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I don't really like Bruce's cover of "Don't Worry Baby" from 1974, recorded for California Music, he changes the melody too much. Obviously because he couldn't sing in as high a register as Brian back then. Don't get me wrong, I like Bruce and have got his California Music on two CD's, but this cover just isn't any good, he takes too many liberties with my favorite Beach Boys song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxwu9eHoLY

Sorry for the sudden bump but i just found out about this and it's truly the most god awful cover of Don't Worry Baby i've -ever- heard.

Boy, I thought that was pretty terrible. I will say, at least Bruce could still sing well back then, as opposed to now. He's really just morphed into Mike Love's flunky at this point......well paid though for his flunki ness.

With his remake of Pipeline, Here Comes The Night and now this, Bruce definitely earns the title of the worst arranger.

I couldn't listen to much of it, it's not just the arrangement, his voice is thin and reedy and the phrasing is horrendous.

Interesting. I've always been a sucker for Bruce's voice and arrangements. They may be sappy, but there's something that just hits a sweet spot for me.

Give a listen to Don't Run Away and try saying Bruce is the "worst arranger" with a straight face. He's certainly had his share of missteps, but he's also done some KILLER and underrated work.

Interesting how they rid the song of all the car references on the 2nd verse. This must have been during that period of time when car songs were considered so "uncool", even for Bruce.

I'm a fan of his input on the 20/20, Sunflower, and Surf's Up albums a lot.  

I'll even admit that I think Endless Harmony is one of the few highlights on the KTSA album

I just heard this for the first time and really liked it.  Like the other California Music tracks (Why Do Fools, etc.), Here Comes the Night, Pipeline and Bruce's 1977 solo LP, given the state of top 40 and radio airplay in those days... they fit within the context of the times.  These songs were considered oldies, 8 to 10 years old, not the cherished classics they've become.  This is no worse than Johnny Rivers' Help Me Rhonda update, B.J. Thomas Don't Worry Baby redux or The Bay City Rollers cover of Darlin."  And it's a hell of a lot better than Leif Garrett's Surfin' USA cover.

Well I guess if Bruce did such a lousy job with it, Brian could have helped him out, you know, being in the employ of Equinox and all.  Oh, er, never mind....

Also I think the changing the car lyric reference was an attempt to make the song more contemporary in nature....though it was hardly noticeable in the first place....

I'll even admit that I think Endless Harmony is one of the few highlights on the KTSA album
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Me too.

Overall it's a pretty terrible version of the song, but I actually like the vocal melody he used here. It has nothing on the original, but I could see the vocal melody working in an alt-country setting.

Bruce using his "modern" production and making the song sound even more dated than the 1960s classic.

I may be completely wrong, but I feel like Bruce has this massive collection of songs that are very genuine and sincere that have never been released because there has never been a commercially feasible time, or seemingly so. Virtually everything he has been part of has been a "fad". He always wrote and produced and arranged to fit the norm of the genre he was working in. I really hope we get some of his back-catalog released while he's still living...an autobiography would be pretty incredible too.

As for this cover of Don't Worry Baby? I think it's pretty crappy. I really don't have anything nice to say. It's easily forgettable and it's shameful to even consider that an actual Beach Boy is on the record.

I have the single with "DWB" by California Music b/w "WDFFIL", produced by Brian Wilson for Equinox, on RCA NB 10363 stereo 1975. A very small sticker was applied to the DWB side that says "not for sale". I also have the Papa Doo Run Run single of "Disney Girls" produced by Bruce Johnston for Equinox b/w "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", stereo, on RCA NB-10404 with the same sticker. Got them when they were released. I think I play them every 5 years or so. 

I love Curt Boettcher's California Music CD, but where can one find Bruce Johnston California Music tracks?

I can live with this version. Like the Stamos-driven "Forever" (which I can also live with), it's a child of its time. 

I actually really like the Stamos power ballad version of Forever.  Also, I think you kinda have to be a fan of power ballads to enjoy it.

Not really a fan of power ballads in general but I do like that one. And the multi-faceted Dan Hartman did some nice stuff in that area...

Man, I don't know what happened to Bruce's creativity post 1971.

