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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 11:40:51 GMT
"Marcella" was released as the second single from Carl & the Passions: So Tough, backed with "Hold On Dear Brother," in late June 1972--five or six weeks after the album's and first single's release.
The song is musically based on ideas Brian Wilson had used for years but never found a home on releases: "All Dressed Up For School" in 1965 and "I Just Got My Pay" in 1970. The new version was a harder rocking sound than was typical of the group and featured lyrics by Jack Rieley about a masseuse with whom Wilson had apparently become infatuated.
The B-side was co-written by the two new members of the group, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, and was produced by Fataar. "Hold on Dear Brother," like the other Fataar/Chaplin co-write on the album, "Here She Comes," was a stark departure from what listeners would expect from the group. A long waltz ballad (with cleverly dropped beats keeping it interesting), it had a country feel including a pedal steel solo.
The single, as was the case with its predecessor, performed best in the Netherlands, where it reached #20. In the US, it topped out at #110. It did not chart elsewhere.
Please discuss and rate "Marcella" backed with "Hold On Dear Brother."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 13, 2021 12:52:08 GMT
It must've been frustrating for The Beach Boys in 1972. Look at the variety of singles they released since signing with Reprise, all with little to no success. So, they "give the people what they want" with "Marcella", and...another bomb. Yes, the Surf's Up album was met with some commercial and critical success, but I think the only fans The Beach Boys had left were old diehards. They just couldn't catch on with a new audience in the early/mid 70's, or to be more specific, with their new music. Question: Why didn't the fans attracted by Surf's Up follow through with Carl & The Passions?
Anyway, "Marcella" deserved a better fate. It's a good to very good song, not a great one. Decent melody, nice vocal by Carl, OK harmonies, and a tag that tries very hard. I think the production is lacking something. The song drags slightly and it could use a little more punch.
I know some people like "Hold On Dear Brother", but I'm not a fan. I'm not a Blondie/Ricky song fan. "Hold On Dear Brother" is Top 5 for the Least Beach Boys-Sounding Song. You can rationalize all you want but it's not Beach Boys' music. Maybe, maybe the harmonies on the "hold on dear brother" part but that's it. I always thought the song was about the problems Brian was having at the time, but I never read anything mentioning that so I guess it isn't.
I'll give "Marcella" an 8 but "Hold On Dear Brother" - a 4 or 5 maybe - brings it down. There were better songs for the B-side. How about a generous 7 based on the strength of "Marcella", but I reserve the right to change it.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 13:04:10 GMT
I liked Sheriff John Stone's post because I appreciate his perspective, but on this one I disagree on almost all counts!
Where we agree, though, is on the question: what happened to the (presumably new) fans who liked Surf's Up? But it also might be a bit of trying to impose too much of a narrative on the situation. After all, Surf's Up was much more successful than Sunflower, but it still only reached #29. And CATP landed at #50. So that's really not such a dramatic difference. As for the singles, we have to remember that the Surf's Up singles bombed, too: the highest charting from that album was "Long Promised Road" at #89. So it actually seems Surf's Up was more a return to live success and/or critical acclaim than anything else.
"Marcella" is a really good song, and I think it sounds like a single. I can imagine it being successful. It is probably my second favorite song on CATP after "Mess of Help." That it didn't perform is a mystery I can't solve.
"Hold On Dear Brother" is another one I really like. I understand (and wrote in the intro) that it's true it doesn't sound like classic Beach Boys. How could a semi-country waltz written by two relative outsiders and sung by one of those newbies sound like classic Beach Boys!? But I do think it is a part of the then-contemporary Beach Boys' sound. There are a handful of songs in those years--including those by Dennis and Carl, not just Blondie and Ricky--that don't sound like the classic sound. A decade into their career in a much different world than the one in which they first found fame, it's hard to blame them for the exploration/expansion. And since the results are good (to my ears), there's nothing to blame them for in the first place. But I do understand why people looking for a certain feeling or into a certain, more specific sound, might not like it.
In the end, I think this single is right up there with their better offerings of the previous couple of years. Unfortunately, despite my generally positive feelings about all those singles didn't result in a lot of success for them at the time.
One thing I definitely think is the sound could be better on these and throughout the album (and the subsequent one). I am really looking forward to that next copyright release with fresh mixes.
Most likely I'm going 7. I could see myself reaching for an 8 via rounding up.
