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Author Topic: Holland was released 45 years ago today.  (Read 10001 times)
Rocky Raccoon
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« on: January 08, 2018, 07:13:00 AM »

One of the band’s strangest yet most ambitious albums, their last studio effort with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and the end of that fascinating transitional era before the Endless Summer nostalgia hit.  Beautifully produced by Carl Wilson, it’s one of my all-time favorites.
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« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2018, 08:03:39 AM »

One of the band’s strangest yet most ambitious albums, their last studio effort with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and the end of that fascinating transitional era before the Endless Summer nostalgia hit.  Beautifully produced by Carl Wilson, it’s one of my all-time favorites.

Great album.  For my money, the last great album with the name "The Beach Boys" on it. 
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rab2591
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« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2018, 08:16:46 AM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.
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« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2018, 09:03:21 AM »

Great album, very random but I always felt like Full Sail from the LA Light Album sounds like a 'Holland'y" type song
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Wata
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« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2018, 09:08:48 AM »

I'm surprised how Holland is highly rated in English-spoken BB communities, in contrast with its poor reputation here in Japan.

Before I get to BB forums and all other BB sites written in English, all I read about the album was, "have a few highlights" at best, at worst "a dull throwaway album". With such reputation, Holland was one of the last BB albums I gave the first listen. I liked it, but influenced by its reputation, I wasn't very sure it's great.

Still, I'm not keen on calling Holland a great album, but my appreciation on the album grows as I listen to it time to time. Very much look forward to 2023 copyright protection release, and hope that would probably promote the re-appreciation of the album over here.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2018, 09:10:31 AM by Watamushi(Polly Poller) » Logged
Rocker
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« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2018, 09:14:13 AM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.


For a start, try this thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6862.0.html
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« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2018, 10:39:28 AM »

I'm surprised how Holland is highly rated in English-spoken BB communities, in contrast with its poor reputation here in Japan.

Before I get to BB forums and all other BB sites written in English, all I read about the album was, "have a few highlights" at best, at worst "a dull throwaway album". With such reputation, Holland was one of the last BB albums I gave the first listen. I liked it, but influenced by its reputation, I wasn't very sure it's great.

Still, I'm not keen on calling Holland a great album, but my appreciation on the album grows as I listen to it time to time. Very much look forward to 2023 copyright protection release, and hope that would probably promote the re-appreciation of the album over here.


Dull and a throwaway sounds about right.
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« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2018, 12:06:17 PM »

Holland is still one of my favorites, and the last time I could honestly say I dug every song on the album
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« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2018, 12:24:24 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Are there any lengthy pieces written about Holland at all? I'd love to know especially about the genesis and development of songs like Steamboat and Big Sur, which don't really sound like any others in their catalogue. Though the personal stuff would be fun too.

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« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2018, 12:53:57 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Are there any lengthy pieces written about Holland at all? I'd love to know especially about the genesis and development of songs like Steamboat and Big Sur, which don't really sound like any others in their catalogue. Though the personal stuff would be fun too.



Rocker linked a pretty cool thread above (thanks Rocker!) - in it is a documentary about the making of Holland, though it isn’t in English (Smile Holland did a great translation of some of it), but the interviews with Blondie and Jack Reilly are in English. Jack Reilly is the spitting image of John Candy in Cool Runnings in this documentary, I’m not even kidding - which oddly enough was a movie about relocating a group of guys from their warm and sunny home to a cold/northern location to do something great.

In all the books I’ve read about The Beach Boys, the Holland sessions seem to always be quickly gone over. Carlin’s book did a good job of going over it (but it is still too short of a section). Long Promised Road has a good few pages devoted to it, but it’s mostly the same information as other books...though it has a funny recollection of Mike, during a concert, making fun of ‘Fairy Tale Music’ to which someone in the crowd yelled “I think it’s bitchin’!” and the yelled statement was met with applause.

