tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32044076633829802162024-03-18T19:59:13.605-07:00The Chocolate JesusThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-47055835226890054142010-05-11T10:07:00.000-07:002010-05-11T18:29:52.908-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ohsejuknya.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/beach-boys-pet-sounds-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ohsejuknya.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/beach-boys-pet-sounds-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>Disc 2: 1965-1966 Hang On to Your Ego<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Sloop John B” (Traditional arr. Brian Wilson)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” (Carl White/Al Frazier/Sonny Harris/Turner Wilson Jr.)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“The Little Girl I Once Knew” (Brian Wilson)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Three Blind Mice” (Brian Wilson)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“You Still Believe in Me” (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Let’s Go Away for Awhile” (Brian Wilson)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher/Mike Love)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">9.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">10.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“God Only Knows” (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">11.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Good Vibrations” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">12.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Heroes and Villains” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">13.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Wonderful” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">14.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Cabinessence” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">15.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Our Prayer” (Brian Wilson)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">16.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span> “Do You Like Worms” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">17.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Good Vibrations (Live)” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">18.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Surf’s Up” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Al Jardine was a big folk music fan. And he’d been lobbying Brian Wilson for months to record a cover of the Kingston Trio’s “Sloop John B,” itself derived from a traditional West Indies folk song. With the dual successes of the <i>Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) </i>album and the “California Girls” single, Brian had assured the Beach Boys’ position in the increasingly competitive and experimental pop world. But it was imperative that he remain at the vanguard, if he was going to be able to compete with the Beatles, whose fame had shown no signs of waning. On top of that, there were new bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Byrds and the Who, also competing for rock and roll supremacy.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">It was at this moment that Brian decided to take the decisive step that had been gradually brewing in the Beach Boys’ music, moving away from rock and roll music and into a new, ethereal place that was entirely his own creation. And when he assembled his session regulars to cut the instrumental track for “Sloop John B,” <b>(1) </b>he emerged with his most sublimely complex arrangement yet, with arpeggiated chiming guitars mathematically interlocking with the highly active bass line, freed from root notes and dancing all over the place in a style that would soon prove very influential on Paul McCartney. Satisfied with his arrangement, he sat on it for a few months while the Beach Boys toured and Brian contemplated beating Phil Spector at his own orchestral pop game. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">But Capitol was again pressuring for a new album from the Beach Boys to close 1965. And although Brian had not settled on a direction yet for what was to become <i>Pet Sounds</i>, he knew that his next major protect was going to be something entirely new. In the meantime, he gathered the Beach Boys for a few days of highly informal sessions for the <i>Beach Boys Party!</i> album. The album was all covers, besides a medley track that spoofed their earlier hits “Little Deuce Coupe” and “I Get Around.” And the gimmick premise was that on top of these loose and rowdy sessions would be overdubbed the contrived sounds of a ‘party.’ The album would then be marketed as a window into the Beach Boys’ downtime. Although <i>Beach Boys Party! </i>is no great shakes, particularly in the context of what else Brian was creating at the time, it contains some exciting performances. “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” <b>(2) </b>in particular, originally done by the Rivingtons, features a wild vocal from Brian in an unusually gritty style for him, possibly in emulation of John Lennon. The track is pure chaos and all the more fun for it.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">By the time <i>Beach Boys Party! </i>was rush-released by Capitol (soon to become a top ten hit), Brian had written and recorded “The Little Girl I Once Knew” <b>(3) </b>which he had determined would be their next single. Similar to how “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)” elaborated on the musical questions raised by “I Get Around,” “The Little Girl I Once Knew” is a continuation of “California Girls’” idiom. The music (again featuring the Wrecking Crew) is more busy and elaborate than ever, and Brian sings a beautiful lead, again augmented by Bruce Johnston in the call-and-response chorus, and by Mike in the brief spoken interludes that transition into a whole two bars of silence, incredibly gutsy and commercial suicide due to DJs’ distaste for “dead air.” Although it sold reasonably well, it was unable to break the top ten, in part due to Capitol’s near-simultaneous issuing of “Barbara Ann,” off the <i>Party!</i> album as a single. “Barbara Ann,” dirt simple and not even written by Brian (although undeniably fun), was a smash hit. “The Little Girl I Once Knew” practically disappeared. It was not the last time Capitol would undermine Brian’s creative will.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Before that though, during “The Little Girl I Once Knew” sessions, Brian assembled his session regulars again to record some moody instrumentals he was experimenting with. One of them, called “Three Blind Mice” <b>(4) </b>is featured here. Little is known about the track, but it carries an undeniably grandiose and brooding feel. It strongly predicts the direction Brian would be taking the following year with the <i>Smile </i>sessions. He recorded a few more instrumental tracks, mostly messing around, including a song he had written called “In My Childhood” that he was lyrically unsatisfied with. That too was left unfinished for the time being as he gathered the band to record vocals to “Sloop John B.” After an exhaustive trying-out session, the lead was finally shared by Brian and Mike in the classic Beach Boys formula. Al contributes strong harmonies, and the acapella break is another of Brian’s greatest innovations. It was undeniably one of the most beautiful Beach Boys cuts yet, with even a subversive reference to a “trip” thrown in to appease the heads.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">In early December, the Beatles’ new album <i>Rubber Soul </i>was released. They too were making the drug-induced transition into experimental and textural spiritual music. When Brian heard it, he was incredibly moved (even threatened) by its beauty and sheer cohesiveness, and immediately vowed to record the greatest rock album of all time. This was the direction he had been seeking. And in that he had been spending more and more of his time at home with members of the L.A. counter-culture, it was imperative that he keep hip. For that reason (alongside the Beach Boys’ constant touring commitments), Brian opted to write the next album mostly without Mike, instead bringing in a young lyricist and acquaintance named Tony Asher in January 1966 to interpret his sentiments and translate them into poetry.