I've always liked to think that if Dennis had done that tour with the 22-piece "orchestra", he would have closed out the show with "Cuddle Up".  Wouldn't that have been cool? 

I'm so happy I think I'm going to pass out!

Quick, someone grap the smelling salts!

Oh, and Brian said he wrote the music for the verses while Burt wrote the music for the choruses (which you can tell upon hearing it), while the lyrics were written by someone named Steven Krikorian. 

Vocally, Nick said "Brian sang with a lot of moxie and subtlety on both lead and all of the background vocal tracks".

I'm in a discussion about something in this recording. Can anybody make out the lyrics that Carl improvises? I've heard Carl do the same thing on a number of beach boys recordings from the 1970's-80's. I've been wracking my brain trying to make it out, but I can't figure it out. Can anybody help? 

He mainly sings "I'd love to be your lover", and I think "Really love your soul". 
"Love To Be Your Lover" is one of the unreleased songs listed in David Leaf's book as being in the group's tape library.  Ever since I first saw and heard that performance when it was aired on "20/20" back in 1980, I've figured that Carl is probably scatting a few lines from that unreleased song. 

C-Man: You've piqued my curiousity. Anything of interest there about the recording of the Target tracks? Brian sounds quite amazing vocally on it.

Sorry I've not responded to this until now, but I had overlooked it.  In the Spring 2007 issue of ESQ, we have comments given by some of Brian's band to Dave Beard.  For one thing, it's evident that the credits in the CD booklet don't tell the full story, because Gary said he played piano, vibes, and synth on "What Love Can Do" and piano and accordion on "God Only Knows", as well as overdubbing harpsichord on "God Only Knows" later at Mark Linett's place.  Vocally, he sang Bruce's part (and said 'I hope he's OK with that!").  Gary says they all sang "tons" of harmony parts on both songs.

They used Burt's piano from the original demo as the foundation of "What Love Can Do", then the band played live at Ocean Way for however many takes until it was "just right" (with Phil Ramone co-producing).  Nicky says Jeff may have overdubbed some percussion and guitars, too.  Brian was involved "in every aspect of recording".  Probyn had the idea for the French horn line, which he put on tape, then Paul Mertens took that idea and scored it for four French horns.  During playback, Paul was thinking it would be cool to do a string arrangement, then a few minutes later Brian asked him to do one, telling him "You'll know what to do".

In other words, Brian has a great team working with him!  It's great they all get along so well and there's no apparent clash of personalities there.  Amazing for a band, but fortunate for a change.

And not only that, but WHEN can we expect a DVD of "Long Promised Road" (not just the song, but "Long Promised Road:  Songs of Dennis & Carl Wilson")?

While we are on the subject of Brian's voice, I have a question. Is it true that Brian smoked even after the second Landy split? I read that he supposedly smoked and gained a ton of weight from around 1991 to 1995.

Yep, that's right.  There was even a rumor that he was doing "street drugs" again, to which when mentioned to him he replied:  "Oh God, I wish!".  I remember thinking, "Oh no, here we go again".  But he quit smoking and slimmed down by '97. 

Understood.

Yeah, the POB track. Sounds like him.

Also, Full Sail sounds like another all-Bruce mutlitrack fest, I forgot that one.

Interesting about "I'll Bet He's Nice", I always assumed it was Brian (or maybe Carl).

I'd have to go listen again, but from what I've heard of L.A., a lot of that stuff is Bruce-Carl and/or Bruce-Carl-Dennis.  I don't think it's all Bruce.

Bobby Figueroa has gone on record as saying he did a lot of vocal work on the Light Album, with Bruce and Carl.

...When it didn't, I think they made the decision to pass the reigns to someone else, so you have Al and Ron Altbach producing the next album....

And regarding "Kokomo", it's just my opinion, but I think a lot of "serious" fans would be more accepting of it had been a single released from a whole album of more mature-sounding stuff. 

I agree with the two above points. I wonder why THEY (I assume that you meant the GROUP) passed the reigns to Al and Ron? I always wondered why the Wilson brothers didn't assume control, by vote of course.

