Summer In Paradise - airbrushed from history?

[elnombre]

Well, we all know Summer In Paradise was left to go out of print, and none of its tracks are ever included on even the most extensive compilations and best-ofs...But I was surprised to find no mention of it on the band's official website timeline! (The timeline just skips from the release of 'Still Cruisin'' in 1989 to the Good Vibrations boxset in 1993.)

So my question to you more knowledgeable fans is whether Mike has commented on the album in recent years? Does he view it as the embarrassment it categorically was, or does he still defend it? I'd also be interested in reading anything Brian may have said about it.

From what I can see, everyone seems to be pretending it never happened.

[Rocker]

Last time I looked, they didn't even mention Carl's death. Maybe it's just inaccuracy (if that is spelled like this)

[phirnis]

You know, Summer in Paradise was just not a good album from a commercial point of view.

[Jon Stebbins]

Well, we all know Summer In Paradise was left to go out of print, and none of its tracks are ever included on even the most extensive compilations and best-ofs...But I was surprised to find no mention of it on the band's official website timeline! (The timeline just skips from the release of 'Still Cruisin'' in 1989 to the Good Vibrations boxset in 1993.)

So my question to you more knowledgeable fans is whether Mike has commented on the album in recent years? Does he view it as the embarrassment it categorically was, or does he still defend it? I'd also be interested in reading anything Brian may have said about it.

From what I can see, everyone seems to be pretending it never happened.

What never happened?

[Emdeeh]

The "official" website is Capitol's website for the BBs. SIP wasn't a Capitol product, iirc. They might be more inclined to list their own product.

[Mr. Wilson]

Well its obvious they believed in lp at the time cause i saw them  play half dozen songs from this + the live versions were BETTER than lp versions.. 1992 Costa Mesa....Summer in Paradise was in the set list till CW died...Do they still play it..??..I can listen to it BUT.. It needs a couple of Al + Carl songs + drop a couple of oldies....Im one that doesnt hate the lp.. Its just average to me...

[southbay]

What did they play besides SIP, Boardwalk, Surfin' and Hot Fun?

[dsl]

I have never heard it (I'm not willing to shell out the money it goes for on EBay...if it went for what Still Crusin' goes for , I'd get it. [I got that for just $3.] but I do think it is a little odd that they don't mention it. That'd be like Dylan not having the lyrics for "Knocket Out Loaded" on his website.

[Alex]

Sweet Insanity was better than SIP, but not my much.

[wiggbuggie]

i thought summer in paradise is a pretty good album i love still surfin the drum beat and it reminds me of their earlier days and i like what bruce did with one summer night/slow summer dancing

[Luke_Barshack]

The 'final' Velvet Underground album 'Squeeze' fronted by Doug Yule has been erased from history pretty effectively.  Until recently the last Clash album 'Cut the Crap' was also effectively forgotten.

I think that if a record becomes out of print, and there's no one with enough passion or even monetary interest to get it out into the public again, then indeed - the album is effectively forgotten.  It's certainly difficult to discover something that isn't being sold anymore, and that didn't create a big impact in its own time.

If it weren’t for the quality of POB, as well as its cult status, would anyone give a damn? 

There's not always a deliberate move to erase records from history - but sometimes I think it's even harder to keep selling some in particular.

[phirnis]

i thought summer in paradise is a pretty good album i love still surfin the drum beat and it reminds me of their earlier days and i like what bruce did with one summer night/slow summer dancing

Still Surfin' is a favorite of mine as well. It's obviously not Heroes And Villains and it may be a pathetic nostalgia fest, but still...
The faux Brian falsetto sounds brilliantly sad!

[Mr. Wilson]

What did they play besides SIP, Boardwalk, Surfin' and Hot Fun?

....Walking in the Sand  was one..Maybe it was 5... But i keep thinkin"" forever "" also but im not positive..john stamos was at that concert..

[brianc]

I liked Carl's vocal on that "Lahaina" song. God, I hate admitting it.

Last time I saw the "Beach Boys" in concert was 1993. I took my dad to a race track first his birthday to see the Beach Boys. They did "Forever," "Hot Fun" and "Summer in Paradise." In fact, I think they may have finished with "SIP."

I'm a fan of "Squeeze." I love Doug Yule's songwriting. There was also an old interview where Doug admitted that some of those tunes he'd been playing and rehearsing with Lou Reed on tour back to 1970. I mean, neither Lou nor Doug are claiming that Lou deserves publishing there, but it clearly came out of the VU mindset, and years spent playing that type of music. Shame no one can look past the obvious set-backs and just see it as good music.

Can't say the same for SIP, in terms of quality, but one Capitol reissue amongst an LP reissue series would be a good idea. I've never been one for denying history. The marketplace dictates, though.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I liked Carl's vocal on that "Lahaina" song. God, I hate admitting it.

You don't have to hate admitting it. All of Carl's vocals on SIP are excellent. Actually, I think it's one of his best Beach Boys' albums vocally.

It's a shame Brian and Carl didn't contribute any songs to the project. That's my biggest disappointment, that two Beach Boys didn't write any songs for a new Beach Boys' album. And that Brian chose to not even show up.

