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Post by Kapitan on Apr 18, 2022 11:51:49 GMT
In the middle '90s, bands from the Eagles to KISS reunited to push new product to all-grown-up fans with expendable income and a tolerance for skyrocketing ticket prices. With Brian Wilson famously free of Eugene Landy, the Beach Boys seemed ready to do the same. After discussing various projects and producers, they settled on ... self-covers with lead vocals handed over to contemporary country artists. Stars & Stripes Vol. 1.
The first single was "I Can Hear Music," with contemporary Christian singer Kathy Troccoli on lead vocals. The song did not chart except on the US adult contemporary charts, where it hit #16.
According to the wiki discography, the B-side was "Little Deuce Coupe," with James House on lead vocals. I also see that as a separate single, and a not sure which is more accurate. I'm putting them together because frankly spending a week apiece on four A-side only S&S singles seems ridiculous.
Please listen to, discuss, and rate "I Can Hear Music," feat. Kathy Troccoli.
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Post by kds on Apr 18, 2022 12:22:19 GMT
Say what you will about SIP. But, I think Stars and Stripes is the absolute rock bottom moment for The Beach Boys' career.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 18, 2022 12:47:16 GMT
First, I'm a fan of Stars & Stripes, Volume 1 and I don't apologize for it. I think the tracklist is fine, the performers selected are OK but their performances are excellent, and The Beach Boys sound great. But, that's for another thread so I'll move on to this single.
I like "I Can Hear Music" by Kathy Troccoli. Admittedly, I never heard of her before this record, and it caught me off guard with the use of a female lead vocalist. I associate "I Can Hear Music" with Carl Wilson, though I guess the original version WAS by a female (Ronnie Spector, but how many people knew that). I like the arrangements on this version - I'm assuming they were by Joe Thomas with Brian Wilson nodding his head and saying "sounds good". Am I being sarcastic or realistic? I love the intro with the guitar and, like the Beach Boys' version, it comes out firing. Kathy Trocolli is a fine singer and her vocal is excellent. I also like the employment of brass in this version; it spices it up a bit. The Beach Boys harmonies are great; Joe was able to get them to sound, well, like The Beach Boys in their prime. I was/am very impressed by the harmonies on this song and album. This isn't a complaint, but "I Can Hear Music" doesn't really sound countryish, and I think Kathy Trocolli was more of a Christian singer than a country singer. She was an odd choice; there had to be dozens of female country singers who were available.
"Little Deuce Coupe" does sound countryish with James House's vocal. I suppose he sings it well but I'm not really a fan. This "Little Deuce Coupe" is also a rock version with the guitar and drums. Ironically, this version rocks A LOT more than The Beach Boys' original, iconic version which was a real "car song". I like the backing track on this version, but House's vocal kind of turns me off. Maybe true country fans appreciate it more than me.
"I Can Hear Music"/"Little Deuce Coupe" was not a bad single. It hit #16 on the Adult Contemporary chart but didn't chart on U.S. Hot 100 Singles chart. That's curious. I wonder what it did on the Country Singles charts? The Beach Boys tried to make this single catch on. They performed "I Can Hear Music" on Regis & Kathie Lee and "Little Deuce Coupe" on David Lettermen. I think this single deserved a better fate. There's a lot of good stuff on both sides, especially The Beach Boys themselves. Is a 7 too high? Either a 6 or a 7. OK, a 6.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 18, 2022 13:17:25 GMT
"I Can Hear Music"/"Little Deuce Coupe" was not a bad single. It hit #16 on the Adult Contemporary chart but didn't chart on U.S. Hot 100 Singles chart. That's curious. I wonder what it did on the Country Singles charts? It looks like "I Can Hear Music" did not chart on the country charts at all: that AC placing is all I see.
"Little Deuce Coupe" is listed on the S&S album entry of wiki as having reached #69 on the US country charts and #41 on the Canadian country charts. But then the singles discography of wiki lists "LDC" as reaching #31 on the Canadian country charts and not charting elsewhere. There is also a discrepancy as to how the singles were released in terms of A-sides and B-sides, so I have to admit I don't know. (I have to be honest, here: I don't care enough to work to find the real answer.)
I also disagree with kds that S&S is the low point. While I think it was a terrible decision (as opposed to a new album of originals, whether under Was, Thomas, or O'Hagan), and I don't like the style of music at all, I still think it's a massive improvement over SIP or Still Cruisin.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 18, 2022 13:50:43 GMT
Those match the chart info found at the wiki S&S page.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 18, 2022 13:59:12 GMT
Those match the chart info found at the wiki S&S page. Duh. I missed that on the wiki page and how you addressed it in your above post. Easter hangover... I'm going to delete my posts(s). Too many Peeps!?