As far as the other songs "surrounding" Kokomo, it was disappointing. I was surprised to hear songs like "In My Car" from Brian Wilson, "Island Girl" from Al Jardine, and no new songs from Carl Wilson.

Some of that (passing the reigns to Al and Altbach) was obviously dictated by the circumstances...Carl was not in the best of shape, going through a divorce and self-medicating a bit too much, Dennis was at odds with the Loves and also subtance-abusing.  And so the decision was made to go to MIU...what I remember reading is that Mike, Al, and Brian starting recording there without Carl or Dennis (this was reported in Rolling Stone at the time).  Brian was "giving" his vote to Mike in those days, so that's probably how it happened.  With no Carl or Dennis (at first), and Brian supposedly "unable" to make commercial-sounding records (but still able to write catchy melodies), the obvious remaining choice was Al Jardine as producer.  After awhile, Carl showed up while recording was already in-progress, and finally Dennis for a very brief time.

I think all of us here feel the same about that...lots of missed opportunities for great art!  But 15 Big Ones was very successful commerically, so even though Love You (which is great for us fan-atics, but hard to swallow for the general Joe) wasn't the most commercial, "Beach Boys-sounding" endeavor, there was still hope in the BBs camp that it could achieve a similar level of success.  When it didn't, I think they made the decision to pass the reigns to someone else, so you have Al and Ron Altbach producing the next album, which had a really retro sound but more "Beach Boys-like" arrangements and performances.

And regarding "Kokomo", it's just my opinion, but I think a lot of "serious" fans would be more accepting of it had been a single released from a whole album of more mature-sounding stuff.  In other words, its deliberately commercial, and although the chorus hook appeals to the lowest common demoninator, the verses actually sound fairly mature to me.  Put that in the context of 10 or 11 other songs of the kind that they SHOULD have been producing by this point in their career, and it wouldn't seem so bad.  But like you say...it's hindsight.

I think as regards to IBHN, that I've been subtly subconsciously influenced by that great tape of Bruce multitracking the Radio Veronica jingle, and perhaps his work on "Rainbows", which I think is all him too. He always strikes me as an ultra-professional who can do that stuff quickly. I'll delete the reference to multitracking anyway, though that needn't end this mini-discussion. I do wanna point out though that I never said he was ALL the voices on there...

You mean Bruce did all the backgrounds on "Rainbows" from Pacific Ocean Blue?  Or is it a different song with that title that you're referring to?

Also, I can't remember if you mentioned this, but I think Marilyn is singing on "I'll Bet He's Nice", in the verses:  "Baby ooo-oooh". 

Because...the album sales for "Endless Summer" and "Spirit Of America" WAY outdid the sales for "Surf's Up" and "Holland", and they found that the more oldies they did, the bigger the crowds got.  See, their audience went from maybe 2,000 people who wanted to hear "Surf's Up" to 20,000 people who wanted to hear "Surfin' U.S.A.".  So when it came to recording new stuff, Mike was thinking like a business man (maybe encouraged in that mentality by his brother Steve, who managed the group at two different times in the mid-to-late '70s), and understood that they (a) needed to get Brian producing again, and (b) their new records needed to sound like their old records in order to be as successful as their old records.  'Course, it didn't quite happen that way, and couldn't, but it was wishful thinking on his part. 

Well didn't POB outsell Love You... maby that shouldve been an indication to Mike and the rest of the group to get Dennis as a more influential creative force in the band. I'm sure Dennis could have written some better stuff than some of the crap on M.I.U. Album.

Yes, but Dennis' mature, adult, and artful vision wouldn't have been within what Mike saw as "the formula" for success (Beach Boys success, anyway).  Also, Dennis' lifestyle ruled out any possibility of Mike encouraging him to take the creative reigns in the band.  If Dennis wrote simple, upbeat pop songs, was free of any self-destructive vices, and got along well with Mike, then things might've been different.  But then he wouldn't have been Dennis! 

