The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - III. Friends

 Aloha!

Here we are with the fourth installment of The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 Retrospective (click for the full Spotify playlist) featuring songs from the 1968 album 'Friends', the Beach Boys' fourteenth studio album, the last of the "lo-fi trilogy", and the last to be effectively led by Brian Wilson until their 1977 album 'The Beach Boys Love You'. While I've only chosen five songs from this album (one of which is an uncut version not released at the time), there are two excellent and fascinating tracks I've chosen to omit: "Busy Doin' Nothin'" and "Diamond Head". The former is a straight up bossa nova ala Joao Gilberto or Antonio Carlos Jobim, and it demonstrates just how adept Brian was at adapting and understanding diverse musical styles. The latter is described as "exotica lounge"--a sort of early term for world music--but is clearly inspired by Hawaiian music; it was co-written by Brian with three session musicians and was recorded to complete the album after the other Beach Boys had left for a tour. As such, these two tracks--as great as they are--only feature Brian and are only Beach Boys tracks by virtue of having been released on a Beach Boys record. 

As for the rest, sit back and enjoy selected tracks from 'Friends' ...

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - III. Friends

Friends
- released 24 June 1968                   
Produced by The Beach Boys*

    Recorded at a relatively happy time in Brian Wilson's life, 'Friends' was very nearly a return to form for the Beach Boys' musical leader. Unfortunately, it would not last long as Brian's mental health problems, likely exacerbated by increased drug use, would become acute after the release of the album and he would voluntarily institutionalize himself soon after. While it's unclear if any single cause led to Brian's decision to admit himself to a psychiatric hospital, numerous issues contributed but the failure of the 'Friends' album itself must have played a part. Whereas 'Smiley Smile' and 'Wild Honey' reached number 41 and 24 respectively in the US--'Wild Honey' despite the higher chart position, sold fewer copies--'Friends' only managed to hit number 126 and sold an estimated 18,000 copies at the time. For comparison, their first US number 1 album, 'Beach Boys Concert' (1964) attained gold status--sales of 500,000--in four weeks. (Meanwhile in the UK, the Beach Boys continued to be far more successful with the three albums reaching numbers 9, 7,  and 13 respectively.) However, 'Friends' would--like many of the group's albums of the era--receive much greater appreciation retrospectively and is now generally well regarded. Unfortunately, that appreciation came far too late for a band that was struggling with its place in the rapidly changing pop music landscape.

    Although production was still being credited to the Beach Boys*, Brian Wilson primarily took the helm for this project, even going so far as to call it his "second unofficial solo album", despite the fact that the album not only consisted of co-written material but also two songs attributed to Dennis. Carl, Dennis and Al Jardine all had a significant hand in the songwriting for the first time in the group's history. Mike Love still contributed writing to four songs on the album, but he also only recorded vocals on four of the songs as he was absent for the initial recording sessions. (More on that shortly...) While the other members contributed to the writing, the actual tracks were recorded primarily by session musicians; only a few songs--"Meant For You", "Passing By", "Anna Lee, the Healer"--may have been exceptions. But this meant that Brian was once again in charge and making use of a variety of instruments and tonal colors that had been largely absent on the previous two albums, 'Smiley Smile' and 'Wild Honey' (both '67).  Two songs on the album--"Busy Doin' Nothin'" and "Diamond Head"--only feature Brian, lending credence to the notion that the album was somewhat of an unofficial solo album.

    The songs on 'Friends' are all quite gentle, easy going or introspective. The songs dealt with friendship or feelings of love or goodwill in general ("Meant For You", "Friends", "Be Here in the Mornin'", "Be Still", "Busy Doin' Nothin'"), nature ("Wake the World", "Be Still", "Little Bird", "Meant For You" extended version), and family life including childbirth ("Be Here in the Mornin'", "When a Man Needs a Woman"). Apart from the two instrumentals, the two other songs on the album--"Anna Lee, the Healer" and "Transcendental Meditation"--did not fit quite as neatly into the overall themes of the album, and yet they were not entirely out of place either. These were among the songs that Mike Love had the most direct influence on as they were borne of the group's recent introduction to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. "Meant For You", also co-written by Love, is reflective of the inner peace experienced through meditation and helps to bring these songs together into the overall mood of the album.

Mike Love is at the far right, wearing dark blue

    The Beatles were first introduced to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in London in August of 1967. The Beach Boys--minus Brian--met him subsequently in Paris while they were on tour in Europe for the 'Wild Honey' album. Mike Love  became particularly enamored with the Maharishi's teaching and was invited to attend the training seminar in India the following year. This was the same seminar that the Beatles famously attended. Love arrived in Rishikesh at the end of February 1968, while the other Beach Boys began recording songs for the 'Friends' album; he would start his return journey home on March 15th, his birthday, after celebrating with the Beatles (Ringo had already left by this point), Donavon, Prudence and Mia Farrow and other members of the Beatles coterie. This would not only account for Love's absence but also for the Beach Boys continued association with TM (transcendental meditation) and the Maharishi throughout the 70s. However, it also led to a disastrous tour with the Maharishi later that year after the Beatles had already distanced themselves from the yogi in April due to rumours of their spiritual guru making sexual advances towards several women during their time there. Additionally, the recent assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th had led to riots and racial tensions that also led to cancelled shows during the preceding tour supported by the Buffalo Springfield. (Shortly after this, Dennis Wilson also began his association with Charles Manson, but more on that when we get to '20/20', the following album.) The tour with the Maharishi was cancelled after only five shows due to poor ticket sales--at one 16000-capacity venue, less than a thousand people showed up. These were difficult times but hopes were high perhaps that the album, released the following month, would turn their fortunes around.

