Bloggerhythms

How great was Brian Wilson? If you listen to At My Piano -  the late star's final, solo, studio album of fifteen unadorned piano tracks played by The Beach Boys' resident genius - you'll quickly understand the extent of his talent as a melodicist. The simplicity of this set allows the listener to fully appreciate the beauty of Wilson's creations performed on a musical instrument that is truly irresistible when played by a great talent. Some critics have said that Wilson took the easy way out, that these songs have been redone too many times to be appreciated again, but I counter with this: how many artists have issued multiple live albums with arrangements played very close to their original records or released remixes of old songs just to sell more product? At least Wilson offered listeners something different, although he admits that the original idea belonged to his record label, Decca. However, it was a request he willingly undertook. There are many w...

Sadly, Brian Wilson has passed away. In only eight days he would have turned 83. He was born only two days after Paul McCartney, so maybe there is something to astrology after all. After The Beatles, the California band and Terry Kath era Chicago were always either number two or three on my list of musical loves. It often depended on my mood. My introduction to The Beach Boys was during the Summer of 1965. It will be sixty years ago next month when I heard "California Girls" for the very first time. It was among the first five records I ever bought with my own money. I've always loved vocal harmonies and nobody was better at creating them than The Beach Boys. To me, that fun, summer single was the most astounding piece of music I had ever heard at the time. I remember it well because it gave me goosebumps. Below this video is an old post I wrote in 2018 about my love for the band. It was originally titled In Defense of The Beach Boy...

One of the things I miss about music today is the protest song. Today's rap crap is frequently too full of violent, misogynistic lyrics (OK, you've made a good point, The Rolling Stones' songs were often full of that stuff too). The current crop of self-absorbed, singer-songwriters - as excellent as many of them are - can not be mistaken for real folk or protest singers even though folk is the genre where a lot of their musical influences were schooled. It's not that there isn't anything left to say and nobody around to say it. Jackson Browne's 2014 album,  Standing In The Breach , is a very politically and socially aware album. The dearly departed Celtic-rock band, Black 47, also frequently walked in Browne's territory over their twenty-five year existence. Their final CD, Last Call (also 2014), took on illegal immigration. In 2008 they recorded an entire disc about the war in Iraq and they were impo...

In 1977 the music world was stunned to learn that the first Beach Boy to record and release a solo album was middle Wilson brother, Dennis. This was a shock because Dennis was always assumed to be the least musically accomplished of the three brothers. In fact, their mother had to force brothers Brian and Carl to accept him into the band at the time of The Beach Boys' formation. As drums were the only remaining open instrument in the new group he secured his place in it by beating the skins. Dennis loved touring for the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll lifestyle. However, he didn't enjoy the slower pace of the recording studio nearly as much. He was absent from many of The Beach Boys studio recordings and was often replaced by session drummers. Another reason he was an unlikely candidate for a solo album is because as James William Guercio - Pacific Ocean Blue's executive producer - said about Dennis in the liner notes, "Someone forgot to tell him he didn't h...

The great Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys passed away twenty-four years ago today, in 1998, so it's time to re-post this tribute originally published here in 2009 with a couple of minor updates.   Carl Wilson, the youngest of the three Wilson brothers who formed the core of The Beach Boys, died of cancer in 1998 at age 51 effectively ending the group as its fans knew it. Even though there were times he too succumbed to the excesses of the rock 'n roll lifestyle, Carl was always considered the most level-headed of the brothers. It was primarily due to his efforts that the Beach Boys survived well into the 90's. Carl played a pivotal role in the the band's overall sound. His vocal range was almost as wide as Brian's but he sang with a more soulful voice. When the Beach Boys wanted a more R&B feel to their songs Carl, not Brian, sang lead. While not discounting Brian's vocal work, composing, arranging, and overall leadership of the group, I always preferred Carl...

