|
Post by Kapitan on May 3, 2021 11:45:56 GMT
About three months after the release of "Barbara Ann" and just past midway between the releases of Party! (Nov. '65) and Pet Sounds (May '66), the Beach Boys released the first single from what was to become their most iconic album.
The song was a Bahamian folk song of unknown origins, first published in 1916 as "The John B. Sails" and subsequently released under titles such as "I Want to Go Home," "Wreck of the John B.," and most importantly for our purposes, "Sloop John B." It was of course under that latter title that the Beach Boys released their new, sparkling arrangement of the song in March 1966.
Brian Wilson took on the project at Al Jardine's suggestion, adding some chords to the simple, three-chord song and arranging the tune far beyond the folk idiom of the Kingston Trio, for example. In addition to the band's vocals, Wilson included session musicians on drums, string bass, electric bass, acoustic guitar, 12-string electric guitars, tack piano, flues, bass saxophone, and temple blocks.
"Sloop John B" peaked at #3 in the US; #2 in the UK, Ireland, and Canada; and #1 in several European and Oceanic countries as well as South Africa.
The B-side, "You're So Good to Me," was a Motown-influenced song that had been part of the previous year's Summer Days (and Summer Nights) album.
Please rate and discuss "Sloop John B" backed with "You're So Good to Me."
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on May 3, 2021 13:21:33 GMT
9 for me for now.
"Sloop John B" is one of the group's greatest recordings, in my opinion. I remember it was kicked around as the weak link of Pet Sounds when I was getting into the group, but I couldn't disagree more: I think it's one of the two or three best songs on that album. (It just doesn't fit the narrative concept that people want to impose onto the album, which is a little like being angry about a love scene in a romantic comedy because you can imagine how it could've been converted into a horror film.)
The instrumental track is great, and the vocal arrangement is better still. It continues to be a highlight for me every time I have seen Wilson live, that a cappella break. And I think it has been performed at every since one of the shows I've seen, which says something about how the band and apparently fans regard it.
The A-side is a 10. "You're So Good to Me" brings us down to a 9, though it's not a bad song, either. I never really felt the recording had the muscle or punch that the song itself has. It's still a good one, though, something like a 7-8 on its own.
|
|
|
Post by kds on May 3, 2021 16:43:41 GMT
This is another case where I'm awarding a 10 mostly for the A side. I think it's the best cover The Beach Boys ever did. I 100% agree that it not only belongs on Pet Sounds, but it's a highlight of an album overflowing with highlights. It's been performed at every BB related show I've seen, and it never fails to bring the house down.
I like You're So Good to Me, but kind of like Girl Don't Tell Me, it sort of gets lost of the shuffle of so many other greater songs in that era. You're So Good to Me is a good song, I don't think it's great.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on May 3, 2021 16:48:28 GMT
I think it's the best cover The Beach Boys ever did I agree with this--and I don't think it's close, off the top of my head--but honestly I almost never consider it a cover song. Obviously it is, but they made it their own to a unique degree. The basic song itself is really pretty unremarkable. To me, the arrangement is what raises it to good, great, and even sublime.
For example, if you played me this, I'd walk away mostly unimpressed. Catchy little melody. OK.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 3, 2021 21:09:28 GMT
Well, as far as "Sloop John B" is concerned, I guess I'll make it unanimous. It's a 10. The group's best cover. Amazing arrangement. Spectacular performance. I could go on with superlatives. Whenever I/we have been asked over the years in polls and lists to rank our favorite or the best Beach Boys' songs, for some reason, maybe because it IS a cover, I hesitate to put it on at least a Top Ten list. But it belongs there. Heck, it could Top 5! I never get tired of it. Brian's vocal is fairly brief but, oh, so great. It's one of my favorite Brian Wilson lead vocals. I love THAT PARTICULAR voice. If there's one voice I wish he could've maintained longer it would've been that early 1966 voice.
1966 was interesting in many ways, but I think that Brian was teetering precariously on satisfying/keeping his core audience and becoming too advanced, deviating too much from the formula, and...losing them. "Sloop John B" was different; it wasn't surf & turf, it wasn't "Help Me, Rhonda", and it wasn't "California Girls". It wasn't fun. It wasn't love. It wasn't rock & roll. It almost wasn't pop. I guess "Sloop John B" - the Beach Boys' version - proved that great music can trump everything. It still charted very high despite being...different. When you hear what Brian and The Wrecking Crew were producing, it's mind-boggling that Brian would mostly discontinue that partnership after 1966-67.
