RE: [Harp-L] Tommy Morgan - Good Vibrations

[Ryan Hartt <rhartt1234@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It seems it's become the hip thing to laud Brian Wilson as a genius but the fact is, he is. Its one thing to have such musical ideas but more importantly Wilson has the ability to get those ideas across to other musicians. And while  those ideas might be a little crazy: "This is a love letter to God with barking dogs, bicycle horns, bass harmonica, banjo, harpsichord and Barney Kessel plays the solo." he seems to have a knack for gaining musician's trust that will all work out and sound great in the end. Or maybe they were just nodding "Sure Brian." and just watched the clock tick by while they were all getting double and triple scale.

My favorite Wilson/Morgan collaboration is bass harmonica solo at about1:46 on "Hang On to Your Ego/I Know There's An Answer" from Pet Sounds. There is a lot of harmonica on the whole record and "SMiLE" as well. I saw Wilson perform one of the songs on TV with a HUGE band and the harmonica player played bass, chromatic and I think even diatonic all in the same song as well as conducted the whole band and chorus.

Ryan


----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:54:01 -0800
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> From: kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] Tommy Morgan - Good Vibrations
> 
> Someone played me a bunch of assembly parts from the sessions for the Beach 
> Boy's Good Vibrations tonight.  There's every possibility that I have 
> listened to that recording more than any other over the last 40 years, but 
> even so I was surprised tonight to realize just how much Tommy Morgan is 
> playing on that record.
> 
> He's playing a bass harmonica and chromatic, I think, and as was par for 
> the course back then, it rarely sounds like harmonica.  (Changing the 
> sounds of instruments through all kinds of blends and mic placements was a 
> big deal in the 60's and nobody did it better than Brian Wilson.)
> 
> The thing that really surprised me probably won't surprise alot of people 
> on this list.  It's that mellow moment toward the end, starting at 2:45, 
> just before the voices come back in for that beautiful chord that leads 
> into the last chorus.
> 
> Tommy plays, in must be the highest harmonica register, A Ab A Ab A  C D 
> F.  I have only heard this passage several thousand times, just like you, 
> and it never occured to me that it was harmonica until tonight.  Yay Tommy 
> Morgan.
> 
> Now I've caught up with those of you who knew that.
> 
> K
> 
> 
> 
> 
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