This is an attempt to gather together all known information about recording and live mix engineers, studio locations, etc., through FZ career.
April, 1971—Whitney Studios, LA
Patrick Pending, June, 1997, 200 Motels (2CD, 1997) liner notes
In Burbank, California, starting in mid-April, Calvin and Chuck Swenson figured out what the animation would look like. Almost all animation is created to an already existing audio track so, as most of the needed Pinewood audio couldn't be used, Howard, Mark and Jim wen into a San Fernando valley recording studio, in the city of North Hollywood to be exact, an re-recorded Frank's original scripted dialogue for Scenes 95 to 98. While they were there, they also recorded, along with Frank, a series of radio commercials for the film.
[...] At the same studio and at the same time that the animation audio track had been re-recorded, Frank and Barry Keene had, among other things, recorded overdubs of Howard and Mark and had replaced two of Martin's bass tracks.
200 Motels (2LP, United Artists, London, UK); 200 Motels (2CD, Rykodisc, Rykodisc, 1997)
over-dub & re-mix engineer: Barry Keene
reduction facilities: WHITNEY STUDIOS
Frank worked on the music tapes for the United Artists soundtrack double album back at Whitney Studios in Glendale during April and early May.
1971—The Mothers Of Invention
June 5-6, 1971—Fillmore East, NYC
Engineered by Barry Keene
Mixed and mastered at Whitney Studios starring Toby Foster
[...] Remote facilities by Fedco
13. SHOVE IT RIGHT IN
[...] date: 1971 location: FILLMORE EAST, NEW YORK CITY
original recording medium: 16 track analog recording engineer: unknown
remote facility: RECORD PLANT MOBILE
August 7, 1971—Pauley Pavilion, LA
October 11, 1971—Carnegie Hall, NYC
FZ, 1972, quoted in the Carnegie Hall (2011) liner notes
The Carnegie Hall tapes were originally recorded at 7 1/2 ips on a concealed Nagra mono machine using one Electrovoice 664 microphone. These tapes were processed through an Orban Stereo Matrix (ambience generator) and re-equalized to simulate stereo.
Gail Zappa, Carnegie Hall (2011) liner notes
There are no gaps in the recordings which tends to suggest there just had to be 2 machines. And, we know FZ had a Nagra machine that he used on the road. He could have borrowed another one?
December 10, 1971—Rainbow Theater, London
2. ONCE UPON A TIME
[...]
3. SOFA #1
[...]
date: December 10, 1971 location: RAINBOW THEATER, LONDON, ENGLAND original recording medium: 8 track analog recording engineer: unknown remote facility: EMI REMOTE
10. KING KONG
[...]
dates: [...] DECEMBER 10, 1971 [...] 1971 location: RAINBOW THEATER, LONDON, ENGLAND original recording mediums: [...] (1971) 8 TRACK ANALOG [...] 1971 recording engineer: unknown [...] 1971 remote facility: EMI MOBILE
September, 1972—Grand Wazoo Tour
- Ralph Morris—concert sound engineer
In 1970 I joined Tycobrahe Sound Company as Director of Marketing, and one of the first groups that we built a concert sound system for was The Mothers of Invention. We built additional custom instrument amplifiers for Frank as well as the P.A. system, and provided technicians to maintain the equipment on tours.
I didn't go on tours as much in the later 1970s, and the last tour that I went on with The Mothers was The Grand Wazoo, in 1972.
Charles Ulrich, June 9, 2015
No engineer is credited on Wazoo [(2007)]. But although FZ often addressed Barry Keene by name in Petit Wazoo shows, he rarely addressed the soundman by name in Grand Wazoo shows. Finally, during technical difficulties in 9/23/72 New York, he addressed the soundman as Ralph.
This must have been Ralph Morris, and it even says so at United Mutations [...].
Although he's not credited on Wazoo, he was definitely there, because he told me about the accident in one of his e-mails:
It was a sad day in Boston, because just after the fire inspectors walked through, one of the Tycobrahe speaker columns fell from the top of the stack and crushed one of Jay Migliori's priceless saxophones, the baritone, I think, and damaged another. I still think one of the fireman pulled on the speaker cable as he walked behind the wings. Jay's horns were insured, but I felt badly that one of our speakers had done the damage.
