I gave a listen to some of the Unsurpassed Masters sessions recently, and wondered: did Brian always make the best choices when choosing which take to use for the master take (and thus, the take of the released album version) of a given song?
Sometimes arrangements of earlier takes of various BB songs varied quite a bit from the final, released versions.
For example: on The Little Girl That I Once Knew, some of the earlier takes seem to be at a more upbeat, energetic tempo than the final master take. Plus, they don't have that awkward delayed drum flub at the beginning which somehow was approved on the released version. Being as that song wasn't a hit, does anyone think any of the other takes of the song could have given the song a shot in the arm? Granted, that song had long "uncommercial" pauses which might have been a contributing factor, but my question is in a general sense.
Separate from that, does anyone think that either the chart placement, or the stature of any released BB song would have been LESSER if Brian had used a different take? There are literally 40+ takes of California Girls, for example. Each with some different touches, drum fills, etc. Being that the released version is SO perfect in nearly every way (barring the slightly out-of-sync chorus vocals), does anyone think using any of the earlier, "inferior" takes (that can be heard on the UM sessions) could have diminished the chart placement (or the acclaim) of the song?![]()
Sometimes arrangements of earlier takes of various BB songs varied quite a bit from the final, released versions.
For example: on The Little Girl That I Once Knew, some of the earlier takes seem to be at a more upbeat, energetic tempo than the final master take. Plus, they don't have that awkward delayed drum flub at the beginning which somehow was approved on the released version. Being as that song wasn't a hit, does anyone think any of the other takes of the song could have given the song a shot in the arm? Granted, that song had long "uncommercial" pauses which might have been a contributing factor, but my question is in a general sense.
Separate from that, does anyone think that either the chart placement, or the stature of any released BB song would have been LESSER if Brian had used a different take? There are literally 40+ takes of California Girls, for example. Each with some different touches, drum fills, etc. Being that the released version is SO perfect in nearly every way (barring the slightly out-of-sync chorus vocals), does anyone think using any of the earlier, "inferior" takes (that can be heard on the UM sessions) could have diminished the chart placement (or the acclaim) of the song?