    Unfortunately, this was not to be. At some point in the weeks following the release of 'Friends', Brian's mental health began a precipitous decline. Danny Hutton, friend of Brian's and singer for Three Dog Night, said that during the summer of '68 was when Brian's "real decline started." Tensions peaked during session in which the group attempted an arrangement of the 1927 showtune, "Ol' Man River"; Wilson was attempting to return the level of extreme perfectionism such as had originally created tensions during 'Pet Sounds', and according to music writer Bride Chidester, "he and the band seemed at the end of their rope with one another." You can hear the somewhat listless performance from the group in this unfinished recording of the song. It was around this time that Brian's first wife Marilyn quoted him saying, "Ok you assholes, you think you can do as good as me or whatever -- go ahead -- you do it. You think it's so easy? You do it." Brian's subsequent withdrawal from the band had truly began; Hutton stated that Brian had expressed suicidal wishes; Brian perceived that the rest of the group resented him; the group had lost several hundred thousand dollars due to cancelled tour dates; and the failure of 'Friends' led to their record label, Capitol, to panic and ultimately lose faith in the Beach Boys. 

    1968 as a whole would prove to be the first major low period for the band after the collapse of 'SMiLE'. While there would still be some high points, such as the hastily written and recorded "Do It Again", a self-conscious callback to their surfing days--a top 20 US hit and their second UK number 1 after "Good Vibrations"--released two weeks after 'Friends' struggled to make the charts, and signs of recovery as the Beach Boys would release two excellent albums with 'Sunflower' ('70) and 'Surf's Up' ('71), their glory days were now and forever well and truly behind them. The music scene was changing; the 60s blues explosion that birthed the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and Cream would soon give way to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The American music scene was trending towards singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen along with the burgeoning country-rock scene spearheaded by the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Pop music was becoming increasingly socially conscious as well as expanding beyond psychedelia into more complex forms as concept albums and progressive rock came to the fore. 'SMiLE' would very much been a part of these developments had it been completed; it would have preceded the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'; it would have been musically and lyrically progressive (as tracks released on subsequent albums would bear out); and it would have been socially conscious, reflecting as much of it did on American as it was and as it came to be. 

    Brian Wilson's January '68 interview with Jamake Highwater gives us a Brian that was together and hopeful, looking forward to making new music. He seemed genuinely impressed with the benefits his bandmates had gotten from transcendental meditation. In hindsight, fans of the group could have hoped that this was the turning point for Brian and the Beach Boys, that 'Friends' would hail a more collaborative dynamic within the group, and that they would continue to develop as a unified whole, but it was not to be. In hindsight, it's amazing the Beach Boys continued at all. In many ways, I believe it would have been better if they hadn't, but the demands of the business, high living, and financial burdens likely required that they carry on. After all, they had been a group since most of them were teenagers--what other life did they know?

13. Friends (B. Wilson/C. Wilson/D. Wilson/A. Jardine)    2:32

    - released as a single on 8 April 1968 (US no. 47; UK no. 25)

    Believing there weren't enough waltzes in contemporary pop music, Brian adapted the original song from 4/4 into waltz time. While a relatively straightforward song structurally, "Friends" does have some unusual qualities harmonically. There's the half-step up in key (from D to Eb) mid-verse; the harmonic planing of 7th and major chords up a D-lydian scale at the end of the verse; along with--typically of Brian--the overall harmonic ambiguity of the song. (It floats around the key of D but never settles on a particular mode.) 

    Brian was also making more elaborate use of session musicians with vibes, upright bass, saxophone, strings, and harmonica (the bass harmonica, when the harmony changes to Eb, rhythmically plays two against three--an especially nice little touch) just to name some of the colors utilized. The drums, played with brushes rather than sticks, also adds to the songs easy-going vibe. 

    After all, the song is about friendship. On first listen, I didn't think it was necessarily about the singer's male friends and, even after reading the lyrics, the gender of the friend is ambiguous. The line "I talked your folks out of making you cut off your hair", for examples, evokes the song "Caroline, No" ("Where did your long hair go?"), so my initial impression was that it was about a female friend. Rhonda, perhaps?

14. Be Here in the Mornin' (B. Wilson/C. Wilson/D. Wilson/M. Love/A. Jardine)    2:17

    Another waltz albeit with a bit of a Hawaiian vibe, this one was another collaboration with everyone but Johnston contributing. It also features additional vocals provided by Brian's first wife Marilyn and the Wilson's father, Murry. Murry's presence is slightly surprising considering he'd been fired as the group's manager in 1964; however, he was still involved in the group's publishing as head of Sea of Tunes having taken sole ownership in 1965 due to a verbal agreement with Brian. (This handover came partly in consequence of a rather vitriolic letter Murry wrote to Brian on May 8th, 1965--it is astounding and speaks to the troubled dynamics within the family.) That and, of course, he was still father and uncle to four of the six Beach Boys.