1973—The Mothers Of Invention
February-March, 1973—East Coast Tour
Charles Ulrich, June 8, 2015
During the soundcheck intros of 2/24/73 Dunham and 3/11/73 Arlington, FZ addresses Barry. That's presumably Barry Keene, who had previously been on the Petit Wazoo tour. Craig Eldon Pinkus, who accompanied The Mothers on the first two weeks of the spring 1973 tour, mentions Barry in Mother's Home Journal #6.
Pinkus, Craig, "Calm Yourself, Pinkus!", Mother's Home Journal #6, March-April 1973
In short order I was being introduced to Mister [John] Smothers, Bruce & Tom Fowler, George Duke[,] Jean-Luc Ponty, Ralph Humphrey, Barry Keene, Steve Alsberg, Marty Perellis (who had made all the arrangements for me by booking ahead rooms, etc.), one incredulous Greyhound driver, renewing my acquaintance with Paul Hof, Jay Sloatman, and, as always, last, and never least Ruth (pronounced, eventually "Roof") and Ian Underwood.
January-February, 1978—European Tour
engineers for basic tracks: Peter Henderson/Davey Moire/Claus Wiedemann/Kerry McNab remote recording facilities: The Basing Street Truck/The Manor Truck/The RCA Truck/The Ol' Four Track [...]
January 25-27; February 28, 1978—Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK
Original Recordist, Peter Henderson
Recording Trucks by Basing Street Mobile, 25-27 January
& Manor Mobile, 28 February; 1978
I've used many different remote trucks, the most recent one was from Manor in London. In Los Angeles we've used the Wally Heider truck, which is very good, and we've also used the Record Plant truck. On the East Coast we've used FEDCO.
February 15, 1978—Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany
7 RAT TOMAGO/ZAPPA
live instrumental recorded at
the Deutschland Halle, Berlin
over-dubs: none
[...]
11 THE SHEIK YERBOUTI TANGO/ZAPPA
basic track recorded live
at Deutschland Halle, Berlin
over-dubs: none
NOTE: This selection and "Rat Tomago" were recorded on a portable four track Scully. The sound quality is not as clear as other parts of the album, but what the fuck . . .
February 24, 1978—Rhein-Neckar Stadion, Eppelheim, Germany
A SOLO FROM HEIDELBERG 5:26
1977 recorded live in concert, Heidelberg, West Germany
previously unreleased—will be included in the next guitar box set
engineer: Davey Moire
original recording medium: 4-track analog tape
[...]
I didn't own a recording truck then, and all live concert tapes were being done on a Scully 4-track at 30 ips with Telefunken C-4D noise reduction. We were printing two stereo pairs taken ambiently with AKG stereo mics. Audible background hiss is the result of a whole stage full of amplifiers idling, combined with residual noise inherent in the recording.
February 25, 1978—Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany
10 RUBBER SHIRT/ZAPPA
[...] the guitar solo section of the song "Yo' Mama" on side four was done [using] this experimental re-synchronization.
[...]
18 YO' MAMA/ZAPPA
[...] guitar solo is from a four track recording made in some little town outside of Nurnberg that I can't remember the name of.
2. THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS
[...] date: March, 1977 location: HEMMERLEINHALLE, NURNBERG, W. GERMANY original recording medium: 4 track analog recording engineer: DAVEY MOIRE remote facility: SCULLY (at mix console)
10. WHITE PERSON
[...] date: 1977 location: HEMMERLEINHALLE, NÜRNBERG, W. GERMANY
original recording medium: 4 track analog recording engineer: DAVEY MOIRE
remote facility: SCULLY (at mix console)
April, 1978—Sheik Yerbouti (1979) Overdub Sessions
The session sheets give August as the month of the recordings, but the new group must have been rehearsing that month. Also, some of these tracks are known to have been mixed in Quad back in late April and early May, so most probably the correct month is April.