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">By this time Brian was beginning to display the eccentricity that would soon become legendary. Tony recalls showing up at Brian’s Hollywood mansion each day and having to patiently wait for hours for Brian to get out of bed and rouse himself into a working mode. But the music began to course out of them powerfully. First, Tony wrote new lyrics for “In My Childhood” which was re-titled “You Still Believe in Me” <b>(5) </b>and affixed with a new, yearning and wonderfully dexterous melody. The arrangement is pristine in its luminosity, as tightly arranged as chamber music. When the band returned for vocals, the lead would be sung by Brian backed by an amazingly lush choral arrangement. But for now, they toured the Far East while Brian worked at home. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">“Let’s Go Away for Awhile” <b>(6) </b>was recorded next, a lovely instrumental that was surely Brian’s most evocative work yet. And indeed the following year, he recognized it in an interview as his most artistically successful piece. Its form consists of two sections, the first foreboding and anticipatory and the second increasingly relaxed and elated. The track elaborated on the immersive tones of “Three Blind Mice,” featuring slide guitar, saxophones, a vast violin session and two basses, one electric and one acoustic. This was a trademark of Brian’s arranging style at the time. Apparently lyrics were written, but the track worked so well as an instrumental that it was left that way. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Next followed work on another Brian and Tony song called “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” <b>(7) </b>that consolidated the sounds of Phil Spector and Motown with a dose of “California Girls” rhythm and shot them into the heavens with one of Brian’s greatest melodies and lead vocals. He hit a sweet spot, mixing the energies of “California Girls” and “Help Me Rhonda,” and stripping them of any of the macho posturing that characterized those hits, instead expressing pure optimism and its inevitable flipside, disappointment and sorrow. The arrangement was grandiose and baroque, featuring prominent accordions and dramatic variations in dynamic, with tempo changes, crescendos and swells. Mike would go on to sing the bridge and ultimately sue for lyrical credit for his adlib of “Good night, baby, sleep tight, baby” at the end. Whether or not the lawsuit was warranted is another matter. Nevertheless, the song had “hit” written all over it and was earmarked as a single.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">The work Brian was doing in this period is regarded by many as the apex of his art. He was reaching into his soul, provoked by the Beatles’ consistently stellar output and Phil Spector’s increasingly grandiose productions, to completely channel the voice of a sensitive teenager. His compositions had become very complex, full of inverted chords and stunningly gorgeous melodies that rise and fall like columns of angels. “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” <b>(8) </b>is the most dramatic ballad on the album and one of a few songs that featured Brian alone on vocals. The melody has the feel of an old midnight jazz standard, but the lyrics and Brian’s high, impossibly pure falsetto inject it with a jarringly honest teenage vulnerability. Although Tony Asher wrote the album’s lyrics, he was essentially interpreting and organizing Brian’s emotions. “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” <b>(9) </b>is perhaps the most intense and ornate track on the album, and the most revealing disclosure of Brian’s growing sense of alienation within his band and family. “It’s about a guy who was crying out because he thought he was too advanced,” he later explained, “and that he’d eventually have to leave people behind.” Over a stomping background track (Brian had a growing interest in off-beat percussion) laden with watery harpsichord and hard saloon piano, he overdubs almost all of the voices in a counterpoint of surging intensity. It’s sequenced near the end of side 2, functioning as the emotional crescendo of the record. It may be Brian Wilson’s greatest production. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">When the Beach Boys returned to Los Angeles from their world tour, they reacted to Brian’s new achingly personal work in a mixed way. While Carl, Bruce and to some extend Dennis recognized and appreciated the genius work Brian was doing, Mike in particular had objections. Smarting over being shut out of the writing process for the album, he complained about what he perceived as the uncommerciality of Brian’s personal disclosures, his <i>Pet Sounds</i>, which Mike disparagingly referred to as “Brian’s ego music.” To be sure, there was an encroaching sense of resentment in the band towards Brian’s increasingly publicized role as puppet-master (he even had a solo single on the charts simultaneous to the release of “Sloop John B”), and a sense of disorientation when faced with the increasingly complex lyrics (one song, “Hang On to Your Ego,” was re-written as “I Know There’s an Answer” because originally it was clearly about LSD). Capitol Records and Murry Wilson also had objections to Brian’s experimentation. The disputes led to a handshake agreement between Brian and Mike that Brian could get his kicks and finish the album the way he wanted to, and then they’d go back to the way they did things before. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">And so the Beach Boys threw themselves into recording the vocal tracks for the album. It’s on <i>Pet Sounds</i> that they become angels. Where originally Brian was clearly the falsetto singer over a bunch of tenors and altos, he had by now coaxed all of them gradually up the ladder until their voices could form impossibly high chords in soaring harmony, while Mike held the bottom end with his meditative, breathy bass notes. Dennis, long considered the least serious musician in the group, had become integral to the blend. It’s his earthy, slightly flat singing that gives the blend its character, its integral buzz. And Brian was becoming very close with his two brothers, appreciating Dennis more than before and also praying with Carl before recording sessions.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">“God Only Knows” <b>(10) </b>was one of the last songs recorded for the album, and probably its most famous. It’s an astoundingly beautiful song, a response to the indecisive worries of last year’s “In the Back of My Mind” with serenity and deathless love. The instrumental track was his haziest, most tightly aligned production yet, featuring then-astounding 23 musicians. The <i>Pet Sounds </i>sessions were his most ornate productions ever, as he worked by throwing everything in but the kitchen sink. Soon he would start to pare things down. For now, after attempting the lead himself, Brian gave it to Carl who sang it with a beauty that would establish him as one of the best singers in the band. The tag to the song was originally a gigantic smorgasbord of voices chirping syncopated harmony. Brian had the good sense to strip it down to just Carl’s lead, Bruce’s counterpoint (his dulcet but sharp tone was proving invaluable to the new blend itself) and Brian’s lovely backing falsetto. It would eventually be released as a double-sided single with “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Upon completing the mix-down of <i>Pet Sounds,</i> Brian brought it home and played it for his wife while they lay in bed and cried together. That jarringly sentimental anecdote is illustrative of his emotional attachment to the music he had created. He knew it was his best work yet, but he was facing resistance from the record label, his father (who still maintained a power over Brian’s life) and some of his band. The music was complex and spiritual, and even if that joyous “Sloop John B” single was used to close the first side, there was the threat of their fans not responding well at all. Brian wanted to push the Beach Boys beyond the teen set, and he was an innovator in that regard; albums were still in the process of becoming a self-contained art form, and <i>Pet Sounds</i> looked ahead to all that would follow as the psychedelic era transformed rock and roll into high art. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i>Pet Sounds</i> was released in May 1966. Capitol, suspicious of it, declined to promote it as heavily as the Beach Boys’ earlier releases. Less than two months later, they released a <i>Best of the Beach Boys</i> compilation. The implication was clear: the Beach Boys were finished, and it was time to capitalize on their past hits. While nothing could have been farther from the truth, that compilation hurt the sales of <i>Pet Sounds</i>, which failed to go gold and only barely cracked the top ten, although “God Only Knows” and in particular “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” were hits.