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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 13:04:29 GMT
In 1996, the Beach Boys released their 28th studio album, their first in four years, and their final new album to include Carl Wilson, who died of cancer about a year and a half later. It also included Brian Wilson, absent for the previous Summer in Paradise, who is credited as co-producing with Joe Thomas.
Stars & Stripes Vol. 1 included country-pop renditions of a dozen songs written by or previously performed by the Beach Boys with the band on background and harmony vocals and country singers handling leads.
The album just missed the Top 100, charting at #101 on Billboard, although it hit #12 on the country charts. While no singles charged on the primary charts, "I Can Hear Music" hit #16 on the adult contemporary chart while three songs--"Don't Worry Baby," "Little Deuce Coupe," and "Long Tall Texan"--fell between 69 and 73 on the country charts.
Please rate and discuss Stars & Stripes, Vol. 1.
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2020 13:24:55 GMT
Barely a Beach Boys album. I think of this mess are more of a lame Beach Boys tribute album, featuring The Beach Boys.
This album fails on just about every level. Was it meant to introduce BB fans to country? If so, I can't imagine anyone listening to this and wanting to hear more country music. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but this is a piss poor representation of country music. Was it meant to try to entice country fans to check out The Beach Boys? I'd imagine even country fans would cast this thing in the dust bin.
The fact that The Beach Boys released this dreck instead of the planned true reunion album is one of many what the fuck moments in a career of what the fuck moments.
I'll be generous and give it a two, because a couple of the songs are decent, like Caroline No and Warmth of the Sun. Even Be True to Your School is alright. Most of it is shit.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 14:15:48 GMT
This is another one I've got to listen to, not just as a nice refresher to help me fine-tune my thinking but almost as a first-time listen. Not that it will be my first listen ... but I'm for sure in single digits, maybe five. And it has been quite a while since I've listened. My general feelings about the album, my recollections, are that it sounds much more competent and professional than its immediate predecessors, that it's less of an embarrassment, but that it's entirely unnecessary.
Just pedestrian country-pop that happens to have the best rock and roll harmony vocal group singing backgrounds. Oh well, it's not as if they had well over an album's worth of good, relatively new material just sitting there awaiting their efforts...
I'll listen today and get more specific.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 15:15:34 GMT
God, I hate this album more than I'd remembered. While it's better than the previous couple albums, I think I hate it more. I'm halfway through and contemplating throwing my laptop across the room.
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2020 15:19:56 GMT
Over on the Endless Harmony board, it came up on the Song of the Day polls recently. I'd forgotten how dreadful some of the tracks were.
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Post by B.E. on Dec 7, 2020 15:48:01 GMT
While it's better than the previous couple albums, I think I hate it more. That's completely understandable. I recently listened to and reviewed this album here. It's simply too soon for me to give it another listen. 4/10 - mostly for the source material and competent production.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 15:52:14 GMT
I also went 2.
It might not be fair because it is a higher quality set of recordings than SiP, which I believe I also gave a 2. And obviously the songs are better than the trash on SiP. But that might be what's so offensive about it, yet another entirely pointless album that does nothing to benefit the band as far as I can tell.
The strategy wasn't entirely idiotic--that's the worst of it. Around this time, "country" had really expanded to include a lot of what previously would've been rock and roll, while rock had gotten heavier and darker in a lot of ways; rap had overtaken both by around this time, too, as the actually popular music of young America. Both musically and demographically speaking, I can totally understand where an older rock band would see country as their natural audience.
The style was certainly more befitting a group of their vintage than their prior couple of embarrassing attempts at contemporary music.
But why (still more) self-covers? And worse, why not even quite self-covers, but rather providing the karaoke track for (mostly) B-listers? The band wasn't a band, not playing instruments. I'd be shocked if they did arrangements. "Their" new album consists of them doing background vocals of old songs? Jesus Christ, only the Beach Boys...
I can't really imagine that the band needed the crossover introduction these artists provided: in the '90s, "Kokomo" wasn't so long ago, David Lee Roth's "California Girls" wasn't so long ago, Full House wasn't so long ago, their Good Vibrations box set wasn't so long ago. The hits were still very well known even to younger audiences: I remember "Good Vibrations" playing on VH1 and MTV's classics shows, for example.
