Is Bambu all that great??

[c-man]

speaking of Tug Of Love (my favorite song on the whole thing), whats the deal with that weird, gurgly, white soul vocal on the part where Dennis is chanting "feel the pull, feel the pull" and it comes in with "I feel the pull". I accept it b/c I love that song so much, but its so weird and out of place, like someone was joking around

That's Baron Stewart's voice.  He also sings on "Album Tag Song".

[Jim V.]

I'm kinda bummed to learn, via your page with all the info on the album c-man, that "Album Tag Song" is actually not a Dennis construction. I thought the vocal part was supposed to be there, but apparently it was just placed their posthumously to make it more of a "song". Kind of a bummer.

[Jason]

"Album Tag Song" is two pieces of music. The first part with the heavy keyboards and drums was listed as "Album Tag" on the tape box. The piano/vocal bit was apparently from '79, and was just a demo that was uncovered. Maybe not "genuine", but it works.

That's one thing I felt was lacking on the POB reissue - actual demos.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I don't much care for All Alone, and i can't stand Under The Moonlight, however the rest of Bambu is bloody great! Love it.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

It'ss difficult to compare Pacific Ocean Blue and Bambu, and not just because one was finished and the other wasn't.  Pet Sounds was finished and Smile wasn't, but it is possible to compare them because each one is comprised of songs that are in a similar musical idiom.  I don't necessarily get the sense from The Bambu Sessions that Dennis was consciously attempting to create a style of music that was distinct from the kind he had made on Pacific Ocean Blue.  Judging from the available songs, it sounds like Bambu would have been less ballad-heavy and had a few more songs that rock, as it were ("Under the Moonlight," "School Girl," "Constant Companion"), but aside from that minor difference, it seems that Bambu would have basically followed Pacific Ocean Blue rather than broken with it.

As far as the songs on Bambu go, though, there are quite a few that I love ("It's Not too Late," "Love Remember Me," "Love Surrounds Me," "Constant Companion").  Some of the incomplete ones like "I Love You" and "Are You Real" show a lot of promise as well, and the others are generally quite good, but like Disney Boy (1985), I've never been too keen on "All Alone."  If The Bambu Sessions counts as a Beach Boys solo album, it's probably my third favorite, after Pacific Ocean Blue and Brian Wilson.  I've always hoped to hear more from his first unreleased solo album from the early 1970s, though.

[Don Malcolm]

This is one of the happy exceptions to extended threads here where it appears unpromising at the start but then evolves into something highly informative and stimulating. Thanks, guys.

It seems that Dennis really took to heart a variation of Brian's modular composition strategy, something that moved his music away from the more ordinary "verse-bridge-chorus" template. He loved to slam completely different sections of similarly-influenced music together, and the results, while often initially jarring, rapidly cohere in the listener's mind and emotions with a few listenings. Once that happens, you're in this very different and very amazing alternate world that he's able to create. And he was never afraid to just flat out rock and roll, something that couldn't always be said about his big brother. (Note to BW: we want this new one to rock, big brother!!)

I don't know if anyone else has this type of "relationship" with Dennis's work but for me I have to walk away from it for awhile lest it literally take over my life. When I start listening to it, it has an addictive power (probably something to do with the power of the addictive personality who created it...) that I can go with for awhile, but all too soon I'm somehow lost in that world, listening only to it and the edges of the real world seem to be falling away at an ever-increasing speed! And, no, I'm not "medicating" while I listen, either!!  

In his own way, Dennis is just as powerful a musical presence as his big brother. We should give thanks to those stalwart folks who were relentless in getting such a generous swatch of his music out into the light of day again. Now we want all the rest of it!!!

[Jason Penick]

And while I'm here (can't resist!) and not Bamboo related but it can be found on Dennis Wilson Rarities - Dumb Angel 14. For those who haven't heard it, seek it out. Quad Symphony. Supposedly as a favor to Steve Desper, Dennis allowed segments of several song fragments he had recorded in quadrophonic sound to be pressed onto an acetate for Desper to use to demonstrate quad sound. There's a piece of a song called "All My Love". I read somewhere that this contains 350 overdubs of Dennis’ voice. Just shows you what Dennis was capable of - I've always loved that and can imagine if it made it into a complete song.

This is probably as good a place to mention it as any, but I don't think "Quad Symphony" was ever a legitimate Dennis Wilson title, and that mix on DA 14 sure as hell isn't legitimate. How do I know? Well, I'm the one that made it! Basically put, I was commissioned by another Beach Boys fan who shall remain nameless to try my hand at a few edits of Dennis material-- this was back around 1999-2000 when I was just learning Pro Tools. The base parts for the Q.S. were all taken off of a couple of old CD boots titled Denny Remembered vols. 1&2. (Mikie you probably remember these.) This other BB's fan and I had heard the Steven Desper AES lecture where he discussed his and Dennis's adventures in quad sound, and decided it might be fun to try our hand at editing some stuff.

The parts as I remember them were titles: "All of My Love", "Piano Duet", "Organ Duet" and "Untitled Instrumental". The tricky part was syncing up the two duets, which I could tell would be able to interpolate to some degree. I think I cheated and faded them in and out to some degree, but I remember being pretty happy with the results.

I don't know if you remember the old Bamboo boot (not the red & grey vinyl, but the CD version with the POB outtake cover). I did the same thing with a couple of other tracks, namely the "Wild Situation" basic track with the separate harmony track... This actually turned out to be the way the song always went, if the released version is any indication!

I also synced up the basic "He's a Bum" track with an unreleased backing track that heavily featured the marimba. This didn't turn out quite as well, but if you ever come across it, now you know it was Frankensteined by me, and isn't a legitimate mix.

Not sure if this is of any interest to anybody or not, but I'm a pretty big stickler when it comes to historical accuracy, and I just didn't want anyone to get fooled into thinking any of these mixes were legitimate!  Carry on.