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">The relative commercial failure of <i>Pet Sounds </i>hurt Brian and seemed to validate Mike and Capitol’s claims that Brian was straying too far out of the box for the comfort of the record buying public. But Brian was continuing his progressive alignment with the L.A. hip cognoscenti, befriending a young man named David Anderle (dubbed the “hippest man in L.A.”), who became the Beach Boys’ manager and one of Brian’s biggest supporters and boosters in this period. Through David was the link to the in-crowd; if Brian wanted to spend an evening with Thomas Pynchon, it could be arranged on short notice. David also helped Brian form Brother Records, a new record label imprint to avoid the controversy with Capitol and realize Brian’s fantasies. Brian’s new friends recognized and appreciated his mercurial genius, and eagerly kept his mind going on hash joints and LSD.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">While the Beach Boys continued their domestic touring schedule, Brian was in a number of Los Angeles studios working on “Good Vibrations,” <b>(11)</b> a track that had been begun during the <i>Pet Sounds</i> sessions, but had taken on a life of its own. Beginning as a simple, bouncy R&B number, it had transformed over time, gaining sections and sections more than it initially began with. Maybe Brian didn’t want to risk repeating the commercial failure of <i>Pet Sounds</i>. Or maybe the drugs had immersed him so much in the music that anything less than perfection was out of the question. But the sessions for “Good Vibrations” spanned five months and took up 90 hours of recording tape, as Brian experimented with increasingly exotic instruments like the Theremin. Simultaneously he was scaling the music back, boiling it down to its most exotic bare essentials. Where he had been using bass as intensely active counterpoint, he was now bringing it right into the center as the weight that held the whole track together. And it was getting pretty funky too.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">While the Beach Boys were on tour, Brian played the strange, finished instrumental track for Carl over the phone. It consisted of material recorded at different sessions, in different studios, becoming a panoramic exploration of sound condensed into 3:39. As their new publicist Derek Taylor (poached from the Beatles) said, it was a “pocket symphony.” When the Beach Boys returned, Mike was drafted to write lyrics for the song, seemingly honoring the handshake agreement that had been reached during the <i>Pet Sounds </i>sessions. And he rose to the occasion with one of his best set of lyrics ever, and his most famous and distinctive bass vocals in the chorus. The vocal sessions themselves spanned a whole three days, as Brian, working with the sensitivity of a dog’s ear, made them re-do tiny little sections over and over again. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">All that obsessive work paid off though. “Good Vibrations” is stunning in its complexity and perfection. Carl’s lead vocal was airy and beautiful, and the group chorale in the chorus was their strongest ever with blink-and-you-miss-them interlocking parts. Mike and Brian sang lead on the bridge. Overall, when the mix-down was completed, the band felt that they would either have the biggest hit of their careers, or they were completely finished. And it proved to be the former, becoming their third number 1 single and their only single to sell a million copies. This was the balance that had been needed, especially as far as Mike was concerned. Brian was still free to pursue his far-out musical discoveries, but tethered to the earth with a simple, relatable boy-girl lyric courtesy of Mike. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">But something different was happening, something that was not part of the plan. In the Beach Boys’ absence, Brian had befriended a young, highly verbose and articulate musician named Van Dyke Parks. Soon they began to collaborate, on a project initially dubbed <i>Dumb Angel</i> (in honor of Dennis) and soon to be called <i>Smile</i>. Over the summer, Brian had gone on a trip to Big Sur, dropped acid and faced nature head on. That experience was transformative and informed <i>Smile</i>. Van Dyke, meanwhile, was writing densely poetic and allusive lyrics about the American experience. Fueled by marijuana and amphetamines, the two kept vampiric hours, working through the wee hours of the night and emerging with at least an album’s worth of songs. Having completed the master of “Good Vibrations” by splicing together sections from different sections, Brian intended on working in this modular way for all of <i>Smile</i>. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">“Heroes and Villains” <b>(12) </b>was the first fruit of their collaboration, a kaleidoscopic Old West tale that was to incorporate Brian’s most daring psychedelic production tricks yet. It was immediately earmarked as the Beach Boys’ next single. Written at a piano that Brian had recently had built into a sandbox in his home, it began its existence as a three-part country story, culminating in a barnyard section. But the song evolved constantly, gaining and shedding sections regularly throughout the sessions. In all, Brian spent thirteen months toggling with the song, far outstripping the obsessive work he had put into “Good Vibrations.” Presented here is an early mix from the <i>Smile </i>sessions, featuring Brian’s enthusiastic lead (with Mike singing the “Cantina” bridge), a stunningly complex acapella section and some mind-boggling electronic effects. This version was never released, and “Heroes and Villains” never had the omnipotent appeal of “Good Vibrations.” Nevertheless it is a beautiful recording that finds Brian beginning to push the boundaries of the style he had perfected with <i>Pet Sounds </i>and “Good Vibrations.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Again as the Beach Boys toured, Brian directed orchestral recording sessions at home. This time he was recording only in small sections at a time. He called this style a “modular” way of working. If it had elevated “Good Vibrations” to its perfection, why shouldn’t it make a whole album, finally answering the Beatles challenge once and for all? By this time, the Beatles had released <i>Revolver</i>, one of the most overt full-length psychedelic statements yet and another big influence on Brian, who understood that the Beatles were after the same kind of spiritual music as he was.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">That spirituality is inherent in the work he was doing in that period. Increasingly fascinated by astrology, numerology and other systems of divination, he was venturing musically into a place of delirium and abandon. <i>Smile</i>, even, was titled such because Brian believed that when someone is laughing they are most open to religious experience. Recorded in October 1966, “Wonderful” <b>(13) </b>is the <i>Smile </i>track most similar to what Brian was doing on <i>Pet Sounds</i>. It’s also the only <i>Smile</i> song that is even remotely about romantic love, and in this case from a removed, narrating perspective. And although it bears the trickling harpsichord and descending bass lines that dominated <i>Pet Sounds</i>, it finds Brian stripping things down. That everything but the kitchen sink production approach is getting streamlined; I hear only four or five instruments on the track. Even structurally it’s less complex, simply a circular motif that repeats four times before coming to a fade. Brian handles the lead and the group does brief backing vocals. It’s a pristine track.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">Brian and Van Dyke were hatching more concepts for <i>Smile</i> every day. It was going to be a psychedelic re-telling of American history. It was going to feature a suite called “The Elements,” inspired by Brian’s acid trip in Big Sur. At one point there was going to be a whole comedy album attached. At another, a compilation of field recordings and nature sounds. All these esoteric projects would be released on the Brother Records banner label. “Cabinessence” <b>(14) </b>was another suite-like composition in three sections, another Old West story, and this time about the relative calm of settler’s expansion disrupted by the invention of the train. The end finds a Chinese coulee worker working on the railroad, looking overhead and seeing a crow fly over a cornfield. This song has the clear influence of <i>Revolver</i> on its droning, Eastern textures. The first section is rustic, led by piano and banjo with a subdued Carl lead. The chorus bursts into being with a synchronized full group chorale over heavy bass and cello performing a dazzling chromatic run. The second time through, Dennis sings a counterpoint lyric about a truck driver. The final section sees the banjo replaced by the bouzouki, a traditional Greek instrument, thick fuzz bass and Mike solemnly repeating two lines while the group harmonizes behind him. It’s certainly one of the most awesomely majestic <i>Smile</i> songs.