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Post by Kapitan on Mar 17, 2019 15:08:19 GMT
This album is a depressing pivot for me, the first of the Beach Boys albums where it becomes an effort to find something to like, to find something to defend. There had always been fluff, filler, stupid choices, bad songs. But with this, I struggled to remember why I like the Beach Boys. I struggled to understand why the Beach Boys thought they should bother being the Beach Boys, what they might be getting out of this, if this was what they were going to end up with.
I like the energy of "She's Got Rhythm," it's something that could have been on Love You (and probably would have benefitted from that style of rough edges). I like the singing in some of the stupid songs: "Pitter Patter," "Matchpoint of Our Love," "Sweet Sunday." I don't understand the covers at all. The nicest thing I can say about "My Diane" is that other people seem to enjoy it.
M.I.U. Album is basically a competent but uninspired-to-downright-lifeless performance and recording of terrible songs. So, good work, fellas.
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Post by kds on Mar 24, 2019 3:59:49 GMT
So, Van Halen released their debut the same year. Ummmm......listen to this album, then listen to Van Halen's debut. Did that really happen in the same year??
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Post by sebevedomy on Mar 24, 2019 7:55:23 GMT
Five decent songs+some American celebration songs, plus a handful of Dennis songs to make the other songs even worse, and you've got yourself a listenable album.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 7, 2021 16:35:39 GMT
M.I.U. Album [Brother/Reprise, 1978] On The Beach Boys Love You, lyrics like those of "Solar System" may have been a little embarrassing, but basically their silliness registered as charming. "Match Point of Our Love" ("Early in the game when you broke me/Just like a serve") and "Belles of Paris" ("There's a chapel `Sacre Coeur' in quaint Montmarte [sic]/In the open air the painters show their art") are just dumb, and despite a lot of fairly pleasant music and a few passable songs, so is this. C
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Post by B.E. on Jun 29, 2022 3:00:37 GMT
Here's a cool YouTube find by Billy C at SSMB:
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Post by B.E. on Oct 15, 2022 18:58:23 GMT
Mike's commentary on the album from his autobiography:
Somewhat interesting that he doesn't even mention Ron Altbach, but he obviously decided not to say much about the album or the making of it.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2022 14:52:51 GMT
Since we've been talking about who may have been involved to what degree, and who has said what about this album (both here and in the best/worst thread), I thought I'd add a few others. From I Am Brian Wilson, I believe the only reference to the album: (p. 17, I Am Brian Wilson, B. Wilson w/ B. Greenman)
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Post by B.E. on Oct 16, 2022 14:57:54 GMT
Thanks for tracking that down, Kapitan. Why couldn't they include an index!?
I also listened to Beachboys Talk's Ron Altbach interview. I'll post about that in this thread.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2022 15:01:28 GMT
A little more from Carlin's Catch A Wave. (p. 223-224, Catch a Wave..., Carlin)
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2022 15:32:42 GMT
While Gaines has been questioned (appropriately, I think), I'd be remiss to omit him.
It is important to start with Mike's proposal to Stephen Love to return as the band's manager. He would not work for the Beach Boys, but for "a corporation called All American Management Organization, of which Mike Love and Alan Jardine were officers. AAMO would be compensated 2.5 percent of the gross of Beach Boys' touring revenues for providing tour management and promotional services for the group. Stephen Love would be guaranteed a minimum annual salary of $250,000 against 5 percent thereafter." (p.302) [Note: $250,000 in 1977 equates to about $1.2 million in today's money.]
The band then broke up on Sept. 3, at least according to Dennis. But two weeks later, they either un-broke up, or demonstrated their lack of having broken up. That's when accusations flew back and forth between Mike and Carl about the band's direction, when arrangements were made to record the next album at M.I.U., Carl and Dennis stormed out of the meeting, and Brian "fell asleep on the floor during the meeting" (p. 304) ... but voted with Mike and Al, passing their suggestions on how to proceed.
