Brian's dislike of "California Feelin'"?

[runnersdialzero]

I know there are already a couple of threads about the new version of the song, but there's a certain aspect of it that I thought might deserve a bit more attention. I seem to recall reading things like "The album title California Feelin' was changed at Brian's insistence" or "The song 'California Feelin'' was left off of the album at Brian's insistence" some time ago. Then there's the "Like most days!" interjection that may or may not be sarcastic (and may exist in a different form, spoken and according to someone who heard it, very out of place/sarcastic) and his allegedly singing the original demo "like a lounge singer."

Has any explanation been given for his seemingly strong dislike of a song he wrote? Did he view it as some kind of regression? How was he able to have the authority to say he didn't want what was obviously one of their absolute best 70s songs on an album now but the other guys had power over him enough to include "Surf's Up" on an album when he was against it, at least at first?

[runnersdialzero]

Now browsing this thread: America

[Wrightfan]

You changed your name and I'm sad now 

Good question you bring up. Maybe the imagery reminded him of the past?

[JohnMill]

This answer probably isn't going to give you the insight you are looking for but in discussing anything involving the personal tastes of Brian Wilson, I tend to always start with the subject himself and then look at the decade in question that we are discussion.  So this would be a discussion of Brian Wilson in the seventies, quite possibly the most erratic period of his career, when he was in and out of the throes of mental illness and prone to impulsive and quite frankly childlike reasoning.

So Brian Wilson writes this song "California Feelin'" with the help of Stephen Kalinich and The Beach Boys record it.  Actually they make a couple attempts at recording it during the decade and while to a layman's ears the song is clearly up to releasable standards, Brian Wilson for some unknown reason (at least to me) expresses his doubts regarding the song and the song is tabled as a result.  Sound familiar?

It should.  As you mentioned it's a similar story in regards to how Brian Wilson felt about "Surf's Up" and from what I've read the only reason that song ever made it onto wax was due to the fact that The Beach Boys insisted Brian keep his word on a promise to allow it to be put on the "Surf's Up" album.  I go back to the word: erratic.  Which is a perfect definition as to how Brian Wilson approached both life and music during the decade of the seventies.  He would have spurts of creativity interspersed with long bouts of lethargy.  The reasoning behind this?  Well some of it no doubt had to do with the mental health issues Brian Wilson was struggling with during those years but anything beyond that would be pure conjecture.

The point is in my opinion you can take the song "California Feelin'" and substitute any song Brian Wilson wrote during that period and I'm sure terms like ambivalence, dislike, regret and loathing would be appropriate adjectives that possibly would describe his emotional connections to his songs of this period.  He may say differently now but to me that isn't necessarily important as those are reflections using hindsight.  It's only a guess but would it be wrong to speculate the reason that Brian Wilson was so down on this particular song was that he wasn't necessarily a happy man when he wrote it and many others throughout the decade? 

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

He probably abandoned it because it's not a very interesting song. It's just nothing... a slow song with the word California in the title. The most positive thing I can say about it is that it's not 'back home' on the list of two songs the BB inexplicably returned to time after time, despite them being mediocre at best.

[runnersdialzero]

what

[Jim V.]

I know there are already a couple of threads about the new version of the song, but there's a certain aspect of it that I thought might deserve a bit more attention. I seem to recall reading things like "The album title California Feelin' was changed at Brian's insistence" or "The song 'California Feelin'' was left off of the album at Brian's insistence" some time ago. Then there's the "Like most days!" interjection that may or may not be sarcastic (and may exist in a different form, spoken and according to someone who heard it, very out of place/sarcastic) and his allegedly singing the original demo "like a lounge singer."

Has any explanation been given for his seemingly strong dislike of a song he wrote? Did he view it as some kind of regression? How was he able to have the authority to say he didn't want what was obviously one of their absolute best 70s songs on an album now but the other guys had power over him enough to include "Surf's Up" on an album when he was against it, at least at first?

Interesting topic runners, this is the kinda stuff I come to this board for (except for the news obviously).