CMH Label Group , the independent record company that has issued dozens of string quartet tribute albums under the moniker Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) has covered artists as diverse as Slayer, Enya, Bon Jovi, Oasis, Warren Zevon, Bjork, Radiohead, Rush, Fleetwood Mac, and more. Even more recently they've released albums covering Lana Del Rey, Sigur Ros, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, and Kanye West. Tom Tally, a producer of over 50 VSQ albums  described VSQ's mission on Wikipedia. " Vitamin String Quartet is about applying rock n' roll attitude to classical technique."   Back in 2005 VSQ was responsible for a nice reworking of The Beach Boys' 1966 classic,  Pet Sounds. I   can't envision either string quartet fans or Slayer fans listening to classical arrangements of that band's work, but Pet Sounds is music that easily lends itself to a classical treatment. Despite the limitations of using only three string players and a percussionist the quartet's spars...

Released as a single in 1969 from 20/20 , the Beach Boys' last album for Capitol Records, "I Can Hear Music" is possibly their greatest single of the post-Pet Sounds era and, unusually, it’s not an original. Instead, it’s a cover version written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich that barely made it onto the charts for the Ronettes back in 1966. "I Can Hear Music" is very typical of the more mature sounds that Brian Wilson produced in the mid-1960s as he began to move away from the surfing and fun-in-the-sun fare that made the band famous. The big difference here is that this minor hit was released during the period when Wilson was sinking deeper and deeper into the mental illness that would plague him for most of the next twenty years. As a result he had little or nothing to do with this song, which served as little brother Carl's coming out as the de facto leader of the band. With this record, Carl proved he was paying very close attention t...

In 1986 The Beach Boys recorded a great cover version of The Mamas and The Papas' "California Dreamin" twenty years after their outstanding original became a huge hit. The Beach Boys' single rocks more than the Mamas and The Papas' first chartbuster and features Roger McGuinn on 12-string guitar, the instrument the former Byrd made famous with his own band. The Boys' single never became the classic the 1966 hit was but it's almost as good, proving a great song will succeed under any circumstances. Carl Wilson and Alan Jardine starred on lead vocals and the rest of the group added their always superlative harmonies. "California Dreamin'" peaked at # 8 on the Adult Contemporary chart but only reached #57 on Billboard's Hot 100 even though it was a thousand times better than the #1, Grammy nominated, "Kokomo," the hall-of-famers' last hit two years later. The track was produced by Terry Melcher. There are a couple of t...

Brian Wilson & Al Jardine at Parx Casino   Brian Wilson is approaching the end of his Pet Sounds tour and if you are among the lucky people who had a ticket to one of these shows you won't be disappointed. The Beach Boys' resident genius took the stage with his outstanding ten-piece band that included his old group's original rhythm guitarist, Al Jardine , and his 1970s bandmate, Blondie Chaplin. Wilson's voice has lost its high end and when he needed to hit the upper registers, his son-in-law, Rob Bonfiglio , took the spotlight. Bonfiglio led the way on "Don't Worry Baby" and several other early hits. Jardine also took his share of lead vocals. The concert opened with a very nice take of the first Beach Boys song I ever heard, "California Girls," so it always holds a special place in my heart. From there they played "Dance, Dance, Dance" followed by more early chartbustng singles and a few deep tracks thrown into the mi...

Former Rolling Stone writer Tom Nawrocki, who is also a voting member of The Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, once posted on his blog, Debris Slide , that it is possible to play your way out of the hall . He was referencing Chicago the band and he used their hit, "Look Away," as evidence. Let it be said that the horn band is not the only artist to release music that is unworthy of their status. While Chicago are included in the list below some other great Hall of Fame members turned out "art" that is just as galling. I was recently told that it is too easy for somebody with access to a keyboard to trash others without regard to their feelings and that is probably true. However, if you don't want to be harshly criticized don't make records as bad as these renowned musicians did. It should be noted that all of the hall inductees mentioned here are artists I have greatly admired for a long time. The Beach Boys - L. A. (Light Album) (1979) After the...

