Another musician from the solid gold years of Los Angeles recording studio greatness has died. Guitarist Bill Pitman was — wow! — 102.
Bill Pitman, a guitarist who accompanied Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand and others from the late 1950s to the ’70s, and who for decades was heard on the soundtracks of countless Hollywood films and television shows, has died at 102. https://t.co/HpfzSNobHn
— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) August 12, 2022
Thanks to those damn bureaucrats at the American Federation of Musicians, with their blasted rules and forms, we can see where and when Pitman worked on “Good Vibrations”.
https://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/afmcontracts/BeachBoys_GoodVibrations.pdf
The Beach Boys were under contract to Capitol Records, which is listed as their employer, and yet the sessions were held at Gold Star, Western Recorders and Sunset Sound. Like the Beatles by that time, it seems that what Brian wanted Brian got, although the Beatles almost always recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road studios. One of the “Good Vibrations” sessions ran between 11:30 PM and 3:00 AM, which was also typical of the hours kept by the Beatles.
At the start of the record, right after “… the colorful clothes she wears…” going into “… and the way the sunlight…” there’s a noticeable shift in the sound. Brian must have spliced two different takes together. Were they recorded on the same day, or even in the same studio?