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Author Topic: Carl on Stars and Stripes  (Read 10793 times)
Matt H
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« Reply #25 on: August 28, 2020, 06:56:58 AM »

For those with doubts or questions about Stars & Stripes, this is the background, of course corrections and comments welcome...but this is pretty much the deal.

Those names in the album credits, "Eddie Haddad" and "Dan Wojcik", Haddad is a promoter and Wojcik was a booking agent (he since passed away).

Eddie Haddad's company is EJH Entertainment, and they organize, manage, and promote concerts and events among other things. Mike Love was one of Haddad's clients, and EJH not only was a consultant to Mike but also was involved in the NASCAR salute release that was given out at "76" gas stations in the 90's. Hank Williams Jr was a client too.

Dan Wojcik as a booking agent had a lot of Nashville and country music clients with his agency "Entertainment Artists", and booked shows, did promotions, etc working also with Joe Thomas' company River North Records which was in Chicago and Nashville in the 90's. River North was the label for Stars & Stripes. Dan also worked with Hank Jr.

So Haddad who had promoted shows for Hank Jr and the Beach Boys said to Joe Thomas how it would be a good idea if Hank Jr recorded a cover of "Help Me Rhonda". Joe agreed. That explains that credit on the album liners.

Joe Thomas got in touch with Mike Love, according to the liners it involved Dan Wojcik in the process. There is that explanation of that credit in the liners. Wojcik seems to have been the go-between or the facilitator to get Joe in touch with Mike. I'm sure it wasn't that simple, but still...there were the connections that explain the album credits with these names.

Joe mentioned the idea to Mike, and Mike and Joe started planning things out and running ideas for it to happen. So there is Mike's role from the start - he was the point of contact at this time, it's who Joe went to in order to discuss the project and make plans.

In planning the project, again it was originally the thought to have Hank Jr cut a version of Help Me Rhonda, Willie Nelson's name came up. Mike's offer was if they get Willie Nelson, they'll get Brian Wilson too, in return. So Mike got Joe in contact with Brian, and Brian says I'll do it if you get Willie to sing "Warmth Of The Sun".

The band traveled to Texas and cut Warmth Of The Sun at Willie's studio, with Brian's participation and obvious support (it was his 'demand' if you will to have Willie cut that song out of all the choices), and thus began the project. Willie was the first to record with them, and having him involved gave the project some clout in Nashville - If Willie did it, it's legit, all of that political Nashville music biz stuff that goes on. Willie was happy, the band was happy, it rolled on.

Then the guests and song choices started coming in, to the point where eventually they had enough to have two Stars & Stripes albums.

James House was given the lead single, he was the singer i mentioned earlier was on Letterman with the surviving Beach Boys doing backup for him. "Little Deuce Coupe". There were plans to have House be the opening act for Beach Boys live shows as well. There was a TV special too (which I also recorded in the day), and I know Kathy Troccoli was on the Regis and Kathie Lee show with the Beach Boys (minus Brian) to perform and promote "I Can Hear Music".

So that's about it. An idea from a promoter to have Hank Jr cover a BB's song put Joe Thomas in touch with Mike Love, who together outlined plans for the project and got the ball rolling. Brian got involved after Willie Nelson agreed to do Warmth Of The Sun. Everything (and everyone) involved after that initial session at Willie's studio in Texas you'll have to fill in the rest.  Smiley



I would like to know what happened to Hank Jr covering HMR, and who else was on the docket besides Tammy Wynette with In My Room and Rodney Crowell with Sail on Sailor.



Reports mentioned the possibility of having Hank Jr, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard (I believe the solo "California Saga" Al recorded - used in Endless Harmony - was a demo for Haggard; it does indeed sound a lot like his singing style). Ronnie Milsap was supposed to do "Surfer girl" and Steve Earle to do "Shut down", I heard.

Having a realistic "What could've been" of this album is actually one of my favorite phantasies of 90s Beach Boys. Here's a couple of ideas:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,12521.msg635016/topicseen.html#msg635016


Just imagine what George Jones would sound like on "God only knows". He and Tammy Wynette just did a new album together at that time so maybe they could've done a duet on "Let's put our hearts together"... So much potential for an interesting and great release. But as it's the Beach Boys, so it became what we have today.

