Is it time to reappraise 15 Big Ones?

[Mr. Cohen]

Recently, there was a short interview with Brian and Al (it's on Youtube somewhere), and Brian said that 15 Big Ones & Love You were both great albums. Famous rock reviewer Robert Christgau had this to say about 15 Big Ones: This is their best album since Sunflower, which is their best of this decade. Brian is aboard, if not in charge. He gave the album a B grade. Let's take a look a closer look at 15 Big Ones.

Side 1:
"Rock & Roll Music" was the Beach Boys biggest hit of the 70s. "It's OK" was another classic addition to the "fun in the sun" portion of the Beach Boys catalog and was a top 40 hit, which I believe made it the Beach Boys second biggest hit of the 70s. Go figure. The classic chord changes of "Had to Phone Ya" support a classic Brian arrangement, although the song is a tad undercooked at only 1:43 in length. "Chapel of Love" features spirited vocals from Brian and the group, and the swelling synth production is complimented by some curious percussive touches (listen closely). "Everyone's in Love with You" is a lush mellow number that is pleasing enough to be acceptable filler. That bit of "Tallahassee Lassie" cut into "Talk To Me" was probably one of the best musical surprises of '76. Oh, and the synths at the beginning of "Talk To Me" are a treat, too. "That Same Song" is a good soul number, although the televised performance of the song done live with a gospel choir shows that it could've been great. "TM Song" closes side 1 with an argument that sounds like it's from the Smile sessions and a song that displays a new arranging style from Brian that would be used to even greater effect on "Just Once in My Life".

Side 2:
"Palisades Park" cooks, as Dennis himself notes during the song's bridge. Variations on the the descending riff played on the organ during the song's outro popped up on at least a few Beach Boys recordings.  The rollicking harmonies on "Susie Cincinnati" make a joy to listen to, and you can tell the boys had fun on this one.  "A Casual Look" has a classic Brian ending that every fan needs to hear. Don't skip it! The Wrecking Crew returns on "Blueberry Hill". The way the song starts, transitioning from horns, to nothing but Mike and an upright bass, and then to a full-on Spector-like production is brilliant. The rest of the song could have used more of those changes in dynamics, but it's still a solid cover.  "Back Home" is the quintessential mid-70s Brian song. Nothing else needs to be said. "In The Still of the Night" feels a bit too minimalistic, but it's saved by Dennis' heartfelt vocal. Fortunately, it's followed by "Just Once in My Life", which is an amazing cover of the Righteous Brothers. The immaculate Wall of Synth production is a proof that Brian was still with the times. It's a shame he abandoned this style so quickly for Love You. Not that I don't love Love You, but I wish we had more of this kind of music to listen to.

All in all, I give the album 8/10. It's time to reevaluate this album.

[oldsurferdude]

JOIML is well worth the price of admission.

[punkinhead]

When did Brian say this about the album?

I remember on a podcast that promoted a recent greatest hits package, but I believe it was the 'sequel' to Sounds of the Summer, that the remaining Beach Boys were interviewed about the songs and Brian was asked about It's OK. I think I remember Brian not wanting to discuss the song as it brought back hard memories and such.
So for him to say that about 15 Big Ones surprised me.
But I could see Brian saying that in an interview in the 80s or 90s.

[Myk Luhv]

Hasn't Brian said that virtually every album he's had a significant hand on was his favourite at one point or another? Nothing much sturdy to go on here, I reckon...

[Mr. Cohen]

No, Brian said that this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX9xM029d4Y

Check it about 1:52. Brian says that 15 Big Ones and Love You are just as good as Pet Sounds.

[Jason]

I love how Brian's shouting during the last interview.

[MBE]

Vocally, production wise, and copositionally this LP set a new low. That doesn't mean it's horrid but I feel it to be worse then anything they had done to this point. Sadly much worse would come and very little that was better. 15 Big Ones does have...three strong singles, a still fairly healthy Dennis and Carl, the group actually working as a unit on most of the songs, and even a touch of great music. 6/10

[The Shift]

No, Brian said that this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX9xM029d4Y

Check it about 1:52. Brian says that 15 Big Ones and Love You are just as good as Pet Sounds.

Who's this Van Dyke Perks the lady mentions?

