Dennis Wilson...don't say i didn't warn you

[doc smiley]

A question  that I hope is answerable by those few in the know....(Jon?)

The Bambu recordings that comprise the second disc.... are they complete?
I've always read that Bambu was 90% of it 90% done...
so are these completed recordings? (have John Hanlon and Gregg Jakobson mixed and completed where needed?)
or are we getting recordings that are almost done or  demo quality?

Also  can we assume that the original versions of 'Love Surrounds me' and 'Baby Blue' are not part of Bambu as they were recordings that Dennis was working on later in 78 ... that is if the reports are true that Bambu was basically done before POB was released....
I remember a article I read in the late 70's were Dennis was reported as being hard at work on his third solo lp and that
Bamboo was already done...

[Jon Stebbins]

A question  that I hope is answerable by those few in the know....(Jon?)

The Bambu recordings that comprise the second disc.... are they complete?
I've always read that Bambu was 90% of it 90% done...
so are these completed recordings? (have John Hanlon and Gregg Jakobson mixed and completed where needed?)
or are we getting recordings that are almost done or  demo quality?

Also  can we assume that the original versions of 'Love Surrounds me' and 'Baby Blue' are not part of Bambu as they were recordings that Dennis was working on later in 78 ... that is if the reports are true that Bambu was basically done before POB was released....
I remember a article I read in the late 70's were Dennis was reported as being hard at work on his third solo lp and that
Bamboo was already done...

These are great questions that I have to be careful answering, I can't talk about specific tracks yet... as the label doesn't want too much specific info leaked before things are set in stone, and the track list is still not 100% set. I can say that the Bambu recordings were farther along or more complete than I would have ever guessed from hearing the boots. For the most part the mixing alone is what was needed to complete the work, and it is not demo quality at all. This stuff is VERY produced. If anything its more lush than POB. Hanlon followed Dennis' path to complete this thing...and he did a great job. It was basically all there, it just needed a steady hand to pull it together.

[doc smiley]

Thanks Jon

Thats the kind of answer that us fans love to hear!!

[MBE]

Well seeing as it is not set in stone may I say Jon that the "Elvis" version of What's Wrong sounds enticing. Maybe it can be on there?

[punkinhead]

really, how complete was Bambu? I honestly think a little more than 3/4 of the it was done. Fill in the vocals to Baby Blue, perhaps more to New Orleans; a dab of this and that and it was pretty much done.

[Mooger Fooger]

Hi Jon, one question you can hopefully already answer: The POB tracks: are they remastered, and was the first generation master tape used for the album mcontruction? I ask, because the 1990's CD sounds a little muffled, especially when compared to the vinyl pressings from 1977.

Regardless, 2008 is shping to be a fanstitic year for fans.

[doc smiley]

really, how complete was Bambu? I honestly think a little more than 3/4 of the it was done. Fill in the vocals to Baby Blue, perhaps more to New Orleans; a dab of this and that and it was pretty much done.

again your assuming that these tracks were part of Bambu and not Dennis's third solo recording...
Bambu was basically finished by the time POB was released... "Baby Blue" and "Love Surrounds me" (with Christine Mcvie's involvement) and other recordings from 1978 onwards were not part of Bambu.... I believe that "New Orleans" also fits that time period....

You really have to STOP reading the notes that came with the various Bamboo boots and wait and see like the rest of us....
From what little info that has leaked out so far... Bambu is nothing like the boots that have come previous...

[Alan Boyd]

Yes, the POB album as remastered from the first generation 1/4" tape.   

When the album was mixed down back in 1977, Steve Moffitt used DBX NR on some of the tracks.... but when they were preparing the 1990 reissue, they didn't have access to a DBX unit and they chose to use a Dolby eq'd copy as the source master.  You're right - it sounded very muffled. 

For the new release, they went back to the first generation tape, used the right DBX encoder on those tracks.... and the album sounds great.

[punkinhead]

a 3rd solo album? never knew about that

[c-man]

a 3rd solo album? never knew about that

Yeah, in a Hit Parader article (January '79) to promote the "MIU Album", Mike said "the person who spent the least amount of time there (MIU) was Dennis.  Dennis is really hyper and he was mostly interested in getting back to L.A. and working on his third solo album".  At the end of the article, the writer says to expect a second Dennis Wilson solo album soon, and that the third Dennis Wilson album had already been completed.  I remember being really excited when I read that, hot off the newstand. 

Over the years, I've come not to take those statements TOO literally.  I think the situation was more likely that Dennis had enough material (or almost enough) for a second full album at the end of '77 (when MIU was being recorded), and by the end of '78 (when the article appeared), certainly had recorded enough for a third.  But we also know (as Jon has said) that he lacked the discipline at that point to really wrap it up into a releaseable product, so I don't think anything close to a mastered album (or albums) was imminent.

Let's just hope that we get as much unreleased music released with this "POB/Bambu" package as possible! 

[Dancing Bear]

This release will answer lots of questions about Dennis' solo recordings. Let's wait for the official track list and Jon will be free to answer our questions.