You mentioning Steve Earle reminds me of going to Borders Books and Music before this album came out.  They had a terminal where you could look up albums.  I remember seeing the Steve Earle and Merle Haggard entries in there.  Then when it came out it was different.  I also remember looking up the IJWMFTT soundtrack before it came out, it had Finders Keepers listed.  They must have taken a list of songs that were in the movie, but didn't know what would be on the soundtrack.
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« Reply #26 on: August 28, 2020, 09:42:32 AM »

The story of how this album came together is far more interesting than the album itself.

It's awful, awful music performed mostly by people who didn't care about it.

I can't think of something more bland in the history of recorded music than "I Get Around" by Sawyer Brown. Although another half dozen or more songs on the album give it a good run.

The only good thing that came of it was that it tanked. That was a good thing. Imagine if it had somehow had fluke success. We'd have had more of that "formula."

Although, by 1998 studio projects under the BB name were basically a non-starter either way I suppose.
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« Reply #27 on: August 28, 2020, 10:23:23 AM »

The story of how this album came together is far more interesting than the album itself.

It's awful, awful music performed mostly by people who didn't care about it.

I can't think of something more bland in the history of recorded music than "I Get Around" by Sawyer Brown. Although another half dozen or more songs on the album give it a good run.

The only good thing that came of it was that it tanked. That was a good thing. Imagine if it had somehow had fluke success. We'd have had more of that "formula."

Although, by 1998 studio projects under the BB name were basically a non-starter either way I suppose.

How about Fun, Fun, Fun by Ricky Van Shelton.

There are a handful of tracks that I like on the record:

409 - Junior Brown - I have seen him on concert, he is an awesome guitar player
The Warmth of the Sun
Help Me Rhonda
Caroline No

I also liked In My Room by Wynette and Sail On Sailer by Rodney Crowell as outtakes.
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« Reply #28 on: August 28, 2020, 11:08:30 AM »

I think TWOTS and I can Hear Music were pretty good, I think Caroline No with the added ending coda was really good...bt hat was about it.
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« Reply #29 on: August 28, 2020, 11:33:03 AM »

I wouldn't call it "awful music". It's bland, typical Nashville production sound. But it's not awful.

One of the problems imo is the involvement of the Beach Boys themselves and Brian being the producer. He wrote those songs and arranged them the wa he wanted them bak in the day. So of course that's how he re-recorded them. Brian is no Country producer. To make such a project work though, the songs need to be taken into a different direction and interpreted by actually Country artists. Willie Nelson can make anything sound like a Willie Nelson song, so that worked out well. Same goes for Tammy Wynette. These two are giants and completely in that league the project should have focused on. But a lot of the other singers grew up with the Beach Boys and probably would never dare to change the songs, especially with Brian Wilson is producing.


BTW, was "Sail on sailor" only done at the rehearsal or is there a studio recording of it as well? And will we ever get Tammy Wynette's "In my room" with the Beach Boys' full backing vocals? A version with just Brian's vocals was of course released after Tammy died.
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« Reply #30 on: August 28, 2020, 12:12:54 PM »

Mike says in his book that in Nashville Carl "didn't even want to be filmed doing studio sessions", but was happy to do  "extended interviews for a video".
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« Reply #31 on: August 28, 2020, 01:02:16 PM »

The story of how this album came together is far more interesting than the album itself.

It's awful, awful music performed mostly by people who didn't care about it.

I can't think of something more bland in the history of recorded music than "I Get Around" by Sawyer Brown. Although another half dozen or more songs on the album give it a good run.

The only good thing that came of it was that it tanked. That was a good thing. Imagine if it had somehow had fluke success. We'd have had more of that "formula."

Although, by 1998 studio projects under the BB name were basically a non-starter either way I suppose.

How about Fun, Fun, Fun by Ricky Van Shelton.