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">So far most of the work had been done with the Beach Boys away. When they returned for a few days in October, Brian led them through an acapella piece he had written to open the album called “Our Prayer.” <b>(15) </b>It’s an extension of the dreamy vocal world of the previous year’s “And Your Dream Comes True,” but this time completely wordless and tracing chord progressions as complex as Bach’s. Tapes of the session find a scattered-sounding Brian asking (perhaps facetiously) whether the band feels the acid yet. Whether or not he convinced them to turn on with him, that psychedelic feeling is manifest in the music. It’s gorgeous and soft like a pillow, but daunting and scary too. Soon the music would begin to consume Brian.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">With the Beach Boys again on tour, Brian surrounded himself with more and more intellectual cohorts and sycophants; his coterie swelled to include 25 people or more. Tales of his eccentricity were growing more widespread: he had a Moroccan tent installed in his home to conduct meetings and smoke hash in. But with Derek Taylor writing his press releases, the pop world was becoming increasingly turned on to Brian’s genius. With the recent release of the “Good Vibrations” single, Brian’s dreams seemed on the verge of coming true, and everyone who saw him in the studio directing the Wrecking Crew would speak of it in hushed, reverent tones, certain they had witnessed a master at work. One contemporaneous press release depicts the scene as Brian single-handedly records the massively overdubbed watery piano outro to “Wind Chimes,” while a rival producer asks “Just how does he do it?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">“Do You Like Worms” <b>(16) </b>is the song where Brian’s darkness and growing paranoia (his emotional sensitivity, latterly diagnosed as bipolar disorder, was beginning to exhibit psychotic symptoms due to his prodigious speed intake) begin to encroach on the <i>Smile </i>music. It’s an absolutely beautiful piece, again with multiple contrasting sections. And similarly to many of Brian’s other songs from the period, it is dominated by a thick electric bass played by the session musician Carol Kaye. But in this song there are hardly any lyrics besides a chorus of “Rock, rock, roll, Plymouth Rock, roll over” and a nonsense “Hawaiian” chant. Besides that, there are long sections of music without any vocals at all, and it is unknown whether or not the song was considered finished. Certainly while all the other <i>Smile </i>songs up to that point make an effort to draw the listener in and convey Brian’s idea in a direct, musical way, “Do You Like Worms” just sort of lies there and stares at you while scratching itself. It is singularly haunting.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">The evening of the instrumental session for “Do You Like Worms,” Brian led his gang through some contrived and chaotic arguments recorded in the studio for the purpose of comedy. The tapes exist and portray a very dark and paranoid scene. Whether or not the agitation is genuine is unknown, as Brian was becoming more and more legendary for his gift of the “put on.” A couple of days later, Brian flew to Michigan where the Beach Boys were on tour to rehearse them for the live debut of “Good Vibrations” <b>(16)</b>. He counseled them well, even training Mike to play the Theremin line on a simplified version of the instrument called a Tannerin. It’s a good performance, and the Beach Boys sing like angels (although Bruce’s falsetto is no substitute for Brian’s) but it illustrates the growing problem in translating Brian’s increasingly complex and orchestrated music for the stage. Simply put, they couldn’t really, forced to duplicate that cutting cello on electric guitar, all those maddeningly complex percussion lines simplified to Dennis’ best attempts at rhythmic syncopation. Clearly what Brian realized on that visit to Michigan is that when the Beach Boys returned from tour, and vocal sessions were to begin in earnest, he would face considerably more resistance than he had hoped. On the flight back, he had the pilot radio instructions to his wife Marilyn to gather the entire <i>Smile</i> crew together at the airport. There he posed them all against a wall and had them photographed together for posterity. He sensed that the dream was about to overturn. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">For the time being though, the paths of Brian and his family/band remained divergent. He returned to Los Angeles to continue directing instrumental sessions, while the Beach Boys embarked on their second major European tour. In England they were shocked to be greeted with adulation comparable to the Beatles’ first American reception. <i>Pet Sounds</i>, although having sort of fizzled out in America, had been wildly successful in the UK and would prove to be <i>the </i>defining influence on the Beatles’ upcoming explorations. Brian, meanwhile, his confidence eroded, was recording reels of surreal, druggy comedy skits and arguments, and at one point an odd minor-key version of the classic “You Are My Sunshine” re-written for the past tense and ultimately given to Dennis to sing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">When the Beach Boys returned to finish the album in late November 1966, it was a shit-storm. Although Carl, Bruce and Dennis were (as ever) supportive of Brian in his experimentation, Al Jardine was upset and disoriented and Mike positively livid at the betrayal of the compromise they had reached during <i>Pet Sounds</i>. Indeed, since writing the lyrics to the Beach Boys’ first million-seller, Mike hadn’t been asked to contribute a single lyric to the new music. Still, Brian led them through the paces of recording vocals. In the band’s defense, Brian (increasingly wired on amphetamines and obsessively working in the modular style) was having them record wordless vocal chants in tiny little sections, without any explanation of where they would go or how the whole thing would fit together. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">When it got to recording the vocals to “Cabinessence,” Mike put his foot down. He wouldn’t sing his lyric in the tag, “Over and over, the crow cries uncover the corn field” until someone explained to him just exactly what it was supposed to be about. Brian, fearing confrontation, dodged the question and instead invited Van Dyke Parks over to the studio to defend his own work. When Van Dyke refused to stoop, Mike gleefully proclaimed that the lyricist didn’t even understand his own writing! Offended, and weary of the increasingly toxic atmosphere, Van Dyke quit the project and didn’t return for two months, leaving a discouraged Brian to pull it all together himself. The band finished the vocals for “Cabinessence,” and sung them beautifully, but a switch had turned.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">With the industry hype of Brian’s compositional and production genius spreading like wildfire, a CBS documentary called <i>Inside Pop</i> (made with Leonard Bernstein’s involvement) came to film him leading the band in the studio. They captured a slow-moving and inscrutable backing vocal session, with a stoned Brian haltingly leading a begrudging band through yet weirder scat vocal experiments. The energy was extremely negative, and the session was far too boring to make for good TV. And so after the band had left, Brian briefly retreated to his car to smoke a joint and decide what to do. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">What he decided was to allow the cameras to film him recording a solo piano rendition of ”Surf’s Up,” <b>(18) </b>another song he had written with Van Dyke and probably the crown jewel of <i>Smile</i>, at least compositionally. Again in three sections, although an apocalyptic backing track had been recorded for the first segment, he chose to reduce it to piano and voice. The song, ironically titled, was written in response to Dennis crying and recounting how the new “hip” audience had laughed at the band and their outdated striped uniforms. This struck a sentimental chord in Brian and Van Dyke, and they together wrote this breathtakingly beautiful song, both in defense of an American idiom and in realization and acceptance of the eventual collapse and decay of all things. Footage of Brian singing “Surf’s Up” at the piano ended up in <i>Inside Pop</i>. The recording shows us a master at work, in absolute control of his voice, his chords and his piano playing. 1966 was drawing to a close and <i>Smile</i>, originally projected for a Christmas release, was nowhere near finished. Van Dyke had abandoned the project and the Beach Boys and Capitol were even more resistant to it than they had been to <i>Pet Sounds</i>. David Anderle kept pressuring Brian to go solo, release it as a solo album, but the Beach Boys were his blood. For now, Brian stood alone and chained.<br />
