Composition of Sail on Sailor

[busy doin nothin]

So I'm in the grocery store the other night and I hear a rather tepid cover version of "Sail on Sailor."  I thinks to myself, that sounds like Jimmy Buffett.  So I go on wikipedia, pull up the page for SOS, and find out that yes, indeed, Buffett recorded a version in 2003.  Good taste, bad artist.  Reading further in the wikipedia article, I come to this:

Recent statements by Parks on Wilson's message board, however, suggest that the song was not really worked on by Wilson, but rather that Wilson gave him a few chords with a small melody. Parks claims that part of the reason it was so heavily stressed to be a mostly Wilson composition (indeed, Parks had to sue to gain any credits at all) is because Warner Brothers had demanded Wilson return to writing music and to the front of the band -- something Wilson was not willing to do.

AGD's book -- a phenomenal resource as always -- tells the story as I have previously understood it: that VDP "sat Brian Wilson down at a piano, told him to write a song and arrived at Warners offices about half an hour later with a cassette copy of 'Sail on Sailor'".  This is the story also told in Gaines's book and the two-fer liner notes (which add that Van Dyke wrote the middle eight, which would seem to be a very significant contribution).

AGD adds that "Brian had already recorded an early version with Steve Desper engineering back in late 1971 (Desper contends that the Holland version "sounds awfully like the one I recorded")."

I have also read somewhere a story that Carl was in the studio unsure of how to handle the rhythm and called Brian on the phone, who gave him the distinctive chugging waltz beat (BAH -buh-buh, Bah -buh-buh).

I guess my main question is: is there any truth to this Wikipedia business about Van Dyke really being the true author of the song, and Brian's involvement being minimal?  What is the latest consensus as to the composition and creation of this extraordinary Frankenstein's monster we know as "Sail on Sailor" -- one of the best tracks of the 70s by any act.

[Dancing Bear]

I was recently listening to the Sounds of Summer podcast, and Brian seemed very detached about the song. Has he ever spoken like that about any other composition of his? I think it's possible that he had the basics of SOS and it was taken from his hands and finished by any number of those people listed as songwriters. If Van Dyke really wrote the music for the bridge, then Ray Kennedy wrote his set of lyrics ("when you're coked out" etc) after Van Dyke, right?

[LostArt]

For one thing, I have a hard time believing that Van Dyke Parks went on the blueboard and posted that he, and not Brian, wrote the majority of Sail On Sailor.  It wouldn't surprise me if Van Dyke said that on his own website, or in an interview, but I don't think he'd say that on Brian's own message board.  Actually, that quote might not be far from the truth.  The song as released only has a few chords and a small melody.


"Cut the crap, Brian, and write a middle eight."   

[Andrew G. Doe]

VDP also, allegedly, gave the song its title.

[Chris Brown]

The song as released only has a few chords and a small melody.

Exactly.  There isn't much there musically...just the little change up at the end of the verse, and then the middle eight.  Brian could have come up with those parts, left the lyrics to others and been done with it.

[Jay]

Is it know what the lyrics are that Van Dyke Parks wrote? Peter Carlin in Catch A Wave quotes a line that goes "Fill your sails with fortitude, and ride her stormy waves". Ever since I read that line I've always wondered what Van Dyke's original lyrics are/were.

[Smilin Ed H]

We've had threads on this before and there seemed to be a lot of confusion over who wrote what and even when it was recorded.  I'm sure I've read that Desper seemed to think an earlier version had been recorded close to the Surf's Up sessions, but this doesn't fit with Parks' recollections.  Who knows?  Or who's prepared to tell the truth? What was Kennedy's actual contribution to the song as it ended up on Holland? I'm sure I've read that the answer is close to nothing.

[phirnis]

I was recently listening to the Sounds of Summer podcast, and Brian seemed very detached about the song. Has he ever spoken like that about any other composition of his?

...which really made me wonder why in the world it has been on his very own setlist for such a long time. I mean, he once even introduced it as "a song I don't like at all". Doesn't make any sense to me.