Because...the album sales for "Endless Summer" and "Spirit Of America" WAY outdid the sales for "Surf's Up" and "Holland", and they found that the more oldies they did, the bigger the crowds got.  See, their audience went from maybe 2,000 people who wanted to hear "Surf's Up" to 20,000 people who wanted to hear "Surfin' U.S.A.".  So when it came to recording new stuff, Mike was thinking like a business man (maybe encouraged in that mentality by his brother Steve, who managed the group at two different times in the mid-to-late '70s), and understood that they (a) needed to get Brian producing again, and (b) their new records needed to sound like their old records in order to be as successful as their old records.  'Course, it didn't quite happen that way, and couldn't, but it was wishful thinking on his part. 

Hey thanks for the informative posts.
No I was just surprised to see a tune I never new was played live (sorry Eric) but more so seeing Carl in the 90s on keys.
As the old saying goes...You learn something every day.


Another version from 78.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wICop7517tQ

I actually saw Carl play keyboards live at a concert in 1987.  It was in the encore...on "Wipe Out".

The block style is definitely similar...but his chord choices are a little different from Brian's.  They're alike in the use of weird bass roots, but Carl's right hand chords tended to be kind of clustered together in a distinctive way.  It's not like Brian never played like that, but he tended to use broader voicings.

"Long Promised Road" is one of the most complicated songs I've ever learned.  It makes absolutely no sense until you figure out how Carl voiced it.  Then you realize he's just moving his hand around and making certain shapes with his hands.  It has less to do with any kind of chord theory and more about a certain kind of internal logic that you'd hit on if you were a non-player.  It's hard to explain without actually playing it.  Let's just say that, coming at it from being a more trained keyboardist, it was REALLY hard to memorize.

I've been told that all three of the Wilsons (Dennis to a lesser extent) could basically pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in a fairly short time.

Adam, regarding what you just said about "Long Promised Road"...it's eerie that Don Was said virtually the same thing about "Til I Die".  He was freaked out that it was in no exact key whatsoever, so he asked Brian how in the world he wrote it.  Brian told him he just put his hands on the piano in certain geometric shapes that he liked, and those became the chords of the song.  Was wasn't sure if he was kidding or serious, but was afraid to ask him.

And what you said about the brothers being able to learn any instrument...haven't people like Hanlon said Dennis was actually pretty good at that?

(d) Alan (Boyd) once posted this here:

"...I CAN tell you the backing vox on HONKIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY are Brian, Dennis and Billy....

And the backing vocals on LET'S PUT OUR HEARTS TOGETHER are : D - M - A - B. Dennis, Marilyn, Alan & Brian, perhaps?"

Sorry if this has been mentioned again on this thread, but with 500+ entries, I've skipped a few!

I'll throw in a few things to ponder:

(a) Bruce once said he was on all the albums they made after he officially left, except MIU (and In Concert, of course, although who knows for sure about that, since he did join them onstage a couple of times in '73)

(b) There's a great picutre of Brian, Dennis, and Bruce standing around a single microphone at Brother Studio.  I've seen this in a couple of places, first in Issue 4 of "Pet Sounds" (November '78).  The caption says it was taken at Brother in December 1977, but I've always figured that was a misprint, and that it was really December 1976 (in which case it could be "I'll Bet He's Nice" they're working on in the picture).  But who knows...maybe '77 is right, and whatever they were recording there was an outtake.  I don't know if it's an Ed Roach shot, 'cause the credit just says "photo couresty of The Beach Boys".

(c) In Issue 1 of "Pet Sounds" (February '77), there's an interview with Dean Torrence, in which he says, in addition to being considered as a touring replacement for Mike Love when he goes to Switzerland, that he's been singing on the new Beach Boys and Dennis Wilson albums:  "I come down (to Brother Studio) to show them silides (of his graphic artwork) and next thing I know, I'm singing...and the girls that answer the phone get called too.  If you need some parts, just buzz to the girls in the front and say, 'hey, come on up here.'  And they just trip back and they do a couple of vocal parts and then they go back to answering the phones."  I would think the reference to the girls singing is related to Pacific Ocean Blue, which has lots of femme vocals in the backgrounds.