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<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h9iu65sot1E&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h9iu65sot1E&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>The Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-24341590948792866592010-05-11T08:24:00.001-07:002010-05-11T08:26:35.425-07:00Uncle SmoochSo Burke and Jake are averse to posting on this blog so far.<br />they have divergent but ultimately similar ways of skirting the issue.<br />Burke's response: "I'm always a year behind the times. I'll get blogs. I just don't understand 'em. What do you do with 'em?"<br />Jake's response: "I think blogs are self-indulgent."<br /><br />With that, I present to you the self-indulgence of Burke and Jake!<br />(it's very humorous)<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MFVN_ImqQU8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MFVN_ImqQU8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />-OliverThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-16452548013683191592010-05-02T18:12:00.000-07:002010-05-02T19:17:25.701-07:00Robbie Robertson, Basement Tapes and the Velvet UndergroundTwo guitarists styles who have influenced my sound are the superbly understated Curtis Mayfield soul of Robbie Robertson and the Bo Diddley, hypnotic drone/ manic Ornette Coleman free jazz of Lou Reed(I should probably credit Sterling Morrison most of the time). So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard the complete Basement Tapes with Dylan & the Band and found a few songs that, to my ears sounded like the Velvets gone folk and fronted by Dylan.<br /> Around the same time I borrowed the book <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Bash-Dylan-Basement/dp/1906002053">Million Dollar Bash</a></span> by Sid Griffin, a song by song account of the basement tapes, from Jake –I still haven’t given it back, and found that Griffin had made similar connections to the Velvets. That book is one of the best, well-researched, detailed inquiries into the Basement Tapes sessions. The best part of his analysis was a sentence about the story of Robbie Robertson walking out of a 1965 Velvet Underground concert after 5 minutes. So in a lovely ironic turn here is Robbie with Dylan on these 1967 tracks which overload the VU levels (hahaha word play):<br /><br />Sorry I don’t know how to upload music on here so I am linking to youtube clips.<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1INpZ3GQ5BE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1INpZ3GQ5BE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />“I can’t Come in with a Broken Heart”(1) is the song where Sid Griffin points out the Velvet Underground comparison and relates it to the Velvets “I can’t Stand it” pointing out the irony. It certainly has the overloaded piano clunking reminiscent of “Waiting for The Man,” the tambourine has got that cool Maureen Tucker vibe just smacking round, and the guitar has got the sort of riffing similar to the Velvet’s 80’s albums VU and Another View. It’s that messy Velvet Underground Pop-Slop all the way.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wXDnoa5-FOc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wXDnoa5-FOc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />“I can’t Come in with a Broken Heart” (2) is from what I can make out of the lyrics actually based on the traditional “come all ye fair and tender ladies” (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpBESK6HY4">check out this Maybelle Carter Version). </a>I guess mislabeling is the price you pay for Bootlegs. Anyways, according to Griffin this is some “rudimentary mandolin” by Richard Manuel, the droning guitar sound is Dylan, and those meandering guitar licks are Robertson. All in all, it sounds like a folksy Velvet Underground drone that overdrives the tapes.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYEvdUalNe0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYEvdUalNe0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />“Come all ye fair and tender ladies” (3) looks like another mislabel. It’s probably just another random instrumental with a typical blues guitar riff but in my opinion is like a slowed down version of “run, run, run” off the first Velvets album. I always laugh when Dylan says at the end "this guitar ain't made to do this type of thing you know."<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yHaz1Y7nTxI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yHaz1Y7nTxI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />“The Hills of Mexico” (4) wasn’t a comparison I stumbled upon by myself, it’s straight out of Griffins book. It’s hard to see the connection at first, in fact I thought of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at first which is unwarranted as their records came out twenty years later and thus should be compared in reverse. Sid Griffin points out that this is what Velvet Underground folk music would sound like “if the early Velvet Underground were told by Tom Wilson to forget Warhol and the drugs and to try playing this old cowboy ballad instead.” Like I said it’s hard to see at first but compare this to “Venus in Furs” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and you can start to see it. <br />The Tom Wilson reference is of interest to crazy geeks like me because besides producing the first two Velvet Underground albums (the first one it was more like post-production as Warhol was the “producer”), he produced Dylan’s “The Times They are A’Changin,” “Another Side of Bob Dylan,” and “Bringing It All Back Home.” If you wanna hear what a real folksy Velvet Underground would sound like check out this pre-Warhol “Waiting for The Man” demo with Cale harmonizing and Reed doing his best nasal cowboy, ahem Bob Dylan, imitation. <br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9PhS5ts9O4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9PhS5ts9O4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />Check out the Blog <a href="http://misha4music.blogspot.com/2008/10/bob-dylan-tree-with-roots-1-2-genuine.html">Misha4Music</a>, for more on the remastered Genuine Basement Tapes "Tree with Roots".<br />-AlexandreThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-30622419063285558882010-04-30T09:12:00.000-07:002010-05-02T20:56:51.621-07:00Early Beach Boys<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/music_images/The_Beach_Boys.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 911px; height: 620px;" src="http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/music_images/The_Beach_Boys.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I have recently compiled a box set of the Beach Boys' music from 1962 to 1980. Alongside, I've also written liner notes. While I can't include the music here for fear of a lawsuit from Brother Records, it's all available if you'd like to read along.<br /><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Disc 1: 1962-1965<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Surfin’ Safari” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Lonely Sea” (Brian Wilson/Gary Usher)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Surfer Girl” (Brian Wilson)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Back Home” (Brian Wilson/Bob Norberg)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“In My Room” (Brian Wilson/Gary Usher)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Fun, Fun, Fun” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Don’t Worry Baby” (Brian Wilson/Roger Christian)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">8.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“I Get Around” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">9.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Little Honda” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">10.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Surfin’ U.S.A. (Live)” (Brian Wilson/Chuck Berry)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">11.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">12.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Dance, Dance, Dance” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love/Carl Wilson)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">13.