Love & Mercy is indeed a very good movie and based on what I've read about about both Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys (which is a lot) what we see on the screen is very accurate. It's also extremely well acted and directed, a definite thumbs up as Siskel and Ebert would have said. Praise for the film has been nearly unanimous. I agree with most observers that Paul Dano was better than John Cusack at playing Wilson, Elizabeth Banks as his future wife (Melinda Ledbetter) was drop dead gorgeous, and Paul Giamatti was perfectly evil as Dr. Eugene Landy. The movie has been discussed endlessly in the entertainment press and on music blogs everywhere so for me to write a proper movie review at this juncture would just be redundant. Instead, it's time to look at this film biography from a slightly different angle and address a glaring omission director Bill Pohlad should have included. This post offers no defense of Landy's treatment of Wilson during the time period...

As everyone knows by now The Beach Boys staged a triumphant 50th anniversary tour in 2012. Fans and critics alike raved about their live show and the boys' new album, That's Why God Made the Radio . I made a decision not to throw down my hard earned cash to see the ancient oldies revival act when it landed in my town because it had been over twenty-five years since the famous surf-rockers had been a viable franchise in the studio and, after the passing of Carl Wilson, their concerts deteriorated to the point where Mike Love continually embarrassed himself on stage. However, I downloaded the new album anyway and was very pleasantly surprised with the results. Brian Wilson showed the world that, when inspired, he still has the goods. Now, as an epilogue to last summer's tour, the band has released a new, forty-one song, double CD package, The Beach Boys Live: The 50th Anniversary Tour . It's a good souvenir for those who saw them on stage together for what is pr...

Until Paul Tanner (1917 – 2013) passed into the great recording studio in the sky earlier this month most people, including me, had never heard of him. Yet he's quite an interesting fellow who played on some of pop music's greatest recordings as part of a long and diverse career in the business. It's hard to believe that there was still someone alive who played in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The trombonist was the last surviving member of Miller's famous big band. He played with them from 1938 until 1942 on almost all of the bandleader's hits including "In the Mood," "A String of Pearls," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and "Pennsylvania 6-5000." What makes Tanner fascinating is the fact he was also the man who played on one of rock's most famous songs in 1966. He was responsible for the electro-theremin on The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." After Tanner left the Army Air Force at the conclusion of World...

A little late, here are Bloggerhythms' picks for the best releases of 2012. 1 – The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter The country-rocking outfit from North Carolina does it again with their second terrific album in a row. The banjo driven "Live and Die" couldn't be more catchy if it tried and you really need to listen to the great power-pop treat, "I Never Knew You." Most of the album is country music with a rock attitude. Great arrangements, songs, and vocals are everywhere. Rick Rubin has really turned the brothers into stars. Details here . 2 – Brandi Carlile – Bear Creek Carlile's always mature song-writing blooms into full adulthood on this, her fourth, full length, studio album. Reflecting on her childhood and sometimes demonstrating a spiritual side she never displayed before the young singer-songwriter and her ever-present cohorts, the Hanseroth twins, gave us a top notch set of inward looking, philosophical songs. The ballads are sw...

Many of us lived in trepidation that That's Why God Made The Radio would clobber us with a tsunami of such devastatingly bad music that even the most ardent Beach Boys devotees would easily believe Satan, and not the Lord, is really responsible for Marconi's wonderful invention. What a pleasant surprise to find that what floated ashore instead were the gentle waves of a really fine album that proves, when given the right set of circumstances, talent never really leaves those who have it. That's Why God Made The Radio is the first album by California's native sons that Brian Wilson fully participated in since 1985's mildly satisfying, eponymously titled record produced by Steve Levine. It's the only official Beach Boys album not featuring the late Carl Wilson and that's sad because the youngest Wilson brother's voice was always an integral component of their effortlessly beautiful harmonies. Carl was also the man who kept the band together for ma...

