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Post by Kapitan on Nov 29, 2021 12:26:20 GMT
In June 1979, the Beach Boys released their third single from L.A. (Light Album). The song, heavily based on J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," was written by Al Jardine and touring keyboardist and MIU co-producer Ron Altbach. While it did not reach the Billboard Hot 100, it was a #6 hit in the UK and a minor hit (#54) in Australia.
The B-side was Carl Wilson's "Full Sail," co-written with Geoffrey Cushing-Murray. It did not chart.
Please discuss and rate this week's single, "Lady Lynda" and "Full Sail."
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Post by kds on Nov 29, 2021 13:36:20 GMT
I suppose the relative failure in their home turf on this very yacht rock-ish single is why The Beach Boys never really leaned into that curve like I thought they should have.
But, I really enjoy both of these songs, the B side Full Sail in particular has really grown on my over the last two or three years.
8
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 29, 2021 14:08:03 GMT
"Lady Lynda" is a good song. I might even go as far as calling it a very good song. I think it's the best song Al ever wrote, though Ron Altbach contributed to the songwriting, too. The record has a nice melody, typically good Al lead vocal, and very impressive BB harmonies. I could do without the intro which was deleted from the single. The production of "Lady Lynda" is very good. On the single, the Producer is listed as Al Jardine which makes sense; Bruce is NOT listed.
"Full Sail" is nice but slightly boring. Carl sang it perfectly, but the song never really goes anywhere. I suppose this song, more than most of the other album cuts, typifies the direction of L.A. (Light Album).
And, speaking of L.A. (Light Album), while I'm not a big fan of the album - I find it very disappointing; Brian isn't even on the album; I know, I know...there's some obscure oohs and ahhs - they did release three very good singles, especially A-sides. Like "Here Comes the Night" and "Good Timin'", "Lady Lynda" deserved a better fate. As Kapitan pointed out, it didn't even make the Billboard Top 100. But, you know, reaching No. 6 in the UK is nothing to sneeze about. They almost had a Top 5 single, albeit in the UK! On a side note, I saw The Beach Boys perform "Lady Lynda" live a few times, and it rocked in concert. It was actually a crowd favorite.
Rating? I can't quite go with an 8, but how about a strong 7.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 29, 2021 20:58:16 GMT
Can anyone point to an online version of the single of "Lady Lynda"? I see several videos on YouTube claiming to be it, but they're all ~4 minutes and include the intro, which I understood was not on the single version. However, I also note the wiki entry for it lists the track as being about that length, too, which makes me wonder whether a) it's wrong; b) it's referring to the album version; or c) the single was also about 4 minutes long, but with an extended tag or something?
Honestly I'd never given the possibility of differences in the versions a single thought before today. With some songs it's common knowledge, but with some, I guess it just doesn't ever seem to matter enough to bubble up into conversation. And I was far too young to have remembered anything from it the first time around.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 29, 2021 21:05:19 GMT
Can anyone point to an online version of the single of "Lady Lynda"? I see several videos on YouTube claiming to be it, but they're all ~4 minutes and include the intro, which I understood was not on the single version. However, I also note the wiki entry for it lists the track as being about that length, too, which makes me wonder whether a) it's wrong; b) it's referring to the album version; or c) the single was also about 4 minutes long, but with an extended tag or something?
Honestly I'd never given the possibility of differences in the versions a single thought before today. With some songs it's common knowledge, but with some, I guess it just doesn't ever seem to matter enough to bubble up into conversation. And I was far too young to have remembered anything from it the first time around.
The picture of the single I posted above shows 2:59 but I don't know if that's correct; I would think it is. I have the original single stored away in a closet but I'm too lazy to dig it out.
How about this video? I doubt American Bandstand would go to the trouble of editing/cutting out the intro although there was always a time concern on shows like that:
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 30, 2021 2:36:25 GMT
IMHO, Good Timin' should have been the first single from LA; Lady Lynda should have been second. By the time they got to the third, nobody cared. At least here in the US. I'm not knocking HCTN, but it kind of backfired on them.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 30, 2021 12:50:17 GMT
IMHO, Good Timin' should have been the first single from LA; Lady Lynda should have been second. By the time they got to the third, nobody cared. At least here in the US. I'm not knocking HCTN, but it kind of backfired on them. In hindsight, yes, I guess "Here Comes The Night" didn't exactly set the music world on fire. And, yes, the group was ostracized in many circles by jumping on the disco bandwagon. It showed both a sign of desperation and entering a genre that was below their talents (remember Brian Wilson was still a genius and The Beach Boys were an institution). But, what's the saying that "any publicity is good publicity"? "Here Comes The Night" was not a total failure. I'm in the minority but I don't think it was a total failure. It did chart in the 40s. It got them on the radio. It got them on the disco floor (complete with special 12 inch dance singles), they performed it on The Midnight Special to a national audience, and they even made a video for it. Yes, that's a lot of effort to get a hit - and it wasn't - but like every other failure (to some degree) that the group endured - they moved on relatively unscathed. "Here Comes The Night" is now a footnote. Damn, you can't even find the single version on CD!
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 30, 2021 14:56:19 GMT
I've been thinking a little about "Full Sail." It's beautiful, but it also feels like it lacks something to me, maybe some kind of development. I think part of that is it doesn't have a typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus kind of structure; instead it's more like a traditional song where the "A" section is in a way both verse and chorus, a little longer and more complex than a typical rock verse or chorus.