    Musically, this one is also fairly straightforward in many respects; the chord progressions for the most of the song are standard ones (I, IV, iii7, vi--in the verse; I, vi7, IV, ii7, V7, I, IVsus4-3--in the chorus). However, the alternating lines of the verse, like "Friends", plane harmonically across major chords that are further emphasized by the parallel harmonies in the vocals; the parallel octaves in the bass and top tenor vocals create a particularly unusual sound that I find quite interesting. Even more unusual is the fourth line (the wordless "ooh ah ah ah ah") is only two bars--one in 3/4 and the second in 4/4. Touches like these, along with Jardine's vari-sped up vocals and the flange added to Carl's second chorus vocals, are what makes songs like this fascinating. 

15. Passing By (B. Wilson)    2:24

    A chill instrumental somewhat typical of a certain strain of music throughout the era, one could imagine "Passing By" being used in a soundtrack about the hip, swinging youth. That doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement, but it is. Quincy Jones was known for his soundtracks in the '60s and I could see this tune fitting in nicely with some of his music from the era. It's also got plenty of harmonic flavor with numerous 7th chords--major, minor, and diminished--throughout. While harmonically centered around Eb with interludes that move to the dominant key of Bb, chords will also shift from major to minor--the first phrase of the verse begins with an Eb-major7, the second phrase with Eb-minor7; the verses end with a Bb-minor to Bb-major. The outro of the song simply alternates Eb-major7 and Eb-minor7 as the melody repeats and adjusts accordingly to the shifting harmony. It's subtle but effective.

    This may also be one of only a couple of songs on which many of the Beach Boys themselves play with Brian on organ, Johnston on keyboard, Carl on guitar, Jardine on bass, and Dennis on conga. These last two are not certain, however. Lyle Ritz, a member of the Wrecking Crew, covered the bass parts for most of the album but theses parts were often doubled with both electric and upright basses being recorded. Jim Gordon, another Wrecking Crew member and later of Derek & the Dominoes fame, played drums on most of the tracks--as this track features drums and congas, it's possible Dennis played the latter.

16. Little Bird (D. Wilson/Steve Kalinich)^    2:02

    Probably my favorite track on the album, it's like an R&B song got together with a Disney song and made a baby and that baby was "Little Bird", the first song credited to Dennis Wilson along with poet Stephen Kalinich. Kalinich, with whom Brian would the next year produce the album 'A World of Peace Must Come', stated that Brian in fact rewrote most of the music for the track but didn't take any credit as a way of helping out his younger brother. This is borne out by the fact that a section of the unreleased 'SMiLE' track, "Child is Father of the Man", can be heard in the penultimate section the song with the muted trumpet.

    Otherwise, this is a relatively simple tune harmonically; each section only has two chords that alternate. However, each section of the song essentially transposes to another key, so the harmony has different feeling each time around with only the initially G-minor and D-minor7 chords of the verse repeating with regularity. Other touches like the syncopated bass of the verses, the cello arrangements, the counterpoint of the wordless vocals, the horns on the bridge, and of course the banjo all contribute to making this a really unique song. One of my favorite moments in the song comes just about halfway through when Dennis sings "mow the lawn"; the backing vocals are doing a heavy, shimmering, hummed vibrato--an unusual effect in general, but especially for the Beach Boys who otherwise rarely used vibrato.

    Finally, the final verse, in which Dennis is joined by the others, is the only one to have a harmonic shift mid-section; the vocal harmony ends on a suspended chord ("life") as the chord progression transposes from G-minor to C-major. The final section is, in my opinion, very much like something you would have heard in a Disney movie such as Robin Hood or Song of the South--it just a bit of that vibe, especially with the lyrics being what they are. What's more, Brian would release a solo album of Disney songs in 2011, 'In the Key of Disney', and Disney was no less a California institution than the Beach Boys. Either way, it was the first song that I'd ever heard sung by Dennis and it immediately jumped out as one of the coolest on the album, even for all its "Disneyfication".

17. Meant For You - alternate version with session intro (B. Wilson/M. Love)    2:17

    Finally, although this song opened the album with a 38-second edit, I've included the full length version here for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the full length version clocks in at 1:50 and considering that one criticism of the album was how short it was at 25 and a half minutes, it seems strange that they would cut so much of the song. (For a comparison, the two longest songs together on Jimi Hendrix's double album, 'Electric Ladyland', released that same year, are longer than 'Friends' in its entirety.) What's more, the two lines cut from the song, sung by Brian, were very much in keeping with the spirit of the album with references to love, family, friendship, and nature. It's a very gentle, welcoming song to bring listeners into the spiritual space the album inhabits. I, for one, think it was a mistake to have cut it.

    Secondly, the extended version linked above begins with some of the session chatter; here you can hear Murry advising Brian from the control booth. They seem to be getting on well; considering what the Wilson family had gone through up to that point, it seemed they were still trying to work things out and find ways to get along with each other. It's not for us to know whether Brian and his brothers ever really made peace with their father, but the relationship would continue to be up and down until Murry's passing in 1973. Though this song, likely inspired by Mike's introduction to TM after having been introduced to it by Dennis, speaks of peace in one's mind and the feelings in one's heart, the history of the Beach Boys would continue to be a tragic one. 

    

*            *            *

With that, the golden era of the Beach Boys was definitively over as Brian's mental health issues led him to institutionalize himself and withdraw further from the group. While he would continue to write some new material for the group over the next 2-3 years, the bulk of it would be drawn either from the 'SMiLE' sessions or from other not yet completed material. The new material that he would complete would be some of his most deeply personal music and speak volumes as to the personal turmoil he was going through. The other Beach Boys, in the meantime, would soldier on with each of its members contributing to various degrees but with Dennis Wilson and Bruce Johnston most significantly filling in the gaps. While not successful at the time, a couple of these later albums have come to be highly regarded and I have to agree, they're good. So, until next time ...

