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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2021 11:46:53 GMT
A relatively rare Carl Wilson composition and his first single, "Long Promised Road" was a collaboration with Jack Rieley. The band released it as a single just a month or so after it was recorded, in May 1971, backed with "Deirdre," one of the Sunflower tracks not yet released as a single. The B-side was primarily a Bruce Johnston composition, with some input from Brian Wilson. While the music itself has a pre-rock feel typical of Johnston, it includes modern production techniques giving it an almost spacey feel. Neither single nor B-side charted.
In August 1971, the band released their next album, Surf's Up. Two months later, they released their next single, which was again "Long Promised Road," this time backed with Brian Wilson's "Til I Die," taken from the new album. That song has come to be considered one of Wilson's best moments in the '70s, indeed of the post-hits era of his career. Laying out metaphors showcasing the irrelevance of the narrator in comparison to the wider world, it could be seen as depressing or spiritually liberating.
This second release of "Long Promised Road" reached #89 on the Billboard charts.
Please rate and discuss "Long Promised Road" backed with "Deirdre" and "Til I Die."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 23, 2021 12:29:17 GMT
If it wasn't so sad it would be comical. Releasing a single where the A-side ("Long Promised Road") was from an album that was almost four months away. And, matching that with a B-side ("Deidre") from an album that was over eight months old. I apologize for repeating myself, but The Beach Boys and their record companies (pick any one) didn't have a clue.
I don't know what would've been the best song to choose from Surf's Up as a single. "Long Promised Road" is a good song, not a great one. Carl sings it well and the lyrics don't bother me too much. It's not exactly Beach Boyish but I think they wanted to change. There are starts and stops which hurt but don't disqualify it.
I'm not a fan of "Deidre" though it has grown on me. They were starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel of Sunflower. Let's be honest, how many...people...were excited to see "Deidre" as the B-side of the new Beach Boys' single in may 1971?
"'Til I Die" is an easy one. A great, great song and, if they didn't release it as an A-side, then a B-side would be fine. Just let it be heard.
I often wonder what "Disney Girls" would've done as a single in 1971, with the singer-songwriter coming to the forefront. It's one of the best songs on Surf's Up.
Do we combine our ratings on this one? "Long Promised Road"/"Deidre" gets a 3 because of the timing of the release and the weakness of "Deidre". "Long Promised Road"/"'Til I Die" gets an 8 based on the strength of "'Til I Die" (which is a 10). What box do I check?
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2021 12:55:57 GMT
Do we combine our ratings on this one? "Long Promised Road"/"Deidre" gets a 3 because of the timing of the release and the weakness of "Deidre". "Long Promised Road"/"'Til I Die" gets an 8 based on the strength of "'Til I Die" (which is a 10). What box do I check? Yeah, sorry: I realize rating will be tricky. But I figured if we did LPR/D, and then LPR/TID, that would be a bit excessive. Two full weeks on LPR+[other]? So I guess just average them out as best you can.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 23, 2021 12:57:23 GMT
Do we combine our ratings on this one? "Long Promised Road"/"Deidre" gets a 3 because of the timing of the release and the weakness of "Deidre". "Long Promised Road"/"'Til I Die" gets an 8 based on the strength of "'Til I Die" (which is a 10). What box do I check? Yeah, sorry: I realize rating will be tricky. But I figured if we did LPR/D, and then LPR/TID, that would be a bit excessive. Two full weeks on LPR+[other]? So I guess just average them out as best you can. OK, I'll go with a 6.
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Post by jk on Aug 23, 2021 12:57:32 GMT
Got to give this trio a ten -- but as album tracks. I only really started paying attention to the gorgeous "LPR" when I bought the twofer. Whenever I had the LP around I generally only played side two, as I was obsessed with all the tracks on that side. The synth texture when Carl sings "Long Promised Road" is utterly out of this world. The "barking" synth next time round is none too shabby either. "TID"... I was in a fragile state when I first heard it and it gave me some light in the darkness. I'd always found something curious about the harmonies that I couldn't quite place, until I learnt it was because Brian was going for symmetrically shaped piano chords. As for "Deirdre", I rewrote the lyrics for my late pen pal, who didn't feel up to reading them at the time... Three wonderful tracks full of memories.
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Post by kds on Aug 23, 2021 13:00:00 GMT
I like Long Promised Road a lot. I'm not sure I'd rate it a classic, or consider it a potential hit single, or even a great song to use as a title for a Brian Wilson documentary. I'm also not sure that Surf's Up has an obvious single. I think I mentioned earlier, but Sunflower and Surf's Up are both really solid albums that lack obvious singles like they had in the 60s. I suppose LPR makes sense since it's upbeat with a memorable chorus.
Onto the B sides. Deidre's not a single. Good song, but....yeah. Til I Die is a classic. Probably not the type of song folks would expect from The Beach Boys.
I'd probably give LPR / Diedre a 7 and LPR / Til I Die an 8.
I'll split the difference and round up to an 8.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2021 13:39:45 GMT
I don't know about rating yet--I like putting that off until I've relistened, discussed, reconsidered (waffled?)--but I actually think "Long Promised Road" is a good choice for a single.