There are a handful of tracks that I like on the record:

409 - Junior Brown - I have seen him on concert, he is an awesome guitar player
The Warmth of the Sun
Help Me Rhonda
Caroline No

I also liked In My Room by Wynette and Sail On Sailer by Rodney Crowell as outtakes.


The album is awful, but it covers (mostly) amazing songs, so there's usually *something* to pick out if one looks hard enough.

Junior Brown is a great guitar player (and versatile; I recall seeing him covering a Hendrix song), but the stuff with him and the BBs turns into a goof novelty. I guess it's one of the more palatable moments.

I know it's kind of accepted that we're all supposed to like the Willie Nelson track at least, and I can't deny the whole project was almost worth it just to see footage of Mike trying to correct Nelson and then Nelson ignoring him. But honestly, it's not like I even go back to *that* track. Props to Nelson, I guess, for just doing the thing the way he wanted.

I don't revisit this album at all. The documentary is more worth a watch as some of the last footage of the guys together. But the whole time you want to throw a brick at the screen because you're watching them work on an awful album.

Even in the best case scenario where "duet" type albums give an artist a shot in the arm (think that Santana "Supernatural" album), it's still usually a gimmick that takes away from whatever you liked about the main artist. When these albums are successful and well-made, they serve a purpose keeping the music in front of a larger, often younger demographic I suppose.

"Stars and Stripes" was none of those things. It was was shoddily-conceived, with a bunch of artists that were beneath the Beach Boys, even the mid-90s past-their-prime Mike Love-led Beach Boys. The project was not bringing in a desirable demographic, and of course failed anyway and served no purpose.
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« Reply #32 on: August 28, 2020, 01:14:49 PM »

I wouldn't call it "awful music". It's bland, typical Nashville production sound. But it's not awful.

One of the problems imo is the involvement of the Beach Boys themselves and Brian being the producer. He wrote those songs and arranged them the wa he wanted them bak in the day. So of course that's how he re-recorded them. Brian is no Country producer. To make such a project work though, the songs need to be taken into a different direction and interpreted by actually Country artists. Willie Nelson can make anything sound like a Willie Nelson song, so that worked out well. Same goes for Tammy Wynette. These two are giants and completely in that league the project should have focused on. But a lot of the other singers grew up with the Beach Boys and probably would never dare to change the songs, especially with Brian Wilson is producing.


BTW, was "Sail on sailor" only done at the rehearsal or is there a studio recording of it as well? And will we ever get Tammy Wynette's "In my room" with the Beach Boys' full backing vocals? A version with just Brian's vocals was of course released after Tammy died.

Nobody in 1996 wanted an album of mostly b-list country singers covering Beach Boys songs. Mainstream country-pop music even in the 1990s was already pretty homogenized and bland; I don't think Joe Thomas or Brian Wilson made it any worse. "Stars and Stripes" didn't fail among country fans because it didn't sound "country enough." I think Thomas molded that sound to sound more than sufficiently 90s contemporary country.

I think BB fans didn't need country covers, and country fans didn't need Beach Boys covers.

Willie Nelson nor Tammy Wynette was going to save this project. The only rising tide in fandom/music circles at that time was the nerd/indie/hipster crowd getting more into Pet Sounds and Smile and all of that. Contemporary bands of that era covering *that* material would have seen more attention.

"Stars and Stripes" was another one of the band's awful, over-calculated, day-late-and-a-dollar-short ideas like the disco "Here Comes the Night."

The band was extra rudderless by 1995/96. They were going through the motions doing bland live shows, doing gigs like the "Home Improvement" TV show. They bounced on doing the Paley stuff even though they could have overdubbed the Paley tracks into a "Beach Boys" album in a matter of days. Then on the eve of a huge boxed set celebrating "Pet Sounds", what does the band give us? Sawyer Brown and Toby Keith.

It's ridiculous that some of Carl Wilson's last TV appearances were singing backing vocals on sh*tty country covers and that equally sh*tty Status Quo cover.

The best thing that happened after that is how quickly the album died a deserved death and was forgotten. 