So yeah, I know I shouldn't base much of an opinion off of liner notes, but I will. I recall in the Classics selected by Brian Wilson booklet, he said something like "California Feelin'" was a "special" song. And I think it was to him. And we know that Brian would be scared about certain material. I think that might include "Surf's Up"and maybe even "Sail On, Sailor", "California Feelin'" and "Good Timin'". Then there are songs he would either record over and over, like "Can't Wait Too Long" and "Ol' Man River. He'd keep tinkering, and it might have been that he was too scared to put them out there for public judgement. Because maybe he knew these songs were things he held dear to his heart, and to have them dismissed, so rather than work his hardest and have them ignored, he'd rather not deal with it. Luckily for us, we got "Surf's Up" and "Sail On, Sailor" during what might be called their active period. However, stuff like "Can't Wait Too Long" and "Ol' Man River" only trickled out later in unfinished form because it was at that time obvious the pressure was off.

So by the mid '70s he has two really nice, classic sounding Brian Wilson tunes. The kinda tunes that could really help The Beach Boys. Both of these songs were pretty much fully composed by late 1974. Yet "Good Timin'" doesn't come out on their first album back. In fact it takes until 1979 for it to get released. How on earth does that happen? To me, I don't think that it's that Brian didn't like these songs, I just think it's that he knew it was something that was pretty great, and to have it ignored would hurt him.

Then you got "California Feelin'". The song is talked up as early as 1975, along with "Good Timin'" for that matter. Then it's featured prominently in an article about Brian in 1976 (in fact I wouldn't mind hearing the tape of him playing it to Timothy White if that exists). So obviously it's being talked up. But this one doesn't show up at all either. Then he gives the song to American Spring, but instead of being sung by his wife or his sister-in-law, it's his bodyguard. Seems like maybe instead of having it judged as the big new "Beach Boys" thing, he was hoping it could slip out as something else and therefore it would be judged as harshly.

Anyways, they get signed to CBS and it seems like somebody told them (maybe management, maybe Brian just thought it was time) that Brian finally had to bring the big guns out. So finally "Good Timin'" gets finished. And comes out and goes top 40. In fact, it's the last new Brian Wilson song to this day to go top 40 if I remember correctly. But somehow, once again, "California Feelin'" gets lost. And there's the Bruce quote with him saying something like "...a heavy no on 'California Feelin'."

That is interesting. You gotta wonder if Brian just got superstitious about it, or maybe he didn't like it? I mean, I think it fit Brian's M.O. of the time, with the synths and whatnot. But who knows. Somehow it gets buried until 2002. And then Brian does it with his band. And....yep. I don't know. Weird story.

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

what

Yeah, don't get me wrong- I can imagine a good production of it- one that would have ended up it being a good BB single, like Good Timin' or something, but it's not a GREAT song. In my opinion of course.

You could holler GOK from the back of a milk float whilst wearing a nappy, and it'd still be a killer. California Feeling...not so much.

[DonnyL]

A song like "California Feelin'", "Surf's Up" or some of the SMILE tracks (among others), has a certain power to it. And any Brian Wilson song that has power can also be somewhat scary, especially to the creator. When you creating something powerful, with it comes fear as well as responsibility.

Brian often mentions 'scaring people' to be something of a goal with his music ... I think this is telling.

“We were setting out to create a record that everybody would spook out to. It would scare people and that would be a really heavy record."

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

So Brian Wilson writes this song "California Feelin'" with the help of Stephen Kalinich

"and taste a grapefruit from a grapefruit tree"   

[Nicko1234]

So Brian Wilson writes this song "California Feelin'" with the help of Stephen Kalinich

"and taste a grapefruit from a grapefruit tree"   

This is the man who wrote the words, `Majesty moves through me majestically`...

As others have said, it seems like Brian did have deep reservations about releasing his own compositions in the mid to late 70s. So he would either cut oldies or do half hearted productions of his songs. Presumably feeling that if he didn`t really try then it wouldn`t hurt as much if songs were rejected.

[Rocky Raccoon]

From the Classics Selected by Brian Wilson liner notes.

"California Feelin' is a special song written in the early '70s, originally for The Beach Boys; although never officially recorded and released by the Boys, it has always been a favorite of mine. So a few months ago, I took my new band into the studio and I think we accomplished what we set out to do ... that being putting a lot of love in this song with our voices. I hope you like it as much as we liked recording it for you."

