"Sail On Sailor" must have been one of those songs that did better on oldies radio than it did on the charts. I didn't hear much of it as a tyke - at least I don't recall it - but I'm definitely familiar with it from my youth. And my uncle didn't own any Beach Boys that I can recall, so it must have been getting radio play. I think it's a great cut and deserved to be a Top 10 hit, at least. I don't get the argument that it sounds out of place for 1973. In fact it sounds vaguely glam - a bit like The Sweet - and vaguely jazz/rock in a then-contemporary Chicago-esque way.
When I lived near Memphis TN in 1974-75, FM-100, which was a leading rock station, played it often. That's where I first heard it. That's where I also heard Hey Jude for the first time. The station played that 1968 gem frequently. I was 12 in 1974. Your description of the song is interesting & makes me view the song in a way I hadn't considered.
I think I did answer the question. The style of music that "Sail On Sailor" was, was out of favor with the radio and singles-buying audiences in 1973, and that audience was also skewing younger. I was one of them. Not only was soul music gaining a strong presence, disco was starting to take hold. Also, on the rock side, stadiums were the new venues. Audiences were looking to newer sounds by Deep Purple, Chicago, Alice Cooper, The Doobie Brothers, and Grand Funk. Soon, even the R&B bands would be played on FM rock radio. In that light, the sound that Beach Boys song represented sounded more like 1971. The reason I included 1978 is because, looking at the rock/pop musical trends of that year, it would again fit in. You know, the record labels were very keen on this too. They took great pains to release something at just the right time and hope it would take hold. The goal was to have a hit record, not just to satisfy a small core audience. The labels had been corporatized, and the shareholders wanted to see returns on their investments. One more thing to add to hurt the Beach Boys chart success in 1973: the baby-boom nostalgia was gearing up, and who was at the forefront of the early 60s pop music scene? Brian Wilson & Co. Sessions Records advertised a girl groups album on TV, Time-Life had an Elvis collection, and Happy Days was being developed for TV after a pilot was shown on "Love, American Style". The Beach Boys may have been steadily releasing quality product in the 70s, but they had become a legacy act, something associated with the boomers' childhood, something associated with a more innocent time before the British Invasion, Viet Nam, civil rights, assassinations, and riots. That's about the only way they could have had a hit with an old Chuck Berry song in 1976. Nostalgia. Rick Nelson? He did a song about it. I'm not saying that "Sail On Sailor" wasn't hit material. I think it was. I like it. I'm saying that it was released at the wrong time. We can say such-and-such a song should have been bigger all day, but we have to look at the musical trends of the time, and what the active pop/rock audience wanted to hear.. Some would say "If only someone had given the song a chance, it would have..." . Would have what? They had a chance. The record was released, and radio threw it away for the reasons I outlined. It just didn't fit.
Loved “Crocodile Rock” - it was rockin but also somewhat nostalgic, a perfect pop song. It takes me back to that “Muppets” episode. “Killing Me Softly” is simply beautiful; lyrics like “strumming my pain with his fingers” impacted me even though I was too young to really get it. The Fugees version was cool but didn’t measure up to the original. Some really great #1s so far!
I never heard it on any oldies radio, and I doubt any of them would play it. The song is way too obscure.
Great. I will read with an open mind. I hope we get some good and competent, informative posts just like we have been getting!
They never played Sail on Sailor here. Even a cover by local band Chalice didn't get played. The album shows played the hell out of The California Saga though.
Back when WCBS-FM 101 in New York played the '50's and '60's, "Sail On Sailor" was played somewhere between frequently and occasionally.
Sail On Sailor was a radio staple in LA in the 70s. Had no idea it wasn't a national hit till later on when I started chart research.
Interesting analysis, but I disagree. I think it did fit, at least it did for a time during 1973 then again in 1974 on FM in California where I lived. But it didn't get any traction. I was a teenager then. I heard it now and again -- not very often, but it was there. I think the problem was more of what to make of it -- it just didn't sound like what people would expect to hear from The Beach Boys. Or maybe -- probably -- it wasn't what people wanted to hear from The Beach Boys. So if someone heard it on the radio and liked it but then found out it was The Beach Boys the confusion would have damped any momentum or enthusiasm someone might have had for the record. I went to a Beach Boys concert at the local uni in 1973. People listened to their contemporary songs and, as I recall, kind of politely rocked along and dutifully applauded. But when the opening riff to Surfin' USA rang out, the place flat exploded with cheering and dancing and even singing along. The place erupted and it continued like that for all their old hits. These were college students who wouldn't have been more than 8 to 10 years old during The Beach Boys hit making heyday. It was 1973. But people wanted that from The Beach Boys, not modern sounds. I'd argue that Sail On Sailor would have been much more a success had it been released under someone else's name. The Beach Boys became a legacy act starting right around 1972 / 1973 precisely because, it seemed, that's what people wanted from them. For some inexplicable reason I started hearing Surfin'USA a lot on AM radio during both those summers (I worked part-time as a furniture mover helper and we had the radio on all the time in the truck). The nostalgia wave hijacked whatever modern direction The Beach Boys might have been going in and supplied them cash and concert dates and then a huge top selling album of oldies in 1974 and completely flooded over whatever might have been in what could be termed the revenge of M. Love -- the formula. I really think it's too bad, though. While I love The Beach Boys classic sound and their post-Smile sound, and have always been a big fan, after Holland it's rough sailing and crashing on the rocks as far as I'm concerned. I don't even have any of their post Holland releases anymore. I have Brian Wilson's 1988 solo album, but that's it.
Brilliant line in that song. Wonder if Elvis wouldn't have lived longer if he'd been a truck driver...
Seems like it was a regional hit, then. That's why it never got out of the bottom of the Billboard chart.
It's never easy or satisfying for an artist to be so pigeon-holed that they can never manage to grow and evolve beyond the public's expectations. Actors, musicians and the like sometimes make such an impression either through a role or song or album and that's it for them. Fans want that character or that style and find it difficult to accept anything else. Must be stifling to never be able to grow past a certain point in your artistry. With the Beach Boys, unfortunately it's all right there in their name.
I know we seem to be getting off the track (hint, hint, hint), but . . . haven't we passed the 2-day window for examining the number one we already examined?
Sadly true. In hindsight it seems like the first few years of the decade were a period when a lot of older acts saw the writing on the wall and made their last artistic stands.
"Love Train"! Not to be confused with the "Peace Train" or the "Soul Train" ... although the latter would soon have a theme strikingly similar to the O'Jays' sole pop #1. It's never been my favorite hit of theirs, but it's still fantastic and you can't beat the message it sends. If you miss it, I feel sorry for you ...
That happened in the 80s to many 70s acts as well. It happens in every decade as most acts/ groups don't enjoy more than 5 years of consecutive hit making success.
The only pop #1 for one of the great vocal groups, who had an over 40 year chart career! Love Train may be no Back Stabbers, but it is still pretty great, it rings truer than many of the happier R&B hits of the era, and it was part of the best album the Philly Soul movement produced. I also love the minor popcharter 992 Arguments from that same album. All join hands and hail the O'Jays! Consistent excellence.
I never heard Love Train at the time. The first time I ever heard the song was on Kylie Minogue's Live in Dublin video.