[the captain]

I'm a fan of "Squeeze." I love Doug Yule's songwriting. There was also an old interview where Doug admitted that some of those tunes he'd been playing and rehearsing with Lou Reed on tour back to 1970. I mean, neither Lou nor Doug are claiming that Lou deserves publishing there, but it clearly came out of the VU mindset, and years spent playing that type of music. Shame no one can look past the obvious set-backs and just see it as good music.

I was arguing recently on another board that Squeeze is nowhere near as bad as its reputation. It's not particularly good, either, but it's a nice-at-times rock 'n' roll album. But it's one of those things that people just get caught up in (I'd guess at times without even hearing it, and certainly not hearing it fairly), "oh, yeah, Yule did a post-Reed album and it's an offense to the VU name," blah blah, as if Reed didn't put out a TON of sh*t on his own--some worse than Squeeze, in my opinion. In my opinion, you could play Squeeze for people who had no idea what it was and just say "it's an unknown album from the early 70s ... what do you think?" I'd guess people would be more apt to start giving it 2-3 stars out of 5, whereas if you'd ask people who know the general story the same thing, you'd get 0-1 stars.

As for those late BBs albums, it's the opposite. I think people actually give them extra credit just because they're the BBs and fans desperately want them to be good. But jesus, SIP, 85, etc ... just terrible. Atrocious. Really, really, really bad.

[brianc]

Agreed, Luther. I always get a kick out of reading Beach Boys fanzines, because it doesn't matter what is happening in the real world, or if Nirvana did something earth shattering. To read those things, you'd swear that "Somewhere in Japan" was a lost masterpiece. All in good fun.

"Squeeze" doesn't sound like VU, and good that it doesn't. Band moniker aside, you're right... good early '70s classic rock album, with some flourishes reminiscent of "Loaded"'s more neck-beard moments, sonically.

[Dancing Bear]

Half of Squeeze's songs are kind of good, the rest is forgettable but not offensive. The sameness in Doug's voice and guitar/bass/keyboards playing doesn't help. I wish it was reissued with the same cover, but replacing 'Velvet Underground' for 'Doug Yule'. It's listenable and at times great fun.

[the captain]

Half of Squeeze's songs are kind of good, the rest is forgettable but not offensive. .

That's a good way to put it. And you know, how many bands out there wish they could attain that status? I know that's probably nobody's life goal, but the fact is most bands are nowhere near good enough to have an album of half ok and have unoffensive songs. I know that in wading through material t review, I'm sometimes astonished at how terrible some music is that people really want to have reviewed. Squeeze is nowhere near that bad. It's just also nowhere near as good as the rest of the VU catalogue.

[brianc]

Yeah, it's forgettable, and classic rock is amongst my least favorite genre. I wouldn't even  have given "Squeeze" a chance were it not for the band name. But I've put it on and mellowed out to it more than a few times. It's got about the same listenability, for me, as the Honk soundtrack to "Five Summer Stories," a hippy surfing film from 1971 that the Beach Boys had half the songs in. The soundtrack, however, is all Honk, a totally average classic rock group that, I believe, recorded that and one other album at Brother Studios.

[the captain]

That post made me decide we need a classic rock thread in the General Music Discussion forum. That way, I can commiserate with you in our shared non-love of classic rock.

[brianc]

Hehehehehe.

I've actually become much more tolerant of classic rock as the years have gone by. Being around the music of the Ramones and the Cramps for as long as I have been made me extremely unreceptive to the Jackson Browne's of the world. Yet, as I get older, I find myself perhaps less cynical, and actually like a lot of the lyrics from that period.

It's just, you know, when it comes to live albums, well, give me "Beach Boys in Concert" and the Ramones' "It's Alive" over "Frampton Comes Alive!" any day of the week.

[brianc]

And to the topic of "Summer in Paradise"... well, there's a million things wrong with it... but in it's inane stupidity, and long outdated yacht rock smoothness (the cover painting being the REAL kicker)... at least the album is unpretentious. I mean, part of the allure, for me, of the Beach Boys is their campiness.

I certainly love their experimental stuff, and probably cherish that the most. But the early years are amazing. And the post-"Smile" years hold a special place for a lot of people. After "Love You," it runs the gamut from this faux-spirituality, which I find boring, to a lot of dumbed-down attempts to re-capture the sound of their youth. I know Carl had a spiritual voice, but I can hardly stomach things like "Heaven" or any of those songs he did with Beckley and Lamm. Ugh. But part of the allure of Mike Love is that he's such a bozo rock 'n' roll clown. I can't tell if I like it because he's more unaware of the camp than Joey Ramone, but listening to Mike Love solo is a barrel-full-of-laughs. There's a "Shut Down" sax solo vibe that Mike never lost. I give him credit for keeping it simple. Just wish he might have gotten out of the way a bit more when it came to Brian making music that wasn't as simple.

[MBE]

To read those things, you'd swear that "Somewhere in Japan" was a lost masterpiece.

Actually if there is one released post 1980 song that deserves to be known it's that one.

[the captain]

To read those things, you'd swear that "Somewhere in Japan" was a lost masterpiece.

Actually if there is one released post 1980 song that deserves to be known it's that one.

I think it's absolutely awful.