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Kiss Me, Baby” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">14.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Please Let Me Wonder” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">15.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Do You Wanna Dance?” (Bobby Freeman)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">16.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“In the Back of My Mind” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">17.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Help Me, Rhonda” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">18.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“Let Him Run Wild” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">19.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“California Girls” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">20.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“The Girl from New York City” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">21.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man” (Brian Wilson)</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style="">22.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->“And Your Dream Comes True” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">The first thing to understand about The Beach Boys is that it is a Southern Californian family enterprise. The core of the original band consists of three brothers (Brian Wilson on bass, Dennis Wilson on drums and Carl Wilson on guitar), a cousin (Mike Love, lead vocalist on many of their early hits and the band’s frontman) and a high school buddy (Al Jardine on guitar). All of them sing. Murry Wilson, father to Brian, Dennis and Carl, was the band’s manager in their early years. And there have always been positions on the payroll for family, and a clannish mistrust of outsiders. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">The next thing to understand, or perhaps accept, is that in the beginning, the Beach Boys were a surfing band. Nothing that the legions of recently converted, indie-loving Brian Wilson fans do or say can erase this fact. The family was not Los Angeles slick; rather they emerged from a suburb near LAX called Hawthorne. And with the exception of Dennis, middle child and the band’s resident hedonist (and the only one to surf), these were some pretty square dudes. Only Brian’s sophisticated musical ear (his deafness in his other one confined him to mono; as a result, where possible the mono mixes have been included) gave them their advantage in the pop market at first. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">Well that, and Dennis’ hopeful suggestion shortly before their first recording session that Brian and Mike should write some surfing songs. Whether in shrewd calculation or simply in a ‘try-anything’ spirit, they did so and “Surfin’” (music by Brian, lyrics by Mike) became a local hit on the small Candix label. That song and their growing popularity as a live band led Capitol to sign them; around this time Al left the band for a year to go to dental school, replaced by the Wilsons’ neighbor David Marks. “Surfin’ Safari,” (<b style="">1) </b>their first Capitol single and soon to be title track on their first album, was another Brian and Mike co-write, driven by Dennis’ insistent rock and roll beat and Mike’s nasal vocals. “Lonely Sea,” (<b style="">2) </b>was recorded at the same session but held back until their second album, 1963’s <i style="">Surfin’ U.S.A. </i>It was the first fruit of the brief songwriting collaboration between Brian and his friend Gary Usher (as in most of his collaborations, Brian wrote the music) and the earliest manifestation of Brian’s potential for unearthly, melancholy beauty. The lead vocal is his.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="">Surfin’ U.S.A. </i>was their biggest success yet, and as the Beach Boys were one of the only teen groups with an in-house songwriter, Capitol agreed to let Brian produce the follow- up <i style="">Surfer Girl</i>. At this time Al Jardine returned to the fold and David Marks was unceremoniously ejected. The album’s centerpiece and first single was “Surfer Girl” (<b style="">3)</b>, Brian’s first composition (written in 1961 when he was 19). It is surely the most beautiful track the Beach Boys had yet recorded, featuring Brian on lead but the entire band singing support. Recorded shortly after was “Back Home,” (<b style="">4) </b>a song Brian wrote with his roommate Bob Norberg, and the first of his productions to utilize session musicians (the arrangement featured horns and was generally beyond the ability of the Beach Boys). An experiment in the wall of sound style of Phil Spector, the song was not released, perhaps because it wouldn’t fit in with the tracks that featured the Beach Boys playing. The last track featured from <i style="">Surfer Girl</i> is “In My Room,” (<b style="">5) </b>another Brian and Gary collaboration. “In My Room” was their most poignant song yet, and the arrangement did not disappoint: the verses gradually stack the voices, beginning with the brother blend in the order of Brian, Carl and Dennis. Mike and Al enter for the choruses and Mike sings lead on the bridge.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">1963 had been a banner year for the Beach Boys. Their success and fame had grown exponentially, and they were teen idols. Dennis, in particular, became a sex symbol. By the year’s end, the public would see the release of their third album <i style="">Little Deuce Coupe </i>(a concept album devoted entirely to car songs) and a Christmas single. But Brian had a restless competitive spirit, spurred on by his father, still the band’s manager and for whom failure was not an option. And so on January 1 of 1964, he was again in the studio, again with the group of crack-shot L.A. session musicians lovingly dubbed the Wrecking Crew, having decided the Beach Boys as musicians were not up to recreating the sounds in his head. And the song they began on that day, “Fun, Fun, Fun” (<b style="">6) </b>surely vindicates his decision, being the best Brian and Mike collaboration yet and the band’s most popular single to that date. Mike sings lead on the verses, with Brian on falsetto in the choruses and the song’s fade, crystallizing the juxtaposition that would drive so many of their classic songs. “Don’t Worry Baby,” <b style="">(7)</b> a collaboration between Brian and hot rod poet Roger Christian, was recorded a week later under the same circumstances. Musically, “Don’t Worry Baby” was heavily inspired by the Ronettes’ recent hit “Be My Baby,” produced by Brian’s idol Phil Spector. And the track was perhaps the band’s loveliest yet, featuring Brian on falsetto lead vocals. The recording sessions for the attendant album <i style="">Shut Down Vol. 2 </i>were interrupted by the band’s first tour of Australia and New Zealand. By the time they returned to the U.S.A., the Beatles had arrived, establishing chart domination and quickly becoming Capitol’s new favorite artists. This competition radically focused Brian, and in the ensuing weeks he fired his father as the band’s manager, correctly believing they would be better off without his help.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">“I Get Around,” (<b style="">8) </b>recorded in April 1964, was the band’s first post-British Invasion recording. The effects of the competition are not hard to detect. Again written by Brian and Mike, the song motors along on the strength of Brian’s inventive arrangement, expertly played by the Wrecking Crew. Stylish handclaps signal the new post-Beatles consciousness. But that is just a bed for Brian’s most harmonically ambitious vocal arrangement yet (again featuring Mike on the verses and Brian on the choruses); all that, and an injection of “cool” that had not yet existed in their music. Brian’s hard work was rewarded the following month when “I Get Around” became the first Beach Boys single to top the charts. “Little Honda,” <b style="">(9) </b>continues in that vein of cool, again featuring Mike’s lyrics and singing. Notice how the droning, hummed vocal backgrounds in the verses prefigure Brian’s experiments in psychedelic music that would begin the next year. Capitol hastily released the <i style="">All Summer Long</i> album in July and the band set to recording a fairly undistinguished Christmas album. This was followed by the lengthy, raucous Summer Safari tour, which saw the Beach Boys rising to the Beatles challenge, playing all the songs fast with a manic energy, their harmonies always perfect. Two shows were recorded in Sacramento for the <i style="">Beach Boys Concert</i> LP. The version of “Surfin’ U.S.A.” <b style="">(10)</b> included here was not on the album for unknown reasons. It certainly shows the band’s evolution. The song is no longer merely a Chuck Berry homage with surf lyrics; its new harmony arrangement elevates it to a place of wild abandon. You can hear Brian, de facto musical leader, screaming encouragement to the band.