LA Light Album (a more progressive album)

[The Heartical Don]

I had two friends years ago separately tell me that Sumuhama was a favorite track.  I think some here just diss it cause it's a Mike Love song. Will Michael E. Love ever redeem himself in the eyes of Beach Boys fans?

I must clarify my position on Sumahama. In theory, it is a great melody, with that Eastern-Japanese influence. I have no problem whatsoever with it being a Love ditty.

Thing is: for me the thing is just too sickly sweet. I guess in the end this boils down to Mike trying too hard to sing 'charming and lovely and seductive', and therefore his nasality (that alwas was there, but here in spades, so to speak) takes away my enjoyment, instead of adding to it.

Now, if Carl had sung it...

[Jukka]

Does Al still do Lady Lynda in his solo shows? If he does, is it still with the changed Lady Liberty -lyrics (while I somehow can understand his decision to change the lyrics, I still think it was a daft move).

[AndrewHickey]

Does Al still do Lady Lynda in his solo shows? If he does, is it still with the changed Lady Liberty -lyrics (while I somehow can understand his decision to change the lyrics, I still think it was a daft move).

I don't think Al or the BBs have performed the song since the early 90s. They changed the lyrics to "little lady" then, and left the rest intact, rather than performing the horrible Lady Liberty version.

Personally, I was more surprised they didn't do Breakaway, which was about as big a hit in Europe and which Brian's band already knows...

[hypehat]

My main point was not to discuss which album we like better. Mike and Al seemed to have more power then Carl and Dennis on 15 Big Ones and MIU. Love You is pretty much a Brian album. Although, Mike had some say on lyrics. I know that Carl and Dennis were doing drugs during the MIU era, but wasn't that put out in favor of Adult/Child which was a more Wilson album? LA Light on the other hand seems to favor the Wilsons. Not saying its better. I suppose the answer lies in a previous post that Mike was busy with Celebration. Another question is, had Carl cleaned up by the LA Light sessions? Had Al swung his vote yet? These are mysteries to me.

L.A notably doesn't favour Brian. Either none of his latest offerings suited it (although my L.A mix just ditches HCTN in favour of a few A/C tracks and it's not too awful) or all he really did want to work on was Shortenin' Bread.

[Nicko1234]

Personally, I was more surprised they didn't do Breakaway, which was about as big a hit in Europe and which Brian's band already knows...

I get the feeling (perhaps wrongly) that Mike doesn`t like this one...maybe because his uncle co-wrote it.

I can`t recall Mike and Bruce ever playing it in the U.K. and when the interviews for the Warmth of the Sun compilation were recorded I don`t think Mike made any comment on this song.

[MBE]

I had two friends years ago separately tell me that Sumuhama was a favorite track.  I think some here just diss it cause it's a Mike Love song. Will Michael E. Love ever redeem himself in the eyes of Beach Boys fans?

I just wished he had picked a better song. Too Cruel is very nice.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I had two friends years ago separately tell me that Sumuhama was a favorite track.  I think some here just diss it cause it's a Mike Love song. Will Michael E. Love ever redeem himself in the eyes of Beach Boys fans?

I must clarify my position on Sumahama. In theory, it is a great melody, with that Eastern-Japanese influence. I have no problem whatsoever with it being a Love ditty.

Thing is: for me the thing is just too sickly sweet. I guess in the end this boils down to Mike trying too hard to sing 'charming and lovely and seductive', and therefore his nasality (that alwas was there, but here in spades, so to speak) takes away my enjoyment, instead of adding to it.

Now, if Carl had sung it...

The Beach Boys actually performed (well, they lipsynched) "Sumahama" on American Bandstand!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Is that the clip where they keep cutting to some Asian girl in the audience as if she just happens to be there?

Fantastic song, either way. I'm sorry but it really just is perfect in every way. I don't care who the F wrote/sung it, it's killer.

[Lonely Summer]

Some love for Sumuhama....yeah! And I agree that if Carl had sung it....oh, the mind just goes crazy at the thought! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Carl could sing the Hawthorne phone book and make it sound good!

[Emdeeh]

Does Al still do Lady Lynda in his solo shows?

Not in any of his shows that I've seen.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Some love for Sumuhama....yeah! And I agree that if Carl had sung it....oh, the mind just goes crazy at the thought! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Carl could sing the Hawthorne phone book and make it sound good!

I dunno: Mike's tenor voice is perfect for the key they recorded it in, and if Carl had sung it, it would have been just one more mellow Carl-sung ballad on that album and wouldn't have stood out (for better or worse) like it does as-is.