"Going to Maharishi University to record was a little like going to Holland only worse. Stan Love described the situation...'...Brian was putting in his time, but he wasn't too happy. He was depressed and on medication. We passed the time playing Ping-Pong.'" (p. 305)
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Post by B.E. on Oct 16, 2022 19:48:35 GMT
I think my main takeaway from the interview with Ron Altbach is that much of what's been written, discussed, and believed about that era is true. It was ugly. The group was fractured. There were two distinct camps/teams. Ron was very clear that he was on Mike's team (he often used that word). As a result, he didn't really have a relationship with Carl or Dennis. He said the only connection he had with either was that both he and Dennis liked sailing. He also didn't seem to have much of a relationship with Brian. It's also interesting how he talked about Mike. He described his strong personality or "lifeforce". That it was hard to oppose him or to say no to him. He used those words, and he didn't mean it in a negative light. But, it's not hard to imagine how that contributed to the fractured state of the group. He said Mike would have an idea and he'd call Ron up to actually do it (from MIU to charitable endeavors in the early 90s). What I found especially interesting was something that I hadn't quite pieced together before. Mike got sick and left for Switzerland in early 1977 for what turned out to be 5-6 months. At some point he called up Ron and Charles Lloyd to join him. By the way, Ron talks about how he, Mike, and Al had already decided to work on their own prior to this trip and that "Lady Lynda" dates back to that time. He was also clear that he brought the song to Al who contributed the lyrics and, most likely, melodic ideas. Consider, now, that within only 1 month of Mike's return the band had infamously imploded and Mike assumed control in the wake. Ron also speaks of the idea to go to MIU has having already been in place. (By the way, Ron taught there before joining the Beach Boys.) In discussing how he joined the group, he said initially he was basically just a utility man, and he got the impression that they didn't really need him but Mike wanted him there. And that over time Mike would get rid of people or push them aside and Ron's role continued to grow. Back to 1977, and their return from Switzerland/trip to MIU, Ron said that Mike didn't want to go back to LA and deal with all the drugs. Now, Sheriff John Stone , this is where I might have been a bit too generous to Mike in our discussion. The way Ron tells it, it does seem like Mike's motives were a bit more selfish in wanting to go to MIU, but two things can be true, right? Even if his motives were more selfish than altruistic, that doesn't mean that part of him didn't really think that it could be good for Brian (and even Carl and Dennis) and, potentially, the project. When it came to who would produce MIU, Ron seemed quick to express that Brian wasn't "equipped" to produce an album at that time. Based on his response, it doesn't really seem like it was even a consideration. When asked about how Brian came to join them in MIU, he basically said, "hey, it's still his band, you can't do a Beach Boys album without him!" The implication seemingly being that you can have a Beach Boys album without Dennis and Carl. I shared the story about "She's Got Rhythm" in the Best/Worst thread. Basically, Ron was playing the progression and Brian walked in and just started singing it - including the high note. Unfortunately, that's all we got from Ron about collaborating with Brian. He also seemed a bit uninteresting in discussing 15 Big Ones (which he contributed to) or Dennis' POB solo set in Saratoga the night before the Central Park show in 1977 (which was talked about). That was brought up thanks to a commenter, but it didn't seem like he remembered it (frankly, he might have left the stage and not paid any attention). I realize I may be interpreting/relaying his comments in a somewhat negative light or in a way that it wasn't meant by him, but these are connections and takeaways that I made while listening. I thought Ron was an interesting interview and seems like a pretty nice guy. And there were many interesting and fun and positive things I didn't mention here because they don't pertain to MIU in any way. Edit: Oh, and a commenter asked if he wrote "Go And Get That Girl" specifically for Carl to sing, but he didn't. I believe he said it was written with Gary Puckett in mind but Mike was looking for material for the aborted Christmas album and so it was reassigned.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 17, 2022 12:56:20 GMT
That Altbach interview was an interesting one. I watched it at the time, and don't remember the details very well, but my main takeaway at the time was how separate an experience Altbach seemed to have had from what some other musicians and friends had. If I'm not mistaken, it aired not long after Carli Munoz and Stephen Kalinich were on the show, and it was just two different worlds.
I don't think it's the sort of Good v. Evil that fans sometimes like to make it, but really just people whose values are differently ordered, and who had grown apart after 15 years together. They lived very different lives and wanted to be very different musicians.
Regardless, it does seem to me that M.I.U. Album ended up just one of the volleys back and forth between camps in those years, which unfortunately never seemed to settle on a synthesis amenable to everyone. You can try to argue that this was a consensus kind of thing because Brian's name is all over it, but I really think the history (and our ears) tell the story of a somewhat passive, half-assed Brian. It's a Mike-and-Al album.
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