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Title: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: leggo of my ego on March 16, 2013, 05:36:10 PM Referring to the illustration on Surf's Up (End of the Trail) and the mounted Indian with outstretched arms (seen this described as "Appeal to the Great Spirit") which they used on t-shirts...belt buckles and ??
I was looking online for an art print or sculpture of the End of the Trail and had no idea it was so popular-- tons of things have been produced depicting the scene of the slumped over Indian on a tired horse. I guess it was Remington's famous sculpture that came first?? What were the BB trying to convey to the fans by using these iconic images of the Old West -- was this a continuation of the Americana vibe from Smile or maybe they were trying to connect with an Ecologically-hip groove (remember the commercial with the "crying" Indian watching people toss trash out on the highway) or something else? Inquiring minds want to know!! Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: juggler on March 16, 2013, 05:52:55 PM From Wikipedia...
Quote When Beach Boy Carl Wilson was asked in 1975 why the group used this as their logo, he said the Indian was chosen because Carl’s grandfather believed that there was a spiritual Indian "guide" who watched over Brian, Dennis, and Carl from the "other side." The choice of the logo was Brian's. Carl called the logo "The Last Horizon." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_Great_SpiritAlso see this interesting student paper... http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7wn513j0#page-1 Quote Ed Thrasher, head Art Director of Warner Records, recalled his first inspiration for the Beach Boys' Surfs Up, “When I was growing up, my dad had the painting, The End of the Trail in the room where he and his pals played poker. I found a copy of it in the Warner Bros. Prop Department all those years later and reproduced it for the 'Surf's Up' album cover. Maybe you can figure out why I put the two together....I can't!”115 Thrasher's intuitive decision to use an image of a Native American for an album that concerned student protests and leftist politics was likely due to the contemporary mass media attention surrounding the American Indian Movement and Quote The success of the album and popularity of its cover art may account for band manager Jack Rieley's claim that he discovered End of the Trail, not Ed Thrasher. Similar to Thrasher's account, Rieley stated that he too came upon the image by chance; “I was in a car on Sunset and I noticed an antique shop with that print in the window. I thought it would make such a moving cover, and it tied in with their Brother Records logo.”123 Rieley's assertion that the End of the Trail would “tie in” with the Beach Boys' record label logo (established in 1966) was more appropriate than the band manager could have known. Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: leggo of my ego on March 16, 2013, 06:24:16 PM From Wikipedia... Damn wikipedia, I should have known. ::) Quote When Beach Boy Carl Wilson was asked in 1975 why the group used this as their logo, he said the Indian was chosen because Carl’s grandfather believed that there was a spiritual Indian "guide" who watched over Brian, Dennis, and Carl from the "other side." The choice of the logo was Brian's. Carl called the logo "The Last Horizon." Now thats spooky - shades of "dead Indians on dawn's highway bleeding". Well, not really but still kinda creeps me out. :o Thanks for the info! It was a lot less cryptic than I thought it might be, but the media attention on Indian affairs / Trial of Billy Jack thing is in there too. Sorta. BTW the crying Indian wasn't an Indian at all, that's on wikipedia too I believe. Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: filledeplage on March 16, 2013, 07:04:22 PM From Wikipedia... Thanks for that. Just read quickly thought the paper. Great illustrations at the close. It did not have guitarfool2002's icon of Cyrus Dallin's "Brother Records" logo, in front of the MFA in Boston. Quote When Beach Boy Carl Wilson was asked in 1975 why the group used this as their logo, he said the Indian was chosen because Carl’s grandfather believed that there was a spiritual Indian "guide" who watched over Brian, Dennis, and Carl from the "other side." The choice of the logo was Brian's. Carl called the logo "The Last Horizon." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_Great_SpiritAlso see this interesting student paper... http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7wn513j0#page-1 Quote Ed Thrasher, head Art Director of Warner Records, recalled his first inspiration for the Beach Boys' Surfs Up, “When I was growing up, my dad had the painting, The End of the Trail in the room where he and his pals played poker. I found a copy of it in the Warner Bros. Prop Department all those years later and reproduced it for the 'Surf's Up' album cover. Maybe you can figure out why I put the two together....I can't!”115 Thrasher's intuitive decision to use an image of a Native American for an album that concerned student protests and leftist politics was likely due to the contemporary mass media attention surrounding the American Indian Movement and Quote The success of the album and popularity of its cover art may account for band manager Jack Rieley's claim that he discovered End of the Trail, not Ed Thrasher. Similar to Thrasher's account, Rieley stated that he too came upon the image by chance; “I was in a car on Sunset and I noticed an antique shop with that print in the window. I thought it would make such a moving cover, and it tied in with their Brother Records logo.”123 Rieley's assertion that the End of the Trail would “tie in” with the Beach Boys' record label logo (established in 1966) was more appropriate than the band manager could have known. It did have around p. 29-31 an interesting discussion about Student Demonstration Time. It captures the essence of the time, and purpose for its inclusion on the LP. The whole concept was so ahead of its time, and delightful to see that someone is actually connecting-the-dots in an academic context! Bravo! I'd have loved to have done a paper in college, on the Band ( for credit, yet!) ;) Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: sockittome on March 17, 2013, 10:23:46 AM From Wikipedia... Damn wikipedia, I should have known. ::) Quote When Beach Boy Carl Wilson was asked in 1975 why the group used this as their logo, he said the Indian was chosen because Carl’s grandfather believed that there was a spiritual Indian "guide" who watched over Brian, Dennis, and Carl from the "other side." The choice of the logo was Brian's. Carl called the logo "The Last Horizon." Now thats spooky - shades of "dead Indians on dawn's highway bleeding". I initially thought of the same thing! Think Jim Morrison would have given the thumbs up, had he lived longer? Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: leggo of my ego on March 17, 2013, 01:01:07 PM From Wikipedia... Damn wikipedia, I should have known. ::) Quote When Beach Boy Carl Wilson was asked in 1975 why the group used this as their logo, he said the Indian was chosen because Carl’s grandfather believed that there was a spiritual Indian "guide" who watched over Brian, Dennis, and Carl from the "other side." The choice of the logo was Brian's. Carl called the logo "The Last Horizon." Now thats spooky - shades of "dead Indians on dawn's highway bleeding". I initially thought of the same thing! Think Jim Morrison would have given the thumbs up, had he lived longer? Well, hard to say. Had Jim lived longer he might have partied with Brian and shared dead indian stories while they smoked the peace pipe. Okay, thats silly but ya asked and thats the best I can come up with for now. lol. Title: Re: Why did the Beach Boys use two popular American Indian motifs on product? Post by: Stephen W. Desper on March 27, 2013, 03:05:05 PM COMMENT: Last time I was there, the original painting of Murry's that Carl liked was hanging in the lobby of Alan's Red Barn Studio. ~swd
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