I didn’t want to piss on his Picasso...Taylor Hawkins

[Pretty Funky]

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Foo Fighters Drummer Talks About 'Beach Boys' Collaboration


by James Dannatt
20 June 2008
Photo by: Carsten Windhorst
 Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has revealed his affiliation with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson after he collaborated on the reworking of Wilson’s 'Holy Man' – taken from the reissue of the classic Pacific Ocean Blue.

Hawkins sings lead vocals to new lyrics written by Wilson’s songwriter partner Gregg Jakobson on the song that had previously been left as an instrumental.

A huge fan of the Beach Boys star, Hawkins revealed to The Sun that he shares a special bond with Wilson.

“He’s a drummer. He grew up on the beach and Gregg always said that we had somewhat similar voices, kinda rough, not exactly Pavarotti, a bit scratchy," he said.

Hawkins also admitted he had initial doubts over the recording. “I was a little nervous. I was like ‘Who the f*** am I to do it?’ This stuff is pretty sacred. I didn’t want to piss on his Picasso.”

Wilson, a drummer like Hawkins, died in 1983 of an alcoholic drowning incident and has been regarded as an under appreciated member of the influential band.

Hawkins expressed his thoughts on the life of Wilson: “I think he was terribly insecure ’cos he had these two brothers. One of ’em, Carl, had the voice of an angel and the other, Brian, is a mad genius. But Dennis was the only one who surfed - he was the real Beach Boy.”

The Foo Fighters drummer’s bandmate Dave Grohl has given Hawkins his seal of approval on the track.

Hawkins explained: “He loved it, thought it was totally beautiful, but I don’t think he’s ever heard Pacific Ocean Blue. It’s hard to sit him down to actually listen to something.

"He’s as busy as f***, always got something going on with his family and all that stuff.”

Foo Fighters are currently on a world tour and you can see pictures of their historic Wembley Stadium headline performance with Led Zeppelin see below...

[shelter]

I think it's cool he did it. His voice and he way he performs do kind of remind me of Dennis Wilson. Plus all the Foo Fighters members had been in underground bands for ages before they became rock stars, they're sincere musicians.

[Pretty Funky]

And this from Hal Blaine.


nostalgic drift to Pacific Ocean Blue
Beach Boys: Praise for Dennis Wilson and a '77 album
Tom Harrison, Staff Reporter
Published: Sunday, June 22, 2008
This morning, Hal Blaine's thoughts aren't on Pacific Ocean Blue.

They're on The Wrecking Crew, an independently made film by the son of the late guitarist Tommy Tedesco and named after The Wrecking Crew, an assembly of Los Angeles session musicians to which Blaine was central.

Tedesco also was part of the Wrecking Crew along with Joe Osborne, Leon Russell and Glenn Campbell and others who played on countless hits notched by Phil Spector, the Mamas and Papas, Johnny Rivers, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra and the Beach Boys. Seeing the film in Hollywood the night before has left Blaine nostalgic for when the record labels were giants, session work was plentiful, the mood was inducive to creativity and age hadn't taken its toll on the Wrecking Crew.

The '60s and '70s were an amazing time," he notes with a detectable trace of sadness. "The labels were gigantic; now, they're all closing down."

Blaine is credited with playing drums on 5,061 songs. When Dennis Wilson asked him in 1977 to play on what became Pacific Ocean Blue, the first solo album by a Beach Boy must have been just another session to him. After all, Blaine had drummed on many Beach Boys songs before and so being asked to drum on Dennis's album wasn't unusual. Although Wilson was the Beach Boys' nominal drummer, and played drums in their live appearances, Blaine had more finesse and worked faster in the studio.

"Dennis was rarely around when we were making Beach Boys records," Blaine remembers. "He was the only surfer in The Beach Boys . He loved the ocean, he loved his motorcycles, he loved racing. So, he loved having me drum."

Pacific Ocean Blue has grown to be such a legend that Sony/BMG reissued the record this week with additional tracks amounting to a second disc that includes what would have been Wilson's next solo album, Bambu. A powerful track such as "River Song" or the emotional vulnerability Wilson displays wasn't expected of someone who always was in the shadow of older brother Brian, The Beach Boys' writer and producer. Yet Dennis had been emerging as an affecting writer and his album was proof.

"It was different," Blaine recalls the sessions. "This one was much more sophisticated. Dennis was very sophisticated unknown to many people. To them, he was the ultimate Beach Boy. But he was a pianist as well and he had a feeling."

Although the rawness of Pacific Ocean Blue was a surprise, it wasn't to Blaine.

"I had known Dennis for a lot of years before we did Pacific Ocean Blue," the drummer says. "We had our boats side by side at Marina del Rey. So, I was very comfortable doing the sessions."

Before he died, age 39, in 1983, Dennis Wilson was alcoholic, drug-addicted, and forever tainted by a brief association with Charles Manson. Pacific Ocean Blue is the legacy that suggests there was a soul much more complex than the bare facts might indicate.

"He was a very nice man," Blaine volunteers. "A lot of people don't know how generous he could be."

tharrison@png.canwest.com




© The Vancouver Province 2008