Yes, "You're So Good To Me" isn't a great song, but it's damn close. Great melody, great vocal, and great lyrics. Hey, maybe it IS a great song. I know one thing, it's one of the happiest songs Brian ever wrote. And, the group did perform it in concert; that stands for something.
I have no idea what the group and Capitol were doing with the B-sides. They went back three albums this time, from Pet Sounds back through Party to Summer Days (And Summer Nights). I can't imagine fans of B-sides were too happy with that decision. Let's see, "Sloop John B" is an easy 10. I would rank "You're So Good To Me" an 8.5. I'll go with a very strong 9 for this one.
|
|
|
Post by lonelysummer on May 4, 2021 6:33:37 GMT
9. I like You're So Good to Me, but it already feels like a relic from the past compared to the A side. Interesting thought: my band was working on Sloop John B back in 1993, and the drummer was obsessing over the drum part. He wanted to play it exactly like the record. Having seen the Beach Boys live many time through the years, I've noticed how they modified a lot of the arrangements for the live setting. Brian's band tries to replicate the record EXACTLY. That can be nice, but as a working musician myself, I find there are some things that just don't work live. I'm going more for the right "feel", not copying every note or beat exactly. So my response to the drummer was "relax, just get into the groove of the song". And no, it's not out of place on Pet Sounds. It's from the same set of recordings.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 4, 2021 10:57:45 GMT
9. I like You're So Good to Me, but it already feels like a relic from the past compared to the A side. Interesting thought: my band was working on Sloop John B back in 1993, and the drummer was obsessing over the drum part. He wanted to play it exactly like the record. Having seen the Beach Boys live many time through the years, I've noticed how they modified a lot of the arrangements for the live setting. Brian's band tries to replicate the record EXACTLY. That can be nice, but as a working musician myself, I find there are some things that just don't work live. I'm going more for the right "feel", not copying every note or beat exactly. So my response to the drummer was "relax, just get into the groove of the song". And no, it's not out of place on Pet Sounds. It's from the same set of recordings.
This has always been my favorite live version of "Sloop John B". Love Carl's guitar playing and...Dennis' drumming! "Sloop" always worked well in concert no matter which incarnation of the group was performing it. In the later years, they started to go directly into "Wouldn't It Be Nice" after "Sloop" which was a highlight of the show.
|
|
|
Post by kds on May 4, 2021 12:21:53 GMT
Some of the 1970s live versions of Sloop really rock out. As much as I like the dedication to recreate Brian's studio masterpieces on the live stage as much as possible, I'd have loved to have been in a crowd during the In Concert circa 1973 era.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on May 4, 2021 12:28:41 GMT
I think there is value in both live approaches: recreating complex studio arrangements and translating them for a rockin' good time in a live setting.
Realistically speaking, even if the Beach Boys were as talented and versatile of instrumentalists as the modern bands' musicians, the venues and sound systems just weren't great for that kind of nuance that the studio arrangements sometimes required. So to some degree that approach wasn't even realistic. But beyond that, we've talked before about what a live show experience is like, and often it isn't those little details: it's the joy, the energy, the excitement. (Queen probably is the most famous group embodying that dynamic.)
But then as gear improved, better monitors, in-ear monitors, better mixing capabilities live, etc., and of course Brian bringing a band that's a dozen or so strong mostly to good-sounding theaters, it really was a lot of fun to hear the music in that setting. Still is. But in some ways that's more like going to a classical concert.
Both great approaches, as long as they're done well. And to me, that's the problem with some of the Beach Boys' live shows over the years: sometimes they weren't good. It doesn't matter if they were note-perfect renditions, it matters if they're good versions.
|
|
|
Post by kds on May 4, 2021 13:00:41 GMT
I think there is value in both live approaches: recreating complex studio arrangements and translating them for a rockin' good time in a live setting.
Realistically speaking, even if the Beach Boys were as talented and versatile of instrumentalists as the modern bands' musicians, the venues and sound systems just weren't great for that kind of nuance that the studio arrangements sometimes required. So to some degree that approach wasn't even realistic. But beyond that, we've talked before about what a live show experience is like, and often it isn't those little details: it's the joy, the energy, the excitement. (Queen probably is the most famous group embodying that dynamic.)
But then as gear improved, better monitors, in-ear monitors, better mixing capabilities live, etc., and of course Brian bringing a band that's a dozen or so strong mostly to good-sounding theaters, it really was a lot of fun to hear the music in that setting. Still is. But in some ways that's more like going to a classical concert.
