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Post by Kapitan on Feb 28, 2022 12:43:36 GMT
In November 1987, the Beach Boys released another collaboration--their third in the past four years--this one with Little Richard. "Happy Endings" was a Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher composition, and it was included on the soundtrack to the Whoopi Goldberg film The Telephone.
The single "Happy Endings" had a live version of "California Girls" as the B-side. I do not know what version that is, so if you do, please post.
Please listen to, discuss, and rate "Happy Endings" by the Beach Boys with Little Richard.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 28, 2022 13:15:20 GMT
I didn't know Rip Torn directed...
"Happy Endings" is bad. It is a boring song. Maybe - maybe - there is a decent song in there but so much had to be changed. This song drags! The lyrics are embarrassing in places. Mike sounds wimpy. Carl tries to save things but even he gets obliterated. And the production...whew. Bruce and Terry were so hit and miss. Mostly miss. This is another example why Bruce and Terry were not good choices as producers for The Beach Boys. But, with all of that being said, that's still not the worst. The worst is Little Richard. I asked myself this question in 1987 and I'll ask it again 35 years later - If you're going to take the time and effort to recruit the great Little Richard to sing with the Beach Boys on a record, why not choose a fast, rock & roll song to record? You don't hire Little Richard and then give a piece of crap like "Happy Endings" to sing. I actually felt sorry for him. Another illogical Beach Boys' move. And, why do I get the feeling that Bruce was behind that brilliant idea.
Although I own this single, I have no idea what version of "California Girls" is on the B-side.
Two more things. First, why wasn't "Happy Endings" included on the Still Cruisin' album - you know, the album that featured Beach Boys' songs that appeared in movies. And, second, after how many compilations and box sets were released, why wasn't "Happy Endings" included on at least one of them? Yes, the song is terrible, but, jeez, at least give it a CD/digital home.
I'll give this one a 3. I don't really know why. Could easily be a 2 or a 1.
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Post by kds on Feb 28, 2022 16:41:42 GMT
On the Wipeout thread, I said that I often rate the late 80s output of The Beach Boys pretty highly. This is one one of those cases. I'm not sure I ever actually listened to Happy Endings before, but I can say that the only time I was "Happy" was when the song's "Ending" mercifully occurred.
That said, I do agree with Sheriff that it's a little odd that Happy Endings is one several later era BB songs to have not found a CD home.
For the second week in a row, I'm dropping a #2.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 28, 2022 21:06:48 GMT
The fade on this song goes on forever. Did they think the sax solo was really that great? Little Richard oversings his parts. I guess he's trying to inject some soul into a very bland song. It doesn't work. The lyrics are embarrassing. It's typical "Bruce Johnston wants to be Pat Boone" stuff. On the plus side, the parts where the group harmonises are very nice. If only those voices had blended together on a better song. I'm a nice guy, I'm giving it a 4, but I have no argument with those who rate it a 3. The b-side is from the July 4th, 1984 show. This bit of info comes from Beach Boys Stomp. So I can add it to the July 4th 84/95 tracks I have on vinyl. Come Go with Me from 1984 is on a July 4th album Mike put together now; I believe Surfer Girl (with Julio Iglesias) is on that album, too; and maybe Back in the USSR. Been a long time since I played it. Mike also has a song of his own (unlisted) on the album, Happy Birthday America. The Oak Ridge Boys, America, and the O'Jays are on it, too.
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Post by B.E. on Mar 1, 2022 1:09:47 GMT
The b-side is from the July 4th, 1984 show. This bit of info comes from Beach Boys Stomp. So I can add it to the July 4th 84/95 tracks I have on vinyl. Come Go with Me from 1984 is on a July 4th album Mike put together now; I believe Surfer Girl (with Julio Iglesias) is on that album, too; and maybe Back in the USSR. Been a long time since I played it. Mike also has a song of his own (unlisted) on the album, Happy Birthday America. The Oak Ridge Boys, America, and the O'Jays are on it, too. So, it's this version? I'd love to hear how it sounds on the 45. Might someone post it to YouTube? Anyway, I'll be generous and round up to a '3' on the strength of "California Girls" and what sounds like a decent, and contemporaneous, version.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 2, 2022 13:00:22 GMT
Terry Melcher's version of "Happy Endings":
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 2, 2022 13:03:33 GMT
I find this one hard to talk about. I don't like it at all. It's one I knew about but never sought out over the years, coming right smack in the middle of the era I'm least interested in. I don't like the keyboard sound. I don't like the vocal processing. I don't like Little Richard's contributions at all. So that puts me in a pretty rough place.
I'll likely be in the 3 range.
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Post by kds on Mar 2, 2022 13:17:53 GMT
Having Little Richard guest on a song like Happy Endings is like having Yngwie Malmsteen play guitar on Slow Summer Dancing.
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Post by lonelysummer on Mar 3, 2022 4:43:50 GMT
This would have been a great opportunity to release "Spirit of Rock and Roll" as a single - with Richard sharing the vocal action. I would have enjoyed hearing Richard on "Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue" - pick the tempo up a bit, and it's right in his ballpark.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 6, 2022 15:25:59 GMT
Last day for "Happy Endings." If you haven't listened, commented, or voted, today's your day.
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Post by lonelysummer on Mar 6, 2022 20:50:52 GMT
Kind of surprising the guys didn't give us a live album in the 80's - okay, yeah, we got Knebworth many years after the fact; but obviously, looking at the b-side of this single, shows were being recorded.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 6, 2022 21:19:41 GMT
One more comment before we move on, and it's actually repeating of a comment - or question - that I asked above. "Happy Endings" was released in November 1987. The Beach Boys' next album, Still Cruisin', was released about a year-and-a-half later in July 1989. The concept of Still Cruisin' started out as an album of songs that appeared in movies. Six of the Still Cruisin' songs do appear in movies. To me, "Happy Endings" would've been a perfect candidate for that album. It was produced by Terry Melcher and sounded like the Melcher-produced Still Cruisin' songs. Still Cruisin' was going to be the only "home" for it. The band obviously didn't have enough "movie songs" to fill the album. Let me clarify, actually they did. "Chasin' The Sky" and "Don't Worry Baby" with The Everly Brothers were still out there. Why didn't "Happy Endings" appear on Still Cruisin'? Was it strictly a licensing issue? How...expensive...would've it been to put that song on Still Cruisin'? The movie, The Telephone, came and went didn't it?
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Post by B.E. on Mar 7, 2022 0:13:33 GMT
Why didn't "Happy Endings" appear on Still Cruisin'? Was it strictly a licensing issue? How...expensive...would've it been to put that song on Still Cruisin'? The movie, The Telephone, came and went didn't it? I don't believe the omission of "Happy Endings" has ever been commented on by anyone involved in the project. (Glad to be proven wrong, though.)
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 7, 2022 12:13:50 GMT
Eight voters rated "Happy Endings" (b/w "California Girls" live) an average of 3.0 in our new lowest rated, and one of our least diverse vote distributions ever (with a high of 4 and a low of 2, and half our votes 3s). I will update the ratings thread, and we'll move along shortly.
Thank you for participating.
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