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Four days later, in the midst of touring the West Coast, the band laid down a new Brian and Mike song called “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man).” <b style="">(11)</b>This time Brian opted to use the Beach Boys for the backing track, probably impressed with their development as musicians.<span style=""> </span>The song is a further development of the jazzy harmonic ideas of “I Get Around,” with the added innovation of wistful, bittersweet lyrics uncommon for a rock and roll single in 1964. And Brian plays harpsichord on the track, beginning his infatuation with orchestral instruments that would swell over the next two years before being suddenly brought down to Earth. The baroque instrumentation (Al plays bass in lieu of Brian) notwithstanding, its familiar Mike and Brian lead vocal sound says Beach Boys all the way. That track did well in the charts and the tour immediately continued, with intermittent recording dates sprinkled here and there. In October they recorded one of the greatest Brian and Mike songs, “Dance, Dance, Dance.” <b style="">(12) </b>This time the Beach Boys played and were augmented by members of the Wrecking Crew on additional instrumentation. The session guitarist was Glen Campbell, a hotshot player and dramatic singer that Brian was producing at the time. He would pop up again shortly. “Dance, Dance, Dance” is the track where the Beach Boys, playing as a rock and roll band, really match the Beatles in sheer joyful abandon. <b style=""><span style=""> </span></b>Released hastily as a single, it performed well but was still generally kept out of the top five in America by the continued onslaught of British bands. This frustrated Brian to no end. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">The tour continued all the way to a great reception in Europe and back through yet more American dates. In December, Brian began recording a new song he had written with Mike called “Kiss Me Baby.” <b style="">(13) </b>Instrumentally performed by the Wrecking Crew, it taps a new vein in Brian’s consciousness, exposing a deeply vulnerable soul through dynamic and inventive orchestration. The lead vocals are again performed by Brian and Mike, continuing to mine the successful Beach Boys formula, even if the music is breaking through to a new place. Seven days after the backing track session, Brian suffered an extreme panic attack on an airplane en route with the band to Houston, Texas for a gig. He had always had stage fright, and the loud screaming of the fans hurt his good ear. But he was also exhausted by the pressure to keep pumping out recordings in an increasingly sophisticated and competitive pop era, all the while touring most nights of the year. He calmed down enough to play the gig that night, but the band sent him home the next day to cool out. Session guitarist Glen Campbell was hastily recruited to fill Brian’s role in their remaining dates for the year. Brian stayed at home, resting and considering his options. The band returned to Los Angeles in January to work on the next album. It was at the vocal session for “Please Let Me Wonder,” <b style="">(14) </b>another beautiful and evocative ballad again featuring the Wrecking Crew’s instruments and Brian and Mike’s vocals, that Brian informed the band of his decision: they would tour with a replacement bassist and falsetto singer, while he stayed at home writing their songs and producing their records. The band took the decision very badly, with only Carl remaining stoic throughout. But Brian soothed them by promising a beautiful future and increased success for the band if he were allowed to stay at home and function as their overarching auteur. They allowed him his decision; they needed his productivity and he had shown himself too sensitive to the pressures of the road anyway.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Sessions for <i style="">The Beach Boys Today! </i>Album continued unabated. Brian arranged an awesome orchestral track for his cover of the Bobby Freeman’s 50s soul hit “Do You Wanna Dance?” <b style="">(15)</b>. Then he gave Dennis his first lead vocal on a Beach Boys single, an occasion he rose to with aplomb. Dennis had the most rustic and ragged vocal chords in the band, but he sang with soul second only to Brian. The arrangement was Brian’s biggest yet, expanding Phil Spector’s orchestral Wall of Sound template with Brian’s innovative arrangements for the Beach Boys’ dazzling Wall of Vocals. It charted well although it didn’t break the top ten, but this didn’t deter the band’s momentum. “In the Back of My Mind” <b style="">(16) </b>is the other song Dennis sings on the album, joined by Brian and Carl for the bridge. It’s also Brian’s farthest foray into musical impressionism yet, a hazily indecisive meditation with excellent lyrics from Mike that would stand as the perfect closer for <i style="">The Beach Boys Today!</i> If they hadn’t decided to shatter its effect with a completely mundane interview track at the end that can only have been a self-sabotaging joke. Nonetheless, it was by far the most sophisticated album the Beach Boys had released to that point, marking a major turning point in Brian’s musical progression and role in the band. Even its track sequence was innovative, with all the rockers on side one and side two an impressionistic suite of romantic ballads.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Following the sessions, Brian apparently felt rested enough to replace Glen Campbell for a week. Glen returned to the fold but not for long; he had ambitions as a solo artist. Back in Los Angeles, Brian led his session regulars through the recording of the collaboration with Mike he had selected as their next single, “Help Me, Rhonda.” <b style="">(17)</b> This track had actually been recorded for <i style="">The Beach Boys Today! </i>but was held back by a lackluster arrangement. Brian though apparently sensed its commercial potential, and re-arranged it, raising the tempo and adding exotic touches in ukulele and percussion. The band returned for the vocal session. Al Jardine had the lead; it was only his second lead but he tackled it with great verve. The vocal session was interrupted by a drunken intrusion from Murry Wilson, who openly belittled and berated Brian for hours until the generally non-confrontational Brian lost his temper and threw him out of the studio. Theirs was an extremely complicated relationship and Murry was definitely abusive as a father<b style="">. </b>But that blow-up seems to have invigorated the band, and “Help Me, Rhonda” became their second U.S. number one single.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Meanwhile, Brian was most assuredly taking his place in the burgeoning Los Angeles counter-culture, convinced by his new hip friends to begin experimenting with LSD. The drug did a number on him, and the visions of heaven and hell he experienced on his first trip would linger in his creativity for years to come. That, alongside his steady marijuana intake, informed the hazy, impressionistic tracks he began working on, with the Beach Boys again on tour. The first was called “Let Him Run Wild,” <b style="">(18)</b> a searing and emotional track he had written in defense of his mother against Murry’s philandering. Mike Love contributed additional lyrics. Although “Let Him Run Wild” has long been considered one of Brian’s greatest songs and productions, he himself hates it; his vocals are very high in his range, and apparently he was ashamed by their femininity. The raw, dramatic emotional content of the song directly predicts the following year’s <i style="">Pet Sounds</i>, but from there Brian seems to have hedged his bets a little, recording songs he had written with Mike with gorgeous baroque arrangements awkwardly married to twee lyrics about amusement parks and Salt Lake City. In April though, he began his piece-de-resistance, “California Girls.” <b style="">(19) </b>Supposedly written during that first LSD trip, the song begins with a dazzlingly grand orchestral intro, before giving way into Brian’s most massive production yet. With lyrics and lead vocals from Mike, and Brian leading the choruses with his falsetto, the track is notable for the sweeping majesty of its track (performed by 14 musicians), and the ethereal beauty of its vocal