Low Culture 12: The Beach Boys in the 70s

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

https://thequietus.com/articles/28491-the-beach-boys

[The Nearest Faraway Place]

Wow, another generic article with tons of facts wrong.
First of all, this is another article pushing the theory, that has absolutely no evidence, that Brian gave up after 1967.
To anyone with a brain, you would know that this is absolutely wrong, seeing as he’s all over SS, WH and Friends.
This article says something about him being in bed during that time. He didn’t really go to bed until probably about 1971, if not later. At least according to most retellings.
Secondly, they said the Manson stuff happened in 1969, when it actually happened in 1968. Hell, the song was released in December 68. This stuff is Super easy to look up in fact check.
Of course They just cancel out everything released after 1973, because of course they do. Their a main stream article.
Also, as much as Mike and Al are all over MIU, TM is barely mentioned on the album. So there’s another fact they got wrong that could have been remedied with five seconds of research.

[sirgreendown]

I agree with some things in the article, but something about the tone rubs me the wrong way. And yeah... the fact that the article basically ends with Holland and dismisses the later albums in one sentence is a massive oversight. (Also, to argue a very small point: Holland has one of the best titles of any Beach Boys albums in my opinion-- not "unimaginative" as the article says, just nice and simple.)

[phirnis]

I probably don't need to read this. The relationship between Brian and the group in the first half of the 70s strikes me as incredibly complex. I once read an article that said he kind of remained "their guru" during those years. No way did he simply pull back. He still had bouts of creativity and the band knew that every album had to have a number of real Brian songs on it. Even stuff like "He Come Down", where it's not clear how much of that song he actually co-wrote, or his couple of lines on "California Saga", he was always there somewhere, as their former leader who had never actually quit the band but who had obviously made the decision to only ever work anymore when he felt like it. The burden of having to lead the way had gone, which I'm sure left him both relieved and depressed. He doesn't look happy in that photo from the Holland sleeve but he looks fine in other pictures from that era. He probably had his ups and downs, like that famous Mike Love composition says, haha.

[The Nearest Faraway Place]

I agree with some things in the article, but something about the tone rubs me the wrong way. And yeah... the fact that the article basically ends with Holland and dismisses the later albums in one sentence is a massive oversight. (Also, to argue a very small point: Holland has one of the best titles of any Beach Boys albums in my opinion-- not "unimaginative" as the article says, just nice and simple.)

To give the article 1 point, the title Holland really doesn’t reflect the music inside.
In my opinion, Holland is one of the most “American” albums they ever made

[Gerry]

Regarding Brian "going to bed", "staying in bed" etc. this has always made good press but I think it's inaccurate : Brian was up all night snorting coke with, among others Danny Hutton. As a result he would sleep all day. It may have appeared to his family that he was in bed all the time but his sleep cycle was merely reversed. Liked someone working the night shift.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

True. In fact I remember either reading or hearing Brian saying something similar.

I think the time he was actually being a hermit like the legend says was in 1975, and not so coincidentally that’s when it was determined he needed help. Even then there were small bits of recording ( backing vocals on Jackie Shannon’s Boat to Sail and Johnny Rivers’s version of Help me Rhonda, In the Back of my mind)

[anders wyller]

I don’t agree – I think this was a great, great article – actually summarizing my own feelings about the band at that time – giving credits to the guys as a band, and to the songs and albums in a way I would put it myself. Never mind the flaws or errors – not important – it’s the overall understanding of the BB and their importance through this period that matters.  Thx for sharing.