Al Jardine's opposition to Somewhere Near Japan

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Wow.  I can't tell if some of the people in this thread are being purposely obtuse, having a laugh, or are really just that dense.   

[Mr. Wilson]

Is that cat listening to Somewhere near Japan..?

[Jay]

You guys are making Mike out to be an innocent school girl.    He may not have ever used anything stronger than pot, but I guaran-damn-tee you that Mike knows what the word "junk" could mean. He's not stupid.

[Andrew G. Doe]

True -  he hung around and worked with acknowledged drug users/abusers for a good few years. Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

Or apparently Alan Jardine.  The one part of this story that has never made sense to me is that he could spend thirty years in a band with the Wilson brothers and somehow not pick up on the drug references until someone else alerted him to them.  And it can't be that he just wasn't paying attention--the part he sings has some of the most overtly drug-related lyrics in the song!

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

Or apparently Alan Jardine.  The one part of this story that has never made sense to me is that he could spend thirty years in a band with the Wilson brothers and somehow not pick up on the drug references until someone else alerted him to them.  And it can't be that he just wasn't paying attention--the part he sings has some of the most overtly drug-related lyrics in the song!

That the Beach Boys contained both Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine is just yet another of the glorious contradictions that makes the Beach Boys such a fascinating band...

[Wirestone]

And, of course, the word "junk" also gives us "junkie," which surely everyone knows.

My question still stands, though -- what on Earth did Bruce contribute to this song? And the bridge is certainly perplexing -- it's where all the drug references are, yet it's not on Papa John's version (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRR9Za258Bw).

Also: Al sang it live at least once. Sounded good, too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Ad2p1p388)

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

And, of course, the word "junk" also gives us "junkie," which surely everyone knows.

My question still stands, though -- what on Earth did Bruce contribute to this song? And the bridge is certainly perplexing -- it's where all the drug references are, yet it's not on Papa John's version (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRR9Za258Bw).

Also: Al sang it live at least once. Sounded good, too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Ad2p1p388)

There is the possibility that it's in the 20+ verse version that John Phillips wrote; if not, I would imagine that the only one of the other three writers to come up with that would be Terry Melcher.  Even if Mike and Bruce signed off on it, I can hardly imagine either of them writing something like that.  But this is totally speculative.

[Smilin Ed H]

Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

Or apparently Alan Jardine.  The one part of this story that has never made sense to me is that he could spend thirty years in a band with the Wilson brothers and somehow not pick up on the drug references until someone else alerted him to them.  And it can't be that he just wasn't paying attention--the part he sings has some of the most overtly drug-related lyrics in the song!

As I mentioned above, there is an interview with Al in which he states that he didn't object to singing it; in fact, he may have said that he wasn't the BB who objected to it.  Wish I could find it. No doubt it's probably referenced on this board a couple of dozen times.

[startBBtoday]

Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

Or apparently Alan Jardine.  The one part of this story that has never made sense to me is that he could spend thirty years in a band with the Wilson brothers and somehow not pick up on the drug references until someone else alerted him to them.  And it can't be that he just wasn't paying attention--the part he sings has some of the most overtly drug-related lyrics in the song!

As I mentioned above, there is an interview with Al in which he states that he didn't object to singing it; in fact, he may have said that he wasn't the BB who objected to it.  Wish I could find it. No doubt it's probably referenced on this board a couple of dozen times.

Purely speculative, but maybe it was Carl who objected to it? He didn't have a writing credit on it (Mike and Bruce did) and by that time, didn't he not want to talk about his drug days at all?

[bgas]

Unless you're Cliff Richard, you work in the music bizz, you know what's happening.

Or apparently Alan Jardine.  The one part of this story that has never made sense to me is that he could spend thirty years in a band with the Wilson brothers and somehow not pick up on the drug references until someone else alerted him to them.  And it can't be that he just wasn't paying attention--the part he sings has some of the most overtly drug-related lyrics in the song!

As I mentioned above, there is an interview with Al in which he states that he didn't object to singing it; in fact, he may have said that he wasn't the BB who objected to it.  Wish I could find it. No doubt it's probably referenced on this board a couple of dozen times.

So, 4 pages on something that isn't even the case. How apt for this board

[startBBtoday]

I'll also throw in that maybe one of the members either a. Didn't like the guitar style (Craig Fall's) of the song or b. Didn't think they could pull it off live.

Ed Carter did an OK job here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Ad2p1p388 But it really doesn't sound up to snuff with the recording.

[southbay]

Fact of the matter really is they performed SNJ and Island Girl both about as long as they performed any " new"  latter day songs that weren't hits, which was the better part of a full summer. Probably not a conspiracy to be found, just the lack of reason to keep playing it.

[baseball95]

I'm surprised Mike and Bruce haven't played i know they have several times but not recently.

[Jim V.]

Brian's only on the intro and the outro - his (sparse) vocal contributions to this and "Make It Big" were added at the last moment, as was "In My Car", which Bruce described to me as "a big surprise".

I'm glad they added Brian to "Make It Big" and "Island Girl". He really adds so much of that special something to those songs. Obviously these aren't primo Beach Boys songs, but "Make It Big" is a classic '80s pop song, and "Island Girl" is a nice little tune from Al.

I've really grown to like "In My Car" after all these years. I guess maybe I thought it was super '80s cheese, but it is a really nice uptempo song. And I like that Brian sings in a bit of a higher register.

But I have to ask, Andrew, what did Bruce mean by a "surprise"? Like a pleasant surprise? Or surprised by how bad it was? Or just that Brian gave them a song?

Judging by his expression and tone of voice, a mixture of both.

What do you mean by "a mixture of both"? I asked either if it was a pleasant surprise, a surprise in how bad it was, or just the fact that  he gave them a song. That adds up to three, meaning the answer "both" wouldn't make sense as I don't see how it could be both a pleasant surprise and bad. However, excuse me if I possibly misunderstood what you wrote. I just hope you can clarify.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

I don't know; "In My Car" may not be Brian's greatest song, but compared to most of what the band was releasing at the time, I'm not sure they had much to complain about.

[Jim V.]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

I can understand why they they didn't think it was the greatest thing ever.  But I gotta say I find it amusing that the guy whose most recent work at the time was "Happy Endings" had the balls to say that "In My Car" wasn't up to snuff. But then again, it's probably reasonable to think that Bruce would expect better out of Brian then he would of himself. I gotta say though, despite the somewhat goofy lyrics, it's actually a pretty good song. Of course there was a few better songs on Brian's first solo album that coulda been held back for a new Beach Boys project, but who knows what the politics were at the time...

Actually that gets me thinking. Around the time of getting the Still Cruisin' album together, what did the group want? It seems as though Mike just wanted it to be a collection of songs in movies, but I wonder if he really wanted to include songs that were over 20 years old. At the same time, even though "Kokomo" was the biggest selling point, as it was the new hit single, they probably knew that a new Brian Wilson song would enhance the "credibility" factor (how much or how little credibility they had at the time is another story). And if I remember correctly, from either the Landy-ized autobiography or from a Brian interview, Brian did offer to produce an album for The Beach Boys in the late '80s and they weren't interested. So would it be accurate to say, at least from like '88 to '92 or so, that having "new or previously unreleased Brian Wilson songs" wasn't as big of a deal for the group as it was from '62 to '85, or even from the 1995 reunion sessions and on through today. These days, there's no way a new Beach Boys album would even come close to happening unless Brian is front and center, or at least pretty far up front.

Anyways, back to my point. Even if Brian came up to the guys with "Melt Away", "Meet Me In My Dreams" and "Walkin' the Line" and offered to record them as Beach Boys songs, would they have cared? Or were they, even pre-"Kokomo" just over it?

[Lonely Summer]

Well, working with Brian in those days meant working with Landy and his goons, so I can understand the band not exactly doing backflips over it. If it was as simple as just getting some great songs from Brian, then I'm sure the guys - especially Carl - would have been "stoked".

[Andrew G. Doe]

I think the fact it came very late to the album (hence the almost token vocals by Alan & Carl in the chorus) may have somewhat colored everyone's opinion. Not as much as the Landy factor, of course...

[Matt H]

I think the fact it came very late to the album (hence the almost token vocals by Alan & Carl in the chorus) may have somewhat colored everyone's opinion. Not as much as the Landy factor, of course...

So if it came very late, was there another track that was going to be on the album?  Maybe they would have included Happy Endings or Chasin' The Sky?

Did all of Brian's vocal additions to the the other songs happen after he gave them In My Car?

[2 and a half]

You guys are making Mike out to be an innocent school girl.    He may not have ever used anything stronger than pot, but I guaran-damn-tee you that Mike knows what the word "junk" could mean. He's not stupid.

And he sang "This is the worst trip I've ever been on" 

[CenturyDeprived]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

I don't know; "In My Car" may not be Brian's greatest song, but compared to most of what the band was releasing at the time, I'm not sure they had much to complain about.

I think "In My Car"  is maybe Brian's best "fun" song released to date since Love You material like "Roller Skating Child", etc.

By "fun", I mean singing about a not-very-serious subject, as opposed to a more emotional heartfelt type of song. Lyrics aside (and I don't really mind IMC's lyrics), it's compositionally really strong and has some classic BW unexpected-yet-super-rad harmonies/melodic changes.

It's kinda sorta killer. I've always *liked* it, but recently it's grown on me even more, and I think I'll vote it to be amongst one of BW's most criminally underrated post Love You tracks. And I dig the production, never mind the haters.

Whoever was grumbling/whining about it in the band really had nothing legit to complain about!


I concur that its reception by the band was probably colored by the fact that it came in at the last moment, the timing of which itself may have been another Landy ploy at using BW material as bait/leverage. After recently reading The Wilson Project, the insane lunacy of Landy's late 80s political BB tactics emerged in such a putrid light that I'd never even thought possible prior to reading the book.

Also, the fact that we fortunately get Carl + Al (though I can't seem to pick out Al in the song?) makes this song a peek into what the Brian Wilson album would have sounded like had we gotten actual BB vocals on them.

[metal flake paint]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

I don't know; "In My Car" may not be Brian's greatest song, but compared to most of what the band was releasing at the time, I'm not sure they had much to complain about.

Also, the fact that we fortunately get Carl + Al (though I can't seem to pick out Al in the song?) makes this song a peek into what the Brian Wilson album would have sounded like had we gotten actual BB vocals on them.

This might help:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5525.msg81382.html#msg81382

[CenturyDeprived]

Can't speak for Bruce, but my impression was that, while the band were pleased to get a song, any song, from Brian, they weren't doing backflips about what they got. I can dig that.

I don't know; "In My Car" may not be Brian's greatest song, but compared to most of what the band was releasing at the time, I'm not sure they had much to complain about.

Also, the fact that we fortunately get Carl + Al (though I can't seem to pick out Al in the song?) makes this song a peek into what the Brian Wilson album would have sounded like had we gotten actual BB vocals on them.

This might help:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5525.msg81382.html#msg81382

Thanks, metal flake paint. I hope someday, a "close up" of every line and backing vocal from every album can be completed by some kind soul!