[Mike's Beard]

My main point was not to discuss which album we like better. Mike and Al seemed to have more power then Carl and Dennis on 15 Big Ones and MIU. Love You is pretty much a Brian album. Although, Mike had some say on lyrics. I know that Carl and Dennis were doing drugs during the MIU era, but wasn't that put out in favor of Adult/Child which was a more Wilson album? LA Light on the other hand seems to favor the Wilsons. Not saying its better. I suppose the answer lies in a previous post that Mike was busy with Celebration. Another question is, had Carl cleaned up by the LA Light sessions? Had Al swung his vote yet? These are mysteries to me.

L.A notably doesn't favour Brian. Either none of his latest offerings suited it (although my L.A mix just ditches HCTN in favour of a few A/C tracks and it's not too awful) or all he really did want to work on was Shortenin' Bread.

If I remember correctly Brian was in a mental institution/rehabilitation clinic for much of the LA time period.

[hypehat]

My main point was not to discuss which album we like better. Mike and Al seemed to have more power then Carl and Dennis on 15 Big Ones and MIU. Love You is pretty much a Brian album. Although, Mike had some say on lyrics. I know that Carl and Dennis were doing drugs during the MIU era, but wasn't that put out in favor of Adult/Child which was a more Wilson album? LA Light on the other hand seems to favor the Wilsons. Not saying its better. I suppose the answer lies in a previous post that Mike was busy with Celebration. Another question is, had Carl cleaned up by the LA Light sessions? Had Al swung his vote yet? These are mysteries to me.

L.A notably doesn't favour Brian. Either none of his latest offerings suited it (although my L.A mix just ditches HCTN in favour of a few A/C tracks and it's not too awful) or all he really did want to work on was Shortenin' Bread.

If I remember correctly Brian was in a mental institution/rehabilitation clinic for much of the LA time period.

I thought so, but wasn't quite sure - I keep getting it mixed up with the MIU period in my head.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Sumahama is a deep emotional song that fits well on LA Light. To me it is about as good as Full Sail and Goin South. But they are kind of boring.

Break Away and Lady Lynda were not big hits in the US, so it isn't very shocking they weren't used in the American tour. Although they did use some deep cuts.

[Jim V.]

My main point was not to discuss which album we like better. Mike and Al seemed to have more power then Carl and Dennis on 15 Big Ones and MIU. Love You is pretty much a Brian album. Although, Mike had some say on lyrics. I know that Carl and Dennis were doing drugs during the MIU era, but wasn't that put out in favor of Adult/Child which was a more Wilson album? LA Light on the other hand seems to favor the Wilsons. Not saying its better. I suppose the answer lies in a previous post that Mike was busy with Celebration. Another question is, had Carl cleaned up by the LA Light sessions? Had Al swung his vote yet? These are mysteries to me.

L.A notably doesn't favour Brian. Either none of his latest offerings suited it (although my L.A mix just ditches HCTN in favour of a few A/C tracks and it's not too awful) or all he really did want to work on was Shortenin' Bread.

If I remember correctly Brian was in a mental institution/rehabilitation clinic for much of the LA time period.

He did do a bit of work during the L.A. sessions though. According to c-man, he reviewed/worked on "Good Timin'", "California Feelin'",  "Shortenin' Bread", "Calendar Girl", "Brian's Back", and "I'm Begging You Please"  while in Miami. I'm not sure if he did much, if any, work in California, but I'm pretty sure he appears vocally on "Angel Come Home".

I gotta admit, I'm still a little confused as to why "California Feelin'" didn't make it on the album, as it totally fits the mood, and is another Brian Wilson song, why I'd assume the record company would be happy about. And it's a pretty great song too, in my opinion.

[Quzi]

Didn't Brian say "no" to California Dreamin' being used?

[Jim V.]

Didn't Brian say "no" to California Dreamin' being used?

I assume that you're talking about "California Feelin'", but no, I don't think he said that they couldn't use it on L.A.

However, I'm pretty sure he said they couldn't use it on MIU, but what's weird is there wasn't even an official Beach Boys version to use then (there was the 1974 Brian version and the 1977 American Spring version, but none known from The Beach Boys).

[Quzi]

uaighuhaihgiushgsighdailgd yepyep, I meant California FEELIN'. And okay, thanks for clearing that up for me. My '78-'80 Brian knowledge is pretty fragmented chronologically. Makes me really wish we had that Beach Boys wikia at times ^_^

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I had two friends years ago separately tell me that Sumuhama was a favorite track.  I think some here just diss it cause it's a Mike Love song. Will Michael E. Love ever redeem himself in the eyes of Beach Boys fans?

