If Music Could Talk

Silent Majority wrote:

Dr. Medulla wrote:Beach Boys quiz.
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/love ... uiz-adding

To my surprise, I got 7/10. If Flex and Wolter do less than 9, their time in Mike Love's Rape Van will be without lubrication or inebriation.

7/10.

9/10, and I am kicking myself because the one I missed was one I should have gotten.

Wolter wrote:

Silent Majority wrote:

Dr. Medulla wrote:Beach Boys quiz.
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/love ... uiz-adding

To my surprise, I got 7/10. If Flex and Wolter do less than 9, their time in Mike Love's Rape Van will be without lubrication or inebriation.

7/10.

9/10, and I am kicking myself because the one I missed was one I should have gotten.

The answer, as Hoy could have told you, was John Stamos.

Dr. Medulla wrote:

Wolter wrote:

Silent Majority wrote:

Dr. Medulla wrote:Beach Boys quiz.
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/love ... uiz-adding

To my surprise, I got 7/10. If Flex and Wolter do less than 9, their time in Mike Love's Rape Van will be without lubrication or inebriation.

7/10.

9/10, and I am kicking myself because the one I missed was one I should have gotten.

The answer, as Hoy could have told you, was John Stamos.

Dr. Medulla wrote:

Wolter wrote:

Silent Majority wrote:

Dr. Medulla wrote:Beach Boys quiz.
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/love ... uiz-adding

To my surprise, I got 7/10. If Flex and Wolter do less than 9, their time in Mike Love's Rape Van will be without lubrication or inebriation.

7/10.

9/10, and I am kicking myself because the one I missed was one I should have gotten.

The answer, as Hoy could have told you, was John Stamos.

Nailed that one. Missed the first #1 and the last one about time between albums.

10/10. Tho realistically the uk charts thing was a guess.

Flex wrote:10/10. Tho realistically the uk charts thing was a guess.

Same here.

Flex wrote:So, I'm trying to compile a "wilderness years" best of, since the topic has come up. Like, can I pull a dozen or so songs from 85 up until the reunion that make for a listenable collection? Maybe I'll do an "ironically shitty" tracklist later. One rule: needs to include at least one track from each of their major albums from that time.

1. Rock n Roll to the Rescue [Single 1986]
2. Maybe I Don't Know [The Beach Boys, 1985]
3. I'm So Lonely [The Beach Boys, 1985]
4. I Do Love You [The Beach Boys, 1985]
5. California Dreamin' [Single, 1986]
6. Wipeout w/ The Fat Boys [Single, 1987; Still Cruisin', 1989]
7. Island Girl [Still Cruisin', 1989]
8. In My Car [Still Cruisin', 1989]
9. Crocodile Rock [Two Rooms, 1991]
10. Don't Worry Baby w/ Lorrie Morgan [Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, 1996]
11. The Warmth of the Sun w/ Willie Nelson [Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, 1996]
12. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) [Summer in Paradise, 1992]

Jesus.

Here it is.

Addendum: That's the "best" of. I don't think I ended up creating a Greatest Shits... yet.

Flex wrote:

Flex wrote:So, I'm trying to compile a "wilderness years" best of, since the topic has come up. Like, can I pull a dozen or so songs from 85 up until the reunion that make for a listenable collection? Maybe I'll do an "ironically shitty" tracklist later. One rule: needs to include at least one track from each of their major albums from that time.

1. Rock n Roll to the Rescue [Single 1986]
2. Maybe I Don't Know [The Beach Boys, 1985]
3. I'm So Lonely [The Beach Boys, 1985]
4. I Do Love You [The Beach Boys, 1985]
5. California Dreamin' [Single, 1986]
6. Wipeout w/ The Fat Boys [Single, 1987; Still Cruisin', 1989]
7. Island Girl [Still Cruisin', 1989]
8. In My Car [Still Cruisin', 1989]
9. Crocodile Rock [Two Rooms, 1991]
10. Don't Worry Baby w/ Lorrie Morgan [Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, 1996]
11. The Warmth of the Sun w/ Willie Nelson [Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, 1996]
12. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) [Summer in Paradise, 1992]

Jesus.

Here it is.

Addendum: That's the "best" of. I don't think I ended up creating a Greatest Shits... yet.

I'm awaiting your list.

Hey Flex, what is the general fan take (and your take) on all members in terms of influence on the band's music as well as personal influence on the band? Beyond the obvious -
Brian - tortured genius
Mike Love - satan, but sings some important leads
Dennis - ?
Carl - ?
Al "Human Gnome" Jardine -
David Marks -
Those two randos in the 70's -

Doesn't Manson get to be part of the band?

