The True Story Behind THE BEACH BOYS'Classic Song "THE WARMTH OF THE SUN"
Some forty years from now, our children will pause for a moment on September 11th and reflect on the events of that day back in 2001 when a blatant attack on our soil leveled The Twin Towers in New York City. The most popular topic of discussion that far off day will most likely be “Where were you when the second tower fell?” and friends and family of that generation will share a memory or two of where they were the moment they first realized what had actually happened on that fateful day. (With a little luck, most of the troops stationed overseas ever since will also be home with their families by then, too!)
If you were part of the original Beach Boys Generation, your emotionally scarring tell-tale target date is November 22, 1963 … the day that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed in the motorcade making its way through Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Where WE were that day when we first heard the news has been forever emblazoned in our minds.
You would think that this would be the case for any American old enough to comprehend the events of that day … but we’ve found that, while pretty much everybody in The Beach Boys’ camp agrees that their beautiful ballad, ‘The Warmth Of The Sun’, was somehow inspired and / or completed around the events of that day, they all seem to have slightly different recollections surrounding the circumstances of writing this beautiful song. In fact, man for man, they each seem to tell a slightly different story … and, in some case, the same participant has varied their story over the years.
Today, on the anniversary of that fateful day in Dallas, we’ll try to sort out what we know and then leave you to draw your own conclusions.
***
Recently, a team of experts selected by Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications (who celebrated their 25th anniversary this past year) decided that: "Reports of the assassination and funeral of President John F. Kennedy in 1963” tops the list of the ‘most memorable’ political moments in American radio and television history. This elite group compiled the list of the 125 most unforgettable political moments since radio's debut on Election Night 1920. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, ranked second, and the first presidential debate between Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960 ranked third.
For years, published reports (based on interviews with the song’s co-writers, Brian Wilson and Mike Love), have documented that this song was written during the hours surrounding The Kennedy Assassination. Reportedly, in a moment of grief after the assassination of President Kennedy, collaborators Brian Wilson and Mike Love locked themselves in the recording studio that same evening and poured all of their heartfelt emotion into the writing of this song. Wilson said that they were trying to evoke a feeling of a happier time and place ... and ‘The Warmth of the Sun’ not only achieves that goal but also maintains The Beach Boys’ ties to the surfing phenomenon that launched their career in the first place. That brief synopsis (along with the news of The Museum of Broadcast Communications poll) first appeared in our Forgotten Hits Newsletter back on November 22, 2007, along with a couple of quotes from Brian Wilson to substantiate this claim.
We were immediately besieged with alternate versions of the story … some by folks who were there at the time and some who had heard things differently over the years by way of interviews with the two key players, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
Noted Rock and Roll Photographer Michael Bush, who has spent a fair amount of time in the touring company of The Beach Boys told us:
“’The Warmth of the Sun’ was written the night before JFK was assassinated. I’ve spent a lot of time with The Beach Boys over the years and I’ve heard Mike (Love) tell this story more than once. He says there was a melancholy feeling in the air when they were writing and finding out about JFK the morning after they wrote it kind of freaked them out!”
Fred Vail, who at the time was The Beach Boys’ concert promoter and advance man, had a different version of the story to share:
“We played a show in Marysville, California, that evening and, after we drove back to the El Dorado Hotel in Sacramento, some fifty miles away, Brian and Mike wrote ‘Warmth of the Sun.’”
In fact, Fred has long documented this story on his website: http://denniswilsonforever.wg-net.com/fred.html
He even has a copy of the original tour poster promoting that show on that date for view on this site. (We’ve included it at the end of this article as well.) If this is true, Mike and Brian did not meet up at the studio … or Brian’s office that evening to work on the song … they were hundreds of miles away on tour at the time!
So I decided to dig a little deeper to see if we could find anything that would corroborate any version of these stories.
Starting with commentary made by Brian in various CD booklets, interviews and his own biography, I found that, in virtually every source where this song's origins were documented and discussed, it was always attributed to having been written after the Kennedy assassination … when both Mike and Brian were feeling completely distraught … as was the rest of the nation! (The big difference, of course, was the fact that these guys had the talent to express their feelings in a much more melodic way!!!)
