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Post by Kapitan on Jul 26, 2021 11:40:17 GMT
Three of the Beach Boys’ past four singles held the honor of worst-charting single since “Surfin’.” In April 1970, the band released on Capitol Records a remake of their cover of “Cotton Fields,” which had been on 20/20 a year before, now titled “Cottonfields.”
That single “outperformed” those disappointments in the U.S. by peaking at #103 on Billboard. Around the world, however, the single was a success. It was a Top Five hit in much of Northern Europe and Australia, and performed well elsewhere.
Al Jardine arranged and produced the single version of the song, using the Beach Boys and the touring band at the heart of the recording as opposed to Wrecking Crew musicians employed for Wilson’s album version. A key supplementary musician to the single was “Red” Rhodes on pedal steel.
The B-side was another 20/20 song, Bruce Johnston’s instrumental “The Nearest Faraway Place.” The recording dates from early summer 1968.
Throughout the first half of 1970, the band continued work on music intended for what became Sunflower.
Please rate and discuss “Cottonfields” backed with “The Nearest Faraway Place.”
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Post by kds on Jul 26, 2021 12:36:41 GMT
I'm going with a seven here. I think Cottonfields is a good cover, but I never really thought it was anything more than that.
I've gone on record as a big time defender of Nearest Faraway Place, as one of my favorite BB instrumentals. I've said it before, and I'll likely say it again. I think it would be far more revered among BB fans if the credit read "B. Wilson" instead of "B. Johnston." But, even as a B side, this is a pretty baffling choice.
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Post by carllove on Jul 26, 2021 13:16:57 GMT
I think "The Nearest Faraway Place" is a beautiful piece of music, so it saves my rating of this pair, as I can't stand "Cottonfields". At least this version is better than the 20/20 version, or I would mark the lot down another number. So I give this a 7.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 26, 2021 13:31:24 GMT
I'm going 7 as well, but from a different angle.
I like "Cottonfields" quite a bit. (I actually liked "Cotton Fields," too, but not quite as much.) I'd give it an 8 or so, maybe even a little more.
But yes, I'm in that vocal crowd of non-fans of "Nearest Faraway Place." I actually agree with KDS that if it were by Brian Wilson, it probably would get a lot more praise ... but that doesn't change my opinion of it! (Would it? I like to think not: there are specific aspects of it that I dislike, regardless of who wrote it). But there is no way to know for sure, and we are left with what we have.
Regardless, it's a baffling choice for a single, even a B-side. I assume that, this being the final Capitol single, they had to look back to the music done under the Capitol contract, hence a 20/20 song instead of something from the upcoming Sunflower. And about half of that album had already been released as singles. But my goodness, something else--anything else--would have made more sense. I'll say for I suppose the thirtieth or fortieth time, why not "Time to Get Alone?"
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2021 23:58:03 GMT
I'm going with an 8 on this one, mostly on the strength of "Cottonfields". I really like this version. The busy, driving percussion, bass, and pedal steel make for a great track. I find the 20/20 version very underwhelming and boring. Even CCR's version is fairly lackluster, IMO. And I'm a CCR fan.
"The Nearest Faraway Place" is certainly not a bad tune. I wouldn't quite put it on the same level as "Let's Go Away for Awhile", but it's anywhere as good as "Summer Means New Love". I find "NFP" quite pleasant. The problem, as I see it, is that it always seems a bit out of synch with any BB's songs that are associated with it. Honestly, it does stick out on 20/20, and yes, it doesn't quite fit with "Cottonfields". It's hard to explain.
I'm with Kapitan. For the love of God Only Knows, why could they never manage to get "Time to Get Alone" on a ferstuckina single? ? ? ? WHY?
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 27, 2021 6:26:11 GMT
Can't rate this any higher than a 6. Nearest Faraway Place has always sounded like muzak to me. It's pleasant enough in the background, but that's all. Amazing to think that this keyboard playing came from "hands of the keys, clap and adjust the mic" Bruce. I wonder if he could even play something this complex now? I like this Cottonfields better than Cotton Fields (did I get it right). Yup, you read me right. Al made a better record of it than The Genius did. Still, it's not one of the classic Beach Boys singles. Probably didn't help that Creedence Clearwater Revival had just recorded the song on Willy and the Poor Boys. This version was introduced to me on Beach Boys Rarities, fall 1983. I still play that album occasionally.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 28, 2021 12:21:10 GMT
Does anyone prefer the Wilson-produced 20/20 album version to the single under discussion here? So far it seems not. (And I'm in agreement, the single is better.)