Surf's up!

- DH

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - II. Wild Honey

 Wellity wellity wellity!

Back again, are you, for some in depth analysis or profoundly poetic musings on one of America's greatest bands? If so, this may be the wrong page for you! These analytical musings definitely fall somewhere in the middle of that particular spectrum, but if you are interested in learning about The Beach Boys and their history at what were arguably the most critical years for them as a group, both collectively and individually, and hearing the songs that were created at that time, then this is ... definitely a place for that! ... If nothing else ...  (As before here is the complete playlist on Spotify.)

So without further ado, here are my selected tracks for 'Wild Honey' ... 

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - II. Wild Honey

Wild Honey

 - released 18 December 1967                   Produced by The Beach Boys

    Released exactly three months after 'Smiley Smile', 'Wild Honey' continued the generally lo-fi approach to recording that Brian Wilson had begun with the previous album but with more conventional song structures and lyrics. This album also had the strongest R&B flavor of any Beach Boys record up to that point. (They had previously covered Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance?" featuring Dennis Wilson on lead vocals on the 1965 release 'Today!') Apart from writing and recording their own heavily R&B-influenced songs, the group also did a respectable cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her"--a No. 2 hit for Wonder the previous July.) 

Carl Wilson was a noted fan of Motown and, as such, sang more lead vocals than on any previous Beach Boys release with four lead and at least two co-lead vocals, a trend that began with 'Smiley Smile' and would only continue as Brian became less and less willing to contribute both musically and vocally. Brian would also, with this album, begin asking his youngest brother take on more production duties.

    As mentioned in the previous post on 'Smiley Smile', "Mama Says" was originally part of the 'SMiLE' song, "Vegetables", but whereas both the 'SMiLE' and 'Smiley Smile' versions of the song were credited to Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, "Mama Says" excluded any credit to Parks and credited Love instead. Regardless of whether "Mama Says" was properly credited or not, 'Wild Honey' marked the first time since 'Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)' that Love had served as Brian's primary collaborator. (Of that album's 12 songs, Love was originally only credited on one song, but seven more credits were added after the 1990s court case brought by Love against Wilson that represented the climax of that particular battle but one that has left lasting scars on the group's legacy.*)

    'Wild Honey' was also the first album since the aforementioned 'Summer Days' on which the Beach Boys served as primary instrumentalists and not since 'All Summer Long' (1964) had they played the bulk of the material themselves, although only Brian, Carl and maybe Dennis performed on most or all of the tracks. Bruce Johnston, who had joined the touring band as Brian's replacement in '64 and soon after became an official member, skipped the 'Smiley Smile' sessions entirely but would take on a greater role on subsequent albums; however, his absence from the previous album would represent the beginning of a trend in which each of the core members would have varying levels of involvement throughout future albums. (Dennis, for example, was only present on two songs for 1971's 'Surfs Up'.)

    Most significantly, the harmonies for which the Beach Boys had become famous are largely absent on 'Wild Honey' with vocal arrangements that were leaner and looser. While on one hand, this approach was perhaps fitting in the R&B context of the album, it may also have been part of an attempt by the group to counter their reputation as "choir boys" or--as Jimi Hendrix quipped after the release of "Heroes and Villains"--a "psychedelic barbershop quartet."

    Though 'Wild Honey' would attain a positive retrospective reassessment in the future, it was the Beach Boys worst selling album ever in the US at the time, underselling even their debut album 'Surfin' Safari' (1962). The album had its fans even then, however, including Jim Morrison of The Doors and producer Tony Visconti. Largely viewed as an inconsequential album at the time, 'Wild Honey' failed to turn the tide back in the Beach Boys' favor and their fortunes continued to dwindle as serious self-doubts, poor financial decisions and regrettable associations continued to dog them through the rest of the decade. 

6. Aren't You Glad (B. Wilson/M. Love)    2:15

    Sitting comfortably between the weirdness of 'Smiley Smile' and their earlier material, 'Aren't You Glad' is charming song that makes the best of the lo-fi style in which Brian was then working but with the addition of sessions musicians. (While it appears certain that Brian and Carl play on the track, it's not clear if any of the other Beach Boys did.) The odd guitar and organ parts in the pre-chorus ("I got a heart that just won't stop beating for you") bring to mind the music of the animated kid's show, Spongebob Squarepants--slightly discordant, imprecise, and childlike in execution but endearing for that very reason. And whatever qualms I may have with Mike Love's behavior and personality, he was doing some of his best singing in these years and this song is just one example.

7. A Thing Or Two (B. Wilson/M. Love)     2:40

    Even more evocative of the music of Spongebob Squarepants is this song, "A Thing Or Two". Appropriately described by one music critic as a "sibling" to 'Smiley Smile's "Gettin' Hungry", it is still more conventional in its overall level of production and execution. I especially appreciate Carl's singing on the track and the odd juxtaposition of the "Spongbobian" verses with the heavy-albeit-sans-drums choruses. At the time, "A Thing Or Two" was about as rock'n'roll as the Beach Boys had ever gotten, and yet the drums are so minimal--consisting primarily of hi-hat--that I can't help but wonder if Dennis wasn't absent for this one. Regardless, the song works for me because of its minimal, carefree and oddly joyful quality, a quality that happily screams, "Drums? Drums?! We don't need no stinkin' drums!"