In his own (albeit ghost-written) autobiography, Brian says:
"In November, the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Mike and I got together and wrote 'The Warmth Of The Sun,' a plaintive melancholy ballad that expressed our sentiments, beginning 'What good is the dawn that grows into day? The sunset at night or living this way?'"
(The way I seem to remember the story most often being told is that Brian and Mike were SO bummed out over the events of the day that they just went to the studio that night … or, in some publications, Brian’s office … just to hang out, not even thinking about writing or recording anything. They were too overcome with grief and disbelief over the tragic events in Dallas that afternoon. Feeling very melancholy, the sadness came out in what eventually became ‘The Warmth of the Sun’, one of their prettiest and most heartfelt ballads.)
In the self-penned liner notes to The Beach Boys Classics CD (songs selected by Brian Wilson himself), Brian writes:
"I wrote this in honor of President John F. Kennedy. He was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963 and that night, Mike and I got together at my office in Hollywood and wrote the song."
In the liner notes to the Shut Down, Volume 2 CD, Wilson wrote:
"The day after President Kennedy was assassinated, Mike and I went to my office in Hollywood and wrote 'The Warmth of the Sun' at my piano. We knew that we had a spiritual song on our hands and we recorded it with that kind of attitude."
In the liner notes for the same CD, noted Beach Boys Historian David Leaf writes:
"The song was written on November 23, 1963, only hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Brian had just broken up with his first serious girlfriend. This melancholy ballad and beautiful lyric perfectly capture that feeling of loss. He clearly feels the pain but he is at peace."
During a special podcast broadcast during the summer of last year, Brian again recalled the significance of this beautiful ballad, although this time he spoke more of the beauty of the song than any inspiring circumstances:
"When I listen to 'The Warmth of the Sun' I ask myself, ‘How the hell did I sing so sweetly?’ I get real, real good memories about writing 'The Warmth of the Sun.' It took Mike and I 45 minutes to write that song. That's how fast we worked. Some of the best songs come pretty quick; they're the most divinely-inspired songs."
In an interview with Endless Summer Quarterly late last year, Mike Love remembered it this way:
"’The Warmth of the Sun' was a very mystical experience. Brian and I were actually writing that (song) the night before President Kennedy was assassinated, so it was November, 1963. Brian and I were at a rented house in Hawthorne, CA. He had moved out of his family place because (his father) Murry was just too much to deal with. I'd gone over and spent the night there. Around 11 PM or midnight we were writing this song, and Brian had this beautifully haunting melody going. I just related the loss of someone you love. I wrote the words accordingly. There was a very mystical eerie feeling associated with writing the song before we went to sleep. The next morning we woke-up and we heard that President Kennedy had been shot (and of course, later we heard that he had been assassinated). "When we recorded the song a few days later it had quite an eerie, mystical and moody feeling attached to it (and it always has) for me. It has that haunting melancholy to it. Brian has always had that melancholy side in his nature and I've always had the more positive approach (lyrically) to things to counter-balance his melancholy. In the case of 'The Warmth of the Sun,' you have the melody and the harmonies, but the lyrics 'still I have the warmth of the sun within me tonight.' In other words, even though it was a negative or hurtful experience, you still came out of it with something good or positive. I was trying (in my own way) to stay true to the feeling and the mood of the song, but also give it some sort of salvation in that there was some thing good that came out of the experience even though it was hurtful."
Here is where some of this story starts to fall apart. While it’s entirely possibly (maybe even likely) that Brian already had some type of melody working in his head … (let’s face it … it wasn’t at ALL uncommon for The Beach Boys to rework the same melody into different songs during the early years!) … and just as likely that ‘The Warmth Of The Sun’ was not completed in one sitting (although Brian himself just told us a moment ago that the song took all of 45 minutes to complete) … the circumstances as described by both Mike and Brian don’t hold water when you consider the fact that The Beach Boys were out on the road at the time … and, in fact, played a concert performance in Marysville, California on the evening of the assassination! Now I suppose that it's entirely possible that Mike and Brian woke up to the news of President Kennedy’s assassination ... as I recall, he was officially pronounced dead at 1 PM Chicago Time ... when you factor in the time change, it's probably more likely than not that these rock and rollers wouldn't have been up much before 11 AM their time, especially after performing in concert the night before!!! Contrary to Mike’s accounting that they then recorded the song “a few days later,” Capitol Records Studio records show that The Beach Boys recorded ‘The Warmth of the Sun’ on January 1, 1964 … 40 days after the assassination … nearly six weeks after the song was first written. If Mike’s timeline can be off by 5 ½ weeks in this instance, the possibility certainly exists that it could be off by as much as 24 hours in the other instance.