The only thing worth salvaging from this project is those backing vocals on "Caroline No" that they arranged and recorded.
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« Reply #33 on: August 28, 2020, 02:28:19 PM »

I'm pretty sure the only reason this album exists is because they saw what happened when a slew of country artists covered an album's worth of Eagles songs on Common Thread a couple of years before...it was a HUGE success, reigniting interest in that band and leading to a full reunion/revival/resurgence. They/Thomas figured the same formula would work for them, only it would be better, since the Boys themselves would be backing all the country folk. So they brought in a couple of legacy artists (Willie, Tammy - even though she didn't make it to Volume 1, maybe they were holding her back for Volume 2), and several of the contemporary crowd, and expected a multi-platinum result. Er, no......
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« Reply #34 on: August 28, 2020, 02:53:41 PM »

I think the most frustrating thing about Stars and Stripes is that, in theory, a Beach Boys country album isn't a totally absurd idea. They delved into the genre a fair number of times and it almost always turned out enjoyable, whether it was "Hold On Dear Brother", "Cottonfields" or the "California Saga" suite. Even the more pop or rock-based songs that had a little country-flavouring were solid (the second version of "We're Together Again", "You Need A Mess of Help to Stand Alone"). But those aren't exactly popular Beach Boys songs to the public, so we just ended up with a another greatest hits-like tracklist, and songs that either didn't work very well in their new countrified arrangements or relied almost solely on the guest vocalist to make it fit the concept. "Long Tall Texan" was the only song whose inclusion seemed to make sense.
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« Reply #35 on: August 28, 2020, 03:05:28 PM »

I'm pretty sure the only reason this album exists is because they saw what happened when a slew of country artists covered an album's worth of Eagles songs on Common Thread a couple of years before...it was a HUGE success, reigniting interest in that band and leading to a full reunion/revival/resurgence. They/Thomas figured the same formula would work for them, only it would be better, since the Boys themselves would be backing all the country folk. So they brought in a couple of legacy artists (Willie, Tammy - even though she didn't make it to Volume 1, maybe they were holding her back for Volume 2), and several of the contemporary crowd, and expected a multi-platinum result. Er, no......

And they couldn’t really get a lot of the huge contemporary stars. No Garth or Vince or Reba or Shania. Most of the contemporary folks were either on their way up (Toby Keith was still several years away from superstardom) or on their way down.
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« Reply #36 on: August 28, 2020, 06:30:19 PM »

One of the biggest misfires of their career. They put it together at a time when many of the cool younger indie artists had just (re-)discovered the Beach Boys, with bands like the High Llamas or Saint Etienne being huge fans. The Beach Boys, however, did not care. Instead they released this album made for an older conservative audience that wasn't interested in this project at all.
They should have courted the youngsters and done an album with alternative bands. Can you imagine Foo Fighters covering "409"? Pearl Jam doing "God Only Knows"? If they'd thought of it a couple years earlier, they could have had Nirvana covering "In My Room".
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« Reply #37 on: August 28, 2020, 09:00:55 PM »

One of the biggest misfires of their career. They put it together at a time when many of the cool younger indie artists had just (re-)discovered the Beach Boys, with bands like the High Llamas or Saint Etienne being huge fans. The Beach Boys, however, did not care. Instead they released this album made for an older conservative audience that wasn't interested in this project at all.
If they'd thought of it a couple years earlier, they could have had Nirvana covering "In My Room".
Thank God that never happened.
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« Reply #38 on: August 29, 2020, 02:02:55 AM »

They could’ve done a killer version of Girl Don’t Tell Me. Already can hear it in my head too
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« Reply #39 on: August 29, 2020, 02:56:35 AM »

I wouldn't call it "awful music". It's bland, typical Nashville production sound. But it's not awful.

One of the problems imo is the involvement of the Beach Boys themselves and Brian being the producer. He wrote those songs and arranged them the wa he wanted them bak in the day. So of course that's how he re-recorded them. Brian is no Country producer. To make such a project work though, the songs need to be taken into a different direction and interpreted by actually Country artists. Willie Nelson can make anything sound like a Willie Nelson song, so that worked out well. Same goes for Tammy Wynette. These two are giants and completely in that league the project should have focused on. But a lot of the other singers grew up with the Beach Boys and probably would never dare to change the songs, especially with Brian Wilson is producing.