8. Darlin' (B. Wilson/M. Love)    2:11    - released as a single 18 December 1966

   The most thoroughly produced track on 'Wild Honey' and the second single released for the album, the history of "Darlin'" is perhaps a telling one. Evolved from "Thinkin' Bout You Baby", originally written and produced for Sharon Marie, "Darlin'" was revised and rewritten by Brian as a track for the group Redwood (later Three Dog Night) along with "Time to Get Alone" (later releaser on the Beach Boys album '20/20'). The overall production on both tracks is of a noticeably higher quality; both songs utilized session players (such as long-time associate, drummer Hal Blaine) and a greater amount of time and attention to craft were clearly given to these songs in comparison to others on the album. Carl and Mike had urged--if not insisted--that Brian focus more of his energy on creating material for the Beach Boys rather than other artists. The fact that Brian was putting more effort into the work he was doing for groups or artists other than the Beach Boys suggests that he had lost interest in being a Beach Boy and would have preferred to do his own thing.

    "Darlin'" is a solid track, also worth noting for being one of the few tracks to more prominently feature the group's trademark vocal harmonies. Many of the other songs feature only limited group vocals, some only individual vocal parts, but with almost all of the other songs apart from "Darlin'", the group vocals are generally more raw and less refined than had been typical of Brian's earlier productions.

9. I'd Love Just Once to See You (B. Wilson/M. Love)     1:48

    The shortest song on the album, I have a hard time believing that Mike Love had anything to do with the writing of this song. Brian had in the past written a few songs which he was responsible for both the music and lyrics ("Surfer Girl", "The Little Girl I Once Knew", "Girl Don't Tell Me"--yes, there seems to be a theme emerging ...) and I expect that this was probably one as well. 

    It's a simple tune with a simple arrangement and straight forward, amusing lyrics. It's by no means a groundbreaking work from the creator of 'Pet Sounds' but it's very easy to enjoy. It's also one of only two songs that Brian sings the entire lead vocal on.

10. Here Comes the Night (B. Wilson/M. Love)     2:42

    One of my favorite songs for its harmonically uncentered chorus, "Here Comes the Night" also has the unfortunate reputation for one of the Beach Boys' most ill-conceived tracks but only its re-recording on their 1979 'L.A. (Light Album)' album as an extended disco track. That version, which I won't subject you to (in its entirety--ha!), was the brainchild of the recently rejoined Bruce Johnston and co-producer Curt Becher and at nearly 11 minutes--a full quarter of the album--shows how desperate the Beach Boys would eventually become for material. But forget about that version and soak in the original--it's a cool song. "Here Comes the Night" is probably one of the funkiest songs the group ever did and they did a few over the next few years. 

    A final note: This is one I also doubt Mike having been involved in writing, though I'm less certain here. The main reason for this is that only the Wilson brothers (along with session player Ron Brown on bass) were involved in the recording. Mike, Bruce and Al were all absent.

11. Let the Wind Blow (B. Wilson/M. Love)     2:18

    According to Wikipedia, "Let the Wind Blow" was written by Mike Love and "rearranged" by Brian. While I can't be entirely sure what "rearranged" means, I will say that in my opinion this surely stands as Mike Love's greatest contribution to the Beach Boys cannon. It's a one of the best on the album and, apart from the absence of Jardine and Johnston, it's pure Beach Boys--no session musicians.

12. How She Boogalooed It (M. Love/B. Johnston/A. Jardine/C. Wilson)    1:56

    Although one of the least consequential songs on the album, it's still a fun little tune. More importantly, it's the first real song (apart from the instrumental "Denny Drum's") to be written and recorded by the group without input from Brian. It is a strange song. It doesn't really have a chorus. It lacks any of the typical Beach Boys harmonies. But it has a solid riff and drive to it, and Carl's vocals (probably utilizing vari-speed) hold it together. In any case, it would signal the beginning of the other Beach Boys contributing material to the group's records.

*        *        *

* Oh, about that asterisk from earlier ... I just had a thought on the recent 'The Beach Boys' documentary that was released earlier this year. First of all, I enjoyed it; it was well put together by Frank Marshall and gave a good overview of the Beach Boys founding and career through to ... well, just the mid-70s really. This shortcoming of the film has been remarked on by many apparently, but my biggest critique is in regards to what seems to be its revisionist history in one major respect. Again, we're talking about Mike Love's contributions. The doc leans noticeably into this narrative that Mike's lyrics were an essential part of the group's success, and even in a promotional video of the film's premiere, guests were repeatedly bringing up Love's contributions as if it were a prepared talking point.

    So, ok, forget about the debate about Love's contributions and just look at the songs themselves. Even among the Beach Boys' early hits, Brian collaborated with several people: Gary Usher, Roger Christian, Tony Asher, and Van Dyke Parks. So based on that alone, I find the emphasis on Love's contributions slightly disingenuous. But further considering that many of Love's contributions only came after the 90s court case and the extent of his contributions were in some cases very limited--on "I'm Waiting For the Day", Love apparently only revised eight (8!) words of Brian's original lyrics--I'm tempted to call BS ... but it doesn't really matter, does it? It's well-documented that Love had a tendency to complain about other people's lyrics and occasionally worm his way into a credit. "I Get Around" is one case in particular; Love called Brian's original lyrics "pussy lyrics"--the original verse was "Well there's a million little girls just waitin' around / But there's only so much to do in a little town / I get around from town to town"--which makes me just want to ask WTF Mike was talking about. So AGAIN Brian had already written lyrics to the song and Mike revised them, in that case, because he had forced--it would appear--his opinion of the original lyrics on Brian. Would it be any surprise Brian wanted to write with people other than Mike Love? Not if that's the kind of working relationship they had, it isn't.