overdub engineer: Joe Chicarelli remix engineers: Joe Chicarelli/Frank Zappa; assistant: Barbara Issak studio facilities: The Village Recorders
[April] 7-8, 1978—Cherokee Studios, LA
Frank Zappa Sessions Information, compiled by Greg Russo, August, 2003
08/07/78-08/08/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM, 2-5AM and 5:30-8:15AM) Cherokee—Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA—Baby Snakes (2:18); I'm So Cute (3:09)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
From my experience, I would say that the overdubs on that particular album were at least equally balanced with the live tracks. We worked for months on that. For instance, on the song "Baby Snakes," I was watching a Twilight Zone on TV late one night and I got this phone call From Frank, He said, "Hi, Tommy, how are you? Feel like doing a little singing tonight?" And I said, "Sure." I came down to Cherokee Studios and did "Baby Snakes" that night about six times, my own voice on one line, no harmonies, just a straight linear thing.
Joe Chicarelli, interviewed by Richard Elen, Apogee, 2002
[Joe] Chiccarelli had moved West and was working in LA's Cherokee Studios when he landed his first gig with Zappa, engineering the album Sheik Yerbouti and subsequently several other Zappa discs.
Joe Chiccarelli [...] caught his break when Frank Zappa's engineer couldn't make it to the recording session, and Joe, the twenty year old assistant, was asked to fill his place. This resulted in Chiccarelli working on several Zappa albums.
[April] 8-10, 1978—Kendun Studios, Burbank
Frank Zappa Sessions Information, compiled by Greg Russo, August, 2003
08/08/78-08/09/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM, 2-5AM and 5:30-6:45AM) Kendun Studios, Burbank, CA—Bobby Brown (2:53); Broken Hearts Are For Assholes (4:22)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
08/09/78-08/10/78 (8-11PM, 11:30PM-2:30AM and 3:30-6:30AM) Kendun Studios, Burbank, CA—Wild Love (6:00)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
Right now I think my favorite studio is Kendun, because of the way it's laid out and the equipment. I like the idea that you can cut right away so you can keep track of your progress. Unfortunately, the disc-cutting facilities over there are booked up so much. However, it is an ideal situation—you have disc-cutting facilities while you are working on a project. A lot of people when making an album forget how it's going to be in the end, which is on a piece of plastic in somebody's home. So it can be very deceptive when you are working on a project two or three months only hearing it over the big monitors which are coming up from the tape with a dynamic range. So it's nice to keep tracking to make reference during the project.
[April] 10-24, 1978—Village Recorders, LA
Frank Zappa Sessions Information, compiled by Greg Russo, August, 2003
08/10/78-08/11/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM, 2-5AM and 5:30-7:30AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Bobby Brown (2:53)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Ed Mann
08/11/78-08/12/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM and 2-3:30AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Broken Hearts Are For Assholes (4:22)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader)
08/14/78-08/15/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM, 2-5AM and 5:30-8:30AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—I Have Been In You (3:34)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader)
08/15/78-08/16/78 (9PM-12midnight, 12:30-3:30AM and 4-7AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Watermelon In Easter Hay (6:06); Wild Love (6:06); Flakes (7:20)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Ed Mann
08/16/78 (2:45-5:45AM and 6:15-7AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Tryin' To Grow A Chin (3:00); City Of Tiny Lites (7:13); Baby Snakes (2:18)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader)
08/17/78-08/18/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM, 2-5AM and 5:30-7AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Yo' Mama (9:03); Bobby Brown (2:53); Wild Love (6:06); I Have Been In You (3:34)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
08/18/78-08/19/78 (7-10PM, 10:30PM-1:30AM and 2-5AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Yo' Mama (9:03); Broken Hearts Are For Assholes (4:22)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
08/21/78 (1-4AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—The Revenge Of The Knick Knack People (9:15); Flakes (7:20)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Terry Bozzio
08/22/78 (12:30-3:30APM and 4-7AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Yo' Mama (9:38)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano
08/23/78-08/24/78 (11PM-1AM) Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA—Jewish Princess (3:16)
MUSICIANS: FZ (leader), Thomas Mariano, Ed Mann, David Moire
Baby Snakes (1979) on screen credits
sound:
KERRY McNABB &
JOE CHICCARELLI
1979—European Tour
"Frank was never happy with his solos in the studio," says Joe Chiccarelli, then Zappas engineer and now a freelance producer. "But he felt that he played great live, so I suggested we try to record his solos from the live shows and somehow put them on top of the studio trucks."