It seems like such an incredibly odd time for the band - one thing that stands out to me is Brian’s obsession with Randy Newman’s ‘Sail Away’ album...he listened to this album countless times I guess, but he then is influenced to make Fairy Tale Music?
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"ragegasm" - /rāj • ga-zəm/ : a logical mental response produced when your favorite band becomes remotely associated with the bro-country genre.

Ever want to hear some Beach Boys songs mashed up together like The Beatles' 'LOVE' album? Check out my mix!
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« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2018, 01:47:20 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.
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Rocky Raccoon
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« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2018, 01:57:42 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.


It’s a shame that Jack Rieley passed on a few years back.  He would probably be the best source for that story.
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rab2591
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« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2018, 02:16:06 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.


If you do, know you have one definite buyer already!

It’s such a crazy premise: building a studio, flying in recording equipment, houses and cars bought for the band. The musical leader of the band so uninterested in the sessions that he drinks all the time and eventually crashes his car into a telephone pole. Two African rock musicians add their flair to the album. I would read the hell out of that book.
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Bill Tobelman's SMiLE site

God must’ve smiled the day Brian Wilson was born!

"ragegasm" - /rāj • ga-zəm/ : a logical mental response produced when your favorite band becomes remotely associated with the bro-country genre.

Ever want to hear some Beach Boys songs mashed up together like The Beatles' 'LOVE' album? Check out my mix!
Billgoodman
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« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2018, 02:19:30 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.


It’s a shame that Jack Rieley passed on a few years back.  He would probably be the best source for that story.

I came as close as being his friend on Facebook, but he was already in and out of the hospital in those days.
He had such a profound influence on the Beach Boys.
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Gabo
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« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2018, 02:32:08 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.


If you do, know you have one definite buyer already!

It’s such a crazy premise: building a studio, flying in recording equipment, houses and cars bought for the band. The musical leader of the band so uninterested in the sessions that he drinks all the time and eventually crashes his car into a telephone pole. Two African rock musicians add their flair to the album. I would read the hell out of that book.

I wonder why they spent so much to make Holland. Did they believe moving abroad would somehow give them a hit? I have often thought about what the band's finances must have been like in the early 1970s when their last hit was years behind them.
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B.E.
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« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2018, 02:37:34 PM »

... It’s such a crazy premise: building a studio, flying in recording equipment, houses and cars bought for the band. The musical leader of the band so uninterested in the sessions that he drinks all the time and eventually crashes his car into a telephone pole. Two African rock musicians add their flair to the album. I would read the hell out of that book.

And then the guy who set it all in motion quits on the band to stay in Holland! -or something like that...
« Last Edit: January 08, 2018, 03:06:06 PM by B.E. » Logged

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« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2018, 02:40:17 PM »

Rocker linked a pretty cool thread above (thanks Rocker!) - in it is a documentary about the making of Holland, though it isn’t in English (Smile Holland did a great translation of some of it), but the interviews with Blondie and Jack Reilly are in English.

SMiLE-Holland translated all the Dutch spoken in the show. What a labour of love!

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6862.msg110316.html#msg110316 
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« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2018, 03:30:36 PM »

Happy birthday Holland!
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« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2018, 04:35:48 PM »

One of the band’s strangest yet most ambitious albums, their last studio effort with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and the end of that fascinating transitional era before the Endless Summer nostalgia hit.  Beautifully produced by Carl Wilson, it’s one of my all-time favorites.

A big thumbs up to that!   Cool Guy
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« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2018, 04:37:59 PM »

...Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions...

Ah, you must be basing that assumption on the otherwise-great Tom Petty-penned liner notes to the 2000 Brother Records twofer reissue? Or do you mean, once he got there, he more-or-less ditched the group sessions (preferring to work alone at night on the Fairytale)? 'Cause he was DEFINITELY there in Holland when the others were!  Smiley
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« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2018, 04:50:23 PM »

...Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions...