What is wrong with the album version, or right with the single?
The album version is surprisingly light on background or harmony vocals for a Wilson production. I like how Al's version uses the guys more in that respect.
I also prefer the opening of the single, the pedal steel and fully present voice, to the "fade in" effect of the heavily reverb'd opening on the album version. In fact, "presence" is a word I'd use generally on Al's version. It feels sharper, it's brighter, more generally trebly.
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Post by kds on Jul 28, 2021 12:34:15 GMT
Does anyone prefer the Wilson-produced 20/20 album version to the single under discussion here? So far it seems not. (And I'm in agreement, the single is better.)
What is wrong with the album version, or right with the single?
The album version is surprisingly light on background or harmony vocals for a Wilson production. I like how Al's version uses the guys more in that respect.
I also prefer the opening of the single, the pedal steel and fully present voice, to the "fade in" effect of the heavily reverb'd opening on the album version. In fact, "presence" is a word I'd use generally on Al's version. It feels sharper, it's brighter, more generally trebly.
For me, it's probably more about your later point. I really don't like the intro to the album version.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 29, 2021 0:19:51 GMT
I really don't care for "Cottonfields (The Cotton Song)" that much. Can't forget "The Cotton Song" part. The single version is better for the reasons mentioned above, but I'll add something else. I really like the "bow bow bows" from Mike, and at the 2:20 mark, Brian (I think it's Brian) comes in with this "dit dit dit" using his old, high voice! It makes the song, the single version, for me. That being said, I can take or leave "Cottonfields". I mean, it's OK, it's not a bad song/take. I just think the Beach Boys were getting a little sloppy with their choices of covers. "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" was a bad choice, and, maybe if it would've been released, "Old Man River" was nothing special either, IMO of course. What's up with all these folk songs anyway? "Cottonfields" does not make my Greatest Hits - Vol. 1 comp (an 80 min. CD) and sometimes gets bumped from Vol. 2. It's hard to believe it charted so high overseas.
I guess I'm in the minority with "The Nearest Faraway Place", too, but I've always liked the song. Like kds said - and as I have said numerous times on BB message boards - if "The Nearest Faraway Place" would've been written by B. Wilson, it would be considered "a piece of music", SMiLE-like, compared to "Let's Go Away For Awhile", and would be ranked higher than a Bruce-penned song. "The Nearest Faraway Place" is sequenced so bad on the album. It should've been around "Time To Get Alone", "I Can Hear Music", and especially "I Went To Seep". It would fit nicely right before "Our Prayer" actually.
I was gonna give this single a 5. It's nothing special despite my affection for "The Nearest Faraway Place", but because they had the guts to put that song on the B-side - and give it more exposure - and because they took the time to record an additional, better single version of "Cottonfields", I raised my ranking to a 6.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 29, 2021 12:09:16 GMT
I really like the "bow bow bows" from Mike, and at the 2:20 mark, Brian (I think it's Brian) comes in with this "dit dit dit" using his old, high voice! It makes the song, the single version, for me. The backgrounds' prominence, including those characteristic parts, are absolutely highlights. The bridge has so much more life in Al's version, and then the little (mostly) instrumental breakdown after it that features vocals so much in Al's but is basically just Brian's piano on the 20/20 version... Al's just pops! There is something of a "classic American songbook" feel to Brian's (and one would guess Al's) taste in those couple Smile-to-20/20 years that quite frankly I love! To me it has always been a favorite time of Brian's music, with the biggest disappointment being there isn't more of it. Whether folk, country, or Tin Pan Alley, whether covers or originals, I love it and consider it some of his more interesting efforts (even if it didn't really succeed).
To me, this is a good glimpse at Brian's innovation and experimentation, a glimpse at how he was avant garde. It was in his treatment of not just existing, but old and "corny" forms. While Frank Zappa (Edgar Varese fan) was doing Uncle Meat, Brian Wilson (Rosemary Clooney fan) was reworking "Old Man River." Both brilliant, both geniuses in their way, but Wilson's influences were the squarest of the square (to a certain psychedelic or progressive mindset). And they always were, and still are.
