"Don't Talk"
Noises and Oddities in Beach Boys Recordings
Written and originally compiled by Mike Wheeler and Scott Rhoades
(with contributions from members of the mailing list Pet Sounds)
HTML-ized by John
McIver
Please send any corrections/additions to
cabinessencequestions@hotmail.com
All these noises and oddities are audible on the Capitol CD versions
unless otherwise noted. Special thanks go out to Scott Rhoades for
notifying me of many of these noises.
This list is in no way intended to take away from the greatness of the
Beach Boys recordings. In Brian's autobiography on page 326 referring to
digital recording which can easily be made flawless Brian says "I learned
the lesson that so many people who made albums in the eighties missed: no
matter how perfect technology made the sound, an album still boiled down
to great songwriting and a spiritual investment in the music." This list
exists because it is interesting to listen for these noises, and fun to
discover them.
"Add Some Music"
2:22 Brian sings (correctly) "I close my tired eyes" Mike sings
(incorrectly) "I close your tired eyes"
"Anna Lee, The Healer"
0:19 Something is moved, left channel only
0:19 Someone is talking, right channel only
1:01 Something is moved again, left channel only
1:08 Something is dropped, right channel only
"Ballad of Ole' Betsy"
1:57 Papers shuffling or switches being moved, left channel only
"Barbara Ann" LP Version
0:02 Crunch sound, probably not part of original recording
"Be Here In The Morning"
0:04 Noises before the vocal comes in
0:43 Squeak
0:50 Brian says "Alright then"
1:12 Click
1:13 The effects used on the vocals are removed on the words "my life"
instead of on "full."
"Be True To Your School" (LP Version)
1:43 Someone's voice breaks during the "ahhhhh"
"Be True To Your School" (Single Version)
"Be With Me"
1:48 Double tracking mistake "It could set us free" on left channel and
"It could set you free" on right channel
2:51-2:53 Blood curdling scream, the ending of this song is quite sour
compared to the rest, like the next song on "20/20" "All I Want To
Do."
"Boogie Woodie"
0:32, 1:02, 1:22, 1:32, 1:45, 1:50 Talking
1:25 High pitched buzz
"Breakaway"
0:00 "Three" is left from a count in. the "four" is replaced by the drum
fill. Not on the Box set version
"California Girls"
0:10 The percussion instrument gets hit once too often
0:21 Someone says "It's good."
"Car Crazy Cutie"
1:38 Thump
1:43-1:45 The double tracking of lead vocal is much farther off than it is
in the rest of the song
"Carl's Big Chance"
"Cassius Love Vs Sonny Wilson"
0:23 Mike says "ending of Little Deuce Coupe" then they sing the
beginning
"Catch A Wave"
0:35 Edit
1:09 Talking
1:11 Someone loses his rhythm while clapping
1:26 Thump
"Cherry Cherry Coupe"
0:18-0:21 Double tracked lead vocal stumbles with the words on left channel
only
1:08 Double tracked vocal fades out and an earlier phrase appears quietly
in the silence "My coupe's tuck and rolled underneath the hood AND ROLLED
seats and panels are lookin' good" left channel only
"Custom Machine"
0:55-0:57 Someone is talking, sounds like it may be singing
1:26, 1:30, 1:31, 1:33 Someone says "Carl."
"Dance, Dance, Dance"
"Denny's Drums"
0:22 Drumsticks hit each other
0:48-0:50 Somebody says something, then somebody else says "who?"
1:11 Drumsticks hit each other twice
1:36-1:38 Talking
1:40 Talking, sounds like "Is that right?"
"Ding Dang"
0:05 Talking, including "it's too slow"
"Do It Again"
0:05 Someone says "Cool the talking!"
"Do You Remember"
"Do You Wanna Dance"
0:50 Bad edit cuts "Kiss kiss me baby" in half so it sounds like "Skiss me
baby"
1:21 Buzzing
"Don't Hurt My Little Sister"
0:00 Brian says "That's good."
0:02 Mike says "I know."
0:03 Foot tap (?)
0:03 Brian says "Shut up."
1:41 Talking, maybe "Is it rolling?"