Well, that's enough of that! Coming up will be my selected tracks for 'Friends', the failure of which was truly the beginning of the end for Brian Wilson as the band's main musical force; however, the album was also the beginning of the rest of the group making significant writing contributions. Dennis Wilson in particular began to develop his skills as a songwriter and singer, but the band's troubles would also continue and their previous level of success only slipped further away ...

Until next time!

- DH

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - I. Smiley Smile

Surf's up, y'all!

Here is the first part of my track-by-track rundown of the Beach Boys 1967-'71 playlist with some brief notes on the albums and the tracks themselves, detailing why I like them, they're unusual or otherwise of historical note. In the telling of these albums and songs is the telling of the Beach Boys themselves in their attempts to wrestle with their rapidly declining fortunes, the mental decline of band leader Brian Wilson, and status as virtual pariahs to the musical press. It was a bleak time for the band that birthed the surf and sunshine of California rock'n'roll, and yet despite that they were still creating some of their most beautiful and moving work.

So without further ado, here are my selected tracks for 'Smiley Smile' ...

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71 - I. Smiley Smile

1. Good Vibrations (B. Wilson/M. Love)    3:37                                           - released as a single 10 October 1966

   Originally a potential track for 'Pet Sounds', work on "Good Vibrations" first began in February of 1966. It was the first track in which Brian Wilson would utilize his new style of modular composition, arranging and recording a variety of fragments for each potential part of the song that could be then cut together in a variety of ways. As such, it borrows a technique essentially pioneered by composers of musique concrete, a form of composition begun in the 1940s that created sound collages by splicing different bits of audio tape together. Harmonically, "Good Vibrations" was vastly different from anything the Beach Boys had done before and the Wilson patriarch, Murry Wilson, worried that they risked alienating their audience with such a wildly different sound. However, it became a worldwide hit. Brian Wilson's reputation as a musical genius seemed certain and the song's legacy can be heard across genres from Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin' On' to Pink Floyd's 'Money', Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and on through hip hop's cutting and sampling approach. The song itself was interpolated as recently as on Beyonce's 'Ya Ya' from her album 'Cowboy Carter' (2024).

Smiley Smile - released 18 September 1967

Produced by The Beach Boys

    As a child, 'Smiley Smile' was one of two Beach Boys albums that I recall my dad having in his record collection. I asked him recently what the other was; he said it was 'Pet Sounds' but, for whatever reason, I remember the other album being 'Surf's Up'--that particular album cover is a striking one and the complete opposite in tone to the cheerful, childlike impression given by the cover of 'Smiley Smile'. (The differences between the two covers reflect the changes that occurred for the band in the intervening years.) Regardless of which the second album was, I only clearly remember listening to 'Smiley Smile' and not all of it at that. Only a handful of tracks stuck out in my memory.

    I expect my dad bought 'Smiley Smile' primarily for "Good Vibrations", though if he does indeed have 'Pet Sounds', he--like many others who were impressed by that album's artistic virtues--may have bought the album in the expectation of a similarly adventurous and sophisticated collection of songs. While I haven't asked what his initial impressions of the album were, the reaction of the general public at the time was one of bafflement. Whereas 'Pet Sounds' had been meticulously written, recorded and produced by Brian Wilson with an attention to detail bordering on despotism--a level of obsessiveness that only increased to the breaking point with the abandoned 'SMiLE', 'Smiley Smile' was a deliberately underproduced and spare album with often weird and off-the-wall lyrics. It would be a safe assumption that Brian considered this an intentionally light-hearted and humorous project--in conjunction with 'SMiLE', he had made plans to produce a humor-based album and the Beach Boys had a history of including spoken-word vignettes. The album's lack of production also had some precedent in the Beach Boys' 'Party!' album (1965), which is now regarded as the first "unplugged" album though mostly composed of covers rather than original material. 

    On the other hand, the production of 'Smiley Smile' was also deliberately credited to the band as a whole, though Brian was still the one generally leading the sessions. Many of the sessions were held in the newly-built studio in Brian Wilson's Bel Air home; the home-spun atmosphere is evident throughout the album as is the overt inattention to perfection. But it also suggests that Brian had more or less thrown in the towel at this point; he was no longer willing to carry the burden of being the one Beach Boy solely responsible for the group's successes or failures. (It's important to note that Brian Wilson had effectively produced all of the group's albums from the beginning, though only being credited beginning with their third, 'Surfer Girl'.) The album almost comes across as a giant "F%&# YOU" to the public, the critics, and even the Beach Boys themselves. It comes across to me as his way of saying, "This is what you get when you don't appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears that I put into the Beach Boys music." For all that, it's still a fascinating album albeit one less of songs than of moods and fragments, a characterization that could be applied similarly to David Bowie's 'Low'. It's gone on to attain cult status as one of the first DIY albums and has the appreciation of artists such as Elvis Costello, Stereolab, Father John Misty, Pete Townshend, Robbie Robertson and Steven Tyler.