[The Heartical Don]

I completely agree with the above comment on Just Once In My Life. It represents something that should have been extended into the next couple of years. The Wall Of Synths, with all the minute touches that escape any casual listener, is sheer genius, born out of real pain.

Compared to this, I find CATP and Holland extremely mundane efforts, that could in theory have been done by many other bands (instrumental- and production-wise).

Love You is great. But the Wall has gone. The delicate touches too (save for The Night Was So Young, for instance). LY's pumping synths are funny, sometimes touching, but don't scale the heights that JOIML does.

I have spoken. Anyone who does not agree with me will be shot.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Listening to the isolated tracks, the album sounds better to me now then it did originally. Back Home was the first instance of Brian's "new" voice as it was the first song recorded for the album where Brian is audible. (I say it like that as I don't know when Brian's backup on It's OK was recorded, but it sounds as whiny as it did post-change, like it did on the cover of Help Me Rhonda released in 75). But in any case, Had to Phone Ya and especially Just Once in My Life had excellent backing tracks .

What gets me about 15 BO is what could have been.  It would sound better if it wasn't the first album released after Holland. If they had just finished up songs they already had in the can, the public would've been fooled into thinking Brian's voice wasn't changed. I mean, Good Time was released as is, for goodness sake. As far as the outtakes...Angel Came Home was written and  partially recorded by then. Dennis had some songs, as did Mike.  Brian's stuff could've been entirely from the archives, with the band adding additional muscle, and as mentioned before the public would've bought it as it would seem Brian was all over the place. If they wanted to present Brian as he really was, there would've been better cuts to put in.

Here's my running order (keeping just contemporary Brian pieces) with only stuff in releasable state.Keep the fluff on one side and the serious stuff on the second.

Rock & Roll Music/ It's OK/Had to Phone Ya/Mony Mony/That Same Song/Sea Cruise/Palisades Park/Back Home/River Song/Everyone's in Love with You/Farewell my Friend/Angel Come Home/Shortenin' Bread/Blueberry Hill/Just Once in My Life

I think that would've been much stronger that what was released. I know there was no chance of the Dennis songs being on there, and the album wouldn't flow...but it didn't anyway.

Wee Helper

[Austin]

Eh.

I mean, I do think It's OK is great. Ditto JOIML. And Back Home is fun. Really, the only song I can't listen to is TM Song.

I remember a while back reading a thread pitting It's OK vs. Do It Again. Someone put it nicely: It's OK is a classic 70's Beach Boys song, but Do It Again is a classic, period. That's kind of how I judge 15BO: it's fine for a 70's Beach Boys album. Judged in a broader context? Wouldn't make my top 10 list, not even close.

[The Shift]

Here's my running order (keeping just contemporary Brian pieces) with only stuff in releasable state.Keep the fluff on one side and the serious stuff on the second.

Rock & Roll Music/ It's OK/Had to Phone Ya/Mony Mony/That Same Song/Sea Cruise/Palisades Park/Back Home/River Song/Everyone's in Love with You/Farewell my Friend/Angel Come Home/Shortenin' Bread/Blueberry Hill/Just Once in My Life

I think that would've been much stronger that what was released. I know there was no chance of the Dennis songs being on there, and the album wouldn't flow...but it didn't anyway.

Great album. Sea Cruise hit me a rather superb when it emerged on 10 Years of Harmony... Like Soulful Old Man Sunshine, can't understand why it didn't come out at the time (Carl's oh-so-minor flub aside), but then these guys have a vault full of similar stories.

[Loaf]

15BO is probably a bit to heavy on the chunky sax for my liking.

There are some great moments, but it doesn't hang together well as an album in the way that LY and even MIU did.

And I agree the synths & duet on JOIML are the high point. I would have loved more analogue synthwork from Brian.

[Nicko]

15 Big Ones is a poor album.

It's OK is nice and Had to Phone Ya is quite good too. But TM Song is awful, That Same Song is average and badly produced, Susie Cincinnati sounds out of place, Everyone's in Love With You is a bit too wet and Back Home is nothing to write home about.

Of the covers, Just Once in My Life is great but In the Still of the Night is abysmal, Chapel of Love is desperately poor and the opening track is leaden as anything. Most of the other covers are very average and massively inferior to the originals.

If Brian's name wasn't down as producer then I don't think anybody would be looking to reappraise the album

[c-man]

A highly underrated album.  Sunflower and Holland it ain't, but it's their most "fun" album in quite some time.    