I must clarify my position on Sumahama. In theory, it is a great melody, with that Eastern-Japanese influence. I have no problem whatsoever with it being a Love ditty.

Thing is: for me the thing is just too sickly sweet. I guess in the end this boils down to Mike trying too hard to sing 'charming and lovely and seductive', and therefore his nasality (that alwas was there, but here in spades, so to speak) takes away my enjoyment, instead of adding to it.

Now, if Carl had sung it...

Sumahama is great, right up until the point when Mike starts singing in Japanese, and then it's utterly toe-curlingly embaressingly awful!

Oh, and Lady Lynda - while nice - is nevertheless the 8th best song on LA, although it's still way better than Lady Liberty, which is dreadful. It sounds like bloody Shine by Take That. And Al's spoken intro? Jesus... What is it with him and naff spoken passages? Love Al to bits, but he has a real tendency towards pretenciouness at times...

[rogerlancelot]

I for one love the LA album. "Good Timin'" is a classic (not too sure if I understand the lyrics but they sound positive), "Lady Lynda" is based on a J.S. Bach tune ("Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring") which I did a pretty rocking cover of myself some years ago (the Bach tune that is) and the live version in Knebworth is wonderful. "Full Sail" is a beautiful and relaxing song. "Sumahama" is above average Mike Love material. "Angel Come Home" simply rocks. Nice Carl composition (cool guitar chords - check out the instrumental demo that's around) and Dennis' voice matches it spot on. "Angel Come Home" is a Dennis Wilson song so it has to be good, right? Actually I get annoyed by the high pitch vocals on the chorus so I'll take the Bambu version over this one. "Here Comes The Night" makes me laugh out loud like the first time I heard Love You all of the way through. 10 minutes may seem like a long time on one song but then again I'm a big fan of early Pink Floyd and Yes so no problems here. "Baby Blue" has brought tears to my eyes more than once. I used to think of my son when he was 2 years old and I moved out of state for a few months on a job and the lyrics tugged at my heart strings and made me miss him very bad. "Goin' South" has Carl singing (so that's a good thing) but is easily forgettable and yet not offensive. "Shortenin' Bread" doesn't move me in any way but again it doesn't offend me too much.

Compared to MIU & KTSA: too many Al covers. Beach Boys should be doing their own writing even if it's not as good as the writers who wrote the songs they covered. "My Diane" is a winner but has anybody else here noticed that it's done in Brian's "modular" method? That is to say the ending gets looped a few times and the edits are very noticeable. "Winds Of Change" works for me, most of the rest doesn't. KTSA has "Goin' On", "Living With A Heartache" and the title track which work for me. I could live without hearing the rest of it. "Oh Darling" annoys me with the Bee Gees sounding back-up vocals, "Some Of Your Love" has that awful honking sax in the intro, "Endless Harmony" puts me to sleep until the very fine ending bit. I can't even remember much of the rest of it. That 2-fer (KTSA and BB85) is the one I listen to least. Kudos to AGD for his liner notes though!

I'll take LA over the album before it and the one after it. It's very mellow but that is not a bad thing. At least it doesn't sound like a band trying to impersonate themselves like MIU and to a lesser part KTSA. It's good night time music. I think I'll dig it out again tonight and have another listen. I like the cover art concept too.

[Smilin Ed H]

It's the japanese lyrics that kill Sumahama for me. Like I said, he had a lot of good stuff available at the time, as did Al.  I think the album could take one soporific Carl ballad, but not two.  I'd go for Full Sail.  Angel Come Home, however, is a gem.

[Rocker]

Didn't Brian say "no" to California Dreamin' being used?

I assume that you're talking about "California Feelin'", but no, I don't think he said that they couldn't use it on L.A.

However, I'm pretty sure he said they couldn't use it on MIU, but what's weird is there wasn't even an official Beach Boys version to use then (there was the 1974 Brian version and the 1977 American Spring version, but none known from The Beach Boys).

Dunno about Brian but Bruce made it pretty clear in an interview that "Cal. feelin" wouldn't be on L.A.

[MBE]

It's the japanese lyrics that kill Sumahama for me. Like I said, he had a lot of good stuff available at the time, as did Al.  I think the album could take one soporific Carl ballad, but not two.  I'd go for Full Sail.  Angel Come Home, however, is a gem.

Mike did have a lot of good stuff then. It's funny but I would take almost anything off of the First Love tracklist for L.A. other than Sumahama.