You didn't specify positive or negative influence, so the Uncle Jesse Files should be a good read.

matedog wrote:Hey Flex, what is the general fan take (and your take) on all members in terms of influence on the band's music as well as personal influence on the band? Beyond the obvious -
Brian - tortured genius
Mike Love - satan, but sings some important leads
Dennis - ?
Carl - ?
Al "Human Gnome" Jardine -
David Marks -
Those two randos in the 70's -

Brian - As you say, tortured genius. Super creative and innovative through the 60s, etc. His work up through Pet Sounds is the driving force of the band, becoming more creative with every album, etc. I would say that even after he stepped away, his influence was huge in part by the gaping hole he left in the band that they were never able to quite successfully fill. Subsequent albums post-Pet Sounds are all about the band trying to figure out how to cohere with Brian absent as the lead creative force in the group (something they arguably figured out only for the Sunflower LP) and basically giving him the flexibility to come in and take charge whenever he wanted. Which led to some weird songs and albums and, frankly, probably kept the band from ever truly cohering around a successful post-Brian band identity.

Mike - I actually agree with Mike when he says he's probably the guy who kept the band commercially relevant. Which, whatever, as a music listener I don't necessarily care about how many of a band's albums go gold or what have you, but it's probably the biggest reason the band has kept on in some form or another all the years (fallow as some of those years have been). His burning desire to prove he's not just a sideman to Brian led to Kokomo, so ugh. Had most control of the band on the Still Cruisin'/Summer in Paradise years. I do think that Do It Again probably doesn't get written without his vision of the band in the mix.

Carl - I think he's generally credited for taking lead creative control for those first post-Smile albums. Wild Honey, particularly, has his fingerprints all over it. Helped inject blue eyed soul into the band repertoire and was the band leader for the live shows (for better and worse). As the Last Wilson Standing (literally or figuratively) for a lot of the mid 60s-90s with the band, think he was credited for keeping the family as a creative force in the band. Sad to see his decline in influence with Still Cruisin' and Summer in Paradise, but he was probably also partly responsible for embracing the limp soft rock shit that was the band's late 70s and early 80s output (which Dennis hated).

Dennis - His primitive drumming style was a big part of the early band sound, and he was the group's sex symbol during their Teen Idol years. Sort of a late bloomer creatively, songs like Forever are obviously held to high esteem in the band's canon but his body of work is a bit scattershot. Brought in songwriter Charles Manson to provide material for the group, which was obviously a big get. Was ardently pro-Brian. Him getting less involved with the band, and then dying, pretty much locked in the band's trajectory into soft rock and then... whatever Still Cruisin and SiP were.

Al - Passion for folk music, it's probably reductive but I think of him as partly responsible for picking some choice covers - Sloop John B in particular. I think over the years, as his voice has aged the best out of all the remaining musicians, he sort of keeps that authentic classic sound of the Beach Boys going even now. He contributed some pretty good vocals on the some of the band's big songs - Help Me, Rhonda most obviously - and wrote or co-wrote some material that I particularly like, especially off the Carl and the Passions and Holland LPs.

Bruce Johnston - Basically always given one track to contribute on albums when he's with the band. My personal sense is that his stuff is basically Bruce Johnston with the Beach Boys Backing Band. I actually love a few of his tracks - Disney Girls, Dierdre and Tears in the Morning - but he's all-in on the Mike Love vision of the band.

David Marks - Until the reunion, only played on the first few albums. His guitar style, especially coupled with Dennis' drumming, helped give the band a little bit of that proto-punk garage edge that other bands at that time played more to the hilt. Occasionally will/would come out and do a tour with the band prior to the 50th, but I don't think he had much creative influence after 1963. I don't think he ever got any writing credits with the band.

Ricky Fataar/Blondie Chaplin - Helped write some material for the band during their brief stint (including the excellent "Hold on, Dear Brother") and I think their presence gave the band a bit of a heavier, rock sound during the 70s. They played on the band's best live album (1973's The Beach Boys in Concert), and Chaplin still performs with Brian (saw them last year and his guitar work was definitely rock and roll). Sort of a what-could-have-been scenario, if the Beach Boys had embraced the roots rock stuff they toyed with during the early/mid 70s.