Courtesy of ALAN BOYD of CAPITOL RECORDS, here is a copy of the
ORIGINAL Union Contract for the Recording Session Held That Day
Acknowledging that after 44 years, memories fade (although it seems that anyone else who was alive that fateful day of November 22, 1963 remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news of Kennedy’s death) ... as well as the possibility that oft-repeated "folklore" sometimes makes for a much more interesting "history" than accuracy ... we were willing to let things sit at a stand-off regarding this issue … even accepting the possibility that the song may have been started prior to hearing the news out of Dallas and then wrapped up sometime in the day (or days) following the event. But then we received some documentation from Beach Boys’ Friend and Promoter (and later Manager) Fred Vail who shed some very different light on this subject. Fred basically told us that, despite numerous reports and recollections to the contrary, Brian and Mike did not go into the office or the studio the night of or after the assassination to write ‘The Warmth of the Sun’ because, as you'll see in his “hands-on” report, they had a show to do that night!!! Fred was there with The Beach Boys that night ... the night of November 22, 1963, when, despite serious considerations to the contrary, they took the stage and performed a live concert in Marysville, California … and this is what he told us during our exclusive Forgotten Hits Interview earlier this year:
KENT KOTAL: You’ve read the various versions surrounding the circumstances of November 22, 1963, as it relates to The Beach Boys’ classic ‘The Warmth Of The Sun’ … what are YOUR recollections of that day?
FRED VAIL: For me personally, November 22, 1963, started out like most other late fall days: school kids looking forward to the weekend off; mothers and fathers getting ready for Thanksgiving the following Thursday; retailers getting ready for the 'day after Thanksgiving' sales. Life was good.
KK: What
was your relationship with The Beach Boys at the time ... you were working as
their tour manager?
FV: I was not The Beach Boys 'tour manager' ... I was
their concert promoter and 'advance man'. I would do a bit of 'marketing
research' (although we certainly didn't call it that back then), checking out
which cities were selling records and where the group was the most popular. Per
my suggestion to Murry, we tended to do a lot of secondary markets, including
Marysville, but also Fresno, Stockton, Reno, Boise, Salt Lake City and so on.
Promoting our own shows, with Murry putting up the expense money, provided the
guys with substantially more income, as opposed to only doing dates booked by
the William Morris Agency, who represented them.
KK: But you had been booking "The
Boys" for a while at this point, right?
FV: When I first booked the band for the May 24, 1963,
concert at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, I dealt with William Morris.
That booking ended up being the first major 'headlining' concert for the group,
and the only time I actually made MORE money than they did! :) I booked them
for $750 flat, which included the group having to pay for six roundtrip airline
tickets from LA. $750 was most likely the most money they had received up to
that time, as they were getting $350 to $500 a night, working in teen clubs or
as opening acts for other more established groups, including Jan & Dean and
Dick Dale and The Del-Tones. At the time of the Marysville, CA 'dance and show'
(which is what it was 'billed as' ... it's even advertised that way on the
poster), they were probably getting about $1,500, perhaps, $2,000, per night.
Again, since that particular gig was one of our own shows, they got the net
receipts, after taking out the expenses Murry had 'fronted,' which probably
amounted to $4,000 net for the night, substantially more than Morris was
getting from promoters.
KK: Certainly
the November 22nd gig had been booked sometime in advance ... no one could have
known that there would have been anything significant about that date at the
time.
FV: I was a nineteen year old college student and concert promoter -- the kid with the 'deejay voice.' It was just another work day for me: putting the finishing touches on my Beach Boys 'dance and show' that night, fifty miles north of Sacramento, in Marysville, California. The 'Boys' were the hottest American act ... just beginning their touring success but already secure having had their first Top 10 single, "Surfin' USA," the previous spring. "Surfer Girl" and "Little Deuce Coupe" had achieved equal chart success and "Be True To Your School" and "In My Room," which had been released in October, was already climbing the national charts. Our September 14 show at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium had 'sold out' -- 5,200+ seats for the evening performance and nearly 2,000 for an afternoon 'pre-teeners' matinee. "Beach Dad," Murry Wilson, and I, had discussed doing a show in the agricultural communities of Marysville and Yuba City in an effort to hit some of the smaller secondary cities where radio spots and concert production costs were cheap and major acts seldom played those markets. So on that particular Friday morning I was up early, monitoring the local radio stations and getting ready to call the various ticket outlets to see how sales were going.