"Don't Worry Baby"
0:00 Percussion misplayed, right channel only
0:18 Click from splicing tapes
0:22 Cymbal like sound, left channel only
0:26 Click, maybe something hitting the floor
1:03-1:06, right channel only, there is a degradation of tape quality which can be noticed in the backup vocals. It sounds as if there was a crinkle in the master tape
1:16 Double note on the bass
1:44 Talking
1:47 Click, tape edit
1:51-1:52 Talking
1:53 talking, probably in response to 1:52
"Drive In"
0:21-0:25 The double tracking of Mike's voice is much farther off than it
is in the rest of the song
1:09 Someone is talking during the silence, sounds like a woman or a
child
"Farmer's Daughter"
0:00-0:10 Various background noises
"Friends"
2:00 Coughing
2:19 Whisper
"Fun Fun Fun" (Single)
0:05 Brian (?) shouts
0:49 Talking (maybe an edit)
"The Girl From New York City"
"Girls On The Beach"
1:13 Someone, maybe two people, starts singing "Girls on the beach" when
the shouldn't be singing
"Good To My Baby"
0:43, 1:26, 2:01, 2:08 Extra "s" sound make it sound like "She's my
girl*s* and I'm good to my baby"
"Good Vibrations"
0:51 Edit forces the word "Excitations" to be cut in half as the next
verse comes in
"Here Today"
1:15 Mike starts singing the chorus too soon. "She made me feel" and then
someone else says something to make Mike stop
1:27 Something metallic is dropped at the point: "She made my heart feel
sad. Sh(drop)e made my days go wrong..." of the second chorus. Barely
audible on the Capitol CD (sounds like an quiet edit on Capitol CD),
clearly audible on the DCC CD
1:46 Brian says "Top" as soon as the second chorus ends to rewind the
tapes and start the take over
1:52 Someone says something supposedly about cameras
1:56 Someone else replies to the person at 1:52
2:03 Brian says "Top please" probably because he realizes the tape is
still rolling after all these noises
2:20 Talking
"Honkin' Down The Highway"
1:51, 1:53 Sneezes
(fade) Al sings "Who cares if I gotta spend the night" at the end of the
fade -- obviously not the correct lyric, and right after, realizing his
mistake, he seems to say, "Oh, shit!"
"Hushabye" LP Version (as opposed to live version on box
set)
0:23 Talking, right channel only
0:24 Click, perhaps from editing in the vocal track that starts right
after it, right channel only
1:34, 1:43, 1:45 Clicks, probably switches being moved, left channel
only
"I Get Around"
2:10 Brian says "hold it."
"I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"
2:17 Someone says "Stop"? or something else with an "s" sound
"I Know There's An Answer"
0:44-0:46, 1:26-1:28, 2:15-2:17 High pitched noise probably feedback.
Sounds like quiet tape hiss on Capitol CD, but is clear on DCC CD
"I Went To Sleep"
0:51-1:04 Light snoring sounds can be heard through the instrumental
middle section
"I'm So Young"
1:40 Click
1:48, 1:59 Someone accidentally hits a tambourine
"I'm Waiting For The Day"
1:32 Someone drops something
1:49 Someone sings "dut" too soon
"In My Room"
"In The Back Of My Mind"
0:11 Someone sets down a tambourine or something
2:02 Tape splice
"In The Parking Lot"
1:30 Somebody stops singing "lose" early
"Keep An Eye On Summer"
0:09 Brian's voice drops out
"Kiss Me Baby"
2:14 Mike gets an extra "whoa" in at the beginning of the chorus, probably
due to an edit
"Let Him Run Wild"
0:58 Click
1:23 Bad Edit
1:53 Brian's voice breaks? There's some kind of slight stop, and it
wouldn't be an edit there
2:19 Talking
"Let The Wind Blow"
0:06 Click, drumsticks hitting each other
"Little Bird"
0:01, 0:38, 0:40 Static, right channel only
1:38 Something is dropped, right channel only
"Little Girl I Once Knew"
0:33 Clicks, sounds a little like the percussion at 1:25. Bleedthrough?
1:35 Click
"Lonely Sea"
0:01 Someone whispers "Keep your voice down [something], OK?"
