Pacific Ocean Blue (Dennis Wilson)

[I. Spaceman]

Keep listening to POB. It took me a while, too, but it pays off.
With MIU, listen again to She's Got Rhythm, Sweet Sunday, Wontcha Come Out Tonight and My Diane.
With LA, listen again to Good Timin', Full Sail, Angel Come Home, Love Surrounds Me and Baby Blue.
There's a great band follow-up to Holland in there.

[the captain]

With MIU, listen again to She's Got Rhythm, Sweet Sunday, Wontcha Come Out Tonight and My Diane.
With LA, listen again to Good Timin', Full Sail, Angel Come Home, Love Surrounds Me and Baby Blue.
There's a great band follow-up to Holland in there.

There's some truth there. (Obviously, we've discussed my lack of real love for Good Timin', but otherwise I see this as pretty much spot-on. And I can still admit Good Timin; is nice enough...I just don't find it as good as many of you around here do.) Ian's "album" here is a good example of how the band could have continued to create new, forward-looking music while not offending its "oldies" crowd...and not pandering to them, either.

[Jason Penick]

The only solo album ever released by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson is as intensely personal as Pet Sounds and melodically diverse as Sunflower.   I consider Dennis to be not only a musical genius, but my hero as well, though he certainly had his faults.  However, the side of Dennis that is often overlooked in trashy TV bios is that of a man who displayed keen sensitivity, had an almost otherworldly ability to relate to anybody and who gave back as much as he took from life.  This is the Dennis Wilson who lays his soul bare on Pacific Ocean Blue.

Contained within the grooves of this tragically out-of-print album are beautiful hymns to lost love ("Thoughts of You", "Time") friends who had passed on ("Thoughts of You") those still alive ("End of the Show") and, fittingly for this accomplished surfer and sportsman, Mother Nature ("River Song", "Rainbows").

Dennis's voice at this time had deteriorated from a pure tenor to a sort of hoarse croak, but it still conveys the wisdom of a sage and the emotional resonance of a master poet. There's not a lot of records that send shivers up my spine when I hear them, but there's probably twenty separate moments on this album that do exactly that, every time.  The lush instrumental backing tracks are a thing of pure beauty-- Dennis by this point was no longer merely influenced by his famous older brother, but was now breaking completely new ground musically.  Dennis mentioned in interviews that he didn't listen to music by other artists, just his own.  Perhaps this fact is why his body of work still sounds completely unique today, decades after it was conceived.

The only flaw I can possibly name regarding this amazing piece of art is that the mix by Steve Moffitt is just horrible. There is so much buried under the excessive reverb, and this album is just crying out for a re-mix. Fans of Dennis should not rest until a newly mixed and mastered version of this CD is sitting on shelves everywhere, bonus tracks included.  With fans and admirers running the gamut from the Foo Fighters, Stereolab and Sonic Youth to Richard Ashcroft, Lush and Coldplay, Dennis's work deserves to be re-evaluated by a larger segment of the listening population. 

[wolkensohn]

Oh I love this Album! I love it so much.   A long time I own this Album as a (pssst...) Bootleg... but a few month ago I found this on a Vinyl (and payed 35 US-D for it).

My favorite songs on this Album are "River Song", "Moonshine", "Time" and "Thoughts of you". This Album shows definitly who was the real creative genius in the 70th! Thank you Dennis for this! It´s so sad, that his second Album never released... like his other great songs (I´ve got a friend, 4th of July, Time to live in dreams aso)...

[Aegir]

Meh, nothing special on the first listen.. maybe I'll warm up to it eventually.

[I. Spaceman]

Meh, the Bible is nothing special on first read, maybe I'll warm up to it eventually.

[Cabana Boy]

Every feeling you've ever had in your life, on a record. If you can't get instantly hot for that, yer f#cked.

Might just be my favourite of any album ever.
A 5 doesn't even come close.

[Jason Penick]

Who the hell gave this zero stars?! 

[Jonas]

If you don't like this album, your opinion on anything musical is worthless.

[I. Spaceman]

If you don't like this album, your opinion on anything musical is worthless.

Ya know, sometimes you make me feel bad that we fought at one time, Amo.

[Jason]

The guy who gave POB a zero is a guy with a lotta balls. He's also a guy without a lotta brains. Or hearing, for that matter.

[I. Spaceman]

[Jonas]

^^^ I just spit iced tea on my monitor...

[Lola Jane]

I've discussed this album a lot and I've decided that it only appeals to you when you are at a certain place in your life when it means something.  It isn't particularly mainstream, but parts of it are so lovely that it can feed into your feelings which is sometimes a bit disconcerting.  That's why you either 'get it' or you don't.  Some people aren't comfortable with music that has a deep emotional element.  POB has a kind of off-beat honesty... I didn't like it when I first heard it, then it appealed in a different way.  And... you can hear the musical influence in so many serious contemporary songwriters.  That's gotta be worth a few stars? 
Correct about the deplorable mix - wouldn't it be nice to hear a modern mix of it, with good quality sound, on vinyl of course, to keep that good old-fashioned depth of tone?  Come on, people in power... make it so. 

A final word is that, IMO it's difficult to accurately assess POB in the absence of any other released solo work because you don't get the comparison.  Compositions under the BB moniker have been Beach blended, and Bamboo is not sufficiently produced enough.  A pox on those cursed Marina waters...

[shelter]

I desperately need this album... But not so desperately that I'm willing to pay $ 150 for it... So this really needs to be re-issued very soon...

[the captain]

I desperately need this album... But not so desperately that I'm willing to pay $ 150 for it... So this really needs to be re-issued very soon...