All this to say, while I don't think any version of "Old Man River" would make sense as a single, I loved the efforts and wish they'd finished something. And much more along those lines.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 29, 2021 16:45:13 GMT
I really like the "bow bow bows" from Mike, and at the 2:20 mark, Brian (I think it's Brian) comes in with this "dit dit dit" using his old, high voice! It makes the song, the single version, for me. The backgrounds' prominence, including those characteristic parts, are absolutely highlights. The bridge has so much more life in Al's version, and then the little (mostly) instrumental breakdown after it that features vocals so much in Al's but is basically just Brian's piano on the 20/20 version... Al's just pops! There is something of a "classic American songbook" feel to Brian's (and one would guess Al's) taste in those couple Smile-to-20/20 years that quite frankly I love! To me it has always been a favorite time of Brian's music, with the biggest disappointment being there isn't more of it. Whether folk, country, or Tin Pan Alley, whether covers or originals, I love it and consider it some of his more interesting efforts (even if it didn't really succeed).
To me, this is a good glimpse at Brian's innovation and experimentation, a glimpse at how he was avant garde. It was in his treatment of not just existing, but old and "corny" forms. While Frank Zappa (Edgar Varese fan) was doing Uncle Meat, Brian Wilson (Rosemary Clooney fan) was reworking "Old Man River." Both brilliant, both geniuses in their way, but Wilson's influences were the squarest of the square (to a certain psychedelic or progressive mindset). And they always were, and still are.
All this to say, while I don't think any version of "Old Man River" would make sense as a single, I loved the efforts and wish they'd finished something. And much more along those lines.
I don't know if anything could make me appreciate Brian's "folk music" of the late 60's more, but this is something I mentioned in beachboystalkmatt's thread that would've helped, and that's more participation from The Wrecking Crew. Let's go back to "Sloop John B". While I never have the guts to list it in my Top Ten Beach Boys' songs, it might have a home there. Brian took a folk song (and most versions of that song are pretty straightforward), and created a studio masterpiece with the help of several brilliant musicians. Yes, Brian led the way, coming up with most of the arrangements, but probably not all of them. He always accepted input from his studio musicians, and many times it led to something special that Brian didn't necessarily come up with, though he...approved it. Now we come to some of his "folksy", outdoorsy post-Pet Sounds and SMiLE covers, and I don't get the same feeling, the same rush, the same fulfillment. They sound so much simpler. Was Brian going for THAT sound, or did he simply accept it because that's all he had to work with and didn't want to rock the boat, meaning "I guess I'll have to record in this home studio with reduced musicians." Maybe - just maybe - if Brian would've turned his folk music and the simpler Smiley Smile/Wild Honey/Friends tracks into more dynamic productions, I would appreciate them more. I mean, just listen to 20/20 where they placed "Cabinessence", which could be considered a folk/country/western song, and compare it to some of the simpler songs on the previous three albums. "Cabinessence" blows them away (actually it blows everything away ).
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Post by jk on Jul 30, 2021 12:02:07 GMT
I've liked Al's "Cottonfields" ever since it was released (it reached #2 in the UK) so I was doubly underwhelmed 30 years later by Brian's excessively laid-back version on 20/20. For some inexplicable reason I actually like the choice of B-side in this case! Which is why the combination gets nine out of ten from me.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 23:38:37 GMT
The backgrounds' prominence, including those characteristic parts, are absolutely highlights. The bridge has so much more life in Al's version, and then the little (mostly) instrumental breakdown after it that features vocals so much in Al's but is basically just Brian's piano on the 20/20 version... Al's just pops! There is something of a "classic American songbook" feel to Brian's (and one would guess Al's) taste in those couple Smile-to-20/20 years that quite frankly I love! To me it has always been a favorite time of Brian's music, with the biggest disappointment being there isn't more of it. Whether folk, country, or Tin Pan Alley, whether covers or originals, I love it and consider it some of his more interesting efforts (even if it didn't really succeed).
To me, this is a good glimpse at Brian's innovation and experimentation, a glimpse at how he was avant garde. It was in his treatment of not just existing, but old and "corny" forms. While Frank Zappa (Edgar Varese fan) was doing Uncle Meat, Brian Wilson (Rosemary Clooney fan) was reworking "Old Man River." Both brilliant, both geniuses in their way, but Wilson's influences were the squarest of the square (to a certain psychedelic or progressive mindset). And they always were, and still are.