The Nearest Faraway Place
Deirdre
Tears In The Morning
Disney Girls

and then... not much of note really. You figure there would have been at least a good couple of outtakes during the 1972-1977 hiatus. (or especially after the success of Manilow's recording of I Write The Songs)

There’s a nice (official) CD out of Japan from around 2000 titled California Music & Disney Girls.

Wow, this was ...unappealing. Bruce kind of gave it a country feeling - a style for which I am not a big fan. It lacks the emotion; the protaganist's dread and the reassurance of a loved one. Regardless of what the lyrics are about (most casual listeners do not realize it is a "car song" because the song is so beautiful), the boys really nailed it, making a perfect song right from that intro. Bruce has a great voice, but this is not one of his better efforts.

In terms of the original BB recording, I've always felt it was *near* perfect. The middle eight instrumental bars always take away from it for me. It's not a guitar solo. It's chords. It always sounds like something else belongs there. It has no melodic interest for eight measures in a piece that is virtually overflowing with melodic interest.

The phrasing of the verse melody is so forced and unnatural! The arrangement of the music is definitely of it's time, which is cool, but that awful phrasing is unbearable!

I disagree. To me that is one perfect "less-is-more" instrumental break.

Totally agree. Might be my favorite part of the song, especially live, when they started injecting it with a little more energy.

Doesn’t Bruce copy The Tokens’ re-working of the lyrics? I’ve always found it odd they weren’t credited on the California Music single. They got co-writing credit on their own version from 1969.

I agree, it works live. But for me, it falls flat on the recording. I think if Brian had recorded it just one year later, he would have done that differently.

I think the 1964 studio recording is perfect as-is.

The *only* thing that bugs me just a tiny bit about that part (on the studio recording) is that a couple of those chords in that bridge are strummed *very* slightly out of sync/late in a spot or two. But it's super minor and just makes it more human.

The fact that that it's apparently very likely (although I think not 100% confirmed?) that it's David Marks playing that part on the recording - Brian giving him a brief, but poignant spotlight some time after he'd already left the band - just makes it that much sweeter and emotionally satisfying to my ears.

But emotions/sentimentality aside - musically, I think that part works perfectly. I've always felt so, even way back when I was more of a casual fan of the band, and not dissecting the songs the way I do now.

There might just be a more fundamental problem with Bruce's re-recording, and it might be that maybe the song didn't need to be re-recorded (or, rather, one shouldn't have expected to ever make a hit out of a vastly re-worked re-recording of *this* particular song).

If I were beamed back in time and was the guy running the label, I'd tell them to go write more friggin' original songs and stop trying to turn the label into a K-Tel cover versions label.

Whomever wrote the "new" lyrics to this thing, well, I guess I have to give them credit for essentially doing a lyrical version of s***ty "Fanfic" all the way back in the 70s.

Bruce's writing aptitude after 1971 is as weird and confusing as the guy himself. I equally buy a theory that he has 50 songs stockpiled that he hasn't touched since 1978, or that he never wrote a single complete song from scratch after some time in the mid-late 70s.

I know people give Bruce s**t for not seeming to do much of anyting on stage or in the studio for close to 40 years now, and then people *rightly* point out that he's a good piano player and vocal arranger. But the guy deserves some criticism and questions as to his musical ability, as he has *chosen* to go on auto-pilot mode in concert and has made no attempt to put forth any of his own new material either on stage or via recordings. If he had any passion to do any of those things, he would have had plenty of time over the last 30+ years to put out some little side vanity project like countless members of bands do.

We at least know Al was semi-active in the studio over all those years, and his problem was actually finishing and releasing the stuff. I have little doubt he has several more album's worth of material in the vault.

Bruce *may* be in a similar situation, but it's hard to tell. I have a vague recollection that he talked *years ago* on the BB Britain board about having a bunch of home demos, and even made vague allusions to putting a CD of them out. But even then he seemed not terribly enthusiastic about *anything* to do with any of it, whether it was writing or recording or releasing anything.