I agree that it needs to be reissued. But not only would I not pay $150 for it, but (having heard it and owning it), I wouldn't pay $50 for it. Or $40. I like the album, and some of the songs really hit me. But plenty of them don't do much for me at all. It doesn't rank among my top 5 Beach Boys-related albums, and probably falls in the lower reaches of the top 10. It's cool, but I definitely just don't see the adoration that many around here have for it.

Don't misunderstand, I like some of it, and some of it quite a lot. But for me it probably isn't in the top 100-150 albums of all time.

[shelter]

I definately pay $ 50 for an original POB CD or LP... No problem.

[I. Spaceman]

I definately pay $ 50 for an original POB CD or LP... No problem.

Well yeah, obviously, considering you said you would pay $150 for it, it stands to reason you'd pay $50 for it.

[the captain]

Well yeah, obviously, considering you said you would pay $150 for it, it stands to reason you'd pay $50 for it.

You're sometimes quite the mathematician. That logical mind, click click click tick.

By the way, I probably wouldn't have made that connection. I am what is known as an idiot. But I like songs.

[shelter]

I definately pay $ 50 for an original POB CD or LP... No problem.

Well yeah, obviously, considering you said you would pay $150 for it, it stands to reason you'd pay $50 for it.

I wrote I WOULDN'T pay $ 150.

[busy doin nothin]

This is perhaps the only album I have ever listened to that literally gets better every single time I hear it.  On the first listening I was only marginally impressed.  By the tenth I liked it, by the twentieth I loved it.  By the hundredth, which is about where I am now, I consider it one of the greatest albums ever recorded – certainly the greatest ever released by a solo artist, and the greatest without the words “Beach Boys” on it.

RIVER SONG – A beautiful, powerful song.  I still suspect that Elton John may have lifted the piano riff for “Tiny Dancer” from this track, which was begun in 1970.  The choral singing is very powerful.  I love the use of guitar power chords – especially after the last “rolling, rolling, rolling on river.”  Then the song goes back down to the piano and choir.  Love Ricky Fataar’s drumming.  I love the line “it breaks my heart to see the city.”

WHAT’S WRONG – A perfect fun rocker.  “Do what you want, but baby don’tcha do it on me.”

MOONSHINE – The first of many beautiful, moving ballads on this album (no surprise, given that it’s Denny we’re talking about).  Great opening riff/melody line.  Love the synth washes.  Love the “na na na” melody.  “Said you love me now, in another way.”

FRIDAY NIGHT – Very powerful opening instrumental section – love how it transitions into the main song.  Dennis created soundscapes much as brother Brian did, just using harder rock and roll instruments.  As Brian himself once said, “he was a genius in his own right.”  A great song that evokes cruising around on a Friday night as a teenager with your friends, watching the neon lights go by.  “Hats off to the drummer’s little lady.”

DREAMER – The religious imagery is maybe a little heavy handed, but the music is fantastic.  This is as great a use of bass harmonica as “I Know There’s an Answer” or “Friends” – in a totally different context.  Denny was really great at using jazzy, funky-style horns, and this song is a perfect example.  Great guitar work.  “Let the wind carry your blues away.”

THOUGHTS OF YOU – Maybe Denny’s greatest ballad ever.  The piano playing adds a great layer of complexity to a fairly simple song.  The use of reverb/vocal multiplication on the middle-eight creates an effect of soul-shaking power.  The delicate strings in the last verse literally bring tears to my eyes.  A deeply moving song.  “All things that live one day must die, you know.  Even love.”

TIME – Another ballad, just as moving and beautiful as “Thoughts of You.”  The trumpet line under the piano is so delicate – so blue.  “Hold me close, completely free, yeah.”  Love the rocking horn fadeout.

YOU AND I – The perfect change of pace at this point in the program.  A mellow, samba-type love song, with delicate guitar work, warm lyrics and melody.  “No more lonely nights.”

PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE – A justifiably angry lyric and vocal.  Love the organ break in the middle.

FAREWELL MY FRIEND – Another heartbreaking Denny ballad, great piano and seagull sounds.  This song will make you cry thinking of everyone you have ever loved and lost – not least Dennis Wilson himself.  It has one of my top ten lyrics of all time – “Farewell my friend, I love you in a funny way.”

RAINBOWS – A great uptempo yet mellow rocker.  Like the use of banjo and mandolin.  Maybe the sweetest song on the album.  Listening to this makes me feel like I am actually lying out in the grass under sunny skies.  I love the little break at the end – “Come on, baby, come on.”

END OF THE SHOW – Like “Moonshine,” this song is halfway between a ballad and rocker.  Like the whole album, the more I listen to this song the more I hear.  Great chord changes, great unique melody, great lyrics.  This is like the warm flip side of Pink Floyd “The Wall.” I love the way it ends with the crowd noise and the somewhat sudden fade out.  “It’s wonderful to know you’re alive.”

Pacific Ocean Blue is like a wonderful old friend that just keeps getting better with age.  Right now if you tried to tell me it was the best album ever made I wouldn’t ar

[Denny's Drums]

Pacific Ocean Blue is a masterpiece and it's in high demand for reissue on cd.  I really hope the issues like copyright/ownership can be resolved and we can get a remastered reissue of this great work of art.  This is how The Beach Boys should have and could have sounded in the mid seventies, this heavy, gritty style would have boosted their image and popularity significantly.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

"You and I" is beautiful! I'm starting to get into this album more. The CD I burnt of it a while back has the tracklist out of order in some places! I only realize when I went to find the name of #9 finding it to be "You and I" on my disc rather than "Pacific Ocean Blues"

.

[MBE]

Really great, just wish it had been recorded five years earlier when Dennis had his full vocal range.

[Aegir]

I knew it would grow on me.

Great album.