Carl had an interesting approach to keyboard, too...he did his left hand notes almost like a karate chop on the keyboard.  His right hand clusters were really dense.  He liked using these weird passive voicings like 6ths and added 2nds which made a lot of his material sound very soft focus and woozy.  It's cool.

I always wondered if his keyboard voicings were inspired by Brian's work specifically on Surf's Up. That sort of sound seems to have permeated his parts, esp in those early 70s songs.

Well, you're probably right about that...I don't think Carl played much keyboard until the "Surf's Up" album, and while "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" may have been written and recorded before the decision to resurrect "Surf's Up", I think Carl may have really gotten into that particular style by learning that song on electric piano, since that's the instrument he played on the live version.  That in turn may have influenced him in his keyboard playing on "All This Is That" and "The Trader", for instance.

The song POB co-written with Mike is a 15 Big Ones leftover.

As I was just listening to the song "Pacific Ocean Blues," I was thinking how great it would have sounded with Beach Boys backing vocals. The bass vocal, in particular, makes it easy to imagine Mike singing "water, water."

So...Jon, when you say it is a leftover, do you know whether a recording was begun and/or completed during that era? Or was it just something they wrote at the time, but didn't pursue?

To me, this is another track (like "River Song" and a few others from POB) that fits into a natural progression after Holland.

Jon may have more and better info to offer on this, but I thought I'd share what I've read, for what it's worth:  in his book, Brad Elliott indicates the song was recorded twice by Dennis in 1975 (at a February 12th session, and again late in the year).  In the Summer '82 issue of "Add Some Music", Brad writes "'Pacific Ocean Blue' existed only as an unfinished instrumental track prior to the sessions for 15 Big Ones.  During those sessions Dennis decided he wanted a cut on the album.  He asked Mike to write the lyrics, which he did, phoning them in from his home after only a few hours."  Brad doesn't say whether or not the Boys attempted vocals, just that the song was not included on 15 Big Ones.  Then around August or September '76, Dennis told Timothy White "Yesterday, I did a final version of 'Pacific Ocean Song' which I had cut several times".  So there may be three backing tracks laying around of that song. 

That tape's been going the rounds for a couple of decades - it's the storied BBs performance from the Grand Gala du Disque in 1972. The lack of audience noise has caused a lot of folk to think it's an alternate studio take.

I wonder if one of them's Brad Elliott, who wrote in his book that the Boys recorded an alternate studio version of the song in Holland in '72.

Carl played electric piano quite a bit in the early '70s, in fact I think several of the tracks on the "In Concert" album include his keyboard playing:  "Sail On Sailor", "The Trader", maybe "Leaving This Town" and "We Got Love".  In those days he also played the e.piano on "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" when they did those live, and probably "Woinderful".  Bruce posted somewhere that Carl was playing keyboard on "Wonderful" in '93.  

In the Largo MD 1977 and Melbourne AUSTRL 1978 videos, Carl plays e.piano on "Feel Flows" and "All This Is That", but I believe Al was playing guitar on both of those back then.

The "pitter patter" section on Good Time is most definitely 1976 Brian. There is just a stark contrast due to the very different tone of his voice from 69 to 76. You can hear it in the subtle vibrato on his voice in that section. Same with the "hey" part. Definitely 60's BW.

If that's true...then who did the "pitter patter" part on the "Landlocked" version?  Is it not the same?

The "Hey!" is a "Love You"-era addition and it's Brian. 
Unless I'm wrong.

It's a true shame (or sham) that Brian "gave" his vote away regarding the DW solo tour, rather than voting with Denny & Carl.  The Wilson Brothers would've been all-powerful had they voted together. 

And if the Al/Mike fued had just started a decade or two sooner, it might've been a four-to-one vote!

It just seems a crime that Mike was able to tour with Celebration the following year, but he didn't want Dennis touring solo!