BTW, was "Sail on sailor" only done at the rehearsal or is there a studio recording of it as well? And will we ever get Tammy Wynette's "In my room" with the Beach Boys' full backing vocals? A version with just Brian's vocals was of course released after Tammy died.

Nobody in 1996 wanted an album of mostly b-list country singers covering Beach Boys songs. Mainstream country-pop music even in the 1990s was already pretty homogenized and bland; I don't think Joe Thomas or Brian Wilson made it any worse. "Stars and Stripes" didn't fail among country fans because it didn't sound "country enough." I think Thomas molded that sound to sound more than sufficiently 90s contemporary country.

I think BB fans didn't need country covers, and country fans didn't need Beach Boys covers.

Willie Nelson nor Tammy Wynette was going to save this project. The only rising tide in fandom/music circles at that time was the nerd/indie/hipster crowd getting more into Pet Sounds and Smile and all of that. Contemporary bands of that era covering *that* material would have seen more attention.

"Stars and Stripes" was another one of the band's awful, over-calculated, day-late-and-a-dollar-short ideas like the disco "Here Comes the Night."





I don't necessarily disagree with you as I've made clear by going on everyone's nerves over the years each time the topic of Stars&Stripes came up. I just wouldn't call it awful. Bland? Yes. Tasteless? Yes. But for what it is, it is done well. Problem is that it is a terribly executed project. But the musicians are top, the Beach Boys' vocals beautiful.
I can't call this album Country, though. But then I hardly anything since the 80s counts as Country imo. Just because something is recorded in Nashville doesn't mean it's Country Music. Unfortunately Nashville doesn't understand that. Tom Petty once said about all these "modern" Country acts that they are basically "bad Rock bands with fiddles". That kinda sums it up.

But even this way, the tracks with Willie and Tammy show that there was more potential, even if you don't go the route I am fantasizing about.
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« Reply #40 on: August 29, 2020, 09:40:49 AM »

I wouldn't call it "awful music". It's bland, typical Nashville production sound. But it's not awful.

One of the problems imo is the involvement of the Beach Boys themselves and Brian being the producer. He wrote those songs and arranged them the wa he wanted them bak in the day. So of course that's how he re-recorded them. Brian is no Country producer. To make such a project work though, the songs need to be taken into a different direction and interpreted by actually Country artists. Willie Nelson can make anything sound like a Willie Nelson song, so that worked out well. Same goes for Tammy Wynette. These two are giants and completely in that league the project should have focused on. But a lot of the other singers grew up with the Beach Boys and probably would never dare to change the songs, especially with Brian Wilson is producing.


BTW, was "Sail on sailor" only done at the rehearsal or is there a studio recording of it as well? And will we ever get Tammy Wynette's "In my room" with the Beach Boys' full backing vocals? A version with just Brian's vocals was of course released after Tammy died.

Nobody in 1996 wanted an album of mostly b-list country singers covering Beach Boys songs. Mainstream country-pop music even in the 1990s was already pretty homogenized and bland; I don't think Joe Thomas or Brian Wilson made it any worse. "Stars and Stripes" didn't fail among country fans because it didn't sound "country enough." I think Thomas molded that sound to sound more than sufficiently 90s contemporary country.

I think BB fans didn't need country covers, and country fans didn't need Beach Boys covers.

Willie Nelson nor Tammy Wynette was going to save this project. The only rising tide in fandom/music circles at that time was the nerd/indie/hipster crowd getting more into Pet Sounds and Smile and all of that. Contemporary bands of that era covering *that* material would have seen more attention.

"Stars and Stripes" was another one of the band's awful, over-calculated, day-late-and-a-dollar-short ideas like the disco "Here Comes the Night."