There is a "B" section, which never sat well with me ("Adventures on the high sea..."), partly because that unison group singing just falls flat. It's the Beach Boys! I think of a bridge like "Wouldn't It Be Nice," where the bridge has a great, new melody with a cool chord pattern and accompanied by glorious background harmonies. That is a bridge! Having a few guys around the mic singing the same part? Eh, ok...
Also, a question: does anyone know who sings? It sounds like Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl, Bruce(?), and Carl... And a woman, maybe? The album lists instrumental credits (overall, not by song), and arrangement credits for strings and horns (Harry Betts did this one), but not vocal credits. I guess in short I'm wondering, was this basically a Carl Wilson solo song?
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 30, 2021 23:08:05 GMT
I've been thinking a little about "Full Sail." It's beautiful, but it also feels like it lacks something to me, maybe some kind of development. I think part of that is it doesn't have a typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus kind of structure; instead it's more like a traditional song where the "A" section is in a way both verse and chorus, a little longer and more complex than a typical rock verse or chorus.
There is a "B" section, which never sat well with me ("Adventures on the high sea..."), partly because that unison group singing just falls flat. It's the Beach Boys! I think of a bridge like "Wouldn't It Be Nice," where the bridge has a great, new melody with a cool chord pattern and accompanied by glorious background harmonies. That is a bridge! Having a few guys around the mic singing the same part? Eh, ok...
Also, a question: does anyone know who sings? It sounds like Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl, Bruce(?), and Carl... And a woman, maybe? The album lists instrumental credits (overall, not by song), and arrangement credits for strings and horns (Harry Betts did this one), but not vocal credits. I guess in short I'm wondering, was this basically a Carl Wilson solo song? It sure sounds that way. The same can be said for "Livin' With a Heartache" on KTSA. I only hear Carl and Bruce's voices. It shows how splintered the group was at the time, that they were using what were essentially Carl and Dennis solo songs on their albums. "Full Sail" is a lovely track; not hit single material, but a nice earworm. "Lady Lynda" must be Al's most well-known self-composed track. It may have been just a little too "lite" for US top 40 radio in 1979; this was the era of big, dramatic ballads (think Barry Manilow) that start off soft and build up to a loud climax. LL doesn't have those kind of dynamics. On the other hand, neither does "Sailing" (Christopher Cross). Sometimes trying to figure out what does and doesn't make it a hit is just head scratching.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 30, 2021 23:20:31 GMT
"Self-composed"
I know what you mean, but I think J.S. Bach and Ron Altbach would take issue with that description. I really like the song, but I go back and forth about whether they should have leaned into the pilfering of Bach (as they did) or not. They could have skipped the intro altogether and just let the (obvious) similarities in the tune itself come through on their own. I say that because by really playing it up, it almost has the feel of a novelty track, not a tender pop tune. But I don't know, that's just a thought I have from time to time. I do really like "Lady Lynda." I haven't decided on a rating for this single yet, since I like both songs quite a bit but don't love either one. Probably 7ish?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 30, 2021 23:30:43 GMT
I've been thinking a little about "Full Sail." It's beautiful, but it also feels like it lacks something to me, maybe some kind of development. I think part of that is it doesn't have a typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus kind of structure; instead it's more like a traditional song where the "A" section is in a way both verse and chorus, a little longer and more complex than a typical rock verse or chorus.
There is a "B" section, which never sat well with me ("Adventures on the high sea..."), partly because that unison group singing just falls flat. It's the Beach Boys! I think of a bridge like "Wouldn't It Be Nice," where the bridge has a great, new melody with a cool chord pattern and accompanied by glorious background harmonies. That is a bridge! Having a few guys around the mic singing the same part? Eh, ok...
Also, a question: does anyone know who sings? It sounds like Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl, Bruce(?), and Carl... And a woman, maybe? The album lists instrumental credits (overall, not by song), and arrangement credits for strings and horns (Harry Betts did this one), but not vocal credits. I guess in short I'm wondering, was this basically a Carl Wilson solo song? It sure sounds that way. The same can be said for "Livin' With a Heartache" on KTSA. I only hear Carl and Bruce's voices. It shows how splintered the group was at the time, that they were using what were essentially Carl and Dennis solo songs on their albums.
That part (the bolded part above) didn't bother me too much. That formula worked from 20/20 right through Holland. The problem with the "solo songs" on L.A. (Light Album) and to some extent Keepin' The Summer Alive - at least with Carl and Dennis's songs - is that they sounded like solo songs and not Beach Boys' songs. You're right, the group wasn't at its tightest or healthiest and it was probably a chore corralling everybody to record together...or at all.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 30, 2021 23:34:46 GMT
Yeah, to be clear, it doesn't necessarily bother me if/that "Full Sail" is basically solo. We have already had several similar tunes in the singles thread from others and we all know the band was a series of bandleaders by the early '70s (whether they were using the Beach Boys to execute "their bands'" music or studio musicians). For me it was purely a question: were there others involved in the singing? Because it doesn't sound like it.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 2, 2021 0:41:04 GMT
A live performance of "Full Sail" by Carnie & Wendy with a nice ending:
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 2, 2021 12:50:09 GMT
I've decided to go with a 7. It's a pretty strong 7, too, but I can't take it to 8, since for me that gets into classic territory. And while "Lady Lynda" may be classic(ally based), it's not a classic at the level of the real greats.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 6, 2021 12:16:27 GMT
Five voters rated "Lady Lynda" backed with "Full Sail" an average of 7.2. I'll update the ratings thread shortly and we'll proceed.
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