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Post by kds on Sept 13, 2021 13:17:42 GMT
I'm going to give this single an 8.
I think Marcella was the best choice for a CATP single. It's got so many of those Beach Boys trademarks, while still sounding current for the time.
Hold On Dear Brother on the B side, has pretty much zero Beach Boys trademarks. But, as Sheriff and I discussed regarding Leaving This Town in another thread, I don't think that's a detriment. I think it's a far better song than many later ones where the band tried to emulate their classic sound. But, I can see why The Beach Boys doing a slow country song wouldn't be for everybody, so maybe not the best choice for a B side, but it's not like there's a ton of options on an eight song album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 13, 2021 13:18:00 GMT
I liked Sheriff John Stone 's post because I appreciate his perspective, but on this one I disagree on almost all counts!
Huh? We agree on almost everything. We agree on the question about keeping up the momentum of the Surf's Up album. We agree that "Marcella" is a really good song. And, our final rating (a 7, for now anyway) is the same!
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 13:30:15 GMT
I liked Sheriff John Stone 's post because I appreciate his perspective, but on this one I disagree on almost all counts!
Huh? We agree on almost everything. We agree on the question about keeping up the momentum of the Surf's Up album. We agree that "Marcella" is a really good song. And, our final rating (a 7, for now anyway) is the same! Not quite. I think I like "Marcella" more than you, and I DEFINITELY like "Hold On Dear Brother" a lot more than you do. I think I also argue more toward some of the veering away from the classic sound than you do. And while at first I agree about the Surf's Up momentum, I eventually conclude there wasn't really much momentum to continue in the first place.
So we're not quite cats and dogs fighting, but I think there's definitely daylight between us on most points. Except conclusion (rating).
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 13, 2021 13:39:10 GMT
Where we agree, though, is on the question: what happened to the (presumably new) fans who liked Surf's Up? But it also might be a bit of trying to impose too much of a narrative on the situation. After all, Surf's Up was much more successful than Sunflower, but it still only reached #29. And CATP landed at #50. So that's really not such a dramatic difference.
I've seen it written various places that Carl & The Passions was hurt by being packaged with Pet Sounds because of the inevitable comparison. Well, that part might be true; the two albums are night and day. But, commercially or sales-wise, I think it had to help. After six years, there were probably a lot of BB fans who could use a brand-spanking new vinyl Pet Sounds, and new fans got to pick up the (Pet Sounds) album, 2 for 1.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 13:51:57 GMT
Yes, I would think at least with initial sales, assuming the price wasn't jacked because of it, that could have only helped, right? I'm not sure how available the original Pet Sounds was those five or six years later, but knowing things tended to go out of print and become hard to get sooner in those days, I'd think people who liked it might have been seeking a new copy anyway, and for others it could be a great introduction to the band's best, and somewhat underappreciated, album.
That said sure, once they listened to both, it's easy to imagine people thinking the toss-in freebie was better than the new one. (Though I suppose some fans of a certain kind of music would have thought the exact opposite!) But that would be more damage to the reputation, not sales: they'd already have it by then!
(Yes, over time, the damage to reputation [in print, radio] could have slowed those later sales. But not initial ones.)
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 14:59:27 GMT
Here is a hard rocking "Marcella" live from 1975 (according to the poster). Not the greatest sound quality but you get the idea.
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Post by kds on Sept 13, 2021 15:10:37 GMT
They do a good version on the In Concert album too.
Speaking of live stuff, I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but am I the only one who found it a little odd that Brian's band learned Hold On Dear Brother for the 2014 Soundstage Performance, just to only play it that one time? I thought that was one of the big highlights of that concert, and as I recall on the BB boards I was on at the time, a lot of fans felt the same. But, the song was never added to any setlists on subsequent tours.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 15:18:11 GMT
...am I the only one who found it a little odd that Brian's band learned Hold On Dear Brother for the 2014 Soundstage Performance, just to only play it that one time? I thought that was one of the big highlights of that concert, and as I recall on the BB boards I was on at the time, a lot of fans felt the same. But, the song was never added to any setlists on subsequent tours. AGREED (in all caps so you just know I mean it!). Really odd, especially since I doubt Nate Ruess knew or requested it, either. (Remember, when he did "Darlin," he said something like "now this one I know," as if he didn't know the other one.
Did they go to the trouble just to better integrate Ricky Fataar into the show? Or did they imagine they might perform it with someone else on lead vocal? (Matt? Darian? Blondie, if he was on that subsequent tour? I don't remember--but I think he was.)