Onstage, Zappa split his signal into two stereo paths—clean/uneffected and distorted/effected—routed to four Carvin 4x12 cabinets. Electro-Voice RE20 mics were placed against the grilles of one "clean" and one "dirty" cabinet to record both signals direct to a Nagra 2-track.
"His amps were so loud that there was no band leakage into the guitar mics whatsoever," says Chiccarelli. "So we had clean solo tracks to work with. Then we'd spin the tape in the studio and have the band play to Frank's solos, rather than have Frank overdub his solos to the hand. A lot of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar was recorded this way. For each track, we'd usually have 20 minutes of guitar stuff for the band to play to, and songs would be constructed from those jams by cutting up the multitrack tape. I did a lot of tape splicing back then."
February 17-19, 1979—London, UK
Recording Date 2/17/79
[...] Recording Date 2/18/79
[...]
Recording Date 2/19/79
Recording Location Odeon Hammersmith, London
Engineer Mick Glossop
Facility Rolling Stones Mobile
NANOOK RUBS IT (11:19)
[...] date: February 18, 1979 location: ODEON HAMMERSMITH, LONDON, ENGLAND original recording medium: 24 track analog recording engineer: MICK GLOSSOP remote facility: ISLAND MOBILE
6. DISEASES OF THE BAND
[...]
7. TRYIN' TO GROW A CHIN
[...]
14. DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW
[...] date: February 18, 1979 location: ODEON HAMMERSMITH, LONDON, ENGLAND original recording medium: 24 track analog recording engineer: MICK GLOSSOP remote facility: ISLAND MOBILE
7. FLORENTINE POGEN [...] date: February 18, 1979 location: ODEON HAMMERSMITH, LONDON, ENGLAND original recording medium: 24 track analog recording engineer: MICK GLOSSOP remote facility: ISLAND MOBILE
3. DIRTY LOVE
[...] date: 18 February 1979 location: HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON
original recording medium: 24 track analog recording engineer: MICK GLOSSOP
remote facility: ISLAND MOBILE
Mix: Going back to Tinsel Town Rebellion, was there much difference in the quality of the tapes recorded by Mick Glossop at the Odeon, and—
Pinske: Oh, Mick Glossop was one of my idols, then. I gotta tell you, I could take out a tape from Mick Glossop, a 16-track, and put it on, and it just sounded great. Sounded great. The guy did some really good work.
March-April, 1979—France, Germany, Switzerland, etc.
special engineering Claus Wiedemann & David Gray
March 21, 1979—Rhein-Neckarhalle, Eppelheim, Germany
6. Ask Dr. Stupid 3:20
21 MARCH 79 Eppelheim, Germany
[...] Recording Engineers:
[...] 1979—Mick Glossop
March 27, 1979—Rhein-Main-Halle, Wiesbaden, Germany
Guitar (1988) liner notes by FZ
date: FEBRUARY, 1979 location: WEISBADEN, WEST GERMANY original recording medium: [4] track analog recording engineer: KLAUS WIEDEMANN remote facility: SCULLY at Mix Console
March 31, 1979—Rudi-Sedlmeyer Sporthalle, Munich, Germany
Guitar (1988) liner notes by FZ
date: FEBRUARY, 1979 location: WEISBADEN, WEST GERMANY original recording medium: 4 track analog recording engineer: KLAUS WIEDEMANN remote facility: SCULLY at Mix Console
1981—US Tour
UMRK Remote
The next technology upgrade came when Douglas and Pinske convinced Zappa to purchase the Beach Boys' recording truck. Both the truck and its Neve console required considerable refurbishment—stored for years at Beach Boy Mike Love's seaside estate in Santa Barbara, Calif., the truck was badly rusted—and Douglas also built a 150-channel snake/splitter system, with 102 channels available in the truck. "We told Frank we had only 90 channels, which was just as well, as his first mic input list was for 99 channels," recalls Douglas. A Midas console was installed at right angles to the Neve, and two additional Carvin boards, the fruits of an endorsement deal, were mounted on the truck's side walls. Another endorsement deal with AKG provided the 1981 tour with a full complement of AKG dynamic and condenser mics.