arrangement. The song is also the first recorded appearance of Bruce Johnston, a friend of the band who had been drafted as Brian’s permanent road replacement. Although it was not initially assumed he would appear on Beach Boys records, Brian apparently liked the tone of his voice and invited him to take the lead on the counterpoint vocals in the chorus. “California Girls” was released in July (with “Let Him Run Wild” as B-side) and rocketed up the charts to number 3. It is still one of the Beach Boys’ most fondly remembered songs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">From there it was a crash course through completing the <i style="">Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) </i>album, seen by many as a regressive lyrical step but another stunning advancement in Brian’s musical development. The last three songs on the disc were all cut in May 1965. “The Girl from New York City” <b style="">(20) </b>is another Brian and Mike co-write with a raspy lead from Mike, in the vein of the Beatles’ recent R&B influenced sound. The backing track is played by the Beach Boys with a few members of the Wrecking Crew, and the falsetto is in this case performed by Bruce Johnston (Brian is on top of the hollered vocal stack in the chorus). “I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man” <b style="">(21) </b>is a fairly uncomfortable exercise in emotional sharing doubling as dark humor, as Brian alone with his wife Marilyn and his two brothers sings a mock-melodramatic rant against Murry’s controlling and abusive ways in his best Elvis croon. On the album’s back cover, “I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man” is the only song without a lead vocal credit, instead reading “Too embarrassed.” Finally, “And Your Dream Comes True” <b style="">(22) </b>is a brief, poignant acapella arrangement composed and produced by Brian with some help from Bruce in the control room. Bidding farewell to summer, and closing the door on the fun in the sun chapter of the Beach Boys’ career, it also looks ahead to the awesome spiritual loveliness that would characterize all of Brian’s work by late 1966.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br /></p> <br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pRrHw5Kn3ZE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pRrHw5Kn3ZE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gsle8Y-fc4M&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gsle8Y-fc4M&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCYouoLKxjo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCYouoLKxjo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QXif3HvtpNg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QXif3HvtpNg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k1FaflUn4Co&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k1FaflUn4Co&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />-OliverThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-30786003177782871862010-04-28T11:52:00.000-07:002010-04-28T12:08:35.342-07:00Santana gets Smashed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADcJjmKTHQ_mxSkmzbr9d_U_wLbEt-eiPXPln0uPHxn1kmWyjt9XjOizttu5sRLv-NEaMvdVAFC5d1v-6mEfGeW43Lo1l7-BGJZkN0zm4DvqBG9lDlXTjAn9tVKMQZolib8wokrucwmo/s1600/28431_10150188393630305_715625304_12036728_2942683_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADcJjmKTHQ_mxSkmzbr9d_U_wLbEt-eiPXPln0uPHxn1kmWyjt9XjOizttu5sRLv-NEaMvdVAFC5d1v-6mEfGeW43Lo1l7-BGJZkN0zm4DvqBG9lDlXTjAn9tVKMQZolib8wokrucwmo/s320/28431_10150188393630305_715625304_12036728_2942683_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465263546174217730" border="0" /></a>Here is the utterly hilarious review of Santana's debut album, written by Langdon Winner and John Morthland and published in Rolling Stone on Oct 16, 1969: I've bolded my favorite sections.<br /><br />"Maybe it's just a coincidence that Santana and speed become popular at about the same time. Maybe not. At any rate their "long awaited" album is definitely a speed freak's delight - fast, pounding, frantic music with no real content. For those who hoped that the second generation of San Francisco bands would be an improvement over the first, this record along with those of the Sons of Champlin and It's A Beautiful Day should destroy such fantasies forever. In the post-psychedelic area all of the bands have their styles down pat. But like methedrine which gives a high with no meaning, the dazzling rock styles now offer us music with virtually no substance.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Santana </span>is largely an exercise in rhythm. Lots of drums and drumming. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Santana apparently noticed that rock audiences inevitably go beserk at the slightest sign of a drum solo. Why not triple their pleasure? Give them drums plus congas plus timbales! The fact that all of them are terrible will never be noticed. The incompetence of each will cancel out the incompetence of the others.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">On</span></span></span></span></span></span> top of this is the work of the guitar and organ. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carlos Santana has stumbled upon a tired and mechanical guitar lick which he likes so well that he plays it in virtually every song. It's even possible that it was recorded only once and then overdubbed wherever the engineers thought it would fit. You'll know it when you hear it. Greg Rolie contributes his share of redundancy </span>with some organ solos which sound like Earl Grant rejects. His tone reminds one of nothing so much as the noise made by that guy in junior high who used to scratch the blackboard with his fingernails.<br />The vocals on such songs as "Evil Ways" do little justice even to these paltry lyrics. Columbia, incidentally, slipped up on this one and did not include a libretto. Here it is. Go-Ba-Ba Go-Ba-Ba Go-Ba-Ba, Lump Thumpa, Boom Boom, Bang Bang, Thump Thump.<br />And the engineering! Along with the loudness of the drumming it almost makes you forget how bad the music is. Super slick. The instrumentals like "Waiting" and "Soul Sacrifice" are all well balanced and mixed. But that's the story of this whole effort. It is a masterpiece of hollow techniques.<br />On the day this record was released newscasters gave considerable coverage to a big fire that filled the sky with billowing clouds of smoke and brilliant flames. It took crews of firemen eight hours to control it, but there was little damage. All that, yet the fire had done almost nothing. The parallel between it and this album is obvious.<br />One can't help wondering how many takes Santana required on each song before it was "perfect," how long they spent mixing it until everything was <span style="font-style: italic;">just right</span>, and yet how little they accomplished. It will pay off. The album will sell very well. People who buy it will play it night and day for a week, then most will file it away under "S" and forget about it. If they saw through it, though, they'd skip the first three steps and just forget about it altogether."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Now</span></span> i don't altogether agree. It's a decent album and their drummer is pretty great. And "Soul Sacrifice" sounded pretty good at Woodstock:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dLDalZ4-53g&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dLDalZ4-53g&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />still though...hilarious writing from the era where rock criticism meant something..<br /><br />-OliverThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-23017937146551391562010-04-27T18:04:00.000-07:002010-04-28T08:56:59.430-07:00<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4acCZ4XLe5E&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4acCZ4XLe5E&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />This is "Too Much Pt. 2" our most recently completed demo. I wrote the song and we all recorded it together at SUNY Purchase with Burke & Jake's cousin Matt Speno engineering and mixing.The Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204407663382980216.post-61097213115654520032010-04-26T19:51:00.000-07:002010-04-26T20:01:30.741-07:00The Chocolate JesusHello Hello Hello Hello<br />(because) we are the Chocolate Jesus<br />we count among our ranks<br />Alexandre da Silva on sharp Stax guitar and falsetto croons<br />Oliver Ignatius on emotional vox, tripped out guitar and spidery piano<br />Burke Williams on the rubber band bass and sand-whiskey vox<br />Jake Williams demolishing drums, hitting that sweet piano and hollered voxThe Chocolate Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16237198738259154913noreply@blogger.com0