The introspective early '70s found the world's favorite summertime group redefining itself for a while, exploring and experimenting while adjusting to the times and coping with Wilson's troubled mental state, and their records from this era have become objects of increasing curiosity. The period ended when the decade's nostalgia wave finally prompted them to grab their boards and to ride it, putting an end to a five-year dearth of Top 40 singles with the reissue of "Surfin' USA" from their 1974 Endless Summer compilation. Here's a quick rundown of that early '70s lull in U.S. singles chart activity.
"Cottonfields" (1970)
The Beach Boys
Written by Huddie Ledbetter * Produced by the Beach Boys * Arranged by Alan Jardine * 45: "Cottonfields"/"The Nearest Faraway Place" * Label: Capitol * Billboard charts: Bubbling under (#103) * Entered: 1970-05-16.
Although the group had already released a version of this Leadbelly-penned folk standard on their 1969 20/20 album, Beach Boy Al Jardine headed up a re-do for the back-to-the-land early '70s, bringing in pedal steel guitarist Red Rhodes along with an unknown jaw-harpist and giving it a bouncier, dirt-road feel. The 1970 single may have ushered in a half-decade of disappointing chart action in the US, but it otherwise became a worldwide smash, going top 5 in the UK and launching a new era where the band's international success would outpace their fortunes at home. The single's B side contained the 20/20 album's "Nearest Faraway Place," written and arranged by Bruce Johnston and sounding like the fantasy expedition of a hotel lobby piano.
Side B: "The Nearest Faraway Place"
"Add Some Music" (1970)
The Beach Boys
The only charting single from Sunflower—the Beach Boys' first album for Warner Bros. after leaving Capitol—was "Add Some Music," which stands out in their catalog for its uncharacteristic 12-string acoustic breeziness. With its soaring harmonies, the song became a crowd-pleasing staple of their 50-year reunion shows in the summer of 2012. Two awkward moments come from Mike Love (who sings "There's blues, folk and kun-treee and rock like a rolling stoooone") and Bruce Johnston (who sings "Your doctor knows it keeps you calm"). Brian Wilson might have given those lines the childlike charm they require and come off a bit less winceful.
Side B is an Al Jardine mono track about a cab driver whose "looks ain't exactly a plus." It wouldn't appear on an album until 1976's 15 Big Ones in a stereo mix with its car sounds moved from the intro to the end of the first verse. A new stereo mix (linked below) of the original 1970 track appeared on the Made in California (2012) box set. On November 24, 1976, the Beach Boys played in Cincinnati and reunited on stage with the cab driver who inspired the song, a mother of five named Joellyn Lambert who had been located by the Cincinnati Post. In spite of what the record said about her looks and being the city's "number one sinner" and not a "winner," the occasion passed without controversy.
Side B: "Susie Cincinnati"
*Bonus*
"See the Light" (1970)
The Flame
Written by Steve Fataar, Blondie Chaplin, Ed Fataar and Ricky Fataar * Produced by Carl Wilson * 45: "See the Light"/"Get Your Mind Made Up" * LP: The Flame * Label: Brother/Reprise * Billboard charts: Hot 100 (#95) * Entered: 1970-11-07.
After Sunflower, Carl Wilson produced a cool album by South African rock band the Flame, which became the only non-Beach Boys release on their Brother label. The group's Ricky Fataar (a future Rutle) and Blondie Chaplin would join the official Beach Boys lineup in 1972. "See the Light," with its falsetto choruses, would have weathered some heavier AM radio airplay just fine in its day. Wilson can be heard singing backup.
Side B: "Get Your Mind Made Up"
*Bonus*
"Student Demonstration Time" (1971)
The Beach Boys
Written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller; New lyrics by Mike Love * Produced by the Beach Boys * LP: Surf's Up * Label: Brother/Reprise * Billboard charts: — (entered Boston's WMEX airplay chart 1970-09-23)
Although "Student Demonstration Time" had never been released as a single in the US, it racked up plenty of airplay as an album track on Boston Top 40 outlet WMEX, where it peaked at #5. Apart from its controversial subject matter, it would be safe to assess that the song's biggest drawback was its steady use of siren sound effects, which were a big no no with the FCC.
"Long Promised Road" (1971)
The Beach Boys
Written by Carl Wilson and Jack Rieley * Produced by the Beach Boys * 45: "Long Promised Road"/"'Til I Die" * LP: Surf's Up * Label: Brother/Reprise * Billboard charts: Hot 100 (#89) * Entered: 1971-10-30
After he became the Beach Boys' new manager, Jack Rieley immediately began contributing sets of poetically phrased lyrics to the band's songwriting stockpile. On "Long Promised Road," Carl Wilson managed to chew gracefully on lines like "so hard to lift the jeweled scepter when the weight turns a smile to a frown." The track's easy melodicism, pensive vibe, and smooth production certainly helped. A better fit overall with album rock formats instead of Top 40, the song charted no higher than #89 in Billboard. An earlier pressing of "Long Promised Road," with Sunflower's "Dierdre" on side B, had actually stiffed; a post Surf's Up re-release, though, backed by that album's elegiac "Til I Die," is the one that charted. The popular 1972 surfing film Five Summer Stories showcased the Surf's Up title track—along with the album's "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows"—as suitable hang-ten music for the seventies generation. (An extended, more evocative mix of "Til I Die" later turned up on the 1998 Endless Harmony soundtrack.)