October 31, 1981—The Palladium, NYC
10. DUMB ALL OVER
[...]
11. HEAVENLY BANK ACCOUNT
[...]
12. SUICIDE CHUMP
[...] date: October 31, 1981 location: THE PALLADIUM, NYC original recording medium: 24 track analog recording engineer: MARK PINSKE remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
7. ALIEN ORIFICE
[...]
15. STRICTLY GENTEEL
[...] date: 31 October 1981 location: THE PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY
original recording medium: 24 track digital recording engineer: MARK PINSKE
remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
MARK PINSKE
GEORGE DOUGLAS
BOB STONE
Sound
1984—Zappa
U.M.R.K. Remote Recording:
MARK PINSKE
TOM EHLE
Music Re-mix:
BOB STONE at U.M.R.K.
Recording Engineers: Mark Pinske & Thom Ehle
Remix Engineer: Bob Stone
Remote Recording Facility: UMRK Mobile
Remixed at: UMRK
[...] Over a six month period many hours of exciting live material was recorded
in a 24 track digital format. It took another six months to remix it onto
PCM 1610 digital 2 track masters.
Every day, I had a guy, Tom Ehle, who works with Dolby now also, who aligned all the machines in the truck for me. I would come in with the band, we would do a sound check. Sometimes we would lay some stuff down on tape. Normally do a sound check to make sure the house and the monitoring system and everything was all in sync. A lot of times the recording truck wasn't too far off, because the Neve and everything had pretty much detented settings. Because we had the same microphone built inside the drums. We worked with John Goode, who is the vice president of DW Drums, him and I developed a system with Randy May, May Systems now is a pretty well-known drum-type mic setup. We developed a system. John and I worked with Chad Wackerman, and also with Sugarfoot, with the "Thriller" tour, developing this thing. We used mics that were built inside the drums. We tuned the drums exactly the same every day. John would put new heads on, between the soundcheck and the show. We used little Teflon nuts that would not slip, to make sure that everything stayed in tune as well as possible. We did an elaborate setup with the drums, but normally the mics and the direct pickups and everything on the stage were identical. So we didn't have to change a whole lot in the truck, because the Neve had detented settings. So everything was repeatable. It really didn't change too much from day to day as far as what we had. It was a matter of fine-tuning it, and bringing the room into control. We might voice the room a little bit differently because of the acoustics of it, or the size of it. We'd make sure that the monitors were not conflicting with what was going on with the truck.
August, 1984—The Pier, NYC
7. BE IN MY VIDEO
[...]
8. THE DEATHLESS HORSIE
[...]
9. THE DANGEROUS KITCHEN
[...] date: July, 1984 location: THE PIER, NEW YORK CITY original recording medium: 24 track digital recording engineer: MARK PINSKE remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
20. HE'S SO GAY
[...] date: Summer, 1984 location: THE PIER, NEW YORK CITY
original recording medium: 24 track digital recording engineer: MARK PINSKE
remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
November 23, 1984—Chicago, Illinois
19. DINAH-MOE HUMM
[...]
21. CAMARILLO BRILLO
[...]
22. MUFFIN MAN
[...] date: November, 1984 location: BISMARCK THEATER, CHICAGO
original recording medium: 24 track digital recording engineer: MARK PINSKE
remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
December 23, 1984—Universal Amphitheater, LA
2. THE ILLINOIS ENEMA BANDIT
[...] date: December, 1984 location: UNIVERSAL AMPHITHEATER, L.A.
original recording medium: 24 track digital recording engineer: MARK PINSKE
remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
1988—Zappa
6. HONEY, DON'T YOU WANT A MAN LIKE ME?
[...]
15. MAKE A SEX NOISE
[...]
6. WE'RE TURNING AGAIN
[...] date: 3/23/88 location: TOWSON, MARYLAND
original recording medium: 48 track digital recording engineer: BOB STONE
remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
8. CATHOLIC GIRLS
[...] date: Winter, 1988 location: TOWER THEATER, PHILADELPHIA
original recording medium: 48 track digital recording engineer: BOB STONE remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
9. CREW SLUT
[...] date: Winter, 1988 location: THE AUDITORIUM THEATER, CHICAGO
original recording medium: 48 track digital recording engineer: BOB STONE remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
13. LONESOME COWBOY NANDO
[...] date: Summer, 1988 location: GENOA, ITALY
original recording medium: 48 track digital recording engineer: BOB STONE remote facility: UMRK MOBILE
Notes About The Union Rules
Union rules permit a single musician to conduct himself. All union dates appoint one of the playrs on the date to be conductor. That person gets double-rate. [...]