[drbeachboy]

Chapel of Love is desperately poor...If Brian's name wasn't down as producer then I don't think anybody would be looking to reappraise the album

I think Chapel Of Love is one of the better cuts on the album. Only Brian could pull off singing a girl song like that. This is one where Brian actually put some work into, especially with the arrangement. The third verse with Mike repeating the verse after Brian, with his cool Mike bass just blows me away. It is a fun sing along.

Yes, if Brian wasn't the producer I doubt that there would be much talk about 15 Big Ones, either. Though, it did very well sales-wise.

[hypehat]

Chapel of Love is desperately poor...If Brian's name wasn't down as producer then I don't think anybody would be looking to reappraise the album

I think Chapel Of Love is one of the better cuts on the album. Only Brian could pull off singing a girl song like that. This is one where Brian actually put some work into, especially with the arrangement. The third verse with Mike repeating the verse after Brian, with his cool Mike bass just blows me away. It is a fun sing along.

Yes, if Brian wasn't the producer I doubt that there would be much talk about 15 Big Ones, either. Though, it did very well sales-wise.

Are you joking? Stabbing chords on your ARP string synthesiser does not constitute putting work into the arrangement. It's barely there. And all the backing vocals are ridiculously off-key. The only good thing about it is Brian's vocal, cos you can practically hear his grin.

[Myk Luhv]

I like "Chapel of Love" if only because Brian sounds like he's enjoying speak-shouting the lyrics -- he sounds excited! Otherwise, it's pretty forgettable... just like the rest of the album. The only really good songs on the album are "It's OK" and "Had To Phone Ya" and "Back Home", I reckon. I have some affection for Dennis' ashtray-mouthed "In The Still of the Nite" too for whatever reason!

[phirnis]

Big fan of "Chapel of Love", mostly because it sounds like pure Brian Wilson. How many songs as convincingly joyful as this one did the BB (or Brian as a solo artist, for that matter) release after 1977? Unfortunately, not too many. (For some reason I think that one or two of the TLOS bonus tracks came pretty close, however.)

[The Heartical Don]

Big fan of "Chapel of Love", mostly because it sounds like pure Brian Wilson. How many songs as convincingly joyful as this one did the BB (or Brian as a solo artist, for that matter) release after 1977? Unfortunately, not too many. (For some reason I think that one or two of the TLOS bonus tracks came pretty close, however.)

Same here. Am I the only one who just loves the odd delay in the synth washes? They reach their apex too late every time, and it works...

[drbeachboy]

Chapel of Love is desperately poor...If Brian's name wasn't down as producer then I don't think anybody would be looking to reappraise the album

I think Chapel Of Love is one of the better cuts on the album. Only Brian could pull off singing a girl song like that. This is one where Brian actually put some work into, especially with the arrangement. The third verse with Mike repeating the verse after Brian, with his cool Mike bass just blows me away. It is a fun sing along.

Yes, if Brian wasn't the producer I doubt that there would be much talk about 15 Big Ones, either. Though, it did very well sales-wise.

Are you joking? Stabbing chords on your ARP string synthesiser does not constitute putting work into the arrangement. It's barely there. And all the backing vocals are ridiculously off-key. The only good thing about it is Brian's vocal, cos you can practically hear his grin.

Not joking. Not even a little bit. Everything that you dislike about the song I find endearing. I need to check the back of my LP, but I believe there is more going on musically than an ARP string synthesiser. Hey we all have different tastes, but the very first time that I spun that LP on July 3, 1976 was the first time I heard Brian's new singing voice, and on this one one track I actually liked it, warts and all.

[BillA]

I remember anxiously awaiting this album and being profoundly disappointed by it. The key elements of the disappointment were, in general, the change in Brian's voice and the heavy handed arrangements/productions.  Brian's genius in production has always been subtlety, inventiveness and complexity.  The "Wall of Sound" was carpet bombing while Brian was smart bombs.

My major complaint is probably unfair.  15 BO just doesn't compare to some of the other albums released that year by the Beach Boys competition:

School Boys in Disgrace (Kinks)
Wings at the Speed of Sound
Silk Degrees
The Royal Scam
Hasten Down the Wind (Linda Ronstadt)
Children of the World (The Bee Gees)
Arrival (aBBa)
The Pretender
Hotel California

In comparison 15BO is not in the same ballpark.   