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds ,simply stated, is one of the most gorgeous pop-rock records ever to be released. Unfortunately, it took decades for the album to achieve gold record status and there are still a multitude of casual Beach Boys fans who are not familiar with it beyond the three huge hit singles it contained: "Wouldn't It Be Nice," its b-side, "God Only Knows," and "Sloop John B." A fourth single, "Caroline No," was issued in Brian Wilson's name only and it also did well on the charts. Never was his songwriting more mature, never were the arrangements more intricate, celebratory or sad, and rarely were the vocals of the five original bandmates plus Bruce Johnston more beautiful. The album is notorious for not having any of the Beach Boys playing a single note on it. However, the sextet contributed all of the vocals. It's still their artistic vision, not the company's or any outsider's, because Wilson was in t...

I wasn't planning on writing about The Beach Boys again so soon after extolling the virtues of Sunflower a few weeks ago. However, because writer Scott D. Parker is hosting a new feature on the last Thursday of every month in which a bevy of bloggers will write about forgotten music I've decided to participate by discussing one of the later albums by the famous surf-rockers. Their eponymous 1985 album, The Beach Boys , is one with an interesting backstory. Except for Dennis Wilson, who died in December 1983, everyone else was present and accounted for on their first album since the drummer's passing. The lineup included both Brian and Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston. They dedicated the album "to the memory of our beloved, brother, cousin, and friend." This LP was released around the same time that Brian was awakening from his twenty year death spiral. It was hailed as his comeback because he was fully integrated into the band for ...

It's quite possible that you've never listened to Sunflower . It quickly became the poorest selling and possibly the most obscure album in The Beach Boys catalog when it was released in 1970. According to Wikipedia, it was only on the charts for four weeks and reached #151 in the United States. In England, where the band was much more popular at the time, the album went to #29. Sunflower contains some of the seminal band's greatest music ever and this isn't just some music snob trying to push the obscure stuff. Most people who eventually heard this astonishingly wonderful record will tell you the same thing. The album, the group's first for Warner Brothers, was released during the boys highly artistic period that began with Pet Sounds in 1966 and ran through Holland in 1973. That period proved the guys from Hawthorne, California were far more than Brian Wilson's backup band at a time when they still had the motivation to be one of the best outfits on ...

Right away I'll say this CD is a must own for Beach Boys aficionados and completists. Ultimate Christmas is a twenty-six track disc that opens with the full version of their classic 1964 Christmas album. After that it gets way more interesting despite the fact that, in typical Beach Boys fashion, there is the usual mixture of terrific music mixed in with some horribly juvenile dribble that grown men shouldn't be allowed to sing unless they are recording a kids album, and maybe not even then. In 1977 the band, minus Bruce Johnston and functioning again with their classic original lineup, decided they wanted to make a new Christmas album. Tracks were laid down but Warner Brothers rejected the album so the songs remained in the vault until the release of this CD in 1998. Everything the band completed for the album appears here. Instead, they issued The M. I. U. Album the following year as their final Warner's release. Some of the more interesting tracks were created by ...

It was a long time coming. I finally got to see the master of vocal harmonies perform live. Brian Wilson, a man who either couldn’t or wouldn't play on stage for more than two decades, brought his great songs and harmonies, along with a small rock orchestra that included full horn and string sections, to Philadelphia last evening. It was wonderful. Wilson sat in front of his electronic keyboard most of the evening, singing lead vocals on every song, but oddly he didn’t play a single note. It wasn’t until the encore, when he strapped on his bass, that he actually became a member of the band he put together. Wilson’s voice has deepened to the point where he can easily handle the many lead vocals once sung by Mike Love. He can still sing well but he can no longer hit the high notes or sing falsetto. It doesn’t matter because guitarist and main sideman, Jeff Foskett, effortlessly handled those chores. The band was spectacular all night and who would expect less from this perf...