That's Not Me (The Beach Boys song)

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["That's Not Me"] includes the Wilson sigh motive [ sic ] at the conclusion of each line of the verses. Here, the lead character, this time sung by Mike Love, defines his identity more in terms of what he is rather than who he is. Although this ultimately defines the character, the technique that Asher employs in his lyrics and Wilson's insistent use of the sigh falloff can give the listener the impression that the character's sense of self-identity is weaker than he might admit. [18]

Arrangement

A Hammond organ provides much of the sonic texture in "That's Not Me" Hammond B3, Museum of Making Music.jpg
A Hammond organ provides much of the sonic texture in "That's Not Me"

In comparison to the other tracks on Pet Sounds, "That's Not Me" has a relatively small-scale instrumental arrangement. [17] Critic Stewart Mason considered the track to be "the closest thing to a conventional rocker" on Pet Sounds. [1] Dennis Wilson, whose drumming contributions on the album were limited to "That's Not Me", [19] stated in a 1967 interview, "If you listen closely to the Pet Sounds album, you'll hear me playing jazz patterns. Some of the things definitely aren't rock and roll." [20] Starting at 0:17, the pattern engages in extended tom drum rolls, which are rarely used in popular music. [21]

Music historian Charles Granata compares the music of "That's Not Me" to "the spacious atmosphere" heard in Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid and Rodeo ballets; moreover, the "uncluttered arrangement (featuring guitar, organ, bass, and percussion) allows each instrument to breathe, making the tune a study in contrast and texture." [22] Mason supports, "The start-stop quality of the tune -- a trick that Brian Wilson used quite a bit during this period of his career -- gives the song a sense of nervous tension that's exacerbated by the beaten-down, anxious quality of Tony Asher's lyrics." [1] As written in the Student's Guide to Music Tech,

"That's Not Me" is another example [re: "Wouldn't it Be Nice"] of the way in which the Beach Boys (or more properly, Brian Wilson) use texture to reflect changes of mood. Listen to the way the texture changes for the sections beginning "I'm a little bit scared" and "I once had a dream". The strong percussive elements drop out to leave a smooth, sustained organ and vocal texture with a heavily reverbed guitar. This song has no intro, but notice how unusual harmonic twists give variety to what might otherwise be a rather repetitive verse structure. [23]

Bruce Johnston remembered of the vocal arrangement, "That's just an 'ooh and aah' song vocally. That was easy; a gymnastic experience. I'm pretty rangy in my voice. But that was really a song for a lead vocal." [24]

Recording

Mike Love (pictured 1966) sang lead on "That's Not Me" Mike Love Pet Sounds 2.jpg
Mike Love (pictured 1966) sang lead on "That's Not Me"

Wilson produced "That's Not Me" in February 1966 at Western Studio in Hollywood. The basic track was recorded on February 15, with Brian on organ, Dennis on drums, Carl on lead guitar, and their cousin Steve Korthof joining Terry Melcher on tambourine. [19] Bruce Johnston recounted an anecdote concerning this session:

I distinctly remember that Terry Melcher played tambourine on that song. Not long ago, he and I were listening to Pet Sounds, and he said, "Gosh—this is such a great track, but the timing on the tambourine is off!" I said, "Uh-hum. Terry, that's you!" He didn't remember it, but Terry Melcher is on the Pet Sounds album. [22]

The track was then mixed down to allow Brian and Carl to overdub a bass guitar and 12-string guitar, respectively. After another reduction mix, they overdubbed another bass and 12-string guitar part. [19] "That's Not Me" is the only track on the album where most of the instrumentation was played by the band members themselves. It is also the only track on the album where Brian and Carl perform together on instruments, and the only track where more than two members of the group play their own instruments. [19]

Additional percussion and vocals were overdubbed shortly thereafter. [19] The lead vocal was sung by Mike Love with Brian Wilson. [19] Wilson stated in 1996, "He just really nailed it, real powerful voice, very souped-up kind of a sound." [25] When the track was remixed for stereo in 1996, Wilson asked for the "clack" sound in the bridge to be reduced in volume. [26]

