Carl's solo influences

[Aegir]

Now, I'm not an expert on early 80s rock, but Carl's solo albums sound like they're in the style of an already-established genre. What are some other acts that have a similar sound to "Carl Wilson" and "Youngblood" that could have been an influence on Carl?

[adamghost]

The Eagles, for one.

[Loaf]

Eagles, really? I can't hear it myself, but maybe i haven't heard enough Eagles.

Without having heard much Randy Bachman, i'd have guessed he was an influence.

[The Shift]

I'd've thought that the grand output of Chicago and the likes must also have had a big impact, given Jimmy Guercio's links with the BBs at some stage and the fact that Carl's albums came out on Caribou.

If I recall correctly, he referred in interviews to the albums' style being more rhythm and blues than the BBs' own sound.

[Catbirdman]

Yacht rock and anything that generally sucks.

[EthanJames]

Mostly the eagles and Chicago, the Light FM stuff from that era

[Magic Transistor Radio]

How about Kansas? 

[Sheriff John Stone]

I wonder if the success that Christopher Cross had in 1979-80 had any influnce on Carl. There is some similarity there with the voices and sound.

[Emdeeh]

What about earlier influences? Carl said that he'd be singing on Pet Sounds sessions and then go home and listen to his Aretha Franklin and Stax records. That's more of a direct influence for how Carl sang on Wild Honey than on his solo stuff, but I think it all adds up over the years.

[SBonilla]

I hear Henry Gross. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXttayZX60Y

[Paulos]

I have no idea what influences Carl was thinking of when he made his god-awful solo albums. Carl Wilson and Youngblood make my soul cry.

[PS]

I would imagine that writing with Myrna Smith-Schilling had some influence here as well, eh? And that Daryl Hall/Michael McDonald blue eyed lounge lizard electric piano MOR white soul sound...

I'll tell you, the 1981 CW live band rocked pretty hard at the Paradise Club in Boston and made these blanched songs come alive with some nasty funk. His African-American bass player (name?) simply blew us away, and Carl was enjoying himself so much, hung out after the show and chatted with a group of us...A fond musical memory of rather unmemorable songs (save for Heaven).

[Sheriff John Stone]

I have no idea what influences Carl was thinking of when he made his god-awful solo albums. Carl Wilson and Youngblood make my soul cry.

I don't think Carl did anything on either of his solo albums that he couldn't do with The Beach Boys, but....

I still think Youngblood is a good album.

[metal flake paint]

I think that the bass player's name is Gerald Johnson (?).

During the Goin' Platinum program, Carl mentioned that he was writing stuff that had a funky feel, akin to Gary Wright.

[PS]

I think that the bass player's name is Gerald Johnson (?).

Yes. Sweet Inspirations link to Myrna.

Bio:


What do the Sweet Inspirations, Greg Allman, Dave Mason, Les Dudek, Steve Miller, Crosby Stills and Nash and The Pointer Sisters all have in common? The thick, funky bass lines laid down by one of rock music’s most unique voices of the bass guitar, Gerald Johnson. Currently touring with Dave Mason, Gerald can be seen and heard laying down his legendary sound in venues across the U.S. When one sees and hears Gerald play, there is no mistaking that his is an undeniable presence, a truly unique voice, an irresistible groove. Raised in Washington D.C., Gerald knew from a young age that music was the thing he wanted to do. His brother once mentioned, “Man, there’s something strange about you and music.” At 16, he was playing his $80 bass at boarding school jams with Antoine Domino (son of Fats Domino) and had begun learning all the standard tunes of the times. By the time he was 18, he borrowed $140 from his Auntie to buy his first Fender P-bass, his choice of instrument still to this day. His first professional opportunity came at 19 with an offer to tour with the established girl-group The Sweet Inspirations, who soon became an opening act for Elvis Presley on The Strip in Vegas. It was during a stint at the Lake Tahoe Sahara that Gerald met a young guitarist named Steve Miller, and soon he embarked on what would be a long career of making hit records and playing on major tours with a wide variety of artists, leaving a lasting impression in the eyes and ears of countless other bassists in the process. His first gold record came with Steve Miller Band’s The Joker, which contained the first of many memorable bass lines Gerald was to record with Miller, including Abracadabra and Steve Miller Live! His work with Dave Mason on his album Let it Go, Let it Flow featuring the smash-hit “We Just Disagree” led to work with Stephen Stills, and eventually Gerald was invited to join the rhythm section for Crosby Stills and Nash, a position he held for 8 years and numerous tours. Gerald’s signature feel can also be heard on other notable recordings such as the eighties chart-topper “Fire” by the Pointer Sisters. Besides contributing his talents as a bassist, Gerald has also logged a number of recording credits as a vocalist known for his soulful, authentic style. In addition to his long list of live performance credits, Gerald has also made dozens of appearances on The Midnite Special, In Concert, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Arsenio Hall Show. As well as appearing in numerous music videos, Gerald was featured in a short film, shot at the Coppola Studios in 1986 featuring Steve Miller, James Cotton and Les Dudek. Currently living in Los Angeles, Gerald can sometimes be seen wowing local audiences with his undeniable presence on the bass guitar. His performances never fail to capture the essence of what makes music come alive - an irresistible groove. ..