I'm sure there's enough for an album or two:

Tears On My Paycheck

I Shine myKe's Shoes

Can't Sing Anymore

White Shorts (30 min disco version)

Nothing To Do Up Here

Me and My myKestand

Where Did My Hat Go?

mYke Stole Dierdre From Me

I Butcher The Songs

(No One Wants) My Autograph

When The Clapping's Over

I think it's more likely that he's sitting on tons of great material and for some internal reason we are unaware of, he isn't releasing them. At this point, an album of him singing them might sell about 200 copies if he's lucky. However, he knows EVERYBODY and he's a really great writer. He should do an album of people singing his brand new songs, that would tap into multiple fan bases and move some units...and probably be a pretty great record too!!

I think there's a good chance he has material from over the years. I don't think we can even begin to guess as to the quality of that material.

There's no reason I can think of other than his own choice that he would not work towards some sort of release of his own material. Of course he wouldn't sell well; and this is where it gets back to the question of whether he has any passion at this stage for creating and performing music. He barely contributes to the live shows, often singing one lead vocal (and over the years sometimes none) in a given show, and he hasn't posted any new music online or released *anything*. The guy is so freaking rich that he could easily get an album's worth of his material out there.

If he seems to show zero motivation to get any of it out there, I'm not *quite* prepared to assume has amazing works in the vaults. The scant material he has released in his career (solo and with the BBs) has been sometimes quite good, and often pretty awful. Even he doesn't like his own "Going Public" solo album.

Bruce coulda been a contender...

The song isn't my cup of tea but I still think it is a decent cover and fits right in the mid 70s! Not very beach boys sounding though which might be a reason not many people are a fan of the song. I think Bruce was an awesome arranger in the 60s before the beach boys and even in the 70s with the beach boys and the song I Write The Song!

Absolutely, until he teamed up with myKe luHv who showed him the easy way to make a buck from someone else's talent and hard work.  ::)

Agreed, you ready for 2017 BW tour?

 :happydance :happydance :happydance

Agree, I too think it's weird to say Bruce is more likely "sitting on tons of great material". There's many instances if musician is working at their new album for years, take by take, & the result is great. But we know it after hearing it. In Bruce's case, we don't.

I Like Bruce, don't like this, for many reasons already covered.
The one caveat might be that this whole project seemed like a disaster form the 'get go' They bring Brian in, but he is in no shape to do anything. Then the pressure from BB's to remove him from Equinox and back into the Brother fold, starts. Still no excuse for this tune.

Something makes me think this may not be the case. I mean, there should be some stuff lying around. Bruce himself has mentioned several 'periods' where he was supposedly working on material. (Nashville, something about songs on The Young and The Restless) Even as recently as last month he said he was working on songs.  But I just get the feeling there isn't a vault of finished material somewhere.

Maybe living with a songwriting Grammy makes him timid about releasing new stuff? I think he should knock off a 'garage style' album of surf instrumentals, with a ballad or two thrown in. He's got the surf cred. Handled properly, it could stand up nicely.

But, he has a great life..maybe he figures, why bother.

I seem to recall him saying he was at least half-way through a follow-up to Going Public called "Going Private" for the Japanese market that was very electronic and wouldn't sell any copies. He doesn't sound sound like a man that thinks of his songs as his "babies," other then the beloved Disney Girls.

I don't understand Bruce's motivation sometimes... do you think he genuinely thought this was going to be popular/form some sort of fan base for his own style of arranging? I wouldn't be caught dead listening to this and I will defend even some of the sappiest stuff by Bruce (and to a less extent the Boys)

 :lol :lol

The fact that the notes are hit just a tiny bit late add a punch to them that wouldn't have been there otherwise. It's the fact that they're slightly off that makes them so memorable and noticeable despite being simple chord stabs.

Bruce has always been an "industry insider" kind of music guy.  You run into this a lot in Los Angeles, particularly among older musicians.  I don't mean this as a put down - it just is a certain way of looking at things based in a certain reality, that you are part of a business and what you contribute has to be commercially viable, and that's how you rate your own creativity.  This sounds very much of its (AM radio) time - even Bruce's vocal is mannered in such a way to be palatable for that market; I almost don't recognize him (though it's not him on the third verse).