Rock & Roll Music:
There is so much wrong with this song.  The synth weighs the song down.  It just doesn't rock like it should.

It's OK:
This is my favorite song on the album.  I good Wilson/Love song.  The vocals are more "Beach Boyish" and the tag is great.

Had to Phone Ya:
The composition, lyrics and vibe would be at home on "Friends".  The production does work here.  This is another worthy song.

Chapel of Love:
Never like the lead or backgrounds on this.  Why do a "Wall of Sound" production when Spector already did it.

Everyone's in Love with You:
This is a pretty good Mike Love effort, unfortunately, it sounds out of place on the album.  Was it actually produced by Brian because it sounds more like Ron Altbach.  I am surprised to see that Dennis drummed on it since he would take a powder when it was performed.  Ironic that Toni Tennille is on it since one of ML's complaints against Al's BBF&F is that female vocals were not part of the Beach Boys sound

Talk to Me:
I like Carl's vocal but the arraignment is too clunky and it buries the bvs.

That Same Song:
Marilyn's voice is too prominent.  Brian sounds terrible.

TM Song
I kind of like this.  The argument seems like a nod to the spoken parts in the early albums.  The "Sometimes it goes real fast and sometime it goes real slow . . . " part sounds like something from Smiley Smile.

Palisades Park A Casual Look Blueberry Hill In the Still of the Night
My complaint in these are all the same.  The arrangement/production seems out of time and to dense.  The songs seem interchangeable - why bother?  I think the "Run Run running, the Rides are Running" intro to "Palisades" is cool however. like "Rock & Roll Music" the song should have rocked more.  Al's lead in "A Casual Look" is really good.

Susie Cincinnati:
Sounds out of place in a good way.  Was this actually produced by only Brian?  Too bad the album's oldies did not have this sound.
Back Home:
I like this - Brian's ragged voice seems to fit it well.  The stripped down arraignment (no horns or synths - like "Susie") sounds good.  Only Wilsons play instruments on this.  The early arrangement of this song would have matched up better with the rest of the album  ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqV2Xfvzli0 ).

Just One in My Life:
This is the one oldie that works well.  Even though this song has the worst elements of the album (the synth and Brian's ragged voice) it works.  Brian seems to have used a lighter touch on this (the guitars and electric piano seem to weave nicely though the song and the keyboards starting at 2:22 are wonderful (maybe the best moment on the album).

[guitarfool2002]

I don't like to compare bands with other bands...or albums to other albums, but in this case consider "15 Big Ones" with all of the hype and everything else, with the selling point of a singular artist and producer-Svengali returning to the producer's chair and getting back in the game - "Brian's Back"!

Then put on any format copy of the debut Boston album next to "15 Big Ones", and have a listen. *The* prototypical 70's rock album that gets slagged off as being "corporate", as sounding too "arena rock" and overproduced...the majority of tracks on that album were cut by Tom Scholz, an electronics engineer working in his basement using Frankenstein-like home-brewed recording gear and processors among found equipment, and the basement had a bad habit of flooding. Yet dig the obvious nods to Brian's production style - the soaring harmonies, the unexpected key-changes and transitions, the radio-friendly sound of the mixes, and the fact that a stand-alone producer and songwriter could "pull a Brian Wilson" and create something like that in his basement, with a crack band of musicians to fill the needed roles, and do it better than the hotshot studio pros in Los Angeles at the time, and eclipse the guy and the band who wrote the book on making that kind of music that way in the 60's...

I guess my point is The Beach Boys stacked an album with covers like Palisades Park, pushed a 2-decades-old cover song which had been beaten to death as the single, and expected the project to do what exactly next to what was appearing in the record bins at the time?

It's enjoyable, some of 15 Big Ones, but overall it's a weak effort in retrospect, and sounds thin compared to what was around it on the charts.

[BillA]

Another note.  The Beatles "Rock and Roll Music" compilatin was released a week or so before 15BO and the Beatles version of "R & R Music" got some airplay in Boston.  The Beach boy's version paled in comparison.

[LostArt]

And don't forget Lennon's Rock n' Roll album, which came out in '75.  I don't think that album is that much better than 15BO, personally.