The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I was driving about, running errands as I do. I was listening to the 15 BO / LY twofer, which I hadn't really listened to all the way through for a year or so. And I grooved along with 15 BO, as you do, sometimes wincing, and enjoyed the heck out of LY, while really appreciating some of Carl's guitar work for the first time.

... But then I came to the closing track. And I have to say ... I have written at length about the worst of the Beach Boys. I've listened to Summer in Paradise multiple times. I've listened to (and enjoyed) Smart Girls. I have written at length defending GIOMH. In all of these albums, you can at least hear people trying, however inartfully, to do something musical.

But Love is a Woman. Wow. Is it just me, or is this most laughably half-assed song of the band's entire career? The arrangement is so bare-bones it practically doesn't exist, Brian sings like a coked-up zombie, and Mike can barely contain his contempt for the material. (Al, as always, is fine.) And every part of the song underwhelms ... including the tag, which could have been thought up by a narcoleptic middle schooler.

And it's one of the real problems for Love You, which has so much good stuff on it, that at certain points on the album, Brian just doesn't seem to give a f***. Like Mona, which is pretty much just one riff over and over and over and over and Phil Spector and fine wine. And that bit in Solar System where he actually rhymes moon and June. And to end with this song ... well, it makes the album seem a lot less classic.

But it's also hard not to love it, in a sense, because Brian is so clearly just wants to get out of the studio and eat some cake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMC5oDX588
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qse5aelP64o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k4p_gfGJUs

I'm usually not one for half-assed material, but I'd still take it any day over proficient but overly sanitized tracks like I Can Hear Music or Don't Hurt My Little Sister...

I love all Brian Wilson music but "Love is a Woman" has got to be at the bottom of the list. Something has got to be at the bottom!

Yeah, it's pretty bad.  I think the Love You album is wonderful for the most part but what a lousy song to end on.  I think "Airplane" would have been a much better song to end on, especially with that "can't wait to see her face" tag.

I think "Save the Day" has got to be the absolute worst, but I actually like it much better as "Fairy Tale."

Love is a Woman is indeed atrocious. The lyrics to Solar System are dire too (don`t know what they were thinking when they included that on the box).

Fairytale is dismal as well though.

As for the worst... The Waltz is appalling and Just Say No is laughable.

BRIAN!!!! DONT WRITE JUNKS ANYMORE PLEASE!!!!!! thanx.

I love it !

Oh, but what a perfect song to drunkenly belt out with your buddies after a long night of bar-hopping.

And I love Solar System to death.

I agree. Terrible song and for sure the weakest on Love You. Side one> Side two for me anyway.

Yeah, I'd agree with that

But...Love is a Woman is awesome! Sorry guys, denied. It's got a really great, weird vibe to it, there are some good harmonies, the 1 2 3 TWO THREE! bit is ace. And I even like the bit where Brian gets some phlegm stuck in his throat at the end and sounds like Carol Channing for the 'TONIGHT'

There are a billion shitter Brian songs- ie, his entire solo career since 1998. It's all just slick and unlistenable. Love is a woman is ragged, sure, but it's got personality.

It's actually one of the songs on LY that I dislike the least. ;D

I think they were thinking "this is the finest melody Brian Wilson wrote in the 1970s, with a charming, if slightly inept, lyric".

So aside from The Beach Boys, what are the majority of people on here into?

From all the moaning about the more out there stuff I'm guessing it's like 'Beach Boys', 'U2', 'Coldplay'


No one else here who grew up on a diet of Skip Spence and Syd Barrett and finds this stuff to be pleasingly quirky, just another fantastic twist of the Beach Boys catalogue?

There are a LOT of us on here who like the quirkier stuff -- including some of the people who've commented on this thread who just happen to not like that particular song (though I for one love it)...

LY is one of my personal favourites. Love Is A Woman is Brian making fun of Mike and he probably didn't want to sing on the day they recorded, which is why his vocs are shite. LY has got some true gems though.

Love is a Woman is my favorite song on LY.

True. Love is a Woman screams drunkness, that's why I enjoy it - I know Brian wasn't that serious about it.

"1, 2, 3, she's falling in love with me" is awesome!!

Solar System is so creative and also funny that I can't imagine someone not liking it.