I don't necessarily disagree with you as I've made clear by going on everyone's nerves over the years each time the topic of Stars&Stripes came up. I just wouldn't call it awful. Bland? Yes. Tasteless? Yes. But for what it is, it is done well. Problem is that it is a terribly executed project. But the musicians are top, the Beach Boys' vocals beautiful.
I can't call this album Country, though. But then I hardly anything since the 80s counts as Country imo. Just because something is recorded in Nashville doesn't mean it's Country Music. Unfortunately Nashville doesn't understand that. Tom Petty once said about all these "modern" Country acts that they are basically "bad Rock bands with fiddles". That kinda sums it up.

But even this way, the tracks with Willie and Tammy show that there was more potential, even if you don't go the route I am fantasizing about.

I know I've said it before, but Junior Brown was the real deal as far as traditional, sh*t-kicking country music. He came to Boston in 1995, at a club that had another room where Richie Havens was playing the same night. I got there early, drained a few at the bar, and made sure to get a spot literally right at Junior's microphone, feet away from him...so I could watch his guitar playing up-close and see how he was doing those banjo licks among other techniques. *Fantastic* show - Junior on his Guit-Steel hybrid, his wife Tanya on acoustic rhythm guitar, upright bass, and a drummer who only had a snare drum. It was as close to the kind of classic country - rockabilly hybrid from 1961 or so that you could find. And Junior would throw in everything from Hendrix licks, to Speedy West steel quirks, to Hank Garland jazzy bluegrass runs, to Albert Lee banjo rolls (and Scruggs style on the 6-string guitar) and he even covered Hendrix. The show was loud as f***, even with such a stripped down setup. If I remember Junior had either one or two Fender Twins cranked up. My ears were ringing the whole next day.

I looked around the room and I recognized what was probably most of the Boston guitar community there to see him play, definitely most of the people who worked at the area's various vintage guitar shops seemed to be there anyway lol. I think most guitarists in the country at that time wanted to see what this guy with the custom guitar was doing, and he delivered in Boston that night. As he also did on Conan O'Brien's NBC show, which is where I think a lot of non-country folks first heard him play and sing.

So yes, definitely, Junior Brown was the real deal, and he had a classic country voice as well. Just check out his album "Guit With It", one of my favorites.

As far as 409, I guess it was a good choice for him in terms of his style, but it is kind of a lesser song...not that it's lesser as in not a great classic BB's song, but for f***'s sake Junior could play guitar like nobody's business and the track didn't allow him room to do what he does the best. So the cover was good but if they let him cut loose on guitar it could have been great.

Anyone unfamiliar, check out Junior's "Guit With It" and any number of videos on YouTube, especially if you like classic 50's-60's country and honky-tonk and rip-roarin' country guitar picking.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2020, 09:42:25 AM by guitarfool2002 » Logged

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« Reply #41 on: August 29, 2020, 09:53:33 AM »

Oh, and just an addendum...In 1995-96-97 Junior Brown's star was rising, especially in country circles and he started to show up outside traditional country outlets too. He was on the usual TNN programs, I think they even had a featured concert with him at this time. David Letterman seemed to be a fan of his too, because Junior sat in with Paul and the band multiple times. Conan had him on promoting "Guit With It" twice.

And if you find a clip of STP playing "Sour Girl" on Letterman, with Weiland wearing a cowboy hat, they had Junior guesting with them that night playing his Guit-Steel guitar on the song. Awesome song, btw
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« Reply #42 on: August 29, 2020, 11:22:20 AM »

I agree -- Junior Brown is the real deal and he puts on a great show. I've seen him twice, both times at an intimate venue in Athens, GA.