There are other songs he could have picked to re-record, it would be weird to choose one he didn't like.

[Shady]

Ah the wonder of Brian Wilson.

Was he told to re-record that song or did he really choose it himself. You can make a strong defense for either side. You never really know.

[Quzi]

I never thought he hated it, I just thought he wanted to keep it set aside for American Spring. If there's any weight to the theory that Brian was exerting passive aggression via underachievement in the '70s, the no-show of "California Feeling" could be linked to that as well.

[Summertime Blooz]

deleted- have a nice day!

[Smilin Ed H]

Perhaps he thought it was too good for a piece of sh*t like MIU.

[MBE]

Bruce kind of started the situation because he said there was a "strong no" for California Feeling during an early 1979 interview. It may be Bruce who decided it stayed off of L.A. Light. Dumb decision really because Brian is all but missing on it.

[Micha]

Perhaps he thought it was too good for a piece of sh*t like MIU.

Rather the opposite. This song is too boring for the upbeat MIU. I wonder how the depressing "My Diane" got on there. Probably Mike's fault.

If I was Brian, I'd release the version he recorded with his touring band.

Oh, he did, did he?

[Sheriff John Stone]

Perhaps he thought it was too good for a piece of sh*t like MIU.

Rather the opposite. This song is too boring for the upbeat MIU.

I agree. "California Feelin" would've been a perfect closer for an album like L.A. (Light Album). The ending of the song has a closing-type feel, but more importantly, it would've provided a much needed Brian and Bruce vocal for the album. I think I'm going to "store" the mp3 on my computer with the L.A. (Light Album) songs.

[Nicko1234]

I agree. "California Feelin" would've been a perfect closer for an album like L.A. (Light Album). The ending of the song has a closing-type feel, but more importantly, it would've provided a much needed Brian and Bruce vocal for the album. I think I'm going to "store" the mp3 on my computer with the L.A. (Light Album) songs.

Is this a new composite mix though?

[Sheriff John Stone]

I agree. "California Feelin" would've been a perfect closer for an album like L.A. (Light Album). The ending of the song has a closing-type feel, but more importantly, it would've provided a much needed Brian and Bruce vocal for the album. I think I'm going to "store" the mp3 on my computer with the L.A. (Light Album) songs.

Is this a new composite mix though?

I was referring to the version featured on the other thread with the Brian-sung intro. While I initially thought it might be a 1974 Brian vocal, I'll go along with the consensus that it was a 1978 attempt. I guess I'm assuming they could've assembled a version like that in 1978?

[phirnis]

It would've made a semi-classic out of the Light Album I'm sure. Always felt that both California Feelin' and Brian's somewhat goofy production of Calendar Girl should've made it to the album. I love this record the way it is and still I think these two songs would've added some much-needed variety as well as two genuine BW moments, much more so than the somewhat underwhelming rendition of Shortenin' Bread (which isn't even a Brian production, is it?).

[Smilin Ed H]

MIU was originally going to be called California Feeling but Brian nixed the use of the song. Don't know whether a version was even recorded for it. It's clearly not this one because Bruce is on it. It's a shame Brian didn't allow it on LA and even more so if it was Bruce's decision, because it highlights his own voice to good effect. As BB songs go, I  don't think it's the be-all and end-all, but it is good - especially this version (I'm also partial to Al's; Brian's sounds like a throwaway job, in terms of his own vocals). It would've fit better on LA - indeed, on my custom LA, this is where it resides, along with Santa Ana Winds and Looking Down the Coast and, lately, Don't Fight the Sea. I like LA, largely because of Dennis' contributions, Angel Come Home and Good Timin', but it could've been more interesting...

[MBE]

I don't know if Bruce made the decision or not, all the interview said was "big no" to California Feelin'. He didn't say why. It does seem odd that some Brian stuff was not used when he is absent so much of the time. Man if only the short Here Comes The Night was used!

[SonicVolcano]

I don't know if Bruce made the decision or not, all the interview said was "big no" to California Feelin'. He didn't say why. It does seem odd that some Brian stuff was not used when he is absent so much of the time. Man if only the short Here Comes The Night was used!

The disco version of Here Comes The Night is an utter disgrace, in my humble opinion. It's so embarrassing.