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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 11:57:46 GMT
Early in 1973, after six months without a new release, the Beach Boys released both their new album, Holland, and its first single, "Sail On, Sailor" backed with "Only With You."
The former has an almost legendary origin story, with disputed claims over who did what and when. The Wikipedia entry goes through it all, from Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson (with others chiming in minor adjustments later); to Wilson, Tandyn Almer, and Ray Kennedy (with Parks on the middle eight and Jack Rieley changing a few lyrics later); to a seemingly different Wilson-Parks collaboration intended for Three Dog Night. In more recent years Wilson has criticized the song and especially its lyrics publicly several times (including as witnessed by me at the Minneapolis That Lucky Old Sun show).
The song wasn't particularly successful upon initial release, although topping recent efforts' performance, peaking at #79 in the US. It became a concert and classic rock radio standard, and fared slightly better upon its re-release in 1975 (again backed with "Only With You"), reaching #49. (It reached #28 in the Netherlands.)
The B-side, "Only With You," was a Dennis Wilson-Mike Love collaboration. The ballad was sung by Carl Wilson. It did not chart either time it was released.
Please rate and discuss "Sail On, Sailor" backed with "Only With You."
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Post by jk on Sept 20, 2021 12:03:43 GMT
Ah, now I remember hearing (and liking) "Sail On, Sailor" at the time of its release as a 45. The B-side had to wait another 30 years. So I can't vouch for both sides but I'll award it ten points on the strength of "SOS".
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 12:22:56 GMT
I feel like carllove did on "Marcella" with this one. I've never understood what makes this a classic. I don't much like it. Of the three consecutive "rock" A-sides, to me each one is worse than the last. "Mess of Help" is my favorite, then "Marcella," and lastly "Sail On Sailor." To me it is one of the more boring tracks the group released as a single, and I'm ambivalent about the lyrics.
"Only With You" is pretty.
Most likely I'm in 6 territory here.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 20, 2021 12:49:34 GMT
"Sail On Sailor" had so much potential. A lot more than the finished product I think. It's a good, almost great song. It comes out firing with that great piano intro, and a really nice verse/chorus - I sailed an ocean, unsettled ocean...sail on, sail on, sailor. That's the highlight for me. Then, it kind of loses its way. Those bridges with the questionable lyrics bring it to a halt; the momentum is lost. The song rallies at the end and tries hard to finish strong. OK, three things. I would not have had Blondie sing the lead; I would've gone with a more familiar BB voice. Second, the lyrics are disappointing; they are weird, actually off-putting. And, third, musically, the song is lacking; the production is missing something; maybe it's the mix. That being said, I do like the song. It's one of Brian's better efforts post-1966. It perfectly fits the sound and direction of the band in that Jack Rieley era. And, it was a good choice for the lead-off single from Holland.
I like "Only With You", too. As I keep saying, I think Dennis Wilson was an excellent songwriter and had a way of "reaching" the listener emotionally. I wish Dennis would've sung it, but Carl does an excellent job. I think "Only With You" makes an excellent B-side. I don't think it would've resonated as an A-side, however, in 1972-73, who knows? There were several ballads being released as singles around that time. "Only With You" was as good as them.
"Sail On Sailor"/"Only With You" was a good single. A lot of good Beach Boys' music, despite Blondie's unfamiliar voice. Reaching #49 wasn't that bad, but probably a little disappointing for the band. They knew they had a new, good, Brian Wilson song, and they put it out here and performed it in concert. I guess, though, they were getting used to disappointment - thus, we get Endless Summer (1974), Spirit Of America (1975), and 15 Big Ones (1976). I'm going with an 8. Two very good songs.
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Post by kds on Sept 20, 2021 13:42:19 GMT
I think Sail On Sailor is a great song. I love Blondie's lead vocal, but I kind of agree with Sheriff that, at least at the time, The Beach Boys might've been better off having a Wilson sing the song to lead off the album and have it at the lead single. I think history's been very kind to the song though. Funny story, regarding Blondie's lead. I remember hearing this song on the radio a few times, and remember hearing Jimmy Buffett's version of it, but I honestly did not know it was The Beach Boys until I got the Warmth of the Sun compilation in 2007.
