The Smiley Smile Message Board

I know that Dennis probably wrote and/or arranged the melody, but what about the lyrics? Did any lyrics exist when Carl recorded a rough guide vocal?

Gregg Jakobson wrote the lyrics but they're of recent vintage according to the man himself - I don't know if lyrics existed in '75 when it was tracked. For some reason Taylor Hawkins got a credit, perhaps Mr. Stebbins or Mr. Roach can enlighten us.

I was wondering if Taylor Hawkins wrote any of the lyrics. Do you think anybody would have "allowed" him to, considering the background on who it was, and the historical significance of it?

Well Jakobson has said that the only lyrics that existed back then were "holy man can". And I think I remember reading that when Carl recorded his rough lead he was just humming the melody or something? Not sure where I read that exactly. Taylor has stated that there was a Dennis vocal track but that he erased it.

Oh. My. God. :thud

I really doubt that.

Yeah, like they would allow a guest singer to just erase a historic recording for no reason at all...  ::)

Well maybe I didn't make it clear, but I assume Taylor was meaning that DENNIS erased it back in whatever year it was. I'm still with MBE, I doubt it, but who knows?

Here's his quote by the way,


Article: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/article1315082.ece

Seems very incongruent mentioning the word holy and Dennis Wilson in the same sentence.

In that case I read it wrong, sorry.

Don't be sorry, just a misunderstanding.

If there was a Dennis vocal that's news to me...I think Taylor's mistaken about that. Dennis did erase a lot of things that's for sure. Carl's humm of the melody was barely there on tape...just minimal, nothing serious. Kalinich submitted a lyric set for it back in '75 but it was never recorded. Gregg said he'd worked on a partial lyric back then too, and Dennis didn't like it. Dennis put the song aside. Hanlon was the person who was really a big fan of this song and wanted it unearthed. Everybody agreed it was a gem, and that the track by itself should be released. As an experiment in '07 Gregg wrote a new lyric, more of a poem actually. Taylor who is Gregg's friend was brought in to take a crack at singing it...again an experiment. He changed Gregg's lyric around to fit Dennis' music. He did maybe two takes. We all thought it sounded great, so that version was put on the Legacy disc as well.

Gregg said (in ESQ) that back in the '70s, in addition to Steve K. and himself, Carl and Jim Dutch had each taken a crack at writing lyrics, but they all got tossed.

Well, however it happened -- it's one of those moments that inspire poetry. 

Dennis Wilson.  Holy man.  That's an amazing track.  Even in its instrumental version, it has a lyric.  It almost is Dennis Wilson.

I did 8)

Get OUT! ;D

That might be the best description of this track I've ever read. It really does sound like Dennis laying himself out on tape.

Yes, love that description.  Holy Man is fodaing incredible!  One of the best tracks I have ever heard.  I actually even like the Taylor Hawkins version.

Does anyone else feel that part of the melody for "Moonshine" was recycled from Holy Man?  Especially the part "You said you loved me now in another way, oh in another way."  (In the Hawkins version of Holy Man, it's the part where he sings "the one you love is everywhere, he is everywhere, and you can follow.")

The outro to Holy Man may be the best 1:30 of music ever recorded by anyone, anywhere.

The Taylor Hawkin's version of Holy Man is outstanding, I include it as part on "my" Bambu track list. I would really like Hawkins to be given the chance to do vocals for the reported backing track for "I've Got A Friend" - perhaps including the two on a "singles" release.

What became of Queen's Holy Man??

Sam :)

Thanks for the info.  :)

I heard that it's tied up in rights disputes. :(

I must say, I am usually totally and completely opposed to new recordings over old cuts -- not b/c they can't reveal new elements to the song you never realized before...but because they usually don't.

But in the case of Taylor Hawkins' "Holy Man" cut, it totally, completely works -- from the melody that is 100% Dennis (was it his?  that isn't clear on this thread), to Gregg's lyrics which sound just *right* to my ears, to Taylor's vocal, which captures Dennis' vibe without ever lurching toward parody in the slightest.  There's this floaty quality to the song that's hard to describe -- the pounding piano, the ARP string ensemble and loping drums, the whining Moog.  It's just a very...inspiring song, for lack of a better word.  Def. a masterpiece of some kind -- and a lovely parting gift from Dennis beyond the grave.