[Fall Breaks]

Two questions: Is the middle eight the "Caught like a sewer rat..." part or the "Seldom stumble..." part? And can someone post the lyrics to Ray Kennedy's version?

I really want this to be a (at least partial) BW composition. A thing that could speak against that would be how much it differs from any other BW song, with the unique (for a BW song) rhythm in the "seldom stumble" parts for example.

[Andrew G. Doe]

KGB version:

I am a singer
A gospel singer
I sing for people
I sing for pleasure
Only a dreamer
Who came from nowhere
Sail on, wail on sailor

Over the cities
I see the rooftops
To soothe my poor throat
I pop the cough drops
Often frightened
Unenlightened
Sail on, wail on sailor
Sail on, wail on sailor

Just like my mama said.
"Ray, there's a way
But you gotta get yourself out
That ghetto today

You might stumble
You could fumble
When you're down though
Don't feel under"

And the thunder
And the lightnin'
Lord it's frightnin'
When you're coked out

Heartbreak city
Ain't so pretty
When you're down the
Nitty gritty

Sail on, wail on sailor
Sail on, wail on sailor
Sail on, wail on sailor

And the thunder
And the lightnin'
Lord it's frightnin'
When you're coked out

Heartbreak city
Ain't so pretty
When you're down the
Nitty gritty

Sail on, wail on sailor
Sail on, wail on sailor
Sail on, wail on sailor

The Ray Kennedy solo version changes the 'cough drops' couplet a little "to soothe my poor soul/I thought a whole lot". He also changed the "wail" to "sail".

[adamghost]

'70s classic rock deep thinking at its finest.

[TonyW]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

[Custom Machine]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

And even more to think about - Five Summer Stories is listed as having been released 3-24-72.  I first saw Five Summer Stories on July 9, 1972 (at a rented out high school auditorium, which was the kind of place they were showing it before it ended up in theaters).  I next saw it on May 23, 1973, this time in a regular theater .  At the time of its release, Five Summer Stories contained three unreleased Beach Boys songs - The Trader, Calif Saga (On My Way to Sunny Calif), and Sail on Sailor.

When was the KGB version released?  What was Ray Kennedy's role in writing the original song? Did Ray Kennedy write his lyrics after the Beach Boys version, or did they exist prior to that, but he didn't release the kGB version till later?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

And even more to think about - Five Summer Stories is listed as having been released 3-24-72.  I first saw Five Summer Stories on July 9, 1972 (at a rented out high school auditorium, which was the kind of place they were showing it before it ended up in theaters).  I next saw it on May 23, 1973, this time in a regular theater .  At the time of its release, Five Summer Stories contained three unreleased Beach Boys songs - The Trader, Calif Saga (On My Way to Sunny Calif), and Sail on Sailor.

When was the KGB version released?  What was Ray Kennedy's role in writing the original song? Did Ray Kennedy write his lyrics after the Beach Boys version, or did they exist prior to that, but he didn't release the kGB version till later?

KGB version was released in February 1976.

Steve Desper told me he recorded a version of "SO,S" with Brian in late 1971, and that what was released in 1973 sounded a lot like the track he engineered.

[Ed Roach]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

I don't have an answer for you, (although I do have an anecdote, I believe previously told either in a book or documentary, about walking up to the studio on Bellagio when by chance VDP & Brian were tackling SOS again, for the Add Some Music album), but I do have a question:  you don't have a copy of this with The Boys music in it, do you?  I've been promised it many times, (even by MacGillivray a few years back), but still haven't ever seen it again since the night it premiered.  Dennis dragged me to a screening at the Santa Monica Civic, as I'd seen a lousy surf film just before this one, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  However, when he gave me a hint about the music they'd let them use, I stopped resisting, and lit a fatty...  And man, were we both blown away by what we saw & heard that night!  It felt to me like a whole new world of possibilities would open up for The Boys music in movies from that; instead, they had it pulled from the film, (against Dennis' protestations), after the guys had taken it around the country, four-walling it everywhere that they could set up a screen.  Dennis & I did persuade them to join us at Chez Jay after the screening, and that was the last time I ever saw Jim, who died hang gliding not long afterwards.  So, again, do you have a copy???