Clearly you can second-guess that, because it didn't chart the first time and barely cracked the Top 100 the second time. So, no, it wasn't "Good Vibrations." But I think the propulsive refrain is hooky enough to catch people's attention, especially in contrast to the beautiful, softer verses. I can imagine this being one of those songs that comes on the radio and you can't wait for the chorus.
I wasn't around in the early '70s, so I can't really say how it would have sounded at the time. But in hindsight, anyway, I like it--including as a single. Pairing it with "Til I Die" seems like a great two-sided single, honestly. (I like "Deirdre" quite a bit, but don't see that as much as a single, even a B-side.)
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Post by kds on Aug 23, 2021 13:49:21 GMT
I think it's probably the best choice for a single from the Surf's Up album. But, I'm still not sure how great of a "single" it is. But, I'm probably overthinking it.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2021 14:03:55 GMT
I think it's probably the best choice for a single from the Surf's Up album. But, I'm still not sure how great of a "single" it is. But, I'm probably overthinking it. Right. I think it's one of those things that in the end is just an after-the-fact thing. Had it done better (which I can imagine), we'd say it was a cool choice for a single. It did poorly, so it was a bad choice!
It is certainly one of the starkest departures from their classic sound, though. I think more than the semi-RnB of the Wild Honey songs, the cheesy pop of "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," the driving bright pop of "This Whole World," or even the Smile-sourced "Cool Cool Water," "Long Promised Road" just didn't sound like the Beach Boys.
It might be the first single that would make a listener (even one who was somewhat familiar with the Beach Boys) ask, "Cool song: who is that!?"
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Post by kds on Aug 23, 2021 16:52:43 GMT
I think it's probably the best choice for a single from the Surf's Up album. But, I'm still not sure how great of a "single" it is. But, I'm probably overthinking it. Right. I think it's one of those things that in the end is just an after-the-fact thing. Had it done better (which I can imagine), we'd say it was a cool choice for a single. It did poorly, so it was a bad choice!
It is certainly one of the starkest departures from their classic sound, though. I think more than the semi-RnB of the Wild Honey songs, the cheesy pop of "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," the driving bright pop of "This Whole World," or even the Smile-sourced "Cool Cool Water," "Long Promised Road" just didn't sound like the Beach Boys.
It might be the first single that would make a listener (even one who was somewhat familiar with the Beach Boys) ask, "Cool song: who is that!?"
The Beach Boys have a few songs like that in the early 70s.
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Post by lonelysummer on Aug 23, 2021 19:53:51 GMT
LPR was the only BB's song Carl played on his first solo tour in 1981 (later on, he added Darlin'), so it was clearly a special song to him. It's a special song to me, too, all that talk about hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, knock down all the road blocks stumblin' me....story of my life. It's a great track, but we're still in that era where the Beach Boys were not crafting hit singles - and I'm okay with that. They already had more hit singles than nearly anyone not named Elvis or the Beatles. Nothing wrong with shifting the focus to albums. Till I Die is a classic, and again, it was never gonna be a hit single. Was this the last work of real genius from Brian? Dierdre always struck me as oh so cutsie; cute name, cute song...and my least favorite song from Sunflower. So my overall rating is gonna be an 8.
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Post by kds on Aug 23, 2021 20:05:12 GMT
LPR was the only BB's song Carl played on his first solo tour in 1981 (later on, he added Darlin'), so it was clearly a special song to him. It's a special song to me, too, all that talk about hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, knock down all the road blocks stumblin' me....story of my life. It's a great track, but we're still in that era where the Beach Boys were not crafting hit singles - and I'm okay with that. They already had more hit singles than nearly anyone not named Elvis or the Beatles. Nothing wrong with shifting the focus to albums. Till I Die is a classic, and again, it was never gonna be a hit single. Was this the last work of real genius from Brian? Dierdre always struck me as oh so cutsie; cute name, cute song...and my least favorite song from Sunflower. So my overall rating is gonna be an 8. That might not have been a bad direction to go in during this era. But, I think either the band, or the label both, were a little stuck in the past.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2021 22:58:50 GMT
I really like Long Promised Road and Deirdre is one of my favorite post-Pet Sounds songs, but, for the 2719172th time on this thread series, it's a weird single. I'm not sure how to rate this as a 45, really. If I were to rate the songs individually, I'd give LPR a strong 6 or 7 and Deirdre an 8 or even a 9 depending on the day. The latter is my 2nd favorite song on Sunflower and is, imo, one of the 5 most well produced post-Smile BB songs. 'Til I Die is a good song as well, but I don't see greatness in it at all. Never did. It's not on this level for me. Probably a low 6. I'll give this single a 7 for now. This is the most interesting take I've seen. Not just here, I mean in a long time. Definitely not conventional but totally believable. Love it.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 24, 2021 2:27:13 GMT
for the 2719172th time on this thread series, it's a weird single.
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Post by jk on Aug 24, 2021 10:50:27 GMT
for the 2719172th time on this thread series, it's a weird single. I like the "th"!
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