A Cork on the Ocean: Beach Boys and Wilson Brothers song-by-song

I like this a lot, it shows Brian’s further development as a lyricist and arranger. A very different kind of song to the previous Honeys’ tracks but still in the realm of the Spector sound. I’m not a fan of the trio harmony vocal for the lead - I can’t think of a girl group song I like with that arrangement- but it’s sung well enough. Like the modulation at the end - nice Brian touch.

3/5

 

You Brought It All on Yourself

The song itself is okay, but that arrangement (other than the sax) is terrific and sounds like pure Brian to me, although years (?) down the road. The Honeys’ voices grate a bit in this one.

2.75/5

Edit:

Yes! I thought that too! I didn’t put it in my post because I thought “Nah, that can’t be right.” It’s the arrangement that reminds me of Help Me Rhonda, not really the song.

 

I hear echoes of "Help Me Rhonda too. This is one of their best songs.
However, the background vocal refrains, are to me rather lame, and ordinary.
I would rather have just background harmonies, and the lead on it's own.
The lead vocal shines and I still don't the sax breaks.

I'm starting to think that Brian used these sessions to experiment, help the Rovell sisters in their career.
But on many of them, I think he knew they would not be hits.
He really tried with "The One You Can't Have" and "He's A Doll".
These should have charted, in a fairer world.

In those days putting out singles was cheap, and these songs were done in a few hours.

He knew what would be a hit, that is why The Beach Boys had so many.

3/5

 

I also hear, "Be True To Your School", on the asending harmony.
Good catch, Chartstuff.

 

Chronologically, would this have been the last song Brian recorded before Be My Baby released?

 

You Brought It All on Yourself

4/5

I could see the Go-Go's covering this song in the early 80s

 

I hear Melissa Manchester's hit, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You", the girl background singing.
Same kind of sound

 

Im not sure exactly when in August “Be My Baby” was released. He recorded “Rocking Surfer” on August 8th.

 

And most of LDC had to have been written before.
So would it be safe to say the first Brian song with a clear BMB influence is “I Do”?

 

"Brought it All On Yourself": again the lyrics are not innovative or able to grab the listener. They just kind of lay there. Hal's groove and playing are tremendous. Sax solo is groovy. Chords work well in driving the melody and groove. Nothing really distinct in the vocals, but the Honeys sing well. It's just that the lyrics are nothing to write home about. 2/5

 

I think "Don't Worry Baby" might pre-date "I Do"; it wasn't recorded until the first week of January but Brian had already offered it to Spector (who rejected it.)

But "I Do" is probably the first song completed in the studio that has some obvious influence, becaue "The One You Can't Have" is super-Spector-y but not really like "Be My Baby."

 

"You Brought It All on Yourself" - There's something off about the harmonies, I can't articulate it, but it makes this song a little unnerving, which I don't think was the intention. The production is better - more balanced - than some of the previous songs, though, and the song has a nice, bouncy rhythm. The vocal melody in parts reminds me of another popular song that was trying to evoke this era much later on. 2.75/5

 

YBIAOY: Tough to say with the poor quality audio but I like this one. The lyrics are definitely more complex and emotional. The vocal harmonies are good, but not world-class and there's a mismatch between their charming quality and the clockwork professionalism of the session players. I'd like to hear the Honeys in more of a garage band milieu with a rough edge. Hal Blaine's drum rolls are a national treasure but I think the Honeys would be better suited by a lo-fi approach.
3/5

 

Groovy. 4.

Definitely. Not a great fan of the Honeys, except maybe He's a Doll, but I quite like this one. Lyrically, Brian is trying something different, something more ambitious. The other great Honey's moment never happened - no vocals for the 1964 version of Go Away Boy. The 88 version is a little bland, especially the guitar. In fact, I wish the Boys had recorded it.

 

The Pearlfishers do a great version of "Go Away Boy"

 

You Brought It All On Yourself
Pretty nice. I think this is my fav of any of the Honeys tracks or the recent batch of side projects. Don't think I would have guessed it had a BBoys connection based on listening though. Different kind of vocal arrangement than BBous usually use with the multiple voices here moving in lockstep.
Rating 3

 

It's wonderful, isn't it? A great 'what if' moment for the Boys.

 

It's tough to judge this one due to the sound and it's a shame that it's not available in perfect quality.

It seems like quite a good competition, but the girls' vocals maybe could have been tighter.

The later version that was included on the 1980s LP never struck me as particularly memorable.

3/5.

 

There’s a good mashup of the 80s vocals with the 64 track of Go Away Boy - I’m sure Lance will post it when we get there.

 

I had forgotten “You Brought It All On Yourself”, it’s pretty good. I’ve been pretty tough on The Honeys. I’d been measuring them against The Cookies, The Blossoms, and The Shirelles (and The Beach Boys). That’s pretty unfair. This song is fun to listen to, and I’d go back and rate some of The Honeys’ songs we’ve already covered higher. Oh well, it’s only the internet. 3.5/5

 

Maybe this would be a discussion beyond the scope of this thread, but I don't really think it's unfair. We're not rating them in terms of whether to give them a spot on the Sunday night lineup at our local club, but in terms of (some version of) their listenability sixty years down the road. I measure them against the groups you mentioned because, for me, that really is the question: is there any reason for me to listen to this, when I could listen to a Shirelles song? The songs I'm rating "1" are the songs I can't come up with any non-historical-interest-based reason to listen to today, even if they might be reasonably well done. A "2" is a song that has something of its own to offer, even if it's not a particular favorite with me.

Just how I'm thinking about it of course, no wrong answers.

 

Our votes for "You Brought It All On Yourself"
1-0
2-2
3-10
4-7
5-0
Average: 3.1622

 

Today, two songs.
Today’s first song song is “Little Surfer Girl [demo]” aka “Teach Me To Surf", written by Brian Wilson. Performed by Brian Wilson. The below video won't play in Canada and severl other countries, sorry, it was the only one I could find.

The Beach Boys – Little Surfer Girl Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Background:
A short except of a demo of an otherwise unreleased, unbooted song that was intended for Bob & Vicki called "Teach Me to Surf.” This version was released on Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys in 1993. The exact date of recording is unknown.

Line up:
Brian Wilson: vocal, organ
Unknown, possibly Bob Norberg?: snare drum

This demo snippet was released on Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys in 1993.

 

Today’s second song is “First Rock and Roll Dance", written and produced by Brian Wilson. Performed by Brian Wilson.

Background:
“First Rock and Roll Dance” was originally copyrighted as “First Rock and Roll Bash”, and had lyrics. It seems that it was a song intended for Bob and Vicki and was recorded on the same day as “Rabbit's Foot”, on April 30th, 1963, with presumably the same line up. Elements of the song would later make their way into "Do You Remember" and, I think maybe, the still unreleased "Somebody To Love" from Brian Wilson's 1989 unreleased album Sweet Insanity.

Line Up: (based on “Rabbit's Foot/Our Car Club”)
Brian Wilson: piano?
With
Glen Campbell: guitar
Hal Blaine: drums
Other personnel unknown possibly:
Billy Strange: guitar
Steve Douglas: tenor saxophone
Jay Migliori: baritone saxophone
Ray Pohlman: bass guitar

First booted in the ‘00s, “First Rock & Roll Dance” was released in 2013 on The Big Beat 1963. Bob & Vicki’s version with vocals has not been released or bootlegged.

 

I enjoy both of these, especially the snippet of Little Surfer Girl, but it doesn’t seem fair to rate them.