0:12 Brian inhales before singing
0:35 "Fwip" sound from editing two tapes together
"Louie Louie"
1:04 Double tracking mistake. MIke hesitates on "Me smell" on the right
channel
1:23-1:26 Talking, left channel only
1:37 Shout, left channel only
1:38 Talking, left channel only
"Make It Good"
"Our Car Club"
0:33 Lead vocal drops out, right channel only
1:35-1:37 Lead vocal drops out, left channel only
2:01-2:05 Someone is counting the rests before the vocals enter, left
channel only
2:05-2:17 Someone is talking, sounds like they are saying "Little Deuce
Coupe" over and over, right channel only
"Passing By"
"Pet Sounds"
0:56 The thing making the "ffffft" sound goes "fff-fft" sounds like an
edit, not on the Capitol CD
"Please Let Me Wonder"
0:15-0:16, 1:04-1:05, 1:08-1:11, 1:22 Static
2:26 Carl says "I love you" it is intentional, but I don't like it
"Pom Pom Play Girl"
0:00-0:01 Noise. Sounds like splicing tape, or static, left channel only
0:15 Click, left channel only
1:17 Click
1:26 Someone says "Wow" probably intentional
"Rocking Surfer"
This whole song is full of low level noise. Scott Rhoades picked out some
of the clearer moments.
0:28, 0:43-0:52, 1:01, 1:18-1:25 Talking
"Salt Lake City"
0:31 Someone says "Do it again."
"She Knows Me Too Well"
0:25 Something falls in the studio
"Shut Down"
0:16 Double tracking mistake, lead vocal on left says "revvin' up THEIR
engines"; on right says "revvin' up OUR engines"
1:08-1:11 Double tracking of lead vocal off more than usual
1:46 Someone say "whoops."
"Shut Down, Part II"
0:00 Brian says "Go" or "Four", cut in half
1:24 Noise. Sax misplayed? Right channel only
1:26 "Oomph"? cough?
1:32 Odd noise. Sax misplayed?
"Sloop John B"
2:53 Whole song goes flat on the fade as if the tape slowed down
"South Bay Surfer"
0:13, 0:16 Brian's shouting
1:01 Static
1:03-1:04 Someone counts "Two, three, four" after "Okay rock out"
1:17-1:19 Someone says "You're gonna eat it" someone replies with
"Smash!"
1:31-1:34 Brian's shouting
"Summer Means New Love"
1:31 Sounds like a guitar mistake to me
1:56 Whole song gets sharper on the fade as if the tape speeded up
"Surfer Girl"
0:13 Click
0:15 Click
1:15 Talking, very soft, sounds like "Brian"
"Surfers Rule"
0:48 Hard "P"
0:57 Messed up clapping
0:59-1:02 Talking
1:00 Something falls
"Surfin' U.S.A."
2:02, 2:08, 2:14, 2:20 Brian yells "good" after every "Everybody's gone
surfin', surfin' U.S.A."
"That's Not Me"
2:25-2:26 Static as the song fades out, the song fades sooner on Capitol
CD than on DCC CD so it is harder to hear on Capitol CD
"A Thing Or Two"
"This Car Of Mine"
0:03 Talking
0:06 On the left channel lead vocal says "When I BOUGHT her she wasn't
new" and the right channel says "When I GOT her she wasn't new"
0:52 Somebody grunts, right channel only
0:55 Noise. Percussion? Edit? Swith? Click? Right channel only
1:23 Someone burping, right channel only
1:27 Someone burping again, right channel only
"Wake The World"
0:08 Clicks, sounds like a camera
0:23 Person making that strange sliding noise starts a little early and
stops
0:55 Slight skip, tape edit
"Warmth of the Sun"
0:39 Something, maybe just a breath, or an edit right channel only
0:40 Sounds like Brian singing "Today" probably bleedthrough, right
channel only
1:30-1:31 Somebody says something (counting?)
"Wendy"
1:14-1:22 Talking
1:19 Cough
"When A Man Needs A Woman"
0:11 Squeak
0:41-0:43 Static
0:44 Someone says something
1:04-1:08 Static
1:14-1:16 Static
1:43 Someone is talking in background
1:58-2:00 Static
2:00 Click
"When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)"
0:25 Mike says (doesn't sing) "will I still dig those sounds" off beat
0:37 Click, just before "Fifteen"
1:52 Sounds like "Forty-eight" instead of "Twenty-eight."
1:53 Sounds like "Forty-nine" instead of "Twenty-nine."
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love"
1:02 Talking
1:05 Talking
1:12 Click, right channel only
"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
0:26 Wood hitting against another piece of wood, not on Capitol CD
2:22 Instrumental track drops out suddenly, just before vocal track at end
of song
"You're So Good To Me"
1:42-1:45 "La la la la" bleedthrough
"Your Summer Dream"
0:49 Drum is too soft
0:50 Talking?
1:06 Click, maybe papers being shuffled
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