I like Only With You a lot, but I feel like Carl was trying to channel Dennis, when they could've just had Dennis sing it. I really like the Dennis sung version that was included on the POB deluxe edition.
I'm going with a nine.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 13:55:19 GMT
This is an interesting single in that both sides could've been sung by Dennis, but neither ended up with him on lead.
"Sail On, Sailor," he famously was given a chance at taking the lead but for one reason or another (whether to go surfing or just from an artistic decision) before the eventual decision to have Blondie do it.
"Only With You" is his (and Mike's) song, so of course he could have handled that, too. And as is mentioned above, it is an interesting choice. Carl was obviously a masterful singer of ballads, nobody would question that. But the range of the song isn't so demanding as to require him, by any means: Dennis, despite his limited range, could have handled it--we heard as much on the POB reissue. And another thought is, mightn't Mike (who wrote lyrics, after all) been able to take some or all of it? I'd be curious to hear him try it.
Anyway, it was 0-2 for Dennis on this one.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 20, 2021 14:18:25 GMT
I think Carl or Al would've done the best job with the lead vocal, but I would've preferred Brian or Dennis, and this is why. THEY HAVE NO LEAD VOCALS ON THE DAMN ALBUM! Yes, yes, I know. Brian sang two whole lines. Big deal. And, Dennis had one fairly-buried vocal on "Steamboat". Vocally, they're basically absent - again - like the Surf's Up album and the In Concert album. With Holland, that's three out four albums from 1971-1973 with Brian and Dennis missing vocally. I'm assuming the guys...talked. There's so much I'll never understand with this band, and this is another one. Couldn't somebody - Carl, Mike, Jack Rieley, whoever - come forward and say to Brian and Dennis, "Hey, we just flew across countries, rented houses (plural), built a new studio, and spent a million dollars on this album already. Do you think maybe you two guys could, um, I don't know, sing a song, maybe one song. Hello!" Naive of me, I know...
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 14:26:25 GMT
I think Carl or Al would've done the best job with the lead vocal, but I would've preferred Brian or Dennis, and this is why. THEY HAVE NO LEAD VOCALS ON THE DAMN ALBUM! Yes, yes, I know. Brian sang two whole lines. Big deal. And, Dennis had one fairly-buried vocal on "Steamboat". Vocally, they're basically absent - again - like the Surf's Up album and the In Concert album. With Holland, that's three out four albums from 1971-1973 with Brian and Dennis missing vocally. I'm assuming the guys...talked. There's so much I'll never understand with this band, and this is another one. Couldn't somebody - Carl, Mike, Jack Rieley, whoever - come forward and say to Brian and Dennis, "Hey, we just flew across countries, rented houses (plural), built a new studio, and spent a million dollars on this album already. Do you think maybe you two guys could, um, I don't know, sing a song, maybe one song. Hello!" Naive of me, I know... I generally agree, but I'd even lower my hopes: what about singing several parts of songs? Even if Brian wasn't feeling sufficiently confident in doing a full song, couldn't they have doled out a bridge here, a verse there, to Brian and Dennis? Something more like what they did on "Funky Pretty"? (I know we're talking this single here, not the album.)
In "Sail On, Sailor," they could have had several people take a verse each. They could have had somebody else take the bridge. And honestly, they could have even had Brian take the title line and nothing else (almost a la "California"): "Sail on, sail on, sailor." With his increasingly gruff but still not broken voice, he would have actually been an interesting choice--and it would have still let him avoid those lyrics he apparently didn't like.
And "Only With You," as mentioned above, could've been anyone, or any combination of ones.
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Post by kds on Sept 20, 2021 14:28:45 GMT
To be honest (and I've probably said this before), I'm really not a huge fan of Brian's vocals from much of the Rieley years, and my opinion has been (again IMO) backed up by some of the outtakes from the FF collection.