I will play devil's advocate for a moment here. My intro to Junior Brown was through the Stars and Stripes album. My hubby found out about him around the same time, via channel surfing. So Guit With It found its way to our home pretty quickly. When we drove to California and back a few years ago, my hubby brought the CD along so we could hear "You're Wanted by the Police (and My Wife Thinks You're Dead)" while hauling across Texas.
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« Reply #43 on: August 29, 2020, 06:23:58 PM »

Junior Brown was great. I had a friend who kept sending me tapes of his stuff - radio concerts, etc - so i started looking out for him on tv and stuff. Wish the Beach Boys had gone after more cutting edge country artists like him, as well as more of the legends. I would think it's a no-brainer to have Glen Campbell sing on your country album - the man WAS A BEACH BOY! He played on their records!
I seriously doubt the Beach Boys saw themselves as having anything in common with bands in the alternative scene, although many of them pledged allegiance to the genius named Brian Wilson. I can just imagine Mike or Al being given some grunge band cd and trying to here some "Little Honda" or "409" influence in there.
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« Reply #44 on: August 29, 2020, 07:09:54 PM »

Favorite track was not included -- Tammy Wynette's "In My Room."  The video of Brian listening is heart rending.
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« Reply #45 on: August 29, 2020, 09:31:03 PM »

Junior Brown was great. I had a friend who kept sending me tapes of his stuff - radio concerts, etc - so i started looking out for him on tv and stuff. Wish the Beach Boys had gone after more cutting edge country artists like him, as well as more of the legends. I would think it's a no-brainer to have Glen Campbell sing on your country album - the man WAS A BEACH BOY! He played on their records!
I seriously doubt the Beach Boys saw themselves as having anything in common with bands in the alternative scene, although many of them pledged allegiance to the genius named Brian Wilson. I can just imagine Mike or Al being given some grunge band cd and trying to here some "Little Honda" or "409" influence in there.

But it wasn’t the grunge guys who were talking up Brian. It was, for want of a better description, the power pop guys like Matthew Sweet and Jellyfish. And indie orchestral pop guys like Sean O’Hagan.
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« Reply #46 on: August 30, 2020, 02:22:26 AM »

Yes, Junior Brown is impressive. From the little I know of him, he surely can play that thang! I heard a surf-medley by him and it's great. Not too crazy about his singing, though. Dave Dudley did a better job with that sound imo.
I also like his "409" very much. From the comments it seems that his playing was a highlight for the Boys. I wished we could see what Brian thought about him the first time he heard him play. This kind of guitar is not something that Brian used very often so I imagine he was thrilled by the sounds coming out of it.
I also don't necessarily think that the song was a bad choice for him. But as guitarfool said, it probably could've needed some more space for him to cut lose. On the other hand, I don't know if any other Beach Boys song would've been better suited. As it is, though, it is the only track on the album that comes close to some real raw Rock'n'Roll (putting aside that it is supposed to be a Country album  Cheesy ).




Junior Brown was great. I had a friend who kept sending me tapes of his stuff - radio concerts, etc - so i started looking out for him on tv and stuff. Wish the Beach Boys had gone after more cutting edge country artists like him, as well as more of the legends. I would think it's a no-brainer to have Glen Campbell sing on your country album - the man WAS A BEACH BOY! He played on their records!
I seriously doubt the Beach Boys saw themselves as having anything in common with bands in the alternative scene, although many of them pledged allegiance to the genius named Brian Wilson. I can just imagine Mike or Al being given some grunge band cd and trying to here some "Little Honda" or "409" influence in there.

But it wasn’t the grunge guys who were talking up Brian. It was, for want of a better description, the power pop guys like Matthew Sweet and Jellyfish. And indie orchestral pop guys like Sean O’Hagan.


And as far as I recall, Brian wasn't interested in working with O'Hagan.






BTW, on another note, have you heard Billy Hinsche tell the story of the Beach Boys using Willie Nelson's plane in the 80s? It was in one of the earlier episodes of his recent facebook videos. As I recall the BBs used a plane in bad shape that nearly crashed. So they needed another way to get to a show. Coincidentally Willie was at the airport flying in with his plane and they asked if they could use it. He said "Sure". Didn't want nothing in return, only a promise that they played at one of his Farm Aid shows. Great guy.

