Inside Tracks #7: Glen Campbell w/Brian Wilson's "Guess I'm Dumb" 1964 + Covers by Wondermints 1996 & Jules Shear 2004

Declined by The Beach Boys, Brian tossed it to an L.A. session player to thank him for a huge favor: How Glen Campbell found "Guess I'm Dumb" in 1964 + 2 covers, all spanning 4 decades!

Glen, originally from Arkansas, moved from Albuquerque to L.A. in 1960, where things began happening….fast. In early 1961, he got a job writing songs and recording demos at American Music Publishing, which got him introductions to Hollywood’s studio session players (he even signed with AMP’s Crest Records that same year). It wasn’t long before Glen became a first-call guitarist, even playing with the Wrecking Crew (shown here, proudly wearing his Wrecking Crew-cut) on Beach Boys hits, “I Get Around,” “Help Me Rhonda” and the “Pet Sounds” album. In ‘62, while still playing sessions, he was signed to Capitol Records, the label for which he spent a large chunk of his recording career.

Glen Campbell, 1965, Capitol Records

Brian Wilson and veteran producer and Warner Bros. Records staffer, Russ Titelman, go all the way back to the mid-’60s, when the two wrote “Guess I’m Dumb” together (Titelman’s name is woefully misspelled, in two places, on the single’s label, shown below).

Titelman produced Brian’s self-titled debut solo album in 1988. “Inside Tracks #6” dove deep into that production, as well as the 2008 recording of “Love and Mercy” by London boy choir, Libera, and their performance for Brian, himself, here:

Inside Tracks #6: The Beach Boy & the Boy Choir, "Love and Mercy" 20 Yrs Apart: Brian Wilson 1988 & Libera 2008

The Beach Boys rejected “Guess I’m Dumb” for proposed inclusion on their The Beach Boys Today! album, released March 8, 1965 on Capitol Records. “When I was finished, no one from the band wanted to sing it,” Brian recounted in his 2016 memoir. “The message was okay, but maybe it was just the idea of being dumb.”

Brian gratefully tossed it to a busy L.A. session guitar player named Glen Campbell to repay him for doing a favor:

Glen had actually replaced Brian in the touring Beach Boys (following Wilson’s well-chronicled nervous breakdown; Glen, below left, shown onstage during the tour) from the previous December to about the time the Boys went into the studio for Today!

In fact, recording for Glen on “Guess I’m Dumb” began in October 1964 at Western Studio, and had to be put on pause until the early spring while Campbell did his Beach Boys turn on the tour. Recording came to a close on March 8 (the day Glen laid down his vocal track), and the single (his seventh for Capitol) was released on June 7, 1965, and failed to chart.

Campbell, once in an interview: “Brian said, ‘Glen, you want to sing it?’ I said, ‘Sure I do.’ Because I kind of liked it. It was a great track and the guys already had some background on it.”

In fact, Campbell had even played on the track initially meant for and played by The Beach Boys before nixing it: “I played on the track for Brian and the Beach Boys, and the guys didn't want to do it,” Glen told Ken Burke in his 2004 book, Country Music Changed My Life. “That’s when Mike Love thought he was the star of the show. If he hadn't had Brian Wilson to write, I don't think anything would have happened.”

Brian (pictured above, left), along with producing and arranging the sessions, also conducted the orchestra, featuring the Sid Sharp Strings.

“Guess I’m Dumb” also marks an important segue, for Brian (and huge adjustment for the other Beach Boys), from his 2-minute chart-dominating surf/girls/car hits to the more sophisticated and orchestral experimentation he’d employ on “Good Vibrations,” Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, and beyond.

Plus, Brian’s uniquely jazzy chord changes, horn and string arrangements echo the wonderfully evocative touch of Burt Bacharach, who was already making an impact on the pop charts.

Building the Track

1. Backing track playback, with Brian in control room: Orchestra, with strings, horns, plus percussion (no vocal track). This is not the final master take used on the final recording: :

2. Backing track, now with backing vocals, which include Brian and Beach Boy brother, Carl Wilson, and The Honeys, featuring Brian’s wife (as of December 1964), Marilyn Wilson née Rovell, sister Diane Rovell, and their cousin, Ginger Blake:

3. Now, before pressing, one final take: Glen’s isolated raw lead vocal + background vocals (first half of video). At the top, Glen can be heard saying, “If it ain’t like I want it, I’ll say shit!”:

4. Master track (with lead vocal) to be pressed:

Marilyn Wilson and Ginger Blake reflected on the song’s relative commercial failure to Ken Sharp in the June 7, 2016 Rock Cellar Magazine: “It’s a shame that Capitol Records did not carry out the promotion of one of the finest performances by Glen Campbell and the beautiful songwriting from Brian Wilson. Brian loved the song as did we. It's a mystery as to why it was not a hit.”

The Wondermints, 1996 (Japan-only release), 2000 Re-release on Sanctuary Records (UK)

L.A.’s Wondermints released four studio albums between 1995 and 2002 (including the band-produced Wonderful World of Wondermints, from whence their cover comes), and various members have been members of Brian’s touring and recording backing band since 1999, so covering one of Brian’s songs was a natural.

The main line-up consisted of Darian Sahanaja (keyboards), the late Nick Walusko (also known as Nicky Wonder, on guitar), and Mike D’Amico (percussion). Other contributors to the Wondermints have included Brian Kassan (bass), Probyn Gregory (various), and David Nolte on bass (David was in L.A.’s The Last; FR&B’s “Audio Autopsy” on their 1979 L.A. Explosion album can be enjoyed here):

Audio Autopsy, 1979: The Last, "L.A. Explosion!" LP on Bomp! Records: Anachronistic Power Pop

The ‘Mints employ some horns, and some tasty guitar figures throughout, but no string section. Unsurprisingly, though, “Brian’s boys” harmonize fully and beautifully, and easily make up for any absence of orchestration (Most fans of the band reach the consensus that it’s Darian handling lead vocals):

Jules Shear, 2004, Valley Entertainment Records

Jules Shear is a true and battle-scarred veteran of the rock wars, and more influential than most fans could ever know. If you’ve seen (or just heard of) MTV’s Unplugged series (1989-2009), ‘twas Jules who conceived and created the concept of acoustically playing well-known plugged-in rock songs. He also hosted the first baker’s dozen episodes on the cable channel once known for airing music videos.

The 70-year-old Pittsburgh native has found homes on major labels like Columbia Records (Jules and the Polar Bears, 1975), and EMI American (1983, produced by Todd Rundgren). He’s been in several bands, including The Funky Kings, The Reckless Sleepers, and Raisins in the Sun.

Jules has also made his mark songwriting, penning hits for Cyndi Lauper (1984’s “All Through the Night” US #5), The Bangles (1986’s “If She Knew What She Wants” #29), and Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers (1988’s “If We Never Meet Again” #48).

Shear described his Sayin’ Hello to the Folks (where you’ll find “Guess I’m Dumb”) as a “mix tape” of his favorite songs: “I felt like recording songs that I like a lot that I didn't write,” he told Paste’s Eliot Wilder in 2004.

“I thought it would be good to record songs that didn't have a life but should’ve had a life. This is my attempt at giving them a life.” He and Stewart Lerman, the album's producer, selected 12 songs from an original list of about 70, of which “Guess I’m Dumb” was one: