moog bass on holland

[busy doin nothin]

I've been listening to Holland a lot lately.  I truly love this album, especially SOS and the final three tracks.  Leaving This Town is incredible, deeply moving, as is Only with You, and I truly adore Funky Pretty.  I also like the waltz-time Big Sur a lot.

However, I feel that the moog bass sound used on California and (to a slightly lesser extent) Trader seriously detracts from those songs.  It just sounds extremely cheesy and dated.  The Boys used the moog bass so much more subtly and effectively on Surf's Up and CATP, especially songs like Long Promised Road, Feel Flows and Marcella.

I think California and Trader would be much stronger tracks if they had used real bass.  For cripe sakes, they had Blondie in the lineup then and he was a mean bass player.  Could've used Al too, of course.  Does anyone agree with me?

[Jonas]

I absolutely love Trader, and its definitely one of the songs that REALLY sucked me into the Beach Boys. At first, like yourself, I felt the moog was a bit cheesy in it and wondered if it was done intentionally. But the more I listened to it the more it just blended deeper into the song, and now I just think its the right touch. Could it 'sound' better? Maybe, but not for me!

That Trader, what a fuckin tune.

[busy doin nothin]

I absolutely love Trader, and its definitely one of the songs that REALLY sucked me into the Beach Boys. At first, like yourself, I felt the moog was a bit cheesy in it and wondered if it was done intentionally. But the more I listened to it the more it just blended deeper into the song, and now I just think its the right touch. Could it 'sound' better? Maybe, but not for me!

That Trader, what a fodain tune.

I agree Trader is a great song.  I think Carl was a phenomenal producer, and overall I like the job he did with the song, I just question whether the moog was a good choice for it.

My much stronger complaint is with California.  I think it could be a really great song but the moog totally ruins it for me.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Oddly enough, I LOVE that moog sound.

[runalot]

I love that moog sound, too!!! =)