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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2021 11:50:01 GMT
In June 1969, the Beach Boys were not selling records or drawing big crowds or making money on tour, especially in America. In April, they sued Capitol for $2 million (over $14 million in today's dollars) for unpaid royalties. Brian Wilson even said in an interview that he hoped the band's next single would help solve the financial mess, and that the band had considered declaring bankruptcy. (This was denied by manager Nick Grillo.) That single on which Brian claimed to be pinning his hopes was what was to become their final single of the decade as well as their final single for Capitol Records, "Break Away."
Wilson wrote the song with his father, who used the pseudonym Reggie Dunbar. A lyric of personal emancipation, it could be interpreted on that level, or metaphorically as the band's impending departure from their label. Wilson himself at different times credited his inspiration with the host's use of the phrase "we're going to break away for a minute and then we'll be right back" and with the Monkees.
Not at hit in the US--it peaked at #63 in the US, though it did reach #6 in the UK--the song began appearing on greatest hits collections and in live sets in later years.
The B-side was Dennis's "Celebrate the News," co-written with Gregg Jakobson.
Please discuss and rate "Break Away" backed with "Celebrate the News."
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Post by jk on Jul 12, 2021 12:38:49 GMT
This is one of those few BB 45s I have no trouble with, not least because it's unrelated to an album.
Two fantastic sides here. "Break Away" must break a record (no multiple puns intended) as the experts (JH among them) place the number of voices on board at around thirty!
"Celebrate The News" must be one of the greatest least-known BB songs around. That tempo change towards the end is a stroke of genius.
A resounding ten.
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Post by carllove on Jul 12, 2021 12:43:52 GMT
I bought the Beach Boys Rarities just because I wanted to hear Celebrate the News. Then I bought the twofer Friends - 20/20 so I could hear both songs on CD. I would not have done that if I didn't love both songs. Breakaway is one of my top 10 Beach Boys songs. It's a 10 for me!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2021 17:58:09 GMT
"Break Away" has been one of my favorites for years, and I really like "Celebrate the News," so it's a low 9 (which I consider a very high score) for me.
I get Al's point--is that in the Hawthorne comp notes?--that the song wasn't quite fully produced. It's crazy, because as jk notes, they put a hell of a lot of voices on there, and obviously it's also got brass on it. So it's not as if this is a lightly touched-up piano demo or something. I believe he was specifically talking about the ending, and I do get that. But even beyond that, as much as I love the song, I do also feel like it could have been something more ... though I'm not sure how.
"Celebrate the News" is really a cool song. In a way it is the prototypical B-side in my imagination, a really cool song that wasn't ever included on an album (in its time) and people forgot, more or less. But then what fun when you discover it. It's nowhere near my favorite Beach Boys songs, but it's certainly a good one.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 12, 2021 19:00:44 GMT
...as much as I love the song, I do also feel like it could have been something more ... though I'm not sure how. The above quote from Kapitan just about sums up my opinion about "Break Away". I like the song a lot (I don't know if I love it). It has everything good - intro, verse, chorus, lyrics, and tag. However, even with all of that, and a fine vocal performance to boot, there is something missing. Was Brian losing his magic touch? Brian was still making Beach Boyish music, though that would soon change in about a year. I think he was trying to make hit singles; I guess "Break Away" deserved better. The fans were deserting him and the group. It would still get worse, again in about a year. How bizarre was it that Brian was working with Murry. It wouldn't be long before Murry sold the catalogue. Did or didn't Brian know it? Even if he did know it, was he competent enough to understand the ramifications?
"Celebrate The News" is a cool song. Like Brian, Dennis wasn't afraid to take chances. Dennis (or Gregg Jakobson) wrote some lyrics that were of the time(s). "Celebrate The News" walks that line of sounding like a Beach Boys song AND a Dennis Wilson song. Brian is very prominent on the song with his high voice, and that wouldn't last much longer either. "Celebrate The News" really picks up steam; Dennis could write tags, too. Damn, Dennis could've done a great solo album in 1969-1972.
I like the fact that Brian and the group released two songs that weren't on an album. Fans of 45s really appreciated that. It's kind of like the opposite of releasing singles where both the A-side and the B-side ARE on the album. This is a solid if not spectacular single. I think I would give both songs an 8, which would give my ranking...an 8.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2021 19:07:32 GMT
Damn, Dennis could've done a great solo album in 1969-1972. I agree with this. I know I probably seem like I hate Dennis because I don't hold him in as high of esteem as others often do, but that isn't the case at all. I do like a lot of his music, and I like his contributions to the band on other people's songs too. But yes, that period, he had a lot happening. And he hadn't yet sunk into what I hear in his music as the languor of his later years. His material was still varied, vibrant.
"Celebrate the News" would certainly make my single-disc Dennis best-of comp. (You know, I've never made a Dennis comp...)
