A total of 22 takes were attempted for the song. The musicians struggled to play the instrumental break to Wilson's satisfaction. To address this issue, pianist Don Randi suggested to Wilson that they play the parts in staccato, rather than in full quarter notes. Wilson enjoyed the effect and incorporated the change. A string section was subsequently overdubbed onto take 20, marked as "best". The session ended at 4:30a.m. The three-track recording of the instrumental was bounced to one channel of an eight-track tape to allow room for further overdubs.