Critical reception

On May 16, 1966, "That's Not Me" was released as the third track on Pet Sounds. In his self-described "unbiased" review of the album for Record Mirror , Norman Jopling described the song as a "quizzical sort of beat ballad [with a] self-obsessed sort of lyric which is clever without being in the least appealing ... Spectorish at times." [27]

In his 2003 book about Pet Sounds, Charles Granata writes, "While not as popular as some of the other Pet Sounds songs, its sparse orchestration and uncommon form [makes] 'That's Not Me' one of the most appealing on the record." [5] AllMusic reviewer Stewart Mason decreed that "That's Not Me" was "a largely underappreciated gem" that had been "[o]vershadowed by the even-better tracks that surround it on side one of Pet Sounds". [1]

Personnel

Per Craig Slowinski. [19]

The Beach Boys

Additional players

Technical staff

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) sheets indicate the presence of Jardine and Johnston, but they did not contribute to the recording of the basic track. [28]

Cover versions

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mason, Stewart. "That's Not Me". AllMusic .
  2. ↑ Castro, Danilo (May 16, 2016). "Why Does the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' Still Have Its Hold on Us?". PopMatters .
  3. ↑ Montes, Kevin (May 16, 2016). "From The Record Crate: The Beach Boys -"Pet Sounds" (1966)". The Young Folks .
  4. ↑ Gaines 1986, p. 145.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Granata 2003, p. 93.
  6. 1 2 O'Regan 2014, p. 253.
  7. ↑ O'Regan 2016, p. 152.
  8. ↑ Lambert 2007, pp. 240–241.
  9. ↑ Elliott, Brad (August 31, 1999). "Pet Sounds Track Notes". beachboysfanclub.com. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  10. ↑ Fornatale, Pete (November 3, 1976). "Interview with Brian Wilson" (MP3). NY Radio Archive. WNEW-FM 102.7.
  11. ↑ Leaf, David (1997). "Song by Song Notes". The Pet Sounds Sessions (Booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  12. ↑ DeRogatis 2003, p. 34.
  13. ↑ White 1996, p. 252.
  14. ↑ Lambert 2008, pp. 115–116.
  15. ↑ Granata 2003, p. 142.
  16. ↑ Lambert 2008, p. 116.
  17. 1 2 Fusilli 2005, p. 55–56.
  18. ↑ Perone 2012, p. 28.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Slowinski, Craig. "Pet Sounds LP". beachboysarchives.com. Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ Delehant, Jim (June 1967). "Dennis Wilson: We Just Want To Be A Good Group" . Hit Parader – via Rock's Backpages.
  21. ↑ Everett 2009, pp. 15–16.
  22. 1 2 Granata 2003, p. 160.
  23. ↑ Bruce Cole; Andy Collyer; David M Howard, Andy Hunt, Damian Murphy (2005). Student's Guide to Music Tech. As, A2/Edex. Rhinegold Publishing Limited. p. 125. ISBN   978-1-904226-75-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "Comments by Bruce Johnston". The Pet Sounds Sessions (Booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ↑ "Interview with Brian Wilson". The Pet Sounds Sessions (Booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ↑ Granata 2003, p. 223.
  27. ↑ Jopling, Norman (July 2, 1966). "The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (Capitol)" . Record Mirror – via Rock's Backpages.
  28. ↑ Waspensky, Russ (1997). "Pet Sounds Session List". The Pet Sounds Sessions (Booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.

Bibliography

"That's Not Me"
Song by the Beach Boys
from the album Pet Sounds
ReleasedMay 16, 1966
Recordedc. February 15, 1966
Studio Western, Hollywood
Genre
Length2:31
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
Licensed audio
"That's Not Me" on YouTube
Songs
Outtakes
Tribute albums
Related articles
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