All this to say, while I don't think any version of "Old Man River" would make sense as a single, I loved the efforts and wish they'd finished something. And much more along those lines.
I don't know if anything could make me appreciate Brian's "folk music" of the late 60's more, but this is something I mentioned in beachboystalkmatt's thread that would've helped, and that's more participation from The Wrecking Crew. Let's go back to "Sloop John B". While I never have the guts to list it in my Top Ten Beach Boys' songs, it might have a home there. Brian took a folk song (and most versions of that song are pretty straightforward), and created a studio masterpiece with the help of several brilliant musicians. Yes, Brian led the way, coming up with most of the arrangements, but probably not all of them. He always accepted input from his studio musicians, and many times it led to something special that Brian didn't necessarily come up with, though he...approved it. Now we come to some of his "folksy", outdoorsy post-Pet Sounds and SMiLE covers, and I don't get the same feeling, the same rush, the same fulfillment. They sound so much simpler. Was Brian going for THAT sound, or did he simply accept it because that's all he had to work with and didn't want to rock the boat, meaning "I guess I'll have to record in this home studio with reduced musicians." Maybe - just maybe - if Brian would've turned his folk music and the simpler Smiley Smile/Wild Honey/Friends tracks into more dynamic productions, I would appreciate them more. I mean, just listen to 20/20 where they placed "Cabinessence", which could be considered a folk/country/western song, and compare it to some of the simpler songs on the previous three albums. "Cabinessence" blows them away (actually it blows everything away ). Your mentioning of "Cabinessence" got me to thinking, was Brian's later attention to folk songs like "Cotton Fields" and "Old Man River" an attempt to keep his American Gothic theme going? This time with covers of American standards? Perhaps he thought "ok, Van Dyke's lyrics were pretty out there, maybe people will relate better to some good ol' American standards". Afterall, I'm sure he really wanted the Beach Boys to remain as "red white and blue" as possible.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 31, 2021 0:09:24 GMT
I don't know if anything could make me appreciate Brian's "folk music" of the late 60's more, but this is something I mentioned in beachboystalkmatt's thread that would've helped, and that's more participation from The Wrecking Crew. Let's go back to "Sloop John B". While I never have the guts to list it in my Top Ten Beach Boys' songs, it might have a home there. Brian took a folk song (and most versions of that song are pretty straightforward), and created a studio masterpiece with the help of several brilliant musicians. Yes, Brian led the way, coming up with most of the arrangements, but probably not all of them. He always accepted input from his studio musicians, and many times it led to something special that Brian didn't necessarily come up with, though he...approved it. Now we come to some of his "folksy", outdoorsy post-Pet Sounds and SMiLE covers, and I don't get the same feeling, the same rush, the same fulfillment. They sound so much simpler. Was Brian going for THAT sound, or did he simply accept it because that's all he had to work with and didn't want to rock the boat, meaning "I guess I'll have to record in this home studio with reduced musicians." Maybe - just maybe - if Brian would've turned his folk music and the simpler Smiley Smile/Wild Honey/Friends tracks into more dynamic productions, I would appreciate them more. I mean, just listen to 20/20 where they placed "Cabinessence", which could be considered a folk/country/western song, and compare it to some of the simpler songs on the previous three albums. "Cabinessence" blows them away (actually it blows everything away ). Your mentioning of "Cabinessence" got me to thinking, was Brian's later attention to folk songs like "Cotton Fields" and "Old Man River" an attempt to keep his American Gothic theme going? This time with covers of American standards? Perhaps he thought "ok, Van Dyke's lyrics were pretty out there, maybe people will relate better to some good ol' American standards". Afterall, I'm sure he really wanted the Beach Boys to remain as "red white and blue" as possible. I think Brian's appreciation and exploration of American folk music was legitimate. Remember, he did semi-cover Stephen Foster on the Surfer Girl album. If he would've finished and included "Ol' Man River" on 20/20, they could've had a neat folk music ending to the album:
- Cotton Fields - Cabin Essence - Old Folks At Home/Ol' Man River
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 31, 2021 2:31:57 GMT
I think traditional songs, whether old folk/country or urban Tin Pan Alley style music, are the biggest influence on him. Pre-rock music generally I would place at (to absurdly put a number on it) 60%, with rock and roll and other musics filling the remaining large minority.
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