But, I will admit that it is a little odd just how little of Brian you hear across three albums. I mean, they let Jack sing for cripes sake.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 20, 2021 14:56:50 GMT
To be honest (and I've probably said this before), I'm really not a huge fan of Brian's vocals from much of the Rieley years, and my opinion has been (again IMO) backed up by some of the outtakes from the FF collection. I know you're referring specifically to Brian here, and I'll get to him in a second. With Dennis, when I listen to the Feel Flows set and how strongly he was singing, I am very impressed and realize how much the group lost with him being absent on Surf's Up, Holland, and In Concert. Now, with Brian, while his voice was starting to decline at a faster pace than Dennis's, I still think he could've pulled off a competent lead vocal, or as Kapitan suggested, maybe more parts of songs. With Brian, what is more obvious is the decline in his falsetto. It was definitely thinner and more strained. But, did that also mean he couldn't pull off a vocal with his "regular" singing voice, such as the lead on a song like "Sail On Sailor". I can't believe it would've been...that bad.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 14:58:44 GMT
I think whatever was the shape of Brian's falsetto at the time, there is just no question he could have sung in a natural register if he had the confidence, patience, and will to do so.
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Post by kds on Sept 20, 2021 15:02:20 GMT
To be honest (and I've probably said this before), I'm really not a huge fan of Brian's vocals from much of the Rieley years, and my opinion has been (again IMO) backed up by some of the outtakes from the FF collection. I know you're referring specifically to Brian here, and I'll get to him in a second. With Dennis, when I listen to the Feel Flows set and how strongly he was singing, I am very impressed and realize how much the group lost with him being absent on Surf's Up, Holland, and In Concert. Now, with Brian, while his voice was starting to decline at a faster pace than Dennis's, I still think he could've pulled off a competent lead vocal, or as Kapitan suggested, maybe more parts of songs. With Brian, what is more obvious is the decline in his falsetto. It was definitely thinner and more strained. But, did that also mean he couldn't pull off a vocal with his "regular" singing voice, such as the lead on a song like "Sail On Sailor". I can't believe it would've been...that bad. I'll agree with you, regarding Dennis, and that's one of the reasons I think he should've sang Only With You, and maybe even Steamboat.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 20, 2021 15:08:19 GMT
I'd like to hear more about Dennis's relative absence from Holland. We know Brian was having mental issues at the time.
What was up with Dennis? I know there are anecdotes about him flying off somewhere--the Canary Islands, was it?--to enjoy himself. But especially considering he had two songs on the album and we know he was generally busy writing and at least beginning material through those years, one would have hoped he could have been persuaded to actually participate in a little more noticeable way.
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Post by lonelysummer on Sept 20, 2021 20:28:50 GMT
If you look at songwriting contributions in the Reilly years, Carl is there, but he's not dominant. As a lead singer, though, he is all over those albums - Long Promised Road, Feel Flows, You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone, Marcella, Steamboat, Trader, Only With You, Funky Pretty, This Whole World, Our Sweet Love, It's About Time. Maybe there was just a consensus that Carl was their best singer. I wonder how Mike felt about that? When KJR started playing Sail on Sailor in 1975, I thought it was a new song. Didn't fit the "Beach Boys stereotype", but it was a big hit here in Seattle. Certainly top ten, maybe even top five. Ditto for Good Timin' in 79. So maybe I'm biased, having been spoon fed the song all my life, but I think it's a classic. After a string of less than great single releases, it's nice to have one that can stand alongside the 6 hits. It's really the only 70's BB's cut (aside from Rock and Roll Music) that most people know. I've had people ask me why it sounds so different from their other hits. I'm also fully capable of being ignorant of greatness. When I first grabbed the 45 in a used record store, sometime in the early 80's, I didn't care for Only With You. It seemed like a lot of the 45's I had (I Can Hear Music, Good Timin'), had a Dennis song on the b-side, which I interpreted to be the burial ground for stuff that wasn't good enough (like the Beatles burying George Harrison songs on the b-sides of Lady Madonna, Long and Winding Road, and Ballad of John & Yoko). It was only when I got the Holland album, around 1993, that I appreciated the song. I'm never gonna argue with a Carl lead. Yes, I do think Dennis could have sung it nicely - the vocal deterioration hadn't really begun yet. Amazing, too, that Mike wrote the lyrics. Is Dennis playing the piano on this? One of his best songs. 10 out of 10 for me.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 23, 2021 11:55:51 GMT
Brian Wilson has said on numerous occasions (including a concert I attended) how much he dislikes the lyrics to "Sail On Sailor."
Do you agree with him, or do you like them? Why?
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