KK: Sounds like you took a pretty “hands on” approach to promoting your acts.
FV: There were no "Ticketmaster" and "Stub Hub" type operations in those days, ripping the artist, promoter and ticket buyer off in those days, we would typically get 100% of the face value of the ticket. The costs of setting up a concert in those days were substantially less than what they are now. I could rent auditoriums for $150 to $300, buy spots on the radio from $2 to $10, hire a local sound company, with operator, for $150. In some instances we'd have to pay a local box office manager a small commission, but a lot of communities didn't have central box offices, so I'd use local record shops and music stores, as was the case of my 'agreement' with Russ Solomon, founder of Tower Records. I would pay Russ $0.05 (five cents) for each ticket his store (Tower Records #1, Watt Avenue, Sacramento) sold. I made individual deals with area record stores and music shops who would sell my tickets in exchange for free advertising on our radio spots and posters. It was a 'win-win' for everyone. I was particularly fond of my relationship with KXOA Radio, one of two "Top 40" stations in Sacramento, the other being KROY. I had worked as a 'gopher' at KXOA during my freshman and sophomore year at El Camino High School, and in 1961 -- when they split their AM / FM simulcast and went 'county' on the FM side, I worked at the station as a deejay and program director. I was seventeen years old at the time. So, while most of our radio advertising had been on the local KUBA Radio in Yuba City, we had taken out a small schedule of spots on KXOA to 'hedge our bet,' so to speak -- knowing full well that a number of loyal Sacramento Beach Boys fans would also want to catch the 'boys' at the Marysville 'dance and show.' (Dancing was not allowed at our Sacramento Memorial Auditorium concerts).
KK: But then fate stepped in and pretty much stopped everybody in their tracks that day. How did you first hear about the shooting in Dallas? (I was in the third grade at the time … we had heard about the shooting that morning and, in those days, we still used to go home for lunch. When we returned to class, shortly after 1:00, our teacher, Mrs. Arnold, came in with this shocked look on her face that I can still see as clearly as if it were yesterday and announced, “President Kennedy is dead.”)
FV: I was out in one of the KXOA news cars with Johnny Gunn, one of the jocks, when we first heard of the tragic event in Dallas. Without hesitation, we headed back to the radio station. By the time we entered the lobby, the whole place was in chaos. Secretaries were crying, salesmen and others were waiting anxiously for the latest news reports. Most of the staff were already in the master control room, right off the newsroom, as the Associated Press and United Press International teletypes were chattering away with the latest news coming out of Dallas. Word came down shortly after 10 AM west coast time: President John F. Kennedy, our nation's youngest elected president, had been assassinated while his motorcade wound its way through the streets of Dallas, Texas, approaching Dealey Plaza. A stunned KXOA staff -- as well as a stunned world -- could not believe what they were hearing. "Camelot," the romantic name given to the new Kennedy Administration, had ended -- barely three years after it had begun.
KK: Obviously a tremendous shock to the system … at any age.
FV: I was saddened that this type of tragedy could take place in the United States. Political assassinations were something you read about in history books or saw on a news broadcast from some Third World country. It just didn't happen in the United States of America. However, I also had other things on my mind. What about the 'Boys' show in Marysville? Would the 'Beach Dad' still let the group perform that night?
KK: Certainly the first instinct must have been to call of the show … would anybody really expect The Beach Boys to perform on such a traumatic night?
FV: I hastily put in a call to Murry, who was just as much in shock as the rest of the world. "How can we play the show tonight, Fred," was his first question. I was eager to see the 'Boys' and just as eager to 'go on with the show,' but several questions lingered in my mind: would the city of Marysville allow us to go ahead with the concert? Would parents allow their kids to go out on such a tragic day? What about ticket sales? Would there be any backlash if we played the gig? I told Murry: "Let me make a few calls. It's still morning. We still have plenty of time for all of you to make the flight if we get a 'go ahead' from city officials and everything else checks out."