But I gotta ask again: Do you think it's likely we'll ever get Tammy Wynette's "In my room" with the Beach Boys' vocals as it appears in "Nshville Sounds"? We only have an official release of the Tammy & Brian mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6B0hGjSgzA

I love the way Carl's voice and the steel guitar blend into one another during the "lie awake and pray-hay" part:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGntEUmk3dE



And yet another thing, since we are at a topic regarding the Beach Boys and Country music. I don't know when I would be able to post this, so forgive me if it seems kinda random.
Al and Matt recorded a cover version of Garth Brooks' "Papa loved Mama" for a tribute. And it actually is a great recording. Sounds very authentic as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twAqwWh_CdQ

Now, if Stars&Stripes would sound like this, I'd probably be ok with it. Even though I don't care very much about artists like Brooks and such.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2020, 02:29:30 AM by Rocker » Logged

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To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

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« Reply #47 on: August 31, 2020, 01:15:38 PM »


Only really listen to "409" and "Long Tall Texan"...


I love Dwight, but not sure about this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md09xy8ffX8

(Not on Stars & Stripes)
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« Reply #48 on: August 31, 2020, 05:09:57 PM »


Only really listen to "409" and "Long Tall Texan"...


I love Dwight, but not sure about this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md09xy8ffX8

(Not on Stars & Stripes)

Ok, I'm not  a country fan by any means but I think that sounds pretty good as covers go, and certainly better than anything on S&S
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« Reply #49 on: September 01, 2020, 02:18:15 AM »

"Sloop John B." on Stars & Stripes is just one of the few times, as I remember, that you can actually hear a steel guitar prominently on the album.

It's strange that they didn't have Yoakam on the album. It seems like in the 90s he was on every tribute-album I saw. I remember him doing a very cool "Mystery train" on an Elvis tribute in '94.


I wonder, are there actually some interesting or worthwhile Beach Boys covers by Country artists?



BTW I just saw that there was a music video made for James House's "Little Deuce Coupe", part of the scenes were on the Nashville Sounds doc. And it is as cringeworthy as you would expect. Almost like a bad parody. Think "Hot fun in the summertime" without Stamos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbpPH416Bg





If we'll talk more about the album and all that stuff, I thought I'd compile a couple of links to music videos, performances etc. that have to do with the project. See this as a bonus section to the Nashville Sounds DVD.
Unfortunately I couldn't find Al's accoustic "California Saga" on youtube, which was allegedly a demo for Merle Haggard.



James House & The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe (music video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbpPH416Bg



The Beach Boys & James House - Little Deuce Coupe (live performance on Prime Time Country)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0vg3p4U3jE



The Beach Boys & James House - Little Deuce Coupe (live on Letterman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe577Ff6Lqc



The Beach Boys & Sawyer Brown - I Get Around (live performance)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GefVO9vN1oY



The Beach Boys & Toby Keith - Be True to Your School (live on Prime Time Country)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUpNlXW-TQs



The Beach Boys with Kathy Troccoli (live on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n79x5h-bWQ



The Beach Boys with Shelby Lynn, James House, Willie Nelson and Neil Young (Farm Aid 1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E-rArXfC68



The Beach Boys - California Girls (live on Prime Time Country)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V791W96hMD8



The Beach Boys - Barbara Ann (live on Prime Time Country)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0CW7fosjy4



Tammy Wynette & Brian Wilson - In My Room (from Tammy Wynette tribute album "Remembered")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6B0hGjSgzA



Bonus tracks:

Al Jardine - California Saga (allegedly a demo for Merle Haggard)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGsqofHGla0



The Beach Boys & Collin Raye - Winter Wonderland (1996 ?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa3NmE_XZgQ



Brian Wilson & Willie Nelson - The Warmth of the Sun (Live at Farm Aid 1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XJZ5_sun-s



Al & Matt Jardine - Papa loved Mama (from Garth Brooks tribute album "New friend in low places" - from ca. 1999)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twAqwWh_CdQ


Al Jardine & Timothy B Schmidt - On the Kingston Trio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1517Ggi3nY



Hope I didn't forget anything.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 11:48:36 AM by Rocker » Logged

a diseased bunch of mo'fos if there ever was one… their beauty is so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons.

- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys


PRO SHOT BEACH BOYS CONCERTS - LIST


To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public.

- Jack Rieley
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