Flex wrote:

matedog wrote:Hey Flex, what is the general fan take (and your take) on all members in terms of influence on the band's music as well as personal influence on the band? Beyond the obvious -
Brian - tortured genius
Mike Love - satan, but sings some important leads
Dennis - ?
Carl - ?
Al "Human Gnome" Jardine -
David Marks -
Those two randos in the 70's -

Carl - I think he's generally credited for taking lead creative control for those first post-Smile albums. Wild Honey, particularly, has his fingerprints all over it. Helped inject blue eyed soul into the band repertoire and was the band leader for the live shows (for better and worse). As the Last Wilson Standing (literally or figuratively) for a lot of the mid 60s-90s with the band, think he was credited for keeping the family as a creative force in the band. Sad to see his decline in influence with Still Cruisin' and Summer in Paradise, but he was probably also partly responsible for embracing the limp soft rock shit that was the band's late 70s and early 80s output (which Dennis hated).

Dennis - His primitive drumming style was a big part of the early band sound, and he was the group's sex symbol during their Teen Idol years. Sort of a late bloomer creatively, songs like Forever are obviously held to high esteem in the band's canon but his body of work is a bit scattershot. Brought in songwriter Charles Manson to provide material for the group, which was obviously a big get. Was ardently pro-Brian. Him getting less involved with the band, and then dying, pretty much locked in the band's trajectory into soft rock and then... whatever Still Cruisin and SiP were.

Al - Passion for folk music, it's probably reductive but I think of him as partly responsible for picking some choice covers - Sloop John B in particular. I think over the years, as his voice has aged the best out of all the remaining musicians, he sort of keeps that authentic classic sound of the Beach Boys going even now. He contributed some pretty good vocals on the some of the band's big songs - Help Me, Rhonda most obviously - and wrote or co-wrote some material that I particularly like, especially off the Carl and the Passions and Holland LPs.

Bruce Johnston - Basically always given one track to contribute on albums when he's with the band. My personal sense is that his stuff is basically Bruce Johnston with the Beach Boys Backing Band. I actually love a few of his tracks - Disney Girls, Dierdre and Tears in the Morning - but he's all-in on the Mike Love vision of the band.

David Marks - Until the reunion, only played on the first few albums. His guitar style, especially coupled with Dennis' drumming, helped give the band a little bit of that proto-punk garage edge that other bands at that time played more to the hilt. Occasionally will/would come out and do a tour with the band prior to the 50th, but I don't think he had much creative influence after 1963. I don't think he ever got any writing credits with the band.

Ricky Fataar/Blondie Chaplin - Helped write some material for the band during their brief stint (including the excellent "Hold on, Dear Brother") and I think their presence gave the band a bit of a heavier, rock sound during the 70s. They played on the band's best live album (1973's The Beach Boys in Concert), and Chaplin still performs with Brian (saw them last year and his guitar work was definitely rock and roll). Sort of a what-could-have-been scenario, if the Beach Boys had embraced the roots rock stuff they toyed with during the early/mid 70s.

Carl is an interesting character. He has a few distinct vocal types: smooth and sweet ("God Only Knows", "I Can Hear Music"), more rambunctious ("Wild Honey"), and then the more belting blue eyed soul (as you mentioned) that you can hear when that smoking and age really took over. What's frustrating from my recent obsession with their 80's/90's work is how he occasionally eschewed his belting for crooning. Particularly on SiP (that god awful cover of "Boardwalk"). There are some genuinely very entertaining performances from him in that era where his voice sounds amazing, even on crap tracks ("Kokomo", ugh "Make It Big", "Still Cruisin"). I think you may be right about his penchant for soft rock, based on his solo work. There's a song called "Of the Times" on one of his solo records where he does that belting thing and sounds amazing. The song isn't particularly great, but that's at least a lot of fun to hear, particularly relative to the 80's soft rock going on everywhere else. Anyway, his strong, almost Michael McDonald esque vocals were one of the few highlights of that era that they really should have exploited more.

Both Carl and Al seem to retain some level of dignity in the "MC Mike Love" era. As you mentioned, Al's voice sounded pretty good in later years and his few performances are the non-low lights on SiP. Interesting to hear his background in folk. I think that ties in with his version of "Lady Lynda".

I've spent some time with Dennis' album and I don't love it, but I see the appeal and there are some definite strong tracks. Man, any videos or interviews of him in the early 80's are real tough to watch.

Any recs on good Beach Boys books? I'm as interested in the rest of the Wilson brothers as I am Brian if that makes any difference.

matedog wrote: Any recs on good Beach Boys books? I'm as interested in the rest of the Wilson brothers as I am Brian if that makes any difference.

Catch a Wave is really good, though Brian-focussed.

Inder wrote:

matedog wrote: Any recs on good Beach Boys books? I'm as interested in the rest of the Wilson brothers as I am Brian if that makes any difference.

Catch a Wave is really good, though Brian-focussed.

Carlin did a pretty good Bruce book too.