Both great approaches, as long as they're done well. And to me, that's the problem with some of the Beach Boys' live shows over the years: sometimes they weren't good. It doesn't matter if they were note-perfect renditions, it matters if they're good versions.
I feel like many nostalgia based artists have gravitated more towards trying to recreate the studio sounds in concert in the 21st century (could be another thread) probably due to the better equipment as you say. Even bands like The Who and Purple don't jam out like they once did. But, I also think that with concert prices steadily increasing, perhaps there's a demand from audiences to hear the songs as they remember them.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 4, 2021 13:33:44 GMT
I think there is value in both live approaches: recreating complex studio arrangements and translating them for a rockin' good time in a live setting.
Realistically speaking, even if the Beach Boys were as talented and versatile of instrumentalists as the modern bands' musicians, the venues and sound systems just weren't great for that kind of nuance that the studio arrangements sometimes required. So to some degree that approach wasn't even realistic. But beyond that, we've talked before about what a live show experience is like, and often it isn't those little details: it's the joy, the energy, the excitement. (Queen probably is the most famous group embodying that dynamic.)
But then as gear improved, better monitors, in-ear monitors, better mixing capabilities live, etc., and of course Brian bringing a band that's a dozen or so strong mostly to good-sounding theaters, it really was a lot of fun to hear the music in that setting. Still is. But in some ways that's more like going to a classical concert.
Both great approaches, as long as they're done well. And to me, that's the problem with some of the Beach Boys' live shows over the years: sometimes they weren't good. It doesn't matter if they were note-perfect renditions, it matters if they're good versions.
I feel like many nostalgia based artists have gravitated more towards trying to recreate the studio sounds in concert in the 21st century (could be another thread) probably due to the better equipment as you say. Even bands like The Who and Purple don't jam out like they once did. But, I also think that with concert prices steadily increasing, perhaps there's a demand from audiences to hear the songs as they remember them. Yes, I agree that better technology is a factor. Not to oversimplify, but I think youth/age has a lot to do with it, too. When the artists or groups are young(er), let's be realistic, they want to rock out...more. They go through that period, for whatever reasons (and there are SEVERAL), when energy, life, and volume comes to the forefront.
|
|
|
Post by kds on May 4, 2021 15:11:41 GMT
I feel like many nostalgia based artists have gravitated more towards trying to recreate the studio sounds in concert in the 21st century (could be another thread) probably due to the better equipment as you say. Even bands like The Who and Purple don't jam out like they once did. But, I also think that with concert prices steadily increasing, perhaps there's a demand from audiences to hear the songs as they remember them. Yes, I agree that better technology is a factor. Not to oversimplify, but I think youth/age has a lot to do with it, too. When the artists or groups are young(er), let's be realistic, they want to rock out...more. They go through that period, for whatever reasons (and there are SEVERAL), when energy, life, and volume comes to the forefront. I don't doubt that's a factor too. If you listen to early Blue Oyster Cult, for example, songs like The Red and the Black are early forerunners of what would become speed metal. When I last saw them in 2011, they opened their set with a such slower tempo version of that song. The Beach Boys might be one of the ultimate examples, especially in the studio, with their rocking out.
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on May 5, 2021 0:26:46 GMT
This is tough. I'm waffling between a 9 and 10. More listening is required, apparently.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on May 7, 2021 20:16:51 GMT
"Sloop John B" has another distinction besides being the band's best cover, a staple of the live set, and so on: it's maybe the only Beach Boys song that my dad really enjoys.
My dad loves harmony singing, but never liked the Beach Boys. One, he is a little old for the Beach Boys, so he'd hear "Surfin' USA" as a twenty-year-old or so and hear what struck him as a ripoff of Chuck Berry. What's more, he was a big fan of folk and gospel harmony groups, who sang in a very different style: they would usually feature more traditional harmonies and their singing was more precise, whereas the Beach Boys often scoop up to notes, which (for someone in other genres) can sound "wrong."
But "Sloop John B" is one he has told me he always liked. I don't know if it's because it was a familiar song already, or because the arrangement is just irrepressible, or what.
|
|
|
Post by kds on May 8, 2021 3:06:36 GMT
My father is a big Beach Boys fan. I remember as a teen, I wasn't into the band yet, my Dad would have the local oldies station on, and they often played Sloop. Dad would turn it up. I didn't get it. Until later. It might be his favorite BB song, and I'm glad we got to experience it together a few times at some Brian shows and an Al show in recent years.
|
|