You Are So Beautiful, AGD... To MEEEEEE!

[Rocky Raccoon]

Mal Evans wrote Fixing a Hole.

Where did you hear that one?  Or are you joking?

[Mikie]

He's not joking.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Acid test.

Does it sound like any other Billy Preston song ?  No.

Does it sound like a Dennis Wilson song ? Yes.

I thangyow.

[The Shift]

Acid test.

Does it sound like any other Billy Preston song ?  No.

Does it sound like a Dennis Wilson song ? Yes.

I thangyow.

And Preston's own version ain't good. Almost like he didn't quite understand it himself…

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

funny thing is Dennis probably wrote about 50 songs better than this IMO. Are there any other BP songs with a similar structure/lyric?

[Aegir]

Billy wrote some maudlin ballads too.... With You I'm Born Again for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqTq8gckf8E

[filledeplage]

Acid test.
Does it sound like any other Billy Preston song ?  No.
Does it sound like a Dennis Wilson song ? Yes.
I thangyow.

And Preston's own version ain't good. Almost like he didn't quite understand it himself…

Agreed.  It is unfortunate that Dennis was uncredited for one of Joe Cocker's biggest hits. I'm watching a live Dennis concert version, (thanks YouTube!) and there is little doubt in my mind that this song is consistent with Dennis' other work, and the directness, simplicity of the melody, and emotionality of the lyrics.  To me it screams Dennis Wilson.  

People write (prose) in characteristic ways, and I would extend that to music as well.  Even if it was put side by side with Forever, Little Bird, Only With You, etc., and they have certain common characteristics.  I'm just using those as examples.

On the other hand, it does not scream Billy Preston, and seems inconsistent with his work.  Anyone can google what he wrote.  And he didn't know who Dennis Wilson was? Give me a break. That is absolutely not credible.

And, I think Billy Hinsche is credible.  

[Jon Stebbins]

And he didn't know who Dennis Wilson was? Give me a break. That is absolutely not credible.

BTW...Note Billy Preston's hands at the 2:00 mark in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJQRxExlmy8

[filledeplage]

And he didn't know who Dennis Wilson was? Give me a break. That is absolutely not credible.

BTW...Note Billy Preston's hands at the 2:00 mark in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJQRxExlmy8

He didn't "not" know him for a really long time!

Double negative intended!   

[Awesoman]

So how did Preston and Dennis know each other?  Did they frequent the same gatherings?

[KittyKat]

Again, it was Dennis's responsibility to take credit for his own work if he did indeed write part of the song.  I also don't think Dennis wrote it all by himself, as some here imply. In either event, he could have spoken up before it was published or he could have sued after it was a hit if it mattered to him that much. He did neither.

BTW, playing on Shindig is no guarantee that he knew Dennis at that point. Just being introduced to someone and playing on the same stage doesn't mean they were buddies. In fact, hanging out at the same parties and doing blow and getting drunk doesn't really qualify as knowing someone very well, either.

[Mikie]

Good points, Kitty. Both of them.

If Dennis wanted credit that bad, he would've pursued it. It meant a good chunk of publishing change if he did.

It's possible Dennis introduced himself at the party and reminded Preston that they "played' together on the same Shinding show or that they knew each other after that from playing on the road or whatever, but Hinshe says they were over by the piano together at the party. Who knows. They collaborated together. I'd still like to know what Fisher knows, if anything.

[Sheriff John Stone]

It's a shame Dennis never recorded "You Are So Beautiful". Or did he?

[Dave in KC]

I saw numerous shows where Dennis did this song. It was always a highlight for the crowd. Even though I don't remember the exact details, there was an intro to the song by Mike or Carl saying "Dennis is going to do a song now.........." Maybe even more likely, now that I think about it, it may have been Dennis himself introing his song. I know for sure there was some kind of explanation of what was up next. Does anyone remember Dennis saying anything like "Billy Preston and I wrote this song together?" Since the song never made it onto an album until Knebworth, certainly it warranted some kind explanation from where it came. And it certainly wasn't, "here's a song that we never put out." It's just too long ago, '72, '73', 74, for me to remember anything specific like that, plus which the altered state.

[Mikie]

Don't forget, the Knebworth show was never heard or seen by the general public (bootlegged audio only) up to the point it was released in 2002. Prior to that, Dennis could be seen and heard singing the song on the "American Band" video, released in 1985.

[Jon Stebbins]

Something of a mystery i guess that was at least partially solved by this story. The Beach Boys were not exactly known for covering recent Top 10 chart material by other artists in their concerts circa 1974/75. There was Wishing You Were Here by Chicago, but its obvious why they covered that, it was the closest thing to a BB's hit since 1968. But You Are So Beautiful was perceived as completely unconnected to them in 1975. People often asked, why did Dennis sing this song, a recent giant hit by Joe Cocker? Why did he pull that song out of thin air, and plug it into the Beach Boys set? And why did he sing it night after night, year after year? Even when he couldn't really sing it anymore, he still tried to sing it.

My new book with Ian Rusten coming in June, The Beach Boys In Concert, actually proves that it was Dennis himself who kind of against everybody's better judgement, insisted this song be added and used as an encore. Some people around the band were like, "Why do that?" The book has a quote from a credible insider recalling that Dennis told them all... trust me, its going to work. And it did, it fit him like a glove. The audiences went ape sh*t, and the song was a NEW song... not a Beach Boys oldie. Maybe its hard for ya all to get your heads around it now, in the context of today...but 15 or 20 years ago when the subject of Dennis came up, people were still asking, why did he constantly do that Cocker song?