[TonyW]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

I don't have an answer for you, (although I do have an anecdote, I believe previously told either in a book or documentary, about walking up to the studio on Bellagio when by chance VDP & Brian were tackling SOS again, for the Add Some Music album), but I do have a question:  you don't have a copy of this with The Boys music in it, do you?  I've been promised it many times, (even by MacGillivray a few years back), but still haven't ever seen it again since the night it premiered.  Dennis dragged me to a screening at the Santa Monica Civic, as I'd seen a lousy surf film just before this one, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  However, when he gave me a hint about the music they'd let them use, I stopped resisting, and lit a fatty...  And man, were we both blown away by what we saw & heard that night!  It felt to me like a whole new world of possibilities would open up for The Boys music in movies from that; instead, they had it pulled from the film, (against Dennis' protestations), after the guys had taken it around the country, four-walling it everywhere that they could set up a screen.  Dennis & I did persuade them to join us at Chez Jay after the screening, and that was the last time I ever saw Jim, who died hang gliding not long afterwards.  So, again, do you have a copy???

First off Ed I just want to say thanks to you for coming to this site, you add a wealth of knowledge and experince for all of us and I for one appreciate it .... now about Five Summer Stories ... yeah, I have an old VHS tape (but no longer have a tape machine so can't do the A/B on SOS) which I guess would be totally useless for you being in the States. I did a quick check and it is available in DVD through Amazon.

I live in one of Australia's larger beachside towns (Cronulla) so will do the rounds of all the surf shops this morning to find a DVD copy of FSS and do an A/B on SOS.

Oh yeah Ed, purely for the sake of "getting it right" ... and I know as well as anyone how memory can fail us all ... Jim Freeman died in a helicopter crash not a hang gliding accident. Perhaps the hang gliding recollection is coming about because the Sail on Sailor sequence in FSS was hang gliding off the Na Pali coast on Kauai.

[TonyW]

Here's something to think about. According to AGD's Bellagio site SOS was recorded in November '72, however SOS was used in the soundtrack to the Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman surf film, Five Summer Stories, which was released in September '72. So is the FSS version different from the Holland recording?

And even more to think about - Five Summer Stories is listed as having been released 3-24-72.  I first saw Five Summer Stories on July 9, 1972 (at a rented out high school auditorium, which was the kind of place they were showing it before it ended up in theaters).  I next saw it on May 23, 1973, this time in a regular theater .  At the time of its release, Five Summer Stories contained three unreleased Beach Boys songs - The Trader, Calif Saga (On My Way to Sunny Calif), and Sail on Sailor.

Thanks for the correction on the dates ... the mystery deepens even further - and yeah, I too remember the days of seeing surf movies in school auditoriums and community halls ... and then they moved up market to the Sydney Opera House!! I actually went to a new surf movie premier on Monday night called "Last Hope" by Andrew Kidman (straight from the Morning Of The Earth / Albie Falzon old school) it was held in a local bar with a screen set up just off centre to the stage while the band jammed along next to it - wonderful stuff! Surf movies, music, beer and the waft of herbs in the air ....  ... the 70's is sooooo back in fashion in the surf community!

[Ed Roach]

Hey Tony, thanks for the kind words, but I love having this site.  Not only do I constantly learn things I'd never known, it's also a heck of a lot of fun to share these memories people are interested in.  Plus, as I've mentioned before, very often things brought up here kick off something in my psyche that take me back to wonderous adventures with various Wilson Boys.
Regarding Five Summer Stories, I'm almost certain that the Amazon dvd does not have BB music.  However, I do think there are 'bootlegs' floating around from the original version, I guess from the old vhs.  I can't recall for certain my last conversation with Greg, but good gosh, he's constantly pushing forward, yet still remembers 5SS fondly.  Think he had told me they had restored it for release once, but hit some snag with The Boys 'people'.  Imagine that???
Thanks, too, for "getting it right", re: Jim Freeman.  Could have sworn he died hang gliding; I know Jimmy G.'s brother died that way, shortly after Dennis had past.  This was a big reason why POB was withdrawn when it was;  a very painful for Guercio.

