This is a recent picture circulating the ‘net of lead Prefab Sprouter Paddy McAloon (on the right) - he has had a number of health problems recently affecting his eyesight and hearing apparently. He did do an acoustic remake of Steve McQueen last year, so one hopes for more great music from him, although my primary wish would be for health and happiness.
We have mentioned before that the Brian’s darkest songs are those recorded for the unreleased Adult/Child album. The best known of these is Still I Dream Of It, which first saw official release on the Good Vibrations box set in 1993, more than a decade-and-a-half after it was recorded. A demo was then released on Brian’s I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times collection and the song has also been covered by Jimmy Nail.
Musically, this is one of the “big-band” songs attempted for the aborted album, with full orchestration, and it shows that Brian was very capable of being effective in this genre. Lyrically, it hearkens to the eternal search for love, and indeed that one true love that you were meant to be with. The one key theme of the “depressing” songs on Adult/Child (such as It’s Over Now) is emptiness -the sense that you’re on your own, just ploughing through existence.
The song works because it operates at a personal level that surely all of us have experienced -as well as the affecting melody and production. Brian’s vocal sounds anguished -a long way from the smoothed tones of the 60s -but it works in this context. This is a great song that was literally hidden for many years.
Looks like June is now the month for Beach Boys fans to be saving their pennies and dimes. The Pacific Ocean Blue Legacy Edition has been put back to June 17, but there is a new box set of 15 US Singles released on Capitol from 1962 to 1965. It’s coming out on 16 June and appears to be limited edition, and at 70 pounds, not exactly cheap. But there are some unreleased mono/stereo mixes….
Waterbeds In Trinidad is a pretty off the wall title, and the album cover in the snow adds the oddity, especially as Trinidad is one of the last places you would expect snow. The Association’s eighth album, and only one for Columbia Records, sunk without trace in the early 70s -not surprising, with the height of Sunshine Pop long gone, and even the Beach Boys moving into a more soulful phase with So Tough.
Indeed, Waterbeds In Trinidad has some country rock influences which distinguish from the earlier work of the group, but the harmonies and melodicism are very much there, with some beautiful songs including Rainbows Bent, Midnight Wind and Indian Wells Women. There is an energetic cover of Goffin/King’s Snow Queen, and Little Road And A Stone To Roll is one of those songs that you feel an identity with on first listening.
This will never be a mainstream classic, but it is a record that you can listen through and say “this is quite nice” and want to play over a few times. It is shifting for a few dollars at the moment on Amazon , but I would certainly recommend it, even at that price.
I’m happy to announce that our message board is back  (has been for a few days!). Thanks to Susan for sorting her out, and I’ll take the chance to give her kudos for all the hard work she does to keep it the best Beach Boys board out there!
At least two-thirds of R.E.M. are self-confessed major-league Brian Wilson fans, and their Wilsonian credentials were enhanced by At My Most Beautiful, a clear attempt to capture the essence of Brian’s sounds and production. This was extended in the 2001 album Reveal, which is my personal favorite from the group’s album and captures a rich vein of melodic songwriting and strong production.
Reveal was followed by Around The Sun, an album that didn’t seem to quite fit together despite some nice individual songs and earned the group their worst critical reception. They toured extensively on that album (including a show that I saw here in Cape Town) but didn’t play that many songs from the album, and it became fairly clear that they would crank up the pace a bit on their next album.
The last time they cranked up the pace, we got Monster, which is my least favorite of their albums, as they went a little far into the grungy sounds fashionable at that time. This time, the reference points are earlier R.E.M albums – there is almost a time-warp back to the mid-80s and Life’s Rich Pageant and Document. The recording process - much quicker recording and mixing -also hearkened back to those earlier days.
So does it work? It sounds more cohesive than Around The Sun, and shorter overall running time also works well. Tracks like Man-Sized Wreath and Supernatural Superserious are strong power-pop contenders. However, there isn’t anything that totally grabs you, even in a way that Fall On Me and The One I Love did on those mid-80s albums. It’s a nice record, and it’s great to see a band like R.E.M. doing well after so many years, but I don’t think it will be in the upper echelons of my favorite records from the group.
Cabin Essence Blog believes in balance so here is a very postive review of last night’s Mike Love show in Manchester by Andrew Hickey on his blog. What is interesting is the depth of the catalogue tackled, Forever, Warmth Of The Sun, Kiss Me Baby, Let Him Run Wild, You Still Believe In Me, Here Today, All This Is That and ‘Til I Die are all not exactly songs associated with “greatest hit” shows, and they were all part of an extensive list. And while Mike Love may have been the only “original” Beach Boy there, the presence of David Marks and of course, Bruce Johnston, does give it a bit more credibility as a “Beach Boys” show.
Once again, the UK seem to be getting the better end of the deal in terms of Beach Boys live shows, which is probably reward for sticking with the Beach Boys in the late 60s and early 70s, when the USA seemed to abandon “America’s band.”
So would I personally see this show? Certainly, if it was in reasonable distance from me, I would take any chance to see this show. There is a sense of incompleteness that I haven’t seen any Beach Boy peform live aside from Brian. But I have been at the premiere of two of Brian Wilson’s great works, so I have been tremendously privileged, given where I live.
Our famous Shut Down 2 message board is down – we are trying to sort it out as soon possible but it is being worked on. It feels like the whole internet is pretty slow at the moment -global congestion?
It was the last Beatles album released, but not the last Beatles album recorded -except that it did have the last recordings by members of the Beatles for the split. It has three producers and was meant to reflect a “back to basics” -yet it has probably the most produced tracks in the Beatles catalogue. It sounds incohesive and rough -and yet it is Brian Wilson’s favorite Beatles album, and is ranked number 86 in Rolling Stones 500 all-time great albums.
Of course, only the Beatles could make an album with the messy history of Let It Be into a classic. The cover (iconic as with all those of the Beatles) rightfully shows individual pictures of the group, who had already split by the time of release of the album, but there is an opportunity for one last John/Paul colloboration (I’ve Got A Feeling) and a blast from their distant past (One After 909). George seemed to be saving his best for later, but still manages two memorable tunes. John, going through a tough personal patch, is hardly prolific, but still resurrects his memorable Across The Universe from a year back, and provided a new basic rocker, Dig A Pony, that still resonates with some fun Lennon word-play.
But it is Paul’s work that takes this album to greatness with his two classic ballads that are now pop standards, Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road. The former is a plea for serenity in an increasingly mad world -the latter a reflection on a physical long journey and metaphorical long road to love. Both resonate hugely at a personal and musical level. Add the ode to friendship, Two Of Us , one of the great “unknown” Beatles songs, as well as Get Back, that last great rocker, and one can see this was one of Paul’s most prolific periods (he did a fair bit on Abbey Road as well.
Much of the material was released in different forms on Anthology III as well as Let It Be…Naked, but even although the tracks were tampered with in ways the Beatles weren’t happy themselves with, the original album remains the one that fans are familiar with and probably love the most. It will be interesting to see the publicity this album gets when the ITunes release happens. And can we please have the movie on DVD…..
We’ve already mentioned Brian’s date at the Fallview Casino at Niagara Falls, but here is some more detail on the show and the entire July concert line-up at the resort. What is of some interest are the tracks listed for Brian- it could be a case of random generation of songs, but three of the songs are from his first solo album, and Walkin’ The Line and Rio Grande are hardly amongst his best-known works. Could there be something of a tribute to his first solo record, twenty years later?