Yeah...I know not everyone on here is a big miseryguts. I just think it's funny how easy it would be to put together a comp of what I consider prime era BB (61-79) that loads of die hard fans would absolutely LOATHE. So much hatred for what I consider to  be 'all good' to varying extents.

I love Love You. And am a huge fan of quirky stuff -- bought several of the two-disc Roky Erickson reissues recently, own all the latter-day Tom Waits albums, and have an extensive collection of 12-tone classical CDs.

But I am, I will admit, a sucker for craft. That is, I like to feel like a songwriter has at least put something together with some real thought. I don't mind atonal classical music if it has some discernable structure and emotional point. And that's why I find Love is a Woman so funny -- it's just kind of shoddy. (And I've turned around on a song like Let's Put Our Hearts Together, which has amazing, out of nowhere chords. There's real craft there. Ditto for the music and arrangement -- if not some of the lyrics -- on Solar System.)

I think a good counterbalance (to me) is Johnny Carson. Clearly the song is kind of a put-on. But it has an amazing amount of things going on -- from the instrumentation to the back-and-forth vocals, to the way that Mike kind of speaks for Johnny. And in that context, the non-existent instrumental break is fabulously funny. Yes, Brian's taking the piss, but it's in such an out-there song, that he so clearly enjoyed putting together, that I dig it.

Edit: For the record, here are some recent CD purchases.

Curtis Mayfield -- Superfly soundtrack
Plant and Krauss -- Raising Sand
The Zombies -- Breathe Out, Breathe In (new 2011 album, not bad)
Scissor Sisters -- Night Work
McCartney II
TMBG -- Nanobots
The Flaming Lips -- And Heady Fwends
Wilco -- The Whole Love
CSN -- Daylight Again
Of Monsters and Men -- My Head is an Animal
Randy Newman -- 12 Songs

This board can be divided into two camps: those who like Manson and dislike BW's solo career, and those who dislike Manson and like BW's solo career.

Elmer Fudd.

I can't believe you said that with a straight face.

The first time I listened to Love You was coming back from L.A. in a car with a few friends. As the CD was playing, I was defending the music. Then, it got to the last song, and I hung my head in shame.

It's kind of grown on me since, though.

I'm kind of shocked by this. I think Love is a Woman is a great closer for the album. I really like the song. Yes, it is a little bit sloppy in its arrangement and delivery, but the tune itself is great.

I feel like  it achieves a similar thematic purpose as the opener, though I'm more partial to that track.

‍

Brian appeared to be fond of Love Is a Woman having performed the song on a show at the time, I'm not a big fan of it.  Sounds more like cheesy lounge song, whereas previously on the album I got more of the vibe of a robed, bearded guy pounding things on his sandbox piano.  I always say swap the final track of 15 Big Ones with the final track of Love You and things seem a lot better.

Great track, has a sleazy, striptease feel to it. Great arrangement, lovely flutes, and the sax lines kick arse. Cute lyrics. I love this song.

This song kicks ass. It sounds like it should the national anthem of some country.

Love Is A Woman isn't my cup of tea, nor is a lot of Love You. To my taste a GREAT LP can be made out of Brian's mid seventies stuff,  the choice moments from 15 Big Ones, Love You, Adult Child, and various other outtakes from the period. No order just songs I like.

It's OK
Back Home
Night Was So Young
I'll Bet He's Nice
Sherry She Needs Me
Honkin
My Diane
Lazy Lizzie (Indulge me I like the chorus)
Life Is For The Living
Still I Dream
It's Over Now
Everybody Want To Live

An Oldies EP perhaps
Deep Purple
Michael Row The Boat
Rock and Roll Music hot mix
Come Go
Sea Cruise
You've Lost That Loving Feelin'

Love You does strike me as one of the last albums where Brian Wilson was pretty much writing whatever he wanted and thinking it could -- by default -- be a Beach Boys song. I think in years to come, he began to separate his songs, with some of them intended for his use as a solo artist, and some of them intended for the band. By the time you get to TWGMTR you can really see this -- that album reflects his vision for a latter-day BB album, which means a real focus on harmony and a more populist sensibility than his solo stuff. It's also a little self-conscious, which Love You definitely is not.

If 15 Big Ones was the band taking a big dump on their legacy than Love You was the sound of them flushing their career down the toilet.