KK: And what was Murry Wilson’s reaction to that?
FV: Murry agreed to let me check out the situation and told me to get back to him within a couple of hours. So I immediately began calling the different parties connected with the show: the local Marysville / Yuba City radio stations, local record shops, the police, and city administrative offices. The city government, including police and parks and recreation, had no problem letting us go ahead with the show. The local radio stations had been flooded with calls about our appearance since the death of the President had been announced. Local ticket outlets were already doing a brisk business in sales as all the schools had been let out early. Everyone agreed: we could 'go on with the show.' I realized -- being a kid myself -- that most junior high school and high school aged students -- the 'core' audience of any Beach Boys concert -- would be excited about The Beach Boys coming to their town. It was not that they did not respect President Kennedy, nor the tragedy that had befallen our nation, it was that they were kids, it was the weekend, they'd waited a month the see their favorite "surfing band" and that was -- at that moment in time -- their priority. Also, there was not much else to do. All regular radio and television programming had been suspended. Recaps of the events of the day were played, replayed, and replayed again. Not too unlike a major story on CNN today! Most contemporary music stations either carried news reports or played only soft instrumental music out of respect to the president. Quite honestly, for kids -- particularly Beach Boys fans -- it was all pretty boring, to say the least.
KK: What happened next?
FV: I called Murry, passed along the information I'd compiled, and he said: "Are you sure this is okay?" I told him that I honestly felt we should go on with the show. He agreed, and we made plans for me to meet the plane at the old Sacramento Municipal Field. I borrowed my folks’ 1954 Chevy station wagon and got ready to pick up 'the Boys.' If I recall, they got in about 4:30 or 5:00 PM. We loaded all the gear into the back of the wagon, and along with one other car, driven by my dear friend and assistant, Mike Davidson, we headed toward Marysville. We did, however, stop long enough at the El Dorado Hotel in Sacramento for the group to check in and get freshened up from the flight. It made more sense to stay in Sacramento so that they'd be closer to the airport for the flight the next day. After a bit of a 'pit stop' we headed up to Marysville, less than an hour's drive away. We arrived at the Marysville Auditorium and headed backstage to see about setting up the gear. A local act, "Freddy and the Statics," were to open. We'd do a long set about 9:30 or so. The auditorium was set up for a 'dance and show' with folding chairs along the outer walls and a wide open wood floor for dancing. Much like the high school dances in the Boy's Gym that we all attended in our youth.
KK: What was the general mood of the crowd that night? Was anything mentioned about the events of the day prior to The Beach Boys taking the stage or did you just try to carry on with more of a “business as usual” attitude?
FV: When "Freddy and the Statics" completed their set, and the curtain went down, we immediately began setting up for the 'Boys' set. As always, I would introduce the group, but on this very special night, it was agreed that I would ask the audience for a 'moment of silence' in honor of our fallen President. I went out to the microphone, thanked the kids for coming, and asked them to be silent in tribute to the late President, John F. Kennedy. Since this was something none of us had ever done before, I didn't have any idea as to 'what amount of time' was appropriate for the audience to remain 'silent.' It seemed like hours standing out there, head bowed, while the audience was totally -- and respectfully -- quiet. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye as I glanced back at the curtain, I saw it shift a little, and I could see Mike's hand and face as he prepared to throw a towel at me! Just as it hit my back, I knew -- right then and there -- that it was time to bring on "The Beach Boys!"
KK: LOL … leave it to Mike to keep things moving, eh??? Was the crowd receptive? Were they able to put the events of the day aside for a few hours and enjoy the music and dancing?
FV: The show was a huge success. It not only broke the existing hall attendance record, but there were absolutely no incidents. The kids were well behaved and very, very grateful that their favorite "surfing band" had gone ahead with the show.
KK: And then what … after the show?
FV: I settled up with the box office manager, stuffing thousands of dollar bills and small change into grocery bags, which Murry and I carried to the cars. We headed back to the El Dorado Hotel, excited about the success of the evening's performance, but still very mindful of the tragic events that had happened just twelve or fourteen hours before in Dallas, Texas. It was probably about 1:00 AM when we got back to the rooms. Everyone 'doubled up' in those early days. No lavish suites. Sometimes there were three to a room. Murry and I dumped the bags of cash out on to one of the beds. I can vividly remember the bright turquoise bedspreads. The 'Boys' were amazed, perhaps, 'shocked,' to see all the cash sitting on the bed.