Why not just record a new album? And if you've decided that something more like modern country was the way to go, well, OK: record it more along those production styles and arrangements than your previous shit-tronica style of SiP. That's fine. Do that if you must! Maybe use ONE of the country-singer tunes as a single or some kind of hook. But gawd, not twelve.
"Hey, I've got "Some Sweet Day," "My Marianne," "Desert Drive," "Gettin' In Over My Head," "Marketplace," "Soul Searchin," "Chain Reaction of Love," "You're Still a Mystery," "Saturday Morning in the City" ... what should we work on next!?"
"How about we get Doug Supernaw to sing "Long Tall Texan" and we sing the backgrounds!?"
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Post by B.E. on Dec 7, 2020 15:58:42 GMT
"Hey, I've got "Some Sweet Day," "My Marianne," "Desert Drive," "Gettin' In Over My Head," "Marketplace," "Soul Searchin," "Chain Reaction of Love," "You're Still a Mystery," "Saturday Morning in the City" ... what should we work on next!?"
"How about we get Doug Supernaw to sing "Long Tall Texan" and we sing the backgrounds!?"
The end.
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2020 16:03:54 GMT
In a way, I think shitty versions of classics is actually a bigger crime than middling later career originals. That's why I rate SIP a 4, as opposed to the 2 (how fitting) that I have given S&S.
I thought it was odd that Long Tall Texan ever made it into the Beach Boys universe. I know it was common for bands to play covers in concert in the early 60s, but why is the ever loving hell did they choose LTT?
Speaking of the Beach Boys and being relevant at the time, I'm pretty sure their appearance on Home Improvement was around this time, and that was a pretty highly rated show in the 1990s (even if their appearance on that ABC sitcom has been mostly forgotten).
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 16:30:56 GMT
In a way, I think shitty versions of classics is actually a bigger crime than middling later career originals. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes, we all know these bands will be milking their back catalogues live in concert, and with various reissues, greatest hits, etc. But for new albums? Can't new albums be, uh, new?
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2020 16:39:42 GMT
In a way, I think shitty versions of classics is actually a bigger crime than middling later career originals. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes, we all know these bands will be milking their back catalogues live in concert, and with various reissues, greatest hits, etc. But for new albums? Can't new albums be, uh, new?
Even if they'd released a live album, especially from that tour they did after the GV boxset. That would've been preferable than singing background vocals on a tribute album and passing that off as a Beach Boys album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 7, 2020 19:11:04 GMT
When Stars & Stripes was released I was all in. I was very enthusiastic about the release. The Beach Boys were back in the record (cough...CD) bins, they were on TV, Brian was back (hahaha), and they sounded great! Really, I loved the harmonies and the rare one note/one word BB vocals. The guys looked great, they appeared to be getting along, and all was right with the world. I used to watch the Country Music Channel to scope out the videos. They were on talk shows. The country guest vocalists were also on talk shows talking about the band. I even burned a great mix CD for my car for cruisin'.
I like Stars & Stripes. Joe Thomas did a fine job producing and arranging the album. I highly doubt Brian did much other than the occasional thumbs-up and head-nodding. The album rocks and every singer - especially The Beach Boys - sound great. To me, the harmonies are more impressive than anything they'd done since Sunflower. I really like the guitar sound; it's not too twangy or country. It's a crystal clear recording.
The album got a lot of criticism for the quality - or lack of - the choice of the lead vocalists/guests. For some reason that never bothered me. At the time, I wasn't that familiar with many of the older country greats, and certainly not in touch with the current country superstars. I mean, I knew Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and the like, but that was about it. And, frankly, I wasn't sure exactly which BB songs those older singers could do justice to, certainly not the twelve songs that were chosen (though Willie did a nice job). And, as far as the track selection, I didn't have too many complaints about that either. They hit all of the main ones; I could quibble, but...
What can I tell ya? I liked the album then and I still like it. I don't listen to it much but it's an easy listen. It gave me 5-6 months (a summer) of enjoyment, and not many post-1980 BB albums did that. Could've it been better? Yes, like most BB albums, it was too short. With a catalogue as vast as The Beach Boys, they could've and should've gone with 14-15 songs, even with a possible Vol. 2. From what I understand, Tammy Wynette's "In My Room" and a Rodney Crowell-sung "Sail On Sailor" were considered. Sure, it would've been nice to have another country superstar in the mix, but that wasn't gonna make or break this project. At the time, all of artists chosen were popular enough and they turned in good performances. As far as the oddity of having a group sing on their own tribute album? Meh. That never bothered me. I don't think I would've enjoyed the album as much without the guys' voices.