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Post by kds on Apr 18, 2022 14:03:47 GMT
"I Can Hear Music"/"Little Deuce Coupe" was not a bad single. It hit #16 on the Adult Contemporary chart but didn't chart on U.S. Hot 100 Singles chart. That's curious. I wonder what it did on the Country Singles charts? It looks like "I Can Hear Music" did not chart on the country charts at all: that AC placing is all I see.
"Little Deuce Coupe" is listed on the S&S album entry of wiki as having reached #69 on the US country charts and #41 on the Canadian country charts. But then the singles discography of wiki lists "LDC" as reaching #31 on the Canadian country charts and not charting elsewhere. There is also a discrepancy as to how the singles were released in terms of A-sides and B-sides, so I have to admit I don't know. (I have to be honest, here: I don't care enough to work to find the real answer.)
I also disagree with kds that S&S is the low point. While I think it was a terrible decision (as opposed to a new album of originals, whether under Was, Thomas, or O'Hagan), and I don't like the style of music at all, I still think it's a massive improvement over SIP or Still Cruisin. For what it is, I think the new songs on SC are pretty decent. I can see how SIP can be viewed as a low point, but at least it's a dozen actually new BB songs (granted half of which are either covers or self covers). But, the fact that S&S was the only recorded result of the reunion with Brian makes it a lower point to me.
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Post by kds on Apr 18, 2022 14:10:29 GMT
I'll go with a five, as these are two of the better songs off S&S IMO. But, it still feels very meh overall to me.
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Post by lonelysummer on Apr 18, 2022 18:16:16 GMT
Okay, here I was prepared to dump all over Summer of Love, I thought that was the next single after Hot Fun in the Summertime. Shows how little I know about singles in the cassingle era. I would have given that turkey a zero. Instead, I'm faced with one of the three or four tracks from Stars and Stripes that I actually like (the others being Timothy B on Caroline, No, and Willie's Warmth of the Sun). I was vaguely aware of Kathy T before this - probably saw her in Billboard - but had never heard her music. I saw the performance on Regis and was impressed. Pretty woman (yeah, I know, I'm a pig) with a rich voice. OT moment: I also remember seeing Carl and thinking "he's gaining weight again" - never imagined he was in his last years with us. Yeah, S&S was a huge waste of time; in a better world, we would have had a new Beach Boys album with songs written by Brian, Mike, Carl, Al and Bruce, and a few of these country covers would be bonus tracks on the cd version. I Can Hear Music I would rate a solid 8.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 18, 2022 19:46:27 GMT
I'm ambivalent about "I Can Hear Music" here. I think Troccoli did a nice job. The track is mostly good, the background vocals are good enough. I don't like the chunky electric rhythm guitar sound in this context, or the sax flourishes. (Also I note a lack of Carl in the video ... was he already unwell and thus absent, I wonder? Or just not particularly interested in being there?)
"Little Deuce Coupe," I like everything ... except the non-Beach Boy lead vocal, which I actually hate.
That makes it a little tricky to rate, liking and strongly disliking different aspects of the same songs. But I'm going to go with a 4, with a big part of the problem being the whole concept: I don't really have any use for contemporary country sung by people I don't listen to or like released as Beach Boys singles.
EDIT - I should note, if these had reasonably decent Beach Boys singing leads, I'd o 5 or maybe even 6. It's the non-Beach Boysness that really drops it below the Mendoza line.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 18, 2022 23:15:44 GMT
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 23, 2022 12:31:21 GMT
Here's another live version...a rockin' version. Is that Joe Thomas on piano?
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 23, 2022 12:35:24 GMT
Here's another live version...a rockin' version. Is that Joe Thomas on piano? Sure is: I know that hair anywhere.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 24, 2022 13:27:37 GMT
Last day to vote on this one.
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Post by B.E. on Apr 24, 2022 14:21:41 GMT
I'll go with a 5 for the single (6 for "I Can Hear Music", 4 for "Little Deuce Coupe"). I agree with SJS on the lead vocal of "Little Deuce Coupe" being a turn off, but disagree with him on the guest performances on S&S being excellent (I think "I Get Around", in particular, is pretty bad - but most are listenable). I also disagree with KDS' claim that S&S is the true lowpoint of the Beach Boys career, album-wise. The vast improvement in production values, alone, I think gives S&S the edge. I just think it's more listenable. (And considering I'm not a country music fan, and SIP actually has some new, original BBs songs...I think that says a lot).
Edit: It also doesn't hurt that the songs on S&S are 1000x better.
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