Ah, you must be basing that assumption on the otherwise-great Tom Petty-penned liner notes to the 2000 Brother Records twofer reissue? Or do you mean, once he got there, he more-or-less ditched the group sessions (preferring to work alone at night on the Fairytale)? 'Cause he was DEFINITELY there in Holland when the others were!  Smiley

Haha yeah I worded that rather poorly, I meant he ditched the sessions once he was there.
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Bill Tobelman's SMiLE site

God must’ve smiled the day Brian Wilson was born!

"ragegasm" - /rāj • ga-zəm/ : a logical mental response produced when your favorite band becomes remotely associated with the bro-country genre.

Ever want to hear some Beach Boys songs mashed up together like The Beatles' 'LOVE' album? Check out my mix!
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« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2018, 05:25:47 PM »

One of the band’s strangest yet most ambitious albums, their last studio effort with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and the end of that fascinating transitional era before the Endless Summer nostalgia hit.  Beautifully produced by Carl Wilson, it’s one of my all-time favorites.

When I picked up the Holland LP 45 years ago today I would have been quite dismayed if I would have known that this would be the last Beach Boys studio album that would fall under the dual umbrellas of both progressive and hip.

I was ecstatic 18 months later when Endless Summer shot to the top of the charts, due to the increased popularity and recognition it provided my favorite band, but again would have been very dismayed at that time had I known its effect on the Beach Boys concert setlists. (One nice bonus of Endless Summer's success was that the out of print Capitol albums Wild Honey & 20/20 and Friends & Smiley Smile were rereleased, as two-fers, followed the next year by Good Vibrations-Best of The Beach Boys featuring some great stuff from '66 thru '71.)

The subsequent release of 15 Big Ones in '76 and Love You in '77 were truly WTF moments for me. Yes, some nice stuff on both albums, but a whole lot of poorly sung junkers as well. And I couldn't believe the state of Brian's voice.

During the long three and a half year wait from Holland to 15 Big Ones, I was under the mistaken impression that the reason the Beach Boys had not released a new studio album was because resident genius Brian Wilson was working on some incredible new music, waiting to get it just right before releasing it. I guess the Brian's bizarre spoken passages on Holland's 7 inch bonus EP Mount Vernon and Fairway should have served as a clue to his state of mind, although it fit well under the definition of eccentric. Plus I'd spoken to Brian and Marilyn after the April 1973 Hollywood Palladium concert and he seemed absolutely fine - quite conversant and in a very good mood. Brian did not attend the November 1973 Long Beach Arena concert, but after the concert Marilyn told me Brian was at Danny Hutton's working on new music, so I figured all was good.

For quite a few years after it's release Holland was the main BB album that people who weren't all that much into the Beach Boys told me they liked.


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« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2018, 06:09:38 PM »

I think Holland is the Beach Boys most successful foray into 1970s rock.  Unlike Sunflower and Surf's Up, Holland featured longer songs with some very good instrumental solos (Steamboat, Leaving This Town) which is absent on most BB material.  One cant help but wonder what would've become of The Beach Boys had they stayed on this path.
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Don Malcolm
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« Reply #23 on: January 08, 2018, 08:26:31 PM »

Bought it the day it came out...never regretted it!

In the doc Jack talks about an upright piano that became a significant anchor for the sound on many of the tracks. You can hear that on "Steamboat," "Trader," "Leaving Town," "Only With You," "Funky Pretty." Who was playing the piano on those tracks? Carl and Dennis seem to get the credit from what I've seen.
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Jay
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« Reply #24 on: January 08, 2018, 09:24:39 PM »

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II Grin

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.


If you do, know you have one definite buyer already!

It’s such a crazy premise: building a studio, flying in recording equipment, houses and cars bought for the band. The musical leader of the band so uninterested in the sessions that he drinks all the time and eventually crashes his car into a telephone pole. Two African rock musicians add their flair to the album. I would read the hell out of that book.
Sounds like a damn good movie to me,  Grin
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