In the end, I wish the album would've been more of a crossover hit, but it didn't do as badly as some people think. It made some rumblings (ripples?) in the country world. It got the band back in the news, on TV, and it got them back together. And, that's the saddest part of Stars & Stripes. It was another missed opportunity. Yes, it got the gang back together - including Brian - but it went nowhere. I think it left a sour taste in fans' mouths because it took the place of a full-band, original album which was the ultimate goal. Instead we got Imagination, Carl passed away, Al was dismissed, and the rest is history.
I'll give Stars & Stripes a 5, but obviously because it is a tribute album I can't go much higher. That being said, I think there is just enough participation by the group to have it represented as a legitimate Beach Boys' album. Just barely.
Apart from the review/ranking, the documentary on Stars & Stripes - Nashville Sounds - is excellent; one of the best documentaries ever done on the group. Finally, I know there is no chance of it ever happening, but I would love to see Stars & Stripes repackaged, along with the Tammy Wynette and Rodney Crowell tracks and any other available recorded songs, and along with the DVD, with new liner notes.
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2020 19:42:05 GMT
I'm not really against Brian, Carl, Mike, Al, and Bruce appearing on their own tribute album. Very good tribute albums for Black Sabbath and The Doors have featured said band members.
But, I do object with passing off said tribute album as a band album. When I took my dive into the BB catalog, I might have paid more than I'd normally pay for a CD to acquire out of print copies of MIU/LA and SIP, but I feel no obligation whatsoever to purchase a physical copy of S&S for my collection, even though copies were selling as low as $1.50 on Amazon Marketplace at one time.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 7, 2020 23:45:25 GMT
I gave it a 3 for the professionalism of the players, and 2 or 3 tracks I like - Don't Worry Baby, Caroline No, Warmth of the Sun, and I Can Hear Music. Oops, that's 4. As Little Richard used to say onstage, "I feel so unnecessary!" lol That's how I feel about this album. Did I rate SIP lower? I need to revise my ratings. What was the point of having Brian back ("yes, Brian's back one more time...and he'll be back again in 2 years for his solo album...and again and again and again....) if he wasn't going to do anything? This album reeks of Mike Love, but the others (including Matt Jardine - boy, I really drifted away from Beach Boydom after SIP, I knew nothing about Matt singing with the group, and everyone else was raving about his vocals..just like today I know nothing about Ike and Darian and all these other guys; the one guy I started to appreciate went off and raped some girl....wait a minute, was his name Scott? Doesn't Mike have a Scott in his band, too?) signed on for it too. Well, Bruce will sign on for anything as long as all he has to do is put on his shorts and adjust the microphones. Al? He knew it was gonna be a couple decades before he could complete a solo album. And Carl? He was looking at death's door (although nothing was said about this publicly). So, okay, fine, Mike, we'll show up, sing some backgrounds, and you can bring in Country Hunk of the Month, and...did you say Lorrie Morgan? Kathy Troccoli? Hey, I'll leave the wife at home, fer sure! I'm just about that action, boss! And Brian, yeah, Brian is there...sort of. Landy's gone, so let's bring in Joe Thomas as the new guru. He's gonna make me huge at Adult Contemporary radio...after we make a splash on the country charts. Hey, Brian and Mike, whatever happened to that songwriting reunion you guys were talking about last year? Maybe you could write some Beach Boys country songs. Call the album "Gulf and Western". Mashup the Beach Boys with country music and what should you get? A Jimmy Buffett album (keep that thought in the back of your mind, Brian...er...Joe). Is it even a Beach Boys album? is it a tribute album? "We're real humble guys, we're doing a tribute to ourselves". Did I review this album yet?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2020 4:59:47 GMT
I have never heard this album because it's not readily available on my Music app. Where can one listen to the whole thing. I have heard the don't worry baby and I think it's absolutely lovely.
Willie Nelson I don't like no matter what he sings. The warmth of the Sun he was oblivious in what he was recording and he does no Justice to it whatsoever.
I've seen videos of those two that's why I know.
Is the whole thing on YouTube perhaps? I'll listen to it in its entirety and given a valuation.
OK quick update I did find all the videos on YouTube but I also found the tammy wynette version of in my Room which evidently was not on the album? That is a beautiful beautiful rendition. What happened there?
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