The "conductor" title usually goes to the contractor, that is the cat who calls all the other cats. By way of example, let's say we need to put some horns on a track or two. A phone call goes out to "the horn guy" for a horn session date using, say, three 'bones, two trumps' and a flute/sax. Then it's up to "the horn guy" to assemble his people based on their schedules and abilities and the chemistry between the ensemble players. Not always the same people. When the date does happen, he represents the "union" aspects of the group. He calls the breaks and overtime. He fills out the paperwork and submits to the union. The union sends out a bill for services. For this, the conductor (contractor) gets paid double for the date. Remember, this is Hollywood—a recording haven—where people make a complete living being session side men, maybe doing three or four different three-hour sessions per day, all over town, on different types of music.
[...] Here's an interesting union rule. Suppose you are a string player. You come to the date. Your part is recorded. Then the tape is backed up and you play the same part again. As far as the union is concerned, it's the same as hiring another string player, i.e., one player doubling on two tracks equals two players on one track. So, if you have twenty string players playing background on a song, then you record the same notes again on another track (to thicken the sound) you must pay each player twice (and the conductor four times). It's as if you hired fourty string players to play it once. This can get to be rather pricy. The rate is around $400.00 per three-hour session. Double is $800 per player. Not bad money for the musician, but for the studio—let's see—twenty strings times two, times $400, equals $16,000 just for the players. Add to that the engineers and studio costs you are up to twenty grand!! just for a string overdub!! Now you know why albums cost so much!
Here's another union rule. Suppose you get a call to play the theme for a TV series. It's a big date with horns, percussion, strings, and a couple of harps. Big bucks. You play the entire theme. As far as the union is concerned, every time that TV show has a new episode and requires a theme (usually the same theme) for the beginning of the show, the studio can either hire new musicians to play the theme again or pay the original musicians for each new airing of the show. So if you are fortunate enough to play on the first theme, and the show runs for a typical 20 or 30 episodes for the broadcast season, expect to get a $400 check in the mail for each new airing as if you played all 20 or 30 themes, even if you never pick up your instrument again. Not bad huh?
Now let's bring this discussion back to Brian Wilson. When he started, all the studios were unionized, including the engineers. (I myself am a member of IATSE, local 695 Hollywood.) He could deal with the musian's union. He was even part of that. But a typical Columbia or Capitol studio session would find the union engineers mercilessly stopping a session for their break when the red-second-hand hit the 12 o'clock mark exactly. I mean, they didn't care if you were recording the best lead since sliced bread. Even if you only had three notes to go—BANG—the recording engineer would press the stop button, the mixer would close the master fader, and walk away to their smoke and coffee. This would drive poor Brian up the wall. I mean, you can't turn on creativity like a faucet. As a musician, you know what "getting into a groove" is all about. So Brian has a studio full of musicians or even full of his BB group of singers—they have finally, after fifty minutes of rehearsal, found their "groove" and—BANG!! It's break time for the engineers. The musician's will continue (into overtime of course) but not the union engineers. You may have lost that "groove" forever.
This is the reason that Brian ventured over to Western (at 6000 Sunset Blvd.), one of the first non-union or "independent" studios to spring up in Hollywood. There he met Chuck Britz and fell in love with Studio 3. No more stopping just because the clock said 12:00. Now when he found his "groove" he could play it out. I would venture to say that one of the reasons the so called "smile sessions" came to be incomplete was because of all the false starts from union rules of those studios. And to top things off—Brian could not touch the console at a union studio. I have seen a Columbia Studio engineer actually slap Brian's hand when, out of desperation, he would reach to make a fader move for a cue that the engineer forgot, while recording a live date. Very frustrating for talent such as Brian's. Over at Western, Chuck welcomed Brian's involvement—and they both went on to make many great records.