[Jon Stebbins]

I had a recent talk with Ed Roach and we went into this realm during the discussion. Ed mentioned that Dennis resisted Jim Guercio's suggestion that he bring in an outside producer to help him pull together Bambu, Dennis had stopped hanging with Jakobson in mid '78, and Brother was gone...but  of all the things that changed between POB and Bambu Ed thought that losing Karen Lamm actually hurt the most. It made things become less focused or more haphazard for Dennis. Hard to believe because Karen was such a volatile presence...some would say negative and destructive...but the fact is Dennis was at his most productive during the early parts of his relationship with Karen. I once told her she was like Murry to Dennis in a way...she almost hit me and then she had to agree. She challenged him and motivated him, and also made him miserable and screwed him up.  She knew that was true. But Dennis basically told Jim Guercio, who truly loved and loves Dennis' music, to back off...and then he went about recording more, on his dime, on the BB's dime on JG's dime whatever...he didn't care...he was just recording. Lots or work, lots of good stuff, but nothing was getting finished as in mixed and mastered...he just kept moving on to the next thing. Then he moved on to partying more and working less...and by mid 1979 he just seemed to give up on Dennis Wilson the solo artist. He was incredibly prolific between 1974 and 1978.

[HeatWarps]

So glad to hear this news - and just as I was about to give in and pay out the nose for an ebay copy! Whew.

I'm really curious as to whether the Sundazed vinyl version will contain all of the bonus material as the Legacy CD edition. I've seen the vinyl edition referred to as a "box-set" in some of these press releases, but Sundazed reissues are often just the original LP itself and usually don't include any bonus tracks. 

Does anyone have any insight?  I'm crossing my fingers for one of those multi-LP, super deluxe boxes with a big foldout poster and all the trimmings - which I'd gladly pay out the nose for!

[MBE]

Save For A Rainy Day was a deluxe 2 LP set and their reisuue of Jan and Dean's first album had all the bonus cuts too.

[punkinhead]

thought of a couple more things...Will we finally hear what Brian thinks of POB? For years I'd heard he didn't like it but i've also heard he liked also.

wondering if we're going to hear He's a Bum cleaned up as well?

[c-man]

thought of a couple more things...Will we finally hear what Brian thinks of POB? For years I'd heard he didn't like it but i've also heard he liked also.

wondering if we're going to hear He's a Bum cleaned up as well?

Well, I know back in November '76, he told Pete Fornatale that he'd heard some cuts, and that his reaction was this:  "I said 'Dennis, that's FUNKY!  That's FUUUNNKEEE!! You're gonna have a hit album', I hope he has a hit album, Dennis Wilson solo album is gonna be a good album!". 

[mikeyj]

thought of a couple more things...Will we finally hear what Brian thinks of POB? For years I'd heard he didn't like it but i've also heard he liked also.

wondering if we're going to hear He's a Bum cleaned up as well?

A quote from Dennis in 1977 found in Back To The Beach:

"When my record was finished, Brian was the first to hear it. In the middle of some tracks he'd say, 'I can't stand this' and walk out of the room. Sometimes he'd laugh. Sometimes he'd cry. I guess he was thinking that he'd seen me grow up as a musician."

[MBE]

Brian told me the one time we got to talk that he loved Dennis' music.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

New article link from a post on the Blue Board:

http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/cnhi/weatherforddemocrat/entertainment/cnhinsentertainment_story_031172448.html?keyword=secondarystory

Good press though he calls 'Bambu' "Bamboo"  He also mentions books but not Jon's book - hmmmm.

[XY]

Probably old news, but in an interview from January 1977 Dennis mentioned that the name of his second album he's working on will be "Tornado".

[Jon Stebbins]

Probably old news, but in an interview from January 1977 Dennis mentioned that the name of his second album he's working on will be "Tornado".

Yeah...I like that name. Maybe it should be used for the third DW solo LP...oops. I read the "Tornado" quote myself and showed to a few people who might know something about it like Gregg Jakobson, John Hanlon and Jim Guercio, but none of them had ever heard of that title...and in fact Gregg laughed and said Dennis was just messing with the interviewer's head. But I say...let's just keep it on the back burner in case we need another title at some point.

[c-man]

Probably old news, but in an interview from January 1977 Dennis mentioned that the name of his second album he's working on will be "Tornado".

They were also calling their horn section The Tornadoes at that time.
'Cause they blow up a storm. 

[DonnaK]

Jon, what did you mean in that last post of yours when you said-maybe we should use that title for the third DW solo album....OOOPPPSSSS??? Was that just a little mistake? Do you know something we don't (besides alot!!)?

[Charles LePage @ ComicList]

From a May 1969 interview with Dennis:

What other work are you doing independent of the Beach Boys?

I am recording a friend of mine – ‘Medulla’ – who is a singer-guitarist who played a long time ago on one of our tours as a backing musician. He writes all his own songs. I have completed an album with him and when Brother Records are launched this year I hope to have him on our label.

http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=39

WHO IS MEDULLA?

[XY]

Jon, what did you mean in that last post of yours when you said-maybe we should use that title for the third DW solo album....OOOPPPSSSS??? Was that just a little mistake? Do you know something we don't (besides alot!!)?

Since Bambu was allegedly concepted before POB came out and more or less finished in 1978, some people assumed that the solo recording Dennis did afterwards marked the birth of yet another solo album project. This would include songs that were mistakenly connected with Bambu in the past. With 'oops', Jon probably meant this talk about a third album is complete BS..........