It's one thing to learn some of the album's songs and not really perform them much, considering it was a showcase for that album. But to learn an obscure old song for a single performance does seem really strange.
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Post by kds on Sept 13, 2021 15:29:59 GMT
...am I the only one who found it a little odd that Brian's band learned Hold On Dear Brother for the 2014 Soundstage Performance, just to only play it that one time? I thought that was one of the big highlights of that concert, and as I recall on the BB boards I was on at the time, a lot of fans felt the same. But, the song was never added to any setlists on subsequent tours. AGREED (in all caps so you just know I mean it!). Really odd, especially since I doubt Nate Ruess knew or requested it, either. (Remember, when he did "Darlin," he said something like "now this one I know," as if he didn't know the other one.
Did they go to the trouble just to better integrate Ricky Fataar into the show? Or did they imagine they might perform it with someone else on lead vocal? (Matt? Darian? Blondie, if he was on that subsequent tour? I don't remember--but I think he was.)
It's one thing to learn some of the album's songs and not really perform them much, considering it was a showcase for that album. But to learn an obscure old song for a single performance does seem really strange.
And it would've been nice to mix up Blondie's portion of the Brian shows over the last 5-6 years. Or, here's a crazy idea, have him do Hold On as a fourth song. My other gripe about that Soundstage show is that Hold On Dear Brother was left off the CD companion to the show. I've have gladly taken it over another live version of Help Me Rhonda or Fun Fun Fun.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 13, 2021 15:39:52 GMT
While I support including it in live shows, there is this wrinkle: it's a ballad, or at least a slow song (is there a difference?), and Brian Wilson is the master of pop ballads. His set lists are going to include certain of them every time: "Surfer Girl," "God Only Knows," "Love and Mercy." At any time they may include "Don't Worry Baby," "In My Room," "Please Let Me Wonder," "Caroline No," "Kiss Me Baby." During the numerous Pet Sounds tours, you're adding "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)," "You Still Believe in Me," "Let's Go Away For Awhile," and "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times." Obviously the Smile shows (and some others where they featured that material) would include "Wonderful" as well as a few songs that have some ballad-like parts.
So you're in the rarity territory of "One Kind of Love" (played when it was new) and "The Night Was So Young," making it a dozen or so ballads down the list.
Even in a long live show, you're not going to want more than a handful of ballads or you risk killing momentum with the audience. So I can see it being caught up in the numbers game.
That said, I always will champion the rarities and would think it could rotate in and out of shows with some other less well known songs.
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Post by kds on Sept 13, 2021 16:01:00 GMT
While I support including it in live shows, there is this wrinkle: it's a ballad, or at least a slow song (is there a difference?), and Brian Wilson is the master of pop ballads. His set lists are going to include certain of them every time: "Surfer Girl," "God Only Knows," "Love and Mercy." At any time they may include "Don't Worry Baby," "In My Room," "Please Let Me Wonder," "Caroline No," "Kiss Me Baby." During the numerous Pet Sounds tours, you're adding "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)," "You Still Believe in Me," "Let's Go Away For Awhile," and "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times." Obviously the Smile shows (and some others where they featured that material) would include "Wonderful" as well as a few songs that have some ballad-like parts.
So you're in the rarity territory of "One Kind of Love" (played when it was new) and "The Night Was So Young," making it a dozen or so ballads down the list.
Even in a long live show, you're not going to want more than a handful of ballads or you risk killing momentum with the audience. So I can see it being caught up in the numbers game.
That said, I always will champion the rarities and would think it could rotate in and out of shows with some other less well known songs.
That's true, but it could've at some point taken the place of Feel Flows, which has been in the sets since early 2017 (I think).
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Post by jk on Sept 13, 2021 18:56:33 GMT
Back in my more narrow-minded days, I felt C&TP-ST like 15BO should have been a single, with "Marcella" as the A-side and "All This Is That" on the flip. My mind had broadened marginally since then and I'm willing to approach it as a bona fide album. That said, I still have difficulty with the fact that the (for me) iffy "He Come Down" takes up so much of it. Twelve tracks and it wouldn't have been a problem, but eight??
Once again, I didn't hear either side of this single before I bought and heard the album in 2002/3. So they remain album tracks in my universe. All the same, it's an acceptable combination -- at least they're contemporaneous! Eight.
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