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Post by Kapitan on May 14, 2021 15:50:12 GMT
I thought it might be nice to have a thread for those projects that Beach Boys worked on as collaborators outside of the group: personally I never know whether to put such things in this forum or in the General Music one, but I think a thread here makes sense. So this seems like a nice place to discuss those things peripheral to the Beach Boys world, such as the Wondermints, Billy Hinsche, Van Dyke Parks, band members' guest appearances, and such.
My reason for posting today is Ricci Martin's 1977 album Beached, co-produced by Carl and featuring him and Dennis as well as Ed Carter, Carly Munoz, Ricky Fataar, Bobby Figueroa, Billy Hinsche, and Van Dyke Parks (not to mention Gerry Beckley, Peter Cetera, and more).
The album was out of print for much of my Beach Boys fandom so I always just knew it by name, but it was actually reissued a couple of years ago. I'm just going to give it a spin today. Is anyone else familiar with, or a fan of, this one?
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Post by Kapitan on May 14, 2021 16:22:28 GMT
Here is a link to the full playlist of Beached, btw.
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Post by Kapitan on May 14, 2021 17:03:14 GMT
Some of them, the Beach Boys are basically inaudible; others are just so awful! But every now and again there's a gem, too.
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Post by kds on May 14, 2021 17:10:53 GMT
When I was going down my Styx rabbit hole a few weeks ago, I noticed that Brian Wilson adds backing vox to their 2003 self - snippet - cover of Fooling Yourself. I think Brian and Styx were sharing drummers at the time.
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Post by Kapitan on May 14, 2021 17:15:04 GMT
I think Brian and Styx were sharing drummers at the time. Yes, I believe Todd Sucherman (Taylor Mills's husband) was in both groups.
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Post by kds on May 14, 2021 17:17:22 GMT
I think Brian and Styx were sharing drummers at the time. Yes, I believe Todd Sucherman (Taylor Mills's husband) was in both groups. I didn't know he and Taylor Mills were an item.
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Post by Kapitan on May 14, 2021 22:41:43 GMT
Here is a link to the full playlist of Beached, btw.
I listened to maybe half a dozen songs while doing other things. I will go back to it and really listen, but I have to say, there are times when I swear Ricci is trying to imitate Carl's voice. There is something in the phrasing that on occasion is like listening to any one of dozens of anonymous late '90s and early '00s post-grunge singers doing his best Eddie Vedder impression.
But of course, people who can channel Carl Wilson are few and far between. My impression was, this album is kind of a preview of what was to come on LA.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 14, 2021 23:09:08 GMT
Yes, I believe Todd Sucherman (Taylor Mills's husband) was in both groups. I didn't know he and Taylor Mills were an item. A very BW/BB-like song, with Scott Bennett on piano, guitar, bass:
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Post by jk on May 15, 2021 13:22:52 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on May 15, 2021 13:43:12 GMT
What a bizarre story. I'd never beard of him or this.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 15, 2021 14:27:46 GMT
One of my favorite "guest appearances" and one of my favorite Chicago songs is "Wishing You Were Here". In addition to The Beach Boys' (Carl, Dennis, and Al) background vocals, I especially like Terry Kath's lead vocal and Peter Cetera's vocal on the bridge.
Usually when I listen to "Wishing You Were Here", I can't help but think what they, The Beach Boys, woulda/shoulda/coulda done in the mid/late 1970's if - IF - James Guercio could've gotten the same production out of them like he did with Chicago just a few years earlier. Yes, it starts with songwriting, and, other than Dennis, no other Beach Boy was churning out classics, other than a few Brian gems. But, "Wishing You Were Here" was meant to be a Beach Boys' song. The intro (with the waves), the lyrics, the harmonies...sometimes I wish The Beach Boys would've covered it, maybe with Brian or Dennis on the lead vocal and Carl on the bridge, but I'm not sure they would've done it justice. But, you know, I think with the way Brian was singing on his last couple of solo albums, I think Joe Thomas could've, and maybe still could produce a good version. I'm thinking of the "Summer's Gone" vibe.
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Post by Kapitan on May 18, 2021 13:55:16 GMT
I put on the Flame's self-titled 1970 album a little while ago. It had been quite a while, and I'm enjoying it much more than I remember back when I first heard it (and quickly set it aside) some 15-20 years ago. I guess that was the nadir of my rock appreciation, so it just felt corny in its rawk to me then.
As I listen now, it's so much easier to imagine Carl Wilson a few years later talking about wanting to rock: one imagines he might have had in mind something approaching an updated version of this.
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Post by Kapitan on May 19, 2021 17:45:30 GMT
Here is a link to the full playlist of Beached, btw.
I listened to maybe half a dozen songs while doing other things. I will go back to it and really listen, but I have to say, there are times when I swear Ricci is trying to imitate Carl's voice. There is something in the phrasing that on occasion is like listening to any one of dozens of anonymous late '90s and early '00s post-grunge singers doing his best Eddie Vedder impression.
But of course, people who can channel Carl Wilson are few and far between. My impression was, this album is kind of a preview of what was to come on LA.
OK, I've fully listened to Ricci Martin's Beached a couple of times, and a few of the songs a couple more times still. But what I wrote in the above post holds true.
It really sounds like Martin is copying Carl, to the extent that I wonder whether Carl did some guide vocals that he imitated. (If so, I'd really love to hear those!) But the album is just OK, especially if you're into that soft-rock, latter-70s sort of thing you heard from Dennis and Carl in particular.
Overall, it strikes me as the kind of album that is nice enough when you discover it, especially if you've exhausted the Beach Boys catalog. But it's not some kind of lost masterpiece, by any means. The single "Stop Look Around" might be the best song on there. It's also one of the more energetic ones, which tells you a lot about the album. (Was Mr. Martin a fan of quaaludes? I know this was the '70s...)
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Post by Kapitan on May 20, 2021 15:46:09 GMT
A new story on the upcoming album Van Dyke Parks Orchestrates Veronica Valerio: Only in America.
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Post by Kapitan on May 21, 2021 15:48:09 GMT
Having listened to the Flame's 1970 a handful of times this week, "Lady" is the song that has really stuck in my head. I can imagine a Beach Boys version of it, too: it would have been right in line with the rootsier, down-home feeling Holland material, for example. The background vocals are Beatlesque, but the BBs certainly could have made them their own.
That said, I love this song even as it is. It doesn't have to be transformed. Lyrics are about as basic as they could be, but it's not high-art poetry, anyway. (I'd take this over a Robinson Jeffers poem in a pop song anyday.)
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