|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 18, 2021 12:05:02 GMT
About a month after the Beach Boys released 15 Big Ones, they put out their second single from the album: "It's OK," backed with "Had to Phone Ya," was released on August 9, 1976.
The upbeat song was a breezy paean to summer featuring a heavy dose of Wilson's keyboards and saxophones by Roy Wood and other members of Wizzard. And the vocal tag sung by Dennis Wilson has been a regular point of praise by listeners through the years. A B. Wilson/Love collaboration, it peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the highest-charting original Beach Boys song released as a single in the U.S. during the '70s.
The B-side, "Had to Phone Ya," was originally recorded as an American Spring song. The Love/B. Wilson/M. Rovell tune was not released at the time, however, and it was re-recorded in 1976 for the Beach Boys for inclusion on 15 Big Ones.
Please discuss and rate "It's OK" and "Had to Phone Ya."
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 18, 2021 12:41:13 GMT
I know hindsight's 20/20, but I think It's OK should've been both the lead single, and opening track for 15 Big Ones. What better way to announce "Brian's Back" than a brand new Mike and Brian Beach Boys summer anthem.
But, instead, they opted for a limp cover of a classic, and waited until the summer of 1976 was almost over to release It's OK as a single. But, I guess hitting #29, it can still be considered a success. I see that Brian and his band are playing the song in concert now.
I'm less a fan of Had to Phone Ya. It's OK....no, not the A Side, I'm talking about the B Side.
I'm going to go with a seven.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 18, 2021 12:48:53 GMT
"It's OK" is one of my favorite Beach Boys' songs. It has everything I like about The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson's music. It just makes you feel good. While it is considered a "Best Of" song - it was one of their highest-charting singles of the 70's, it appeared on comps, and it's still performed today - I think had it been recorded/released in the early/mid 60's it would be considered even greater. Mike's lyrics are a little wordy but they get the message across. I'm undoubtedly in the minority but I would've preferred Carl (the more familiar BB voice) on the tag, though Dennis does a competent job. I know I've said it ad nauseam, but it's one of my biggest, personal "what ifs" in BB history. What if "It's OK" was the lead off single in 1976 instead of "Rock And Roll Music" and/or what if it would've been released earlier in the sum, sum, summertime? Would've it been a big(ger) hit? Bigger than "Rock And Roll Music"?
"Had To Phone Ya" is a song that I don't think reached its potential, either with Spring or The Beach Boys. I think Brian was onto something with the song, but it just seems unfulfilling or not quite getting there. It certainly is not the fault of the backing track. Any question if Brian Wilson "still had it", "it" being his arranging talent, was answered with a rousing "yes" when you hear the isolated instrumental track. I guess it's kinda cool how the guys alternated the lead vocals on the 1976 version. The problem is that almost all of them sing poorly. Brian, in particularly, ruins any chance the song had at being an overall good/very good song with his off-putting tag. I do like that little "Hey, Brian" insert from Marilyn at the very end.
This is another tough one to rate. To me, "It's OK" is a 9. "Had To Phone Ya", while a good choice for a B-side, is only OK. I'm going with a nice 8. Fun is in, it's no sin...gotta go to it, gonna go through it, gotta get with it...
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 18, 2021 13:46:27 GMT
I voted 8.
I think these are two great tracks, with any shortcomings being the vocals. The songs themselves are fine. "It's OK" is dumb, but it's dumb in a good way. It's a simple, summertime, feelgood song. The arrangement is great. "Had to Phone Ya" is sweet, and I enjoy the trading off of the lead vocal throughout.
In both cases, the curse of that era shines through: the high tenors, the falsettos, no longer cut through the harmony blend as clear, clean vocals. They're scratchy, sometimes sketchy pitch-wise. And Brian's voice even in the lower register is ... well, you know what it is. But those shortcomings aren't enough to drag down too far two really good numbers.
Looking ahead, it's rough seas to come. So we might as well enjoy this, the last hit for a while...
|
|
|
Post by jk on Oct 18, 2021 14:37:06 GMT
I absolutely love "It's O.K." (hence the 10) although I can't recall hearing it at the time. (I prefer Spring's take on the B-side.)
