Category: Music

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?

I refer you to the video “by Lia & Robbie” in this recent post.

He Goes “Ahhhhh….”

Robbie, out for the evening long ago.

We had this #3 hit in very heavy airplay rotation when I was working in radio.

I shouldn’t say this, but Olivia fell into the plastic surgery trap. Later in life, rather than being an older version of herself, Olivia was unrecognizable. She was perfect just as she was.

With the Webb Space Telescope now fully operational, albeit with some dings from micro-meteors, it’s a good time to hear, as well as to see, our solar system. Yesterday, the Boston Symphony Orchestra played Gustav Holst’s masterpiece in the summer heat of Tanglewood.

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/a-journey-from-the-sea-to-the-planets-with-ades

My all-time favorite recording of The Planets suite is also by the BSO, as recorded over 50 years ago.

Classical Music’s Gateway Drug

“Couldn’t Get It Right” by the Climax Blues Band came out right when I started working at the radio station. My immediate reaction was they were trying to sound like Roxy Music. I can’t articulate why that was, but I’ve never shaken my perceived connection. Perhaps there was nothing more to it than they were British bands with mid-70’s hits that didn’t sound like Queen.

Roxy Music – 1975

Climax Blues Band – 1976