Funny you should say that because Mr. Manson's last few records have been better than Brian's recent solo efforts.

Love is a Woman is probably my least favorite song on Love You. There really isn't anything that stands out for me in the music (chords/melody), production, use of synths...anything really! HOWEVER, it clearly is aesthetically in line with the rest of the album, so I have a hard time seeing someone liking most of the rest of the album but outright disliking this song.

Let me edit this to say that I'm not trying to invalidate your opinion Wirestone, or anyone else that feels the same, that's just how it is for me.

Would have been more sensible to include the backing track only then?

I didn't say I disliked it! In my original post I actually said I kind of loved it ...

The issue for me is that, yes, while it's clearly of a piece with the rest of the record, it seems to be executed less convincingly.

I want the B/A/D shows to close with this song... :hat

Solar System is awesome.

That'd be a minor masterpiece if you replace Brian/Marilyn's vocals with 1960s Brian.

Ha! Yeah...never heard a good manson track...even 'cease to exist' is only of note cos of Dennis' arrangement (and melody...there appears to be barely one on the Manson version)

I'm probably a bit harsh on Brian's solo career- but it just doesn't interest me. It's a shame, cos I think he still COULD be capable of doing good stuff, but the production...oh god.

I mean- Chain Reaction of Love is a TUNE.

That's exactly what I have always thought! If Brian had his 1960s voice that song would be really incredible.

I think everyone with significant others needs to tell them they smell good tonight.

Even his voice later in the year would've been a tremendous improvement... Don't get me wrong, I love some of the vocals he delivers on Love You, but this is definitely the one that could be the most improved by a smoother lead.

Now that you've said that, I hear it too. The song is just loaded with majestic atmosphere, I can easily imagine it being performed in stadiums, White House, international meetings (e.g. Summit), during Olympic Games or like a military march. Only need to re-write the lyrics, of course. Either way, it's a very enjoyable track, especially Al's "1-2-3". And - despite all the audible imperfections in his voice - I think Brian sang fine.

Damn it, you guys.

 :lol  YES

and seriously... have you ever told a girl she smells good? they LOVE to hear that sh!t. great advice from BW

For me it's the only dud on the album... switch it with "Shortnin' Bread" and Love You is perfect.

Cracked me up! Maybe! But, Love and Mercy is the jewel.  I was hoping they would have used it for C50 to close the show.

But, think that post- Smile, etc. era some material is a more sophisticated (orchestrally) overlay or parallel to the earlier work.  In other words, the simpler melody structure seems similar to the early 1960's work.  The vocals seem more sophisticated, almost some sort of "neo" Brian-Mike revival. I love "I'll Bet He's Nice" for it's raw sincerity and the Wilson triumvirate vocals.

I like it - seems honest in a raw sort of way.  My favorite line that cracks me up "Tell her she smells good tonight" - that has to be a Brian line!  Hey Little Tomboy is the bottom of the bucket however.

There is an old Brian interview on YouTube. He discusses Hey Little Tomboy.  Brian is very excited about the song's context with a sort of innocence, that is very charming.  I happen to like the song, and I'm a feminist. And, actually little Tomboys were the early feminists, not wanting to miss the stereotypical "boy" sporting activities, and being relegated to more subdued past-times.  And, I love his very innocent perspective, as he longingly observes this young lady in bloom.  Not your macho Honkin' Down the Highway, but another softer approach. 

If you can find the interview, you can see where Brian is coming from, and his true excitement for this little song.   It seems almost retro late 50ish, similar in context, but not in music style to Disney Girls.  It cracks me up. I think it is a neat rock-y little tune.  ;)

Brian can pull-off a lot of stuff that would otherwise be "Creepy" (as the folks in here like to use), because Brian exudes an innocence that makes the song seem like it is coming from the same aged peer group. This is a teenager kid who sees the promise of this tomboy turning into a young woman. It's much like All Dressed Up For School, except is goes a little deeper personally. You also see Brian's innocence come through with Let Us Go On This Way and more so on Roller Skating Child. He was seeing the world through a young person's eyes. It is why The Beach Boys Love You is one of my favorite albums.

I'd like to hear the Al lead vocal version of Love is a Woman - although I do like the Love You track.  Strange that Brian would play that, out of all the songs on Love You, on his Saturday Night Live appearance!