I like the fact that Brian and the group released two songs that weren't on an album. Fans of 45s really appreciated that. It's kind of like the opposite of releasing singles where both the A-side and the B-side ARE on the album. This is a solid if not spectacular single. I think I would give both songs an 8, which would give my ranking...an 8. I like it, too, actually. I know I mentioned this somewhere else--I forget where exactly--but in my era singles just didn't matter other than videos and, to a lesser extent, radio. So you didn't think of them as things to buy and own. For me, that puts everything into a different context. But putting myself in that mindset of having gone out and bought a 45, it's so obvious how cool that would be to have that special thing, those two songs, and then getting an album of 8, 9, 10 other songs. Even if it had one, not both! That does indeed feel a bit like (as I know the Beatles said early on) a bit of a rip-off to the fans.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 12, 2021 20:07:47 GMT
Breakaway is a song that, when it comes on - usually when I am listening to Spirit of America - immediately makes me pay attention. Of course, as I've said over and over like a broken record, I love anything that has Carl singing lead. It's not exactly the Beach Boys of 1964/65 - but it is identifiably the Beach Boys. I think it should have been a hit. Was stoked to find a copy of the 45 last year in a music store - NM condition, 50 cents. Celebrate the News is one of those Dennis songs that I just don't get what the fuss is about. First heard it on the 1983 Beach Boys Rarities album. I don't hate it, but it just doesn't grab me one way or the other. That's the way I feel about a lot of Dennis songs - Be With Me, Never Learn Not to Love, Make it Good..half of POB. Breakaway gets a 10 from me; Celebrate, maybe a 5....not sure....so I'm gonna give the record an 8.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2021 20:15:31 GMT
Celebrate the News is one of those Dennis songs that I just don't get what the fuss is about. First heard it on the 1983 Beach Boys Rarities album. I don't hate it, but it just doesn't grab me one way or the other. That's the way I feel about a lot of Dennis songs - Be With Me, Never Learn Not to Love, Make it Good..half of POB. Obviously this is all just taste, so I don't mean it in a right/wrong way at all, but I think it's funny that of the ones you mentioned, I'd say something along the lines of what you say about "Celebrate the News." I also like about half of POB, but I wonder how closely our halves would match up: they may just be opposites.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2021 23:53:10 GMT
their final single for Capitol Records, "Break Away."
Wasn't "Cotton Fields" on Capitol in 1970? Anyway, I can't give this single anything less than a 10. There's something so...perfect....about it, even though I'm not sure I consider "Celebrate the News" a full 10 ("Break Away" is, without a doubt a 10). But something about "Celebrate" makes it the quintessential B-side. I can't really explain it. The fact that these two songs never originally had a home on an album makes this somewhat of a gem. It stands on its own. "Break Away" is a true classic. It should have been up there at #1 like "Good Vibrations". Wouldn't that have pissed Capitol off? "They're at #1 again...and there they go....." I've never fully understood the "underproduced" aspect of the song. Brian knew when to back off and bring things down a bit. Mark Linett's remix with all the extra tracks is interesting, but it doesn't make the song better. I listen to it once in awhile but I still prefer the original.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 13, 2021 0:02:13 GMT
Totally agree about the "ultimate B-sideness" (as a big compliment) of "Celebrate the News."
As for Al's comments on "Break Away," on one hand (because I do feel like I am missing something ... even though I love it and cannot specify what I'm missing) I get it. But on the other, I note that Al is a notorious tinkerer. One suspects that, given his druthers, "Sloop John B" would be nearing its debut, finally finished after all this time.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 13, 2021 0:06:11 GMT
Wasn't "Cotton Fields" on Capitol in 1970? Yes. My ignorance AND laziness are highlighted! I've been going by U.S. releases as noted in the Wiki page for discography, and when I saw that the next single would be on the new label, I didn't know any different and just (lazily) assumed that was that.
Appreciate the correction. I've got to say, the focus on singles in this thread as well as considering them in the Beatles discography thread, I am absolutely learning a ton as to how things unfolded in history. My focus has always been albums.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2021 0:15:52 GMT
Wasn't "Cotton Fields" on Capitol in 1970? Yes. My ignorance AND laziness are highlighted! I've been going by U.S. releases as noted in the Wiki page for discography, and when I saw that the next single would be on the new label, I didn't know any different and just (lazily) assumed that was that.
Appreciate the correction. I've got to say, the focus on singles in this thread as well as considering them in the Beatles discography thread, I am absolutely learning a ton as to how things unfolded in history. My focus has always been albums.
It's interesting how singles and albums are two very different animals (at least they were, back in those days). My early exposure to rock music was through the radio and singles. Occasionally I would get adventurous and check out the B-side. Sometimes I was pleasantly surprised. BTW, I didn't buy my first rock album until I was in high school. It was the Police--Ghost in the Machine.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 13, 2021 0:22:14 GMT
Whereas my first rock purchase was indeed an album, and I was 11. It was 1987. It was (cue the dramatic, anthemic music) Europe's The Final Countdown. (And Stryper's To Hell With the Devil.)
For me, singles were just videos on MTV, available for free.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 13, 2021 0:56:20 GMT
I'm a little surprised at the high praise for "Break Away" (already three 10s). As I posted, I like the song a lot, but I rate it as only good/very good. Brian wrote a really good song and it was sung well, as usual, by Carl and the group. Greatness? I don't hear it. I'm not blown away by it like some BB/BW songs. I don't think it's the production; there's nothing wrong with the production. I mentioned in my post that it lacks the "Brian magic". By that I mean the songwriting and arrangements. sockit mentioned "Break Away" in the same breath as "Good Vibrations". i think it's a whole notch below that, but I certainly respect all the opinions.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 13, 2021 1:00:39 GMT
Yes. My ignorance AND laziness are highlighted! I've been going by U.S. releases as noted in the Wiki page for discography, and when I saw that the next single would be on the new label, I didn't know any different and just (lazily) assumed that was that.
Appreciate the correction. I've got to say, the focus on singles in this thread as well as considering them in the Beatles discography thread, I am absolutely learning a ton as to how things unfolded in history. My focus has always been albums.
It's interesting how singles and albums are two very different animals (at least they were, back in those days). My early exposure to rock music was through the radio and singles. Occasionally I would get adventurous and check out the B-side. Sometimes I was pleasantly surprised. Same here. The impact of radio and the 45 was incalculable. I didn't start buying albums until high school. I was never an "album guy", which is why I have to pass on many album discussions.
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