KK: Was that customary back then … to be paid out in cash like that after a performance?
FV: On a typical William Morris Agency contracted date, the local concert promoters would put up 50% of the 'guarantee' in advance, often writing a check the night of the performance for the other half. There were no 'percentage' type dates back then, or very, very few. So, seeing nearly $6,000 in 'cash,' was a bit unusual, even for The Beach Boys, as they were only getting $1,500 to $2,000 for their usual fee. However, this had not been a typical William Morris date. This had been a "Frederick Vail Production," a partnership (although not 50%) with Murry and the 'boys.'
KK: Having played in a band for many years (although never anything even remotely close to the level of crowds The Beach Boys were enjoying), I know that it’s often very difficult to “wind down” after a show like that … the adrenaline rush of seeing the crowd react in such a positive way … the music still ringing in your ears … sometimes it would take hours before you could stop replaying the night in your head and settle down and go to sleep.
FV: You’re right … it does take awhile. But as we all began to wind down from the events of the day, I looked over at Brian and Mike as they began working on a song that they'd already started earlier that morning. They were in the corner of the small room, still tightening up lyrics, working on the melody, and humming and singing a few lines here and a few lines there. By about 2 AM or so, the song was nearly complete. It would be a special musical tribute to our nation's 35th President, the youngest president ever elected, and also, the youngest to die in office. The song was "The Warmth of the Sun."
KK: So the song was not written prior to the evening of the assassination … and Mike and Brian did not go back to their “office” or the studio to work out the track.
FV: They had already been working on the melody and had a few of the lyrics written before we got back to the hotel. I’ve heard stories over the years about problems with Brian’s girlfriend or Mike’s girlfriend being part of the inspiration for the lyrics and this very well may have been true at the beginning of the writing process. But by the time they finished the song up that night, there was no question that the lyrics took on a more somber meaning as they related to the events in Dallas from earlier that day.
***
It would be interesting to get Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Fred Vail in a room together one day and see, once and for all, if rehashing this story between the three of them might, in fact, spark one or two more details … or refresh a memory here and there based on a collective accounting of the events of that day in November so long ago when an entire nation grieved. Until that happens, however, we’ve got to go along with “the most accurate truth” that we can reconstruct and take pride in knowing that even on the saddest of days, the music of The Beach Boys brought joy and happiness to their audience. It always has … and it always will.
***
Courtesy of Fred Vail, here is a copy
of the actual promotional poster for the concert that night ... November 22, 1963 ...
at THE MARYSVILLE MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
***
I asked Fred what he could tell us about the actual recording of the song "The Warmth Of The Sun" ... when (in proximity to writing it did they go into the studio to record it) and this is what he had to say:
FRED VAIL: As to the 'recording' of "Warmth," after doing
my own research and speaking to Alan Boyd, certainly one of the true
'authorities' on the group, as well as the guy who has put together a number of
CD compilations for Capital Records, he feels comfortable with the Jan 1, 1964
date and found evidence to that effect on a union contract for that date.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: You can view the Union Contract
/ Studio Log for that session above.)
However, it was not unusual for Brian (or Capital) to combine songs on union contracts so that musicians could be paid quicker, and -- often -- the tracking sessions did not include the entire vocal overdub process, but we're going with the Jan 1 date.
I was at Western Recording on Jan 1, 1964 -- I'd been with the group at a New Years Eve gig at Bob Eubanks' Cinnamon Cinder Teen Club in San Bernardino the night before. The primary song on that recording date was "Fun, Fun, Fun," but "Warmth" was added to the session. Carl, Alan, Dennis, Mike and Brian all participated in the session, but there were 'wrecking crew' members there as well. I remember Hal Blaine (Drums) being there and I'm pretty sure that Steve Douglas and Jay Migliori (Sax) were also there, as was Ray Pohlman (bass).
© Copyright Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits, 1998 - 2025 ... All rights reserved
NOTE: This article was first published in Forgotten Hits in 2007;
It was then later picked up and published in Endless Summer Quarterly, The Beach Boys / Brian Wilson fanzine edited by David Beard
FOR MORE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS, CLICK ON THE "OLDER POSTS" BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