The answer, which we didn't know at the time, was that he felt like it was partly his song, and it had become a massive hit without him getting any acknowledgement for it. So, his reaction to that was, I will make it my own again, my signature thing. And he did.

BTW...the first time a larger than concert size audience saw Dennis sing this song was the summer 1976 TV special sponsored by Dr. Pepper and produced by Lorne Michaels, which is known by some as Its OK. That version was later shown in the American band film...and it is the definitive version in my opinion.

[Mikie]

BTW...the first time a larger than concert size audience saw Dennis sing this song was the summer 1976 TV special sponsored by Dr. Pepper and produced by Lorne Michaels, which is known by some as Its OK. That version was later shown in the American band film...and it is the definitive version in my opinion.

Yes! Forgot about that. In fact, I think the brief American Band shot of Dennis doing the song was from the "It's OK" special from 1976. Then they switched to the other shot where he looked wasted. I think the American Band video of him doing the song was from the Universal Ampitheatre show from '79 in L.A., was it not? Or am I confused. It's been awhile.

Prior to that, the hardcore fan could see Dennis sing it live in concert or hear it on numerous bootlegs from the 70's shows.

[Jon Stebbins]

BTW...the first time a larger than concert size audience saw Dennis sing this song was the summer 1976 TV special sponsored by Dr. Pepper and produced by Lorne Michaels, which is known by some as Its OK. That version was later shown in the American band film...and it is the definitive version in my opinion.

Yes! Forgot about that. In fact, I think the brief American Band shot of Dennis doing the song was from the "It's OK" special from 1976. Then they switched to the other shot where he looked wasted. I think the American Band video of him doing the song was from the Universal Ampitheatre show from '79 in L.A., was it not? Or am I confused. It's been awhile.

Prior to that, the hardcore fan could see Dennis sing it live in concert or hear it on numerous bootlegs from the 70's shows.

The American Band version has a brief intro tacked on to it where drunken Dennis asks if the ladies in the audience "fool around" but the song itself is the same version as the Its OK special, which is the summer '76 Anaheim Stadium performance.

[shelter]

Something I just realized: it's not like Dennis never did to anyone what Preston did to him here. Remember 'Never Learn Not to Love'? For as far as I know, Charles Manson was never officially credited for that song. And anyone who ever heard the 'Cease to Excist' demo knows that the composition is 90% his. Of course Manson was pure evil, but that still doesn't give anyone the right to steal his music.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Yes, but Manson wasnt exactly a popular recording artist at that point

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

Something I just realized: it's not like Dennis never did to anyone what Preston did to him here. Remember 'Never Learn Not to Love'? For as far as I know, Charles Manson was never officially credited for that song. And anyone who ever heard the 'Cease to Excist' demo knows that the composition is 90% his. Of course Manson was pure evil, but that still doesn't give anyone the right to steal his music.

I always thought Manson was paid and signed a contract for that song?

[AndrewHickey]

Something I just realized: it's not like Dennis never did to anyone what Preston did to him here. Remember 'Never Learn Not to Love'? For as far as I know, Charles Manson was never officially credited for that song. And anyone who ever heard the 'Cease to Excist' demo knows that the composition is 90% his. Of course Manson was pure evil, but that still doesn't give anyone the right to steal his music.

I always thought Manson was paid and signed a contract for that song?

He was paid, but if he signed a contract, the contract would be illegal.. You can't sell the authorship of a song to someone else. You can sell them all your royalties, but unless something's a "work made for hire", which has to meet some criteria Never Learn Not To Love doesn't, you remain legal author, which means you have to be credited and also means that for works created before 1978 all rights revert from whoever it was sold to to the original author after fifty-six (I think) years (that's my understanding of US copyright law, it works slightly differently in the UK).

That meant that even if Manson *had* legally signed away all his rights, he'd have still been credited on the record, and he'd start receiving royalties again in 2025.

Whatever deal was made between Manson and Dennis, it wasn't technically legal. Legally, Dennis stole Manson's work, just as legally Billy Preston apparently stole Dennis'. Morally, we have no idea what agreement was made between Dennis and Preston, and only a limited idea what went on between Dennis and Manson.

[shelter]

Yes, but Manson wasnt exactly a popular recording artist at that point

Irrelevant. It doesn't matter if you're Paul McCartney or his plumber, if you wrote 90% of a song, you should get the credits for it.

[Mikie]

Same kinda thing went down with Bob Burchman, co-author of "It's About Time". I think Burchman got screwed on that deal.

[AndrewHickey]

Same kinda thing went down with Bob Burchman, co-author of "It's About Time". I think Burchman got screwed on that deal.

I disagree there. He got credited, and gets royalties. He signed his publishing over to the Beach Boys' publishing company, but he wasn't otherwise a songwriter and didn't have his own publishing company, and setting one up and getting it registered with the collection agencies would probably have cost nearly as much as just letting Wilojarston (or whichever company it was at that point) do it.

His main problem seems to be that Al and Carl were given songwriting credit and he has to share the royalties with them -- but they added the bit starting "it's about time" onward, so they deserve the credit too.