[Custom Machine]

Ed - I bought a VHS copy of Five Summer Stories back in 1996, when I was first aware that the film was available on VHS, and upgraded to a DVD copy two years ago when I found out it had been released on DVD.  I then got rid of my VHS copy, but not before checking to see if there were any musical differences between the two, of which I found none.  As Tony mentioned, used VHS copies are available from Amazon, but you can get DVD copies from various sources, mostly surf shops and surf related sites.  I did a quick search and found the DVD available from http://www.surfvideo.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=31_35_66&products_id=542 for 19.99.  (If you have difficulty getting a copy, send me a PM.)

To the best of my knowledge, the BBs music was never pulled from the film.  It was still there when the film was rereleased in expanded form as "Five Summer Stories Plus Four" in 1976.  I'm guessing you're thinking of the Soundtrack album,  which was by the group Honk, and never did contain any BB material.  I do recall hearing back when the film was released that Brian Wilson had given MacGillivray and Freeman permission to use the BB's music at no charge.  It was great publicity for the band at that time, and really cool to hear some BB stuff which had yet to be released.

Here's a link to an original poster advertising the film's showings  June - Aug 72. http://www.classicsurfads.com/catalog.php/classicads/dt70778/pd1921360/FIVE_SUMMER_STORIES_SURF_FILM_AD_1972

Tony - Cool to hear about your recent surf music premier, "Surf movies, music, beer and the waft of herbs in the air .... the 70's is sooooo back in fashion in the surf community!"

[bossaroo]

he once even introduced it as "a song I don't like at all"

so Brian...!

[Jon Stebbins]

I actually saw this film on TV maybe a year or two ago, it was on late, maybe it was IFC or some specialty channel like the documentary channel. The BB's music was in there, and the versions all sounded like the normal ones to me. I thought the film had a great beginning, a great initial premise and then it completely fizzled, like the filmmakers ran out of money and just threw the last third of it together.

[Custom Machine]

Just went back and listened to SOS on the Five Summer Stories DVD.  While it's possible there are some minor differences, the version found on the film sounds completely identical to me to the released version on Holland, with the exception that the Five Summer Stories version fades out about 30 seconds sooner than the Holland version.

[TonyW]

I actually saw this film on TV maybe a year or two ago, it was on late, maybe it was IFC or some specialty channel like the documentary channel. The BB's music was in there, and the versions all sounded like the normal ones to me. I thought the film had a great beginning, a great initial premise and then it completely fizzled, like the filmmakers ran out of money and just threw the last third of it together.

And that's kinda like what happened ... Five Summer Stories came out in 1972 as 5 interlinked stories - it was shot in 35mm (a rariety for it's time) - so to keep it with some movie theatre "shelf life" 4 extra stories were added in 1976 ... and the updated version was known as Five Summer Stories Plus 4 ... and that's what you probably saw as being so disjointed towards the ending.

[Ed Roach]

Strange...  this is really baffling; (also, I feel guilty for my part in leading this thread astray.  We almost should just start one for 5SS); I'm pretty certain I'd seen the film years later, (and discussed this with Dennis), and it had Honk's music replacing The Boys.  (Jon, it was Brian C. that reminded me of this, and said he had a 'rare' copy).
I'll except for sure that I could be wrong, but hope someone else remembers the same...

[Andrew G. Doe]

The version of "California Saga" on FSS was very slightly different, what seems like a minor edit toward the end.

Something very odd is going on here - logically there's no possible way that three songs from the Holland sessions could be included on a movie released in March 1972. But in the recollection of many - too many - folk here, that's what happened.