[Lonely Summer]

Once again I am reminded that I am the only that bought Carl's solo albums and liked them...still do!

[Slow In Brain]

Like A Brother is one third Chicago and one third America...nothing wrong with that music.

[Ed Roach]

Just read a review of a new film that opened in Los Angeles, partially about The Sweet Inspirations:

THIS TIME

Even artists have their own working class--those hustlers with relatively steady work, ever waiting on that one merciful break--and several of its members are the focus of This Time, director Victor Mignatti's engaging but near fatally bifurcated dispatch from the fringes of the floundering music industry. The obvious center of the doc's larger story (wherein three sets of lifers take one last shot at the big time) are the Sweet Inspirations, best known as backup singers for a past generation of one-namers like Elvis, Aretha, and Dusty. A trio at the time of shooting (Myrna Smith, Estelle Brown, and Portia Griffin), it famously counted Whitney Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, among its members. Similar comeback story lines involving club diva Pat Hodges and a stalled cabaret singer named Bobby Belfry are well-blended by dovetailing themes and snappy editing, but it's the Inspirations who cry out for the star treatment. Tantalizing snippets from their combative history and rotating membership are tossed to the sidelines; the members' personality clashes and mutual psychoanalyzing hint at a much better story left untold. You would never know, for instance, that two original Inspirations died during filming. Without meaning to, Mignatti compounds the injury of several careers spent trying to step out of the background.

http://www.thistimemovie.com/

[Lonely Summer]

Like A Brother is one third Chicago and one third America...nothing wrong with that music.

Thank you.

[Alex]

Now, I'm not an expert on early 80s rock, but Carl's solo albums sound like they're in the style of an already-established genre. What are some other acts that have a similar sound to "Carl Wilson" and "Youngblood" that could have been an influence on Carl?

Ummm...Loverboy, Eddie Money, Billy Squier, Tommy Tutone, The Romantics, Huey Lewis and the News, Starship, Christopher Cross, Hall and Oates, Kenny Loggins, Air Supply, Journey, Foreigner......

[Lonely Summer]

Now, I'm not an expert on early 80s rock, but Carl's solo albums sound like they're in the style of an already-established genre. What are some other acts that have a similar sound to "Carl Wilson" and "Youngblood" that could have been an influence on Carl?

Ummm...Loverboy, Eddie Money, Billy Squier, Tommy Tutone, The Romantics, Huey Lewis and the News, Starship, Christopher Cross, Hall and Oates, Kenny Loggins, Air Supply, Journey, Foreigner......

Sorry, I don't hear that at all. Not that ALL of the music made by the above acts was weak, but very little of it can match up to the emotional impact of Givin' You Up, One More Night Alone, Of the Times, Heaven, or Seems so Long Ago. And I'd take Too Early to Tell or What More Can I Say? for flat out rockin' over any of the above's attempts.

[Aegir]

Now, I'm not an expert on early 80s rock, but Carl's solo albums sound like they're in the style of an already-established genre. What are some other acts that have a similar sound to "Carl Wilson" and "Youngblood" that could have been an influence on Carl?

Ummm...Loverboy, Eddie Money, Billy Squier, Tommy Tutone, The Romantics, Huey Lewis and the News, Starship, Christopher Cross, Hall and Oates, Kenny Loggins, Air Supply, Journey, Foreigner......

You're just naming random 80s bands that you don't like. Starship didn't even form until a year after Youngblood came out.

interesting fact: current Beach Boys drummer John Cowsill was the drummer in Tommy Tutone, he played on 867-5309.

[Cabinessenceking]

I think when the Beach Boys did the LA album in 1979 Carl digged the sound of Goin' South, Angel Come Home and all the other 'mature' songs on the album. I also think he really liked Dennis' and Brian's mature melodies that had been in the works since 15BO or even Caribou. When KTSA became what it is, he realised that the Beach Boys were done for and tried to make albums in the vein of LA. Perhaps one could ask what had inspired his songs on LA?

[Lonely Summer]

I like Carl's albums partly because, unlike the group albums immediately preceding them, there aren't any half baked attempts at reviving the early Beach Boys sound. He was committed to doing mature music that reflected where he was at in the early 80's. The first album has kind of mellow but slightly funky groove to it, but I have a couple live tapes from his solo tour, and those songs are just smokin'! The first album doesn't reflect the sound of the live band. Youngblood is a bit closer to how they sounded on stage. I think Jeff Baxter did a great job producing that album - I would've rather he produced the BB85 album than Steve Levine. There are some good songs and vocals there, but those synths just make it sound so dated now.

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

Its a real shame the albums didn't happen ten years earlier. How about an album of tracks like feel flows, LPR and Trader?

course this would have probably meant the demise of the Beach Boys and I guess Carl was never prolific which in one way is the problem with his albums as the songs seem thrown together rather than meticulously crafted like his early 70s work.