Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue appreciation*

"The sea air is flowin' through my room again/Like the thoughts of you fill my heart with joy again"

Despite the repetition of "again," I think that's pretty good in itself, but you're right about the emotional impact of the music and the way it's structured. Same with a lot of Brian's music.

 

Jewel case (at least for the UK/EU edition). (nerdy post about the packaging differences in reissues here
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...n-album-you-have.163755/page-29#post-12916479 )

Tug Of Love, Only With You, & the Taylor Hawkins vocals version of Holy Man

 

Yeah, I thought of that too when I was writing my post, but in the end I think what saves it is the stark difference in the sound of the words immediately preceding "again": "room" and "joy." The words sound completely different, yet both slide effortlessly into "again." I think that sufficiently distracts from the repetition.

There is also a marked difference in Dennis's delivery of the two "again"s. The first sounds morose, while the second, buoyed upon the word "joy," sounds almost hopeful.

Btw, thank you for starting this thread. After retiring this album for many years -- long story -- I played it in its entirety, and was deeply moved by it.

 

I have this on my wishlist. Word of mouth has been all along, but I hate the Beach Boys and figured this to be more sunny pop nonsense. Clearly it's not, so I'm about ready to acquire.

My question is: should I sneak preview this, or go for it in order to get the full effect from first listen? I'm kind of leaning toward the latter at the moment. Advice?

 

I'd dive right in. It's a moody masterpiece. I've heard it described as Tom Waits as surf rat. To me it's a psychic twin to Gene Clark's No Other: a coked-out masterpiece where the artist is going all out in expression, with no real attempt to make a commercial record.

 

The single disc CD version with 3 bonus tracks is super cheap at Amazon UK right now. Under $9 total shipped to U.S.

 

Ypu ought to give Holland or Surf's Up a listen too. Much of the best BB isn't sunny pop/rock at all

 

I agree with this. If you don't particularly dig the Beach Boys in the 70s, the Dennis Wilson album isn't THAT dissimilar. It still falls in the Beach Boys camp IMO. Although it is moody and somewhat dark. I'd say it stands alongside Surf's Up and Holland very well.

 

Carl and The Passions too and, to be honest, there are elements on the earlier album. I mean, Warmth of the Sun?

 

When I was young, I used to buy into that "sunny" caricature of the Beach Boys, but anyone who has taken much time to explore their work knows that there's a lot more going on with these guys than just "fun, fun, fun". In addition to Brian's mid 60s creative peak, albums from the early 70s like Surf's Up stand as mature, sophisticated works.

 

I believe this version is EU only and came out in 2010. The Canada/US version still has two discs in a single clear 2CD jewel case. Just adding to your post, I believe there were three releases of the 2CD edition. The original is the thick folded cardboard one with the tabs, etc. -- the "Deluxe" edition. This was available for a few months before it was replaced by a somewhat pared-down version, still a digipak, in late 2008. That pared-down digipak version was in turn replaced, before the end of 2009, by a jewel case version. All these had exactly the same CDs (including the PDF on one of the discs) but the packaging was different and there were fewer liner notes after the first edition.

Meanwhile the EU reissue happened in 2010 -- I wasn't aware of this release until recently and have never seen it in person. Curious choice of bonus tracks IMO.

 

I never really bought into that, although I can see why many people do and I guess a lot of their success is based on that, but right from the beginning, with songs like The Lonely Sea, the introspection was there, often underscored by the music. It seems silly to say this on a board where they have countless supporters, but they are, in many ways, an underrated band. Without wishing to point the finger, I think an awful lot of damage was done to the reputation in the 80s. It's interesting to note that a Mike and Bruce concert now can dig way into their back catalogue as well as play the hits that many people only know them for.

 

I love POB, though listening to the Bambu tracks - and fully aware that they may not comprise the album Dennis intended, I don't think they live up to the first album.