Side B: "'Til I Die"
"Marcella" (1972)
The Beach Boys
Written by Brian Wilson and Jack Rieley * Produced by the Beach Boys * 45: "Marcella" / "Hold on Dear Brother" * LP: Carl and the Passions: So Tough * Label: Brother * Billboard charts: Bubbling under (#110) * Entered: 1972-07-15
Wave off some of the smoke in the room and you'll find a classic girl-name song that might have charted higher elsewhere in time. The haziness here is crucial, though. Put on the headphones and hear all the vocal and instrumental layers billow, curl, and evaporate. The Carl and the Passions: So Tough album's very oddness—its misleading title, its initial appearance as a two-fer with Pet Sounds, the appearance of two new band members (Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar from the Flame), and its stoned aura—tends to overshadow some of its musical pleasures. A Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar composition from the album (with steel guitar by an uncredited player who may well have been "Cottonfields" Red Rhodes) appears on the flip.
Side B: "Hold on Dear Brother"
"Sail On Sailor" (1973)
The Beach Boys
Written by Brian Wilson, Tandyn Almer, Van Dyke Parks, Jack Rieley, and Ray Kennedy * Produced by the Beach Boys * 45: "Sail On Sailor" / "Only With You" * LP: Holland * Label: Brother/Reprise * Billboard charts: Hot 100 (#79) * Entered: 1973-02-24
Recent chart success in the Netherlands prompted Beach Boys band manager Jack Rieley to talk them into moving to—and building an expensive studio in—Amsterdam, where plenty of successful pop music had been percolating during the early seventies. This resulted in another somewhat muted album-rock offering that included a bonus 45 with a Brian Wilson synthesizer fairy tale called "Mount Vernon and Fairway." The album's crowning glory, though, was "Sail On Sailor," another Brian Wilson track written primarily with his old Smile collaborator Van Dyke Parks that was added to the album as an afterthought. (The other three co-writers, as Parks once put it, "came out of their little rooms" to claim ownership of certain ideas.) Blondie Chaplin sings lead on the single, which peaked at #79 in 1973. A 1975 re-release brought it up to #49, after which it settled comfortably into FM rock playlists ever since. During this period, drummer Dennis Wilson began contributing parlor-piano mood pieces to Beach Boys albums, and his "Only With You," with lyrics by Mike Love and lead vocals by brother Carl, appeared on the other side of "Sail On Sailor."
Side B: "Only With You"
"California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a)" (1973)
The Beach Boys
Written by Alan Jardine. Produced by the Beach Boys. 45: "California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a)" / "Funky Pretty" (Brother 1973). LP: Holland (Brother 1973). * Billboard charts: Hot 100 (#84) * Entered: 1973-05-12
This sing-songy Al Jardine track, which—like "Cottonfields" before it—contained a jaw harp in the mix, appeared on the Holland album as the third part of its "California Saga" (where it's listed as "California Saga/California"). Americana aspects reminiscent of "Cottonfields," perhaps, propelled it to #37 in the UK. On the B-side is "Funky Pretty," a laid back Brian Wilson number with lyrics by Mike Love and Jack Rieley.
Side B: "Funky Pretty"
"Surfin' USA" (1963)
The Beach Boys
Written by Chuck Berry (and Brian Wilson) * Produced by Nick Venet * 45: "Surfin' USA" / "The Warmth of the Sun" * LP: Endless Summer * Label: Capitol * Billboard charts (as reissue): Hot 100 (#36) * Entered (as reissue): 1974-08-17
Capitol wisely released a Beach Boys compilation the year after two Beach Boys songs ("Surfin' Safari" and "All Summer Long") played crucial roles in the soundtrack for American Graffiti, the film that revved up the already-rumbling engines of cultural nostalgia. After this, the band would never stray too far from its original themes. The compilation's leadoff single—a #3 hit in 1963—was credited to Chuck Berry as its sole writer, the result of publishing disputes that had arisen when it first appeared with sole credit to Brian Wilson, who had given Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" new lyrics. The exquisite "Warmth of the Sun," written by Wilson and Mike Love in the wake of the Kennedy assassination, made a welcome appearance as the reissue's flipside. ("Shut Down" was the B-side in '63.)
Side B: "The Warmth of the Sun"
No comments:
Post a Comment