Surf's Up
From The Smile Shop
Contents |
Sessions
November 4, 1966
| Song title: Surf's Up (1st Movement) | |
| Studio: | Western |
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| Musicians/vocalists: | Frank Capp, Nick Pellico, Carol Kaye, Alvin Casey, James Bond, Alfred de Lory |
Instrumental track recorded Nov 4, 1966 – 1st Movement with 6 musicians at Western, brass overdubs Nov 7 with 5 musicians at Western, vocal session with the Beach Boys and piano/vocal track Dec 15, 1966 at Columbia, additional session Jan 23, 1967 with 8 musicians at Western.
“We wrote the song in one night – stayed up until six in the morning,” Brian recounted in 1966. “Van Dyke and I really kind of thought we’d done something special when we finished that one.” -- Lou Shenk, A SMiLE Primer
This was the tracking for the first part of Surf’s Up, the “jewelry” session and was overdubbed on the 7th with trumpet and horns as heard in the final mix. -- Been Too Long, The Smiley Smile Message Board
November 7, 1966
| Song title: Surf's Up (1st Movement), George Fell Into His French Horn | |
| Studio: | Western |
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A tape from the second "Surf's Up" session shows Brian again taking charge in the studio, instructing the percussionist on the exact sound and tempo he wanted for the song. (Note from Chuck: in his notes, David was describing a November 8 session that is now not believed to have taken place. I believe it's more likely the Surf's Up session he is describing is from November 7.) -- David Prokopy, The Prokopy Notes
An experimental piece Brian recorded the day before the first "Surf's Up" session, using the five horn players he'd hired for that session. (The session was logged as a "Surf's Up" session, which explains why session records for this tape did not show up under the title "George Fell Into His French Horn" during Elliot's research.) Essentially, the tape is made up of bits and pieces Brian recorded while experimenting with the musicians, attempting various tricks with them. It's not clear what Brian's ultimate intentions were for this tape. He mentions something about "sound effects," but doesn't seem to elaborate more on his intent. Note, however, that he does incorporate some of the "atonal" ideas into the horn arrangement he eventually uses for "Surf's Up."
In sections of the tape, one can hear Brian directing the horn players to try various techniques, such as playing the lowest note each instrument can produce. In other sections, he has them attempt various forms of "talking" with their horns, beginning with the musicians having a "musical" conversation, and concluding with an apparently semi-scripted segment where they actually talk through their instruments. Brian supposedly asked Capitol to pay the musicians double for their vocal contributions, but his request was denied! -- David Prokopy, The Prokopy Notes
The “talking horns” piece known as George Fell Into His French Horn was also recorded on Nov 7, apparently before the overdub session: “Five minutes after producer meets players, the men are creating laughing effects and having conversations with their horns.” -- Lou Shenk, A SMiLE Primer
It is another night at Gold Star. A group of older musicians whom Brian has never met are there to perform on French horns. Five minutes after producer meets players, the men are creating laughing effects and having a conversation with their horns. "It was just an idea and I'm glad to see it works." "How does he do it?" somebody in the hallway asks. -- Smile Brian And Pull Them Strings, Teenset, 1966
Surf’s Up overdub session took place at Western with 1 Trumpet and 4 Horns. This also seems to match the instrumentation for “George Fell…” so it has been assumed that this is where it took place. There “could” have been a separate Goldstar session for this at some other time for which we just don’t have information or maybe Brian just bought the time and didn’t bill Capital, who knows? -- Been Too Long, The Smiley Smile Message Board
December 15, 1966
| Song title: Surf's Up | |
| Studio: | Columbia |
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"A film crew and I went to Columbia Records’s studios with Brian and his friends, and they were doing tiny little pieces that made no sense in and of themselves... just a few notes... also the sessions didn’t make a scene that was at all interesting... I had hoped to get Brian masterminding a recording session, but instead it was terribly spread out... Brian was a little spacy, but he didn’t seem drugged. We filmed a piece called ‘Surf’s Up,’ and he accompanied himself at the piano." -- David Oppenheim
Brian's two "demo" versions of "Surf's Up," both of which were filmed for the "Inside Pop" CBS documentary. The first was recorded in the studio, and the second at Brian's Laurel Canyon home. -- David Prokopy, The Prokopy Notes
Paul Mertens also helped to score the orchestration for the second part of the song 'Surf's Up'. A 1966 version featuring Brian playing the song alone at the piano has survived, and a more produced instrumental track for the first section exists featuring percussion, basses and horns, but no similarly developed recording of the second section has ever been found. "I asked Brian what he remembered of it," says Darian, "and he said there were some strings, so we worked on that a little bit, and Van Dyke and Paul Mertens did some orchestrating." -- The Resurrection Of Brian Wilson's SMiLE
January 23, 1967
| Song title: Surf's Up | |
| Studio: | Western |
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| Musicians/vocalists: | 16 musicians |
The January session (Carl was among the musicians) was presumably for the 2nd Movement of the song but may have been a rerecord of the 1st movement - the tape is missing from the vaults. -- Lou Shenk, A SMiLE Primer
June/July 1971
| Song title: Surf's Up | |
| Studio: | Brian's Home Studio |
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The final such assembly was 'Surf's Up' on the 1971 album of the same name. Carl Wilson took Brian's instrumental recording of the first part of the song and overdubbed vocals to complete it. The backing for the second part of the song had to be supplied by splicing in the appropriate part of the surviving 1966 Brian solo piano performance. According to Mark Linett, an abandoned 1971 tape exists in the Beach Boys' archive upon which an attempt has been made to fly in Brian's double-tracked 1966 vocals from the solo piano version over the January 1967 orchestral backing track for the first part of the song. However, with the technology of the day, it was impossible to marry the variant tempos of the two recordings, and the tape contains no vocals after the first few lines. -- The Resurrection Of Brian Wilson's SMiLE
Available Session Recordings
Archaeology
| Disc # Track # | Track Title | Time | Session Date | Comments |
Dumb Angel Rarities Volume One
| Disc # Track # | Track Title | Time | Session Date | Comments |
Vigotone SMiLE
| Disc # Track # | Track Title | Time | Session Date | Comments |
| 02/07 | George Fell Into His French Horn | 9:13 | November 7, 1966 | Recorded at a Surf’s Up session. This was an experimental recording. |
Unsurpassed Masters 16
| Disc # Track # | Track Title | Time | Session Date | Comments |
Official Releases
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
