Beach Boys Hit or Myth
The group's original name was Kenny and the Cadets. You'll often hear this said…it's essentially a myth, although the explanation is a bit complicated. The group Brian Wilson formed in high school with his brothers Dennis and Carl, and cousin Mike Love was called Carl and the Passions. (Mike's mother was the brothers' Aunt Emily, sister of their father Murry.) Brian came up with that name to entice Carl to join…he was more interested in cars and girls than music. By the time they made their first studio recordings in the fall of 1961, at the small Los Angeles record company Candix, their name was the Pendletones, after their favorite brand of shirts, Pendleton…plaid shirts, not the vertically striped ones they would make famous. When they got the first 45s of their song "Surfin'," they were surprised to discover they were now the Beach Boys. Candix promo man Russ Regan explained that label owner and producer of the record Hite Morgan instructed him to "change the name to something more commercial."
But it hardly mattered…when they first heard their record played on the radio, while driving down Hawthorne Avenue in Brian's 1957 Ford, Dennis recalled: "Nothing could ever top the look on Brian's face, it was the biggest high ever…and Carl was so excited he threw up." So where did Kenny and the Cadets come in?
While at the Candix studio, Hite Morgan asked the group to add vocals to the instrumental tracks of 2 songs his son Bruce had written, which had been recorded by other musicians. Their mother Audree Wilson added her voice as well, and these were released in 1962..."Barbie" backed with "What Is a Young Girl Made Of?" So it's the Beach Boys singing, but not playing…and in any event, it was never the official name of the group, just a name on a record label.
Brian Wilson recorded in mono because he was deaf in one ear…A half-truth if there ever was one. Brian is indeed almost completely deaf in his right ear. Depending on who tells it, this was either a condition from birth, or because of a beating from his father. But he recorded in mono because everybody did. Stereo records had been invented to recreate the left-to-right sweep of a symphony orchestra…as a practical matter, stereo wasn't really relevant to pop music. Consider the Beatles: early on they recorded on 2 tracks, music on one, vocals on the other, then mixed them to mono and went home. It was up to the engineers to put together the stereo mixes, which is why they had that weird half-and-half sound…vocals in one speaker, music in the other…prompting Capital to invent "Duophonic," boosting highs in one channel, lows in the other, nicknamed "fake stereo."
Beach Boy stereo mixes were better, since Brian recorded to 3 tracks…but up until the mid-1960s, his concept of a song's ultimate sound was meant to be mono, "all in one place," again with an engineer determining the stereo separation. This explains for example why in the instrumental break of the song "Wendy," you can hear someone cough. The cough is buried deep in the mono mix and hence inaudible, but it's clear as day in the stereo mix. Why was it left in? Probably an oversight that nobody thought worth fixing…after all, mono records far outsold stereo at the time, and pop music in those days was thought to be almost as disposable as newspapers…kids would listen to records till they got tired of them, then buy new ones.
And that's why if you really pay attention, you'll hear mistakes on all kinds of records, from the Beatles to the Supremes, and everyone in between. Warning: newer CD stereo mixes of "Wendy" edit out the cough…spoilsports!
The Beach Boys recorded a version of the Beatle's "A Day in the Life"…That's a blooper you'll encounter from time to time…confusing it with the Brian Wilson song "A Day in the Life of a Tree" from their 1971 LP "Surf's Up." They did record 3 Beatles tunes on their 1965 "Party" LP…"I Should Have Known Better," "Tell Me Why," and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away." The Beatles returned the favor with their Beach Boys spoof "Back in the U.S.S.R." John Lennon wrote it in early 1968, while in India with the Maharishi…but Mike Love was also at the ashram, and suggested to John that it would sound more like the Beach Boys if he put in lyrics about girls…like from Georgia and the Ukraine…and John was happy to oblige.
The Beatles, minus Ringo but plus Donovan, even performed the impromptu "Happy Birthday, Michael Love," done with a Chuck Berry beat, on his 27th birthday, March 15th. Mike preserved the song on a cassette tape…debuted it on a radio show in 1976…and it's been hitting the bootleg circuit ever since. But this brings up an interesting point: most of the top artists were more buddies than rivals,…which is why on the 1964 LP "In Concert," the Beach Boys perform "Little Old Lady from Pasadena"…it was all about pleasing their fans, not "our songs" versus "their songs." And of course, Brian wrote songs for Jan and Dean, although not that one...and the duo was an opening act for some of the Beach Boys live shows.
Glen Campbell was a Beach Boy…He certainly was, in every way except "officially." Instrumentally, the Beach Boys could hold their own live on stage, but Brian was a perfectionist, so for studio recordings he often brought in others…like Glen Campbell to supplement Carl's guitar work. Glen was a member of the so-called "Wrecking Crew," a group of studio musicians who performed on hundreds of recordings…did you know for example that the piano bit at the end of the Tijuana Brass' "A Taste of Honey" is played by Leon Russell?
So when an anxiety attack forced Brian to stop touring in late 1964, Glen was the natural choice to take his place. On stage he played bass and sang high harmonies. But after about a year, his own budding career as a singer prompted his replacement by Bruce Johnston. And actually, the precise Beach Boys lineup in the earliest days is often misunderstood…13-year old David Marks was not an original member as is often supposed.
The Pendletones that recorded for Candix consisted of the 3 Wilson brothers, Michael Love, and their high school buddy Al Jardine (the one who looked like a Kennedy!) But Jardine's first love was folk music, so by the time they signed with Capitol Records in April of 1962, he'd quit and been replaced by Marks, who lived across the street from the Wilsons, and often jammed on guitar with Carl. Marks played on the first 4 Beach Boys LPs, and in over 100 concerts and TV appearances. Then in the spring of 1963, Al Jardine returned to temporarily replace Brian Wilson on the road…but Brian was back on stage by October, replacing Marks who quit over disagreements with their manager, the brothers' father Murry Wilson.
Marks, along with Mark Groseclose, a drummer who filled in several times for Dennis on stage, formed the group the Marksmen, and released one of the first 45s on Herb Alpert's A&M records, co-produced by Russ Regan, that Candix promo man who re-named the Beach Boys. Jeepers, was everything back in the day connected to everything else? Yeah, pretty much!
And speaking of who's related to who, got a genealogy question? Send it to stolf@hotmail.com, then watch for the answer Sundays on "Genealogy for Baby Boomers" at deepfriedhoodsiecups.wordpress.com. Don't forget the daily blog at stolf.wordpress.com…and Cool Daddy tries to steal the show weekdays 3-7pm on 1340 WMSA. Till next time, be true to your school, get some help from Rhonda, and rock on!
