it was written... Brian wasn't using the effect of shifting the bass note from the tonic during that time as much

[Seej1982]

you forgot to mention that brian did all the backing vocals.

[BehindTheSounds]

I'm not entirely convinced about this (Especially since every boot I've listened to has these vocals represented as one mono overdub, eliminating the possibility of Brian doing them himself). I've added a little annotation suggesting this possibility though.

I wish there were some substantial documentation on what (and who) is on each vocal track, just to set the record straight on things like this. :/

[BehindTheSounds]

Also, the voice that says "That's it" at the very end of this video is clearly not Brian or Mike (Sounds like Carl to me), leading to the question: why would anyone else would be audible on the vocal tracks if it were Brian doing it all?

[HabibTh]

well, I'm pretty sure that the BB did record the backing vocals and then Brian was dissatisfied and did them himself. So maybe the "that's it" stayed behind. It kinda makes sense that Brian did them himself, because he was already critical of his own lead vocal, the backgrounds must've been tough too. Just my two cents...

[mrtwang32]

I beg to differ -- to me "that's it" (or "that'll do") is the lead voice (Brian) cutting the track off, or signaling he is finished. However I do hear that technique Brian credited Dennis with, of cupping his hands to muffle the voice. So maybe the Boys are there (and perhaps that is Mike doing the doo-wop bass line)... In any case LOVING THIS series. Wow.

[BehindTheSounds]

The voice saying "that's it" sounds like they're telling somebody else to stop singing, because the track is over. It doesn't sound like Brian's voice.

It would help to know whether the vocals were recorded on four or eight track. If they were recorded on four track, there simply wouldn't be enough tracks left for Brian to be doing it all by himself.

I'm pretty sure the vocals were recorded on four track, as only three vocal overdubs are present on the sessions that have been leaked out there.

[wildsmiley]

According to the liner notes in the reissues, the vocals for this song are recorded at Columbia Studios, which of course did have an 8 track machine, so it is possible that it's all Brian.

[menacebrw]

Ive read a few times that Brian tried to get the vocals with the other guys, but they couldn't produce the right sound, so he ended up just doing it all himself. If you listen to the tone of all the voices, they all sound like Brian. The doo wops don't sound like Mike.

[BehindTheSounds]

I contend that the bass vocal is Brian, but there's just no evidence that he recorded the other backing vocals all by himself. The bootlegs out there are essentially dumps of the multitracks, overdub by overdub. According to these, the backing vocals are only on one track.

[menacebrw]

I'll keep looking. Ive got about 15 Beach Boys books and I know its in a few of them, or at least 2. But listening to stack-o-vocals, the only voice that isnt quite clearly Brian is the lower ah-ah-ah. The higher part is obviously Brian, its too nasally and not sweet enough to be Carl. And I don't see Brian doing all vocals but one. He liked all vocals to be as live as possible if others were singing, other than double-tracking. I'll find it though

[migweld]

I've truly been "waiting for the day" for your return. Welcome back and another stellar effort!

[sherrirelo]

Thanks for bringing the session to life with a picture show! A true labor of love ....

[DanielDavisMusic]

YES! Amazing! Thank you so much for these videos!!!!