A side note: The 'Smiley Smile' album cover features the "Smile House" from the cover of the unreleased 'SMiLE' album. I always loved the whimsical mystery the 'Smiley Smile' cover evoked, though it was perhaps also indicative of the turmoil that surrounded the unreleased 'SMiLE'.

2. Heroes and Villains (B. Wilson/V.D. Parks)    3:36     - released as a single 24 July 1967

    Work on this song spanned nearly the entirety of the 'SMiLE' sessions with thirty session dates devoted to it at an approximate cost of $40k at the time (well over a quarter of a million in today's terms). "Heroes and Villains" was far and away the most complex work Brian Wilson had up to then undertaken. According to various sources who were working directly with Brian or were Beach Boys associates, there were multiple versions of the song with one reportedly as long as 11 minutes. The chorus section of the song was recorded in numerous permutations, some of which were incorporated into other 'SMiLE' songs such as "Roll Plymouth Rock"--likewise, other sections that were originally included as part of "Heroes and Villains"--namely "I'm in Great Shape" and "Barnyard"--were later excised and arranged as separate tracks. As such, it became difficult even for Brian to know precisely where the sessions for "Heroes and Villains" ended and other songs began.

    It's been written that Brian Wilson's troubles with auditory hallucinations--They began after his first and only acid trip in 1965--were becoming increasingly problematic at this time while they were also fueling some of his most fascinating vocal experimentations. (Wilson himself referred to the voices he heard as 'heroes and villains' as they could be alternately encouraging and abusive.) For some of the other Beach Boys, however, some of the experiments were described as "like being trapped inside an insane asylum" (Jardine) and "demoraliz[ing]" (Johnston). In any case, whereas the initial writing sessions with Wilson's lyrical collaborator Van Dyke Parks proved fruitful and recording sessions for the album in the latter half of 1966 began in good spirits, by the beginning of '67 tensions between Parks and Wilson and Wilson's bandmates--not too mention the increasing number of Brian's associates that he had accrued while the other Beach Boys were on tour for 'Pet Sounds'--were making successful completion of the project increasingly tenuous. With multiple factors--internal conflicts, mental health issues, and alleged drug use--contributing, Parks' departure in the spring of '67 significantly compounded Wilson's difficulty in constructing a finished product, comprised as it was of a vast assemblage of intentionally interchangeable parts that constituted the album as a whole.

    By June of 1967, Brian Wilson had thrown in the towel and even the version of "Heroes and Villains" initially intended for 'SMiLE' was significantly reduced in scope  with several major sections being excised from the released version. For a comparison, consider this version, which has a much more obvious Western-Cowboy vibe to it, or even this one, that is actually shorter but still significantly different. Only a portion of the backing track from October of '66 was used for the released single. The shifting tempos, "muddy" mix, and obscure lyrics all played a part in the mixed public and critical reaction to the song's release, a release for which expectations were increasingly high following the immense critical success of 'Good Vibrations' and the subsequent promotion for the unreleased 'SMiLE'. The response to "Heroes and Villains" was decidedly underwhelming and would, for several decades, be a song that Brian Wilson would refuse to discuss as it represented such a deeply personal artistic failure. It also marked the beginning of his descent into despair, increasing seclusion, and worsening mental health problems, problems which none of the people around him were prepared or adequately educated to address. In all likelihood, Brian Wilson's difficulties were only exacerbated by his inability to free himself of the Beach Boys and get the help he desperately needed.

3. Vegetables (B. Wilson/V.D. Parks)    2:08

    One of the Beach Boys' songs I most clearly remember from my childhood, it should be no wonder that a song not only as silly as this one but also a beautifully done should attract the attention of a child. Originally intended for 'SMiLE', the original version also included a section later released as "Mama Says" on the album following 'Smiley Smile' released only three months later, 'Wild Honey'. Almost entirely re-recorded for 'Smiley Smile', only the ending coda is from the 'SMiLE' sessions, but even this brief segment features some of the wildest vocal techniques that Brian had been experimenting with during the 'SMiLE' sessions.

    Although a far cry from the Beach Boys earlier work, I'd rate this as a personal favorite and not just out of nostalgia. The song's simple production and humor are perfectly balanced, though the original 'SMiLE' version certainly has its own charm. (I especially like the verse discarded from the released version--"I threw away my candy bar and I ate the wrapper..." and it includes an entirely different coda which also recalls "Heroes and Villains".) 

4. She's Goin' Bald (B. Wilson/M. Love/V.D. Parks)    2:16

    Another song I distinctly remember listening to in my childhood, "She's Goin' Bald" is even stranger than "Vegetables". Evolved from a lyrically-unrelated track from the 'SMiLE' sessions--"He Gives Speeches"--this track quickly goes into the most bizarre territory the Beach Boys had ever travelled with its vari-sped, increasingly chipmunkesque bridge (a nod to The Silhouettes "Get a Job") that passes through cartoonish, horror movie exposition and eventually ending with the "ain't nothin' upside your head" fadeout. 

    "She's Goin' Bald" is unquestionably a startlingly strange track from a group that had a reputation for being relatively square; it's amazing in hindsight that Capitol Records allowed the album to be released, though this may have had something to do with the band's lawsuit with Capitol Records earlier in the year over unpaid royalties. ('Smiley Smile' was jointly published under the Wilsons' own label, Brother Records, whereas future records--through '20/20'--were published solely by Capitol at which point their contract with the label expired in the midst of the group's most serious financial troubles.)     