 

I know I could - and have done - put together a Dennis compilation of his best Beach Boys tracks (singing, like Angel Come Home, as well as writing), but an official one with a couple of outtakes (Carry Me Home, maybe?) wouldn't hurt...

 

Just yesterday I found a used LP copy of Pacific Ocean Blue. I've heard of it, but have never heard anything from it. Can't wait to listen when I get the time!

 

Yep, I've done the same and couldn't agree more. Angel Come Home is a great Dennis moment. The Midnight Special appearance is both great to watch and sad as you can tell they had to do at least a few attempts because Dennis was too loaded. Was this his last lead vocal performance on TV?

 

Was he at the 1981 Queen Mary show? Did he do You Are So Beautiful?

 

Sorry, a bit out of topic, but since this great thread has been put out if the dirt, as a huge DW fan who loves the 2CD deluxe edition, I just listened to the closest modern artist to DW we have now : John Grant with this rendition of Where Dreams Go To Die. With Midlake.

 

If he did and it was aired I've never seen it. That said, I'm definitely not an expert on Beach Boys TV appearances. I'd love to see it if it exists.

 

I've never watched it, but the audio from that appearance is a great band performance. Whoever was playing drums was phenomenal. Dennis sounds gruffer than usual but still nails it.

 

Just found the broadcast on youtube - Dennis is there but only drumming.
Beach boys live at Queen Mary Long Beach 1981
(1st of 8 parts - not that great quality, wonky colour & sound, flickering picture)

 

Alt copies on youtube (both lo rez blurry pixel vision)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Ka4BpLzgk

but It's both beautiful/perfect & really sad knowing it's not just a performance, he's genuinely that ****ed. There's moments of what looks like real anguish, & it's like he's right on the verge of falling apart there in the studio. Watched it late one night while obsessing & pretty emotionally fragile, after it got linked in comments to a facebook post by a friend of Dennis' - who remembered how disappointed they were that he'd got destroyed before the show. Right then it was pretty devastating/heartbreaking, made me think of Richard Manuel & his vocals/performance on I Shall Be Released.

 

Angel Come Home from The Midnight Special is one of my favorite Beach Boys moments: surprising and very moving.
I always wonder what if Dennis had kept his demons under control.
Nice collection of DW tracks on this promo.

 

When I first "discovered" Dennis Wilson's music, I was still in the throws of my "The Beach Boys are Brian Wilson" phase. I first heard Pacific Ocean Blue around this time. It struck me as an great album right away, but I can't say I really "got" Dennis yet. That evolved over a few years.

Over time, I started to consider Dennis to be nearly as brilliant as Brian. Since Dennis didn't make as much music as Brian, it's impossible to make that argument though. I can see how Dennis could have had an entire years-long career without the Beach Boys. That is what should have happened. I suppose escaping the Beach Boys, and his own personal problems, proved impossible. That is one of the great tragedies of Dennis Wilson. The talent was there, but he didn't have the support, and lacked the discipline to pull it off.

At least we have one truly great album, with Pacific Ocean Blue. At this point, I'd be willing to consider it among the best albums made by anyone (it should have been in one of those top 500 album Rolling Stone issues).

 

Great post. There are so many ifs and buts involved aren't there? What if Brian had remained relatively stable and kept off the drugs (illegal and legal) and been able to continue to explore the possibilities he opened up with Smile (and in some post-Smile material)? What if Dennis had been able to stay focused enough to record and release more of his own music? What if Carl had continued in the manner of his early 70s sings instead of the AOR/MOR stuff of his later career? What if all the Wilsons had stayed clean or clean-ish? And lived? What if Al hadn't chucked in his hat with fun in the sun faction? I can understand why he and Mike went for it, but there seems to be evidence that both were, at least on the verge of, branching out musically in the 70s? What if Murry hadn't died when he did? What if Murry hadn't been an SOB? You'e right, of course, we have this one great album. The last really great Beach Boys album - and I say this as someone extremely partial to BW88 even though I hate the production values and a good half of Lucky Old Sun and That's Why God etc etc.