Did Carl Play Lead Guitar on Fun, Fun, Fun?

I've never seen a quote from Glen claiming to have played on "Fun, Fun, Fun". I have seen references crediting him with that, from about 30-40 years ago, but with no source cited. Now, Glen DID play acoustic lead guitar - doubling Carl's 12-string electric lead guitar - on the similarly titled "Dance, Dance, Dance", so perhaps that's what led to the incorrect belief among some people regarding him playing on the earlier song. But take my word for it, it's Carl on "FFF". Or, don't take my word - listen for yourself to the session tape, available on the 2014 digital download release "Keep An Eye On Summer". There you can hear Murry telling Carl to sit up straight and quit slouching while playing that great guitar intro. It's all there for the world to hear!

I'm sure this has been noted here before, but I went over to the Hoff and a fan asked the same question 12 years ago regarding who played the intro guitar lick on the Beach Boys "Fun, Fun, Fun". Surprisingly nobody replied to the question. He'd brought it up on a guitar forum and someone challenged this response and asked for his source:

"Glen did the original guitar intro and then during the vocal sessions, Carl and Brian overdubbed the instrumental break guitar and organ. On the stereo version you can hear Carl doubling Glen's original intro guitar but on the mono version (LP and 45) his part is mixed way down. On all three versions Carl plays the instrumental break guitar solo by himself. For years I thought that only Carl played the guitar on this song but then, a few years back I came across the story above in a couple of different threads on this forum. Nobody questioned it so I figured it must be true, but now, doing a search online for "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Glen Campbell" and "guitar solo" nothing comes up at all.  On the January 1, 1964 AFM sheet Glen Campbell is not listed at all. It looks like it was basically a Beach Boys instrumental session. However, I also found some evidence for the "other side" while analyzing some of the overdub session outtakes for "Fun, Fun. Fun." To me, it almost as if Carl is just "learning" the intro and trying to copy the phrasing and dynamics. He sometimes makes mistakes and has trouble keeping up with the other guitar, which shouldn't be a problem if the other guitar was him! :confused:"

When asked during interviews, Carl said he did play the lead (intro) to Fun, Fun, Fun.

On Wiki, Craig notes the following. Recorded at Western January 1, 1964 - overdubs possibly on January 8,9.

Al Jardine – harmony and backing vocal, bass guitar, rhythm guitar
Mike Love – lead and bass vocal
Brian Wilson – harmony and backing vocal, producer, piano, Hammond B3 organ, bass guitar
Carl Wilson – harmony and backing vocal, lead and rhythm guitars
Dennis Wilson – harmony and backing vocal, drums

Additional musicians:

Hal Blaine – tambourine, drums
Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
Jay Migliori – baritone saxophone
Ray Pohlman – 6-string electric bass

Is that info still on the money or is it outdated, Craig? Did Hal double the drums and did three guys really play bass and two play rhythm guitar on that track?

Up until the 2014 "Keep An Eye On Summer" was released, I enjoyed listening to Sea Of Tunes Vol. 5 with the 10 instrumental and vocal takes of Fun, Fun, Fun. 

Did i not hear some session outtakes where Dennis is playing drums and Brian says just play it straight through don't try to make any fills? Was that completely scrapped in deference to two new drum tracks by Hal? So Dennis doesn't play on that song at all?

I'm sorry but I'm not a big fan of The Wrecking Crew as substitutes for band members. Great wonderful musicians and great players but I just think it's disappointing when someone has a chair pulled away to have a sessions guy come in.

It doesn’t bother me at all with Brian using The Wrecking Crew. As with Spector, it was Brian’s motus operandi when it came to producing hit records. With the exception of Carl, I don’t think the rest of the guys minded Brian using studio musicians, especially after long stints on the road.

Thanks, Mikie. So basically it looks as if this poster couldn't find any evidence for the first post that says that Glen did the original guitar intro and that Carl later overdubbed it during the vocal sessions. As a guitar player myself, I would not be surprised if Carl could have laid down a perfect guitar track during the instrumental sessions and then had trouble overdubbing it later. With somewhat intricate parts like that, sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't.

Patsy, that fan's post is about 12 years old. I just threw that in there to show that there were many unanswered questions and misconceptions back then. Jon Stebbins, (Beach Boys FAQ) one of the first Beach Boys authors/researchers to write about the sessions, debunked many of those myths and misconceptions, making very clear that The Beach Boys themselves played on many of their own tracks in the 60's, (especially the early 60's) including the hits. Glen Campbell did play on a few of the songs into the Pet Sounds era, but he also contended that he played on Good Vibrations, which was later proved to be incorrect.

Speaking of Beach Boys authors/researchers.....

It's quite possible that the two were misremembering, since Brian did play bass on the later version, recorded in the key of E for the Concert album. Only the last note was used on the record, as Brian opted for a sped up version of the original recording.

What key is the studio recording in? F?

There is Hammond on the bridge...likely a C3 (which is pretty much the same as a B3, except for a difference in the wooden casing). Technically, on the basic track, Carl plays the intro lead, then switches to playing rhythm for the rest of the song, after which he overdubbed his solo his solo during the vocal takes. I would classify it as "Electric lead/rhythm guitar". 

Affirmative.

Hal on the basic track, Hal on the first overdub, some extra tom work during the fade by Dennis during a vocal overdub.