Same second verse lyrics that have been floating around on other versions (e.g. B.J. Thomas)...was this before or after the B.J. Thomas version?  Who first changed the lyrics?  This wasn't part of the big rewrite session that happened with Brian's involvement around 1970 was it?

I believe The Tokens wrote the new lyrics in 1969. They got credit on the label for it at least. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocey-halakM

(http://images.45cat.com/the-tokens-dont-worry-baby-buddah.jpg)

I like some of Bruce's stuff but he is definitely the group's resident Neil Sedaka. 

I think the  problem with this version of the song is that (like 15 big ones) it seems that when members of the Beach Boys do cover songs,especially with synths, it doesn't come off as being very good, the original songs on this cd are really good but the cover tunes seem to fall flat... The same with when Mike was doing cover songs with the "Mike and dean" stuff (and solo albums) the cover songs on MIU/KTSA and the cover tunes on SIP..it seems that (with the exception of some of the cover tunes from the early years like "Do you wanna dance", "Hushabye" and "Sloop John B") the Beach Boys as a band as a solo artists do  BETTER with their original songs..

Well-put points about Bruce's attitude towards music and the industry. It would also explain how, even today, he still gravitates towards what *is* successful (the touring band) and stays away from what isn't (writing and recording new stuff), with little or no seeming desire to create and do music for the sake of the music itself. I think there are other reasons Bruce tours as well, but I'll save that for some other thread.

That must be Gloria Grinel.

https://www.discogs.com/Various-California-Music-Disney-Girls-RCAEquinox-Collection/release/9627220

Everything about this cover tries to murder the original format because of how "uncool" it is, it tries so hard to be your folky/country-ish vibe typically from the early 70s and even the touch of female chorals of soul of the times, etc,  the slide, the saxo, couldn't be less subtle about it really, it just comes off so adult contemporary which is possibly Bruces speciality.


Where? not trying to be aggressive, Don't Run Away as much of a nice little tune it is, is like The Nearest Faraway Place: just a work of an hommage, a student work, that's how i always felt about his better work.


What's fascinating is that Bruce cultivated his over the top cheesyness and cornyness throughout the years:

From Tears In The Morning comes Endless Harmony then gives birth to She Believes In Love Again... the later is pleasant because of how it fits in the 80s dated ballads and on a not crazy album, but Endless Harmony? phew, good lord..

Tears In The Morning is just a big nono, so much better songs to replace it, from Good Time, Back Home to Where Is She, etc... even Dierde beats it, his own other song! i feel this one maybe his best work because of how it compliments the rest of the album and is an okay composition overall, unlike Disney Girls who comes off too easy listening to me especially on an album where it doesn't feel quite right, but good for him to get his only classic track with this.


So what's the point, Brian didn't do anything about so it should be considered good? didn't Brian produce that Be My Baby cover by Mike Love? is that another cover to be considered a classic too?


Agree with JK, i don't think people realizes how much Don't Worry Baby has going on, melodically speaking it's super rich, that break is a beautiful breath of fresh air, liek when you're drivin' the car with the wind in your hair for a little while.

But if anything i'm very happy this bump created a such vast conversation and people to find out about the cover whatsoever.

Thanks for giving this thread another chance! About CM on CD, yes, mine is also Japanese, possibly grey area, from the early 90s, when a lot of BB/Spector stuff came out over there.

Incidentally, Bruce has been in music since, what, 57? That's 60 years this year, then. And the most expensive BB-related CD happens to be a Japanese Bruce double of Del-Fi stuff.

Haha i can't imagine your face when this bumped and then went into 3 pages haha thanks for sharing it!

Bruce, not surprisingly given how weird and inconsistent he can be sometimes, seems not to like at least some of his own solo output.

I remember *years* ago on the BB Britain board when he was more heavily posting, I mentioned to him that Edsel had just reissued "Going Public" licensed from Sony, and I had picked it up, and he very assuredly stated that the album "should stay asleep." Almost as if he was annoyed someone was once again able to go into a record store and buy the thing.

I guess it's a miracle that the first two BB projects he co-produced/produced when he returned in 1978 came out as good as they did, because they were bringing on a guy who clearly thought his own (only year-old as of 1978) solo album was a pretty limp, uninteresting affair.