    'Smiley Smile' would attain status as a cult classic, bolstered by tracks like "She's Goin' Bald", but it's still incredible to think that the song exists on an album that was released by the same group (albeit made predominantly by Brian Wilson) that released 'Pet Sounds' just the previous year.

5. Gettin' Hungry (B. Wilson/M. Love)    2:33        - released as a single 28 August 1967

    Believe it or not, "Gettin' Hungry" was technically the Beach Boys' follow-up single after "Heroes and Villains" as it was released about a month later. If "Heroes and Villains" simply disappointed expectations, this one surely puzzled the public and critics alike. However, it was not credited as an official Beach Boys single but was rather credited solely to Brian Wilson and Mike Love. ("Wild Honey", the title track of the following album, released a month later, would be the band's official follow-up.) While it was Love's first official solo release, it Wilson's second, the first being "Caroline, No" which was then subsequently released as the closing track on 'Pet Sounds'. The release of that track as a solo record could be compared to the Beatles' song "Yesterday"; written and performed only by Paul McCartney without the other Beatles, there was much debate as to whether to release that song as a solo record. "Caroline, No", the recording and release of which was not welcomed by the other Beach Boys, failed to achieve much success as a solo single. Had the single succeeded, Brian vacillated on what would've happened next but suggested the possibility that 'Pet Sounds' could have been released as a Brian Wilson solo album, rather than under the Beach Boys name.

    "Gettin' Hungry" is arguably not a very good song or at least a poorly produced one. All the same, it is a song I remember listening to and enjoying as a kid--it's charmingly quirky and the chorus is a catchy one. Faces (fronted by Rod Stewart) recorded a respectable version in 1974, albeit only released thirty years later on their retrospective collection 'Five Guys Walk into a Bar ...'. Mike Love recorded a new version with his late 70s side project, Celebration, that is sadly typical of what the Beach Boys had become by the end of that decade: an unadventurous, MOR, oldies retread nostalgia act. (It's not terrible by any means; it's just extremely typical of its time, so somewhat bland and unremarkable.) In hindsight, the original version was a masterpiece compared to much of what the band would release in its later years.

That covers part one of The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71, which will hopefully not require parts for each individual album; I simply had a lot more to write about 'Smiley Smile' and "Heroes and Villains" in particular. However, for those that are interested, covering these albums and tracks in parts will give more space and time to explore more deeply The Beach Boys story. 

Until next time, 

- DH

The Beach Boys: Turn That Frown Upside Down, 1967-71

 Aloha, one and all!

    This month's post is just a bit of fun. I'd been listening to the Beach Boys lately and the story of their years as a band is at turns fascinating, infuriating and tragic. After hitting their peak in late 1966, at which point they were relatively successful in competing with the Beatles album to album, things came crashing down over the next few years. The following essay gives some insight into that period and the years that followed; by 1971, the Beach Boys were generally ignored in the press and struggling to keep things together. The years from 1967 to '71 were not kind to the group and they made a number of serious missteps--aborted albums, missed festivals, associations with convicted murderers--but despite this, they were still making some fantastic music well worth a listen. 

 After the article, I've put together a Spotify playlist featuring music from the years 1967 through '71, or you can jump to it HERE.

    For those not really familiar with the Beach Boys, the following links will give you a quick review of their pre-Good Vibrations hits. 'The Beach Boys Medley' (released in '81) features many of their hits from 1961 to 1966; a longer version with more songs can be heard here. As their primary songwriter (with various lyrical partners), Brian Wilson was the driving force and a lot of his musical and harmonic development can be heard in the 'Beach Boys Ballad Medley' released the same year. Notable in both of these medleys is that in the early days the Beach Boys played the instruments themselves for the most part, but as Brian's abilities and ambitions grew, he started bringing in session musicians particularly from the Wrecking Crew (such as Hal Blaine), who had worked principally as Phil Spector's house band, along with orchestral musicians. By the time of 'Pet Sounds', as the other Beach Boys were on tour, Brian worked in the studio writing, arranging and producing the band's new music--with the exception of brothers Carl, Dennis and Brian himself on a few tracks, session musicians played everything else. As ambitious as 'Pet Sounds' and the following single 'Good Vibrations', 'SMiLE' was intended as Brian's "teenage symphony to God," but things fell apart and neither the band nor Wilson ever truly recovered.

More than enough preamble! 

Enjoy, DH

                       

1. "Barbara Ann"    2. "Help Me, Rhonda"    3. "God Only Knows"

1. "Brian Wilson is a genius"

1. "Brian is back!"     2. a TV program    3. this one    4. the most recent    

5. 'Long Promised Road'    6. That's Why God Made the Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZNcafY6FkVQZkg7OWkn7h?si=MMqu-8IiS-C9WLAFxidHvA&pi=a-styI9utuRCmn

I will publish another page with the complete playlist and some brief notes on the albums and songs featured in the near future, but for now I hope you enjoy this musical exploration into this oft forgotten period of a significant band's history.

Until next time!

New from Hagen Music: "Ship of Fools"

Ship of Fools

(music & lyrics: Daniel Hagen)

Out at sea, I’m floating again
Away, away to where I don’t know
To my friends, I call you once more
To help me find that golden shore

Troubled times are with us this year
But when has this not been the case
All we need is a beacon of hope
To light our way down this road
     On a ship of fools

(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)