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 18, 2021 17:43:18 GMT
I absolutely love "It's O.K." (hence the 10) although I can't recall hearing it at the time. Me neither. Although to be fair, I was just over two weeks old upon its release. It's catchy, but it was not catchy enough for that little brain of mine.
|
|
|
Post by lonelysummer on Oct 19, 2021 6:11:07 GMT
I absolutely love "It's O.K." (hence the 10) although I can't recall hearing it at the time. (I prefer Spring's take on the B-side.) I certainly never heard it back in 76 - and I expected to. I knew the Boys were huge, but for some reason, this song just never caught on in the Northwest. It's a pretty good song - as noted, the weak spot being the vocals. I rate it an 8, Had to Phone Ya is a nothing song to me - meaning that it leaves no lasting impression. I'd probably rate it a 5. However, this is a b-side in an era where b-sides don't count much, so I'm gonna rate the single a 7.
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 19, 2021 11:44:57 GMT
I absolutely love "It's O.K." (hence the 10) although I can't recall hearing it at the time. I remember hearing it but not often. I didn't hear it played on any of the larger, more national AM radio stations. I just remember a local station playing it, maybe for a week or so. In some ways, The Beach Boys newfound popularity peaked with "Rock And Roll Music" hitting No. 5 on the Billboard charts. 15 Big Ones was a disappointment which turned many fans off and, "It's OK" only did...OK. After Love You was released, they were leaking serious oil and back to releasing albums and singles that tanked (the fluke "Beach Boys Medley" and the even flukier "Come Go With Me" being exceptions).
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 19, 2021 11:57:08 GMT
After Love You was released, they were leaking serious oil and back to releasing albums and singles that tanked (the fluke "Beach Boys Medley" and the even flukier "Come Go With Me" being exceptions). I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to doing these threads these next six months or so. It's one thing to have a "subpar" single in the context of, say, 1968 or 1969. It's quite another to spend a week trying to pretend to care about "Hot Fun in the Summertime" or "It's Gettin' Late."
|
|
|
Post by jk on Oct 19, 2021 13:44:55 GMT
I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to doing these threads these next six months or so. It's one thing to have a "subpar" single in the context of, say, 1968 or 1969. It's quite another to spend a week trying to pretend to care about "Hot Fun in the Summertime" or "It's Gettin' Late." Well, I don't think anyone would hold it against you if you called it a day, or just picked the best of the rest...
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 19, 2021 13:52:09 GMT
I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to doing these threads these next six months or so. It's one thing to have a "subpar" single in the context of, say, 1968 or 1969. It's quite another to spend a week trying to pretend to care about "Hot Fun in the Summertime" or "It's Gettin' Late." Well, I don't think anyone would hold it against you if you called it a day, or just picked the best of the rest... But there's the completist in me that would see that as a failure!
|
|
|
Post by lonelysummer on Oct 20, 2021 3:02:09 GMT
I'll be ostracized for this, but I prefer many of those 80's singles to what the Boys were giving us in 76-79. But I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Sure, we could just open the discussion up to everything from 76 on, but that wasn't the point of this thing. I wonder if the Boys ever purposely put out the worst thing they could do as joke?
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 20, 2021 11:41:33 GMT
I'll be ostracized for this, but I prefer many of those 80's singles to what the Boys were giving us in 76-79. Nah, that's no reason to ostracize anybody. Personally I don't especially like either period, so if there's ostracizing going on, I'm fucked! I prefer the late 70s to the 80s stuff, but not by much.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 20, 2021 12:19:29 GMT
I'll be ostracized for this, but I prefer many of those 80's singles to what the Boys were giving us in 76-79. But I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Sure, we could just open the discussion up to everything from 76 on, but that wasn't the point of this thing. I wonder if the Boys ever purposely put out the worst thing they could do as joke? I'd actually agree with that. Some of the singles the Boys released in the second half of the 1980s are IMO quite good.
|
|
|
Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 20, 2021 13:37:40 GMT
This was a really good single. It's Ok should have been the lead single as everyone mentioned, or at least released earlier. Mike said the record company delayed it because of how big of a hit Rock and Roll Music was, but I can't remember how true that is/was. Had to Phone Ya is a fine B side, if a bit short. It almost feels like a throwback to 1965. I've never been a fan of how many times they repeat "you," maybe they also felt the song was too short and needed to pad it out. 9/10
|
|