Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

Good point and I agree. Carl was certainly knee deep in the Smile stuff around this time with his efforts to put something together from the vaults. And Trader does come across as a less abstract and more earnest take on the Do You Like Worms concept. Maybe he viewed Worms as a little too flippant and irreverent about the systematic destruction of Native American cultures and the spread of Europeanism. After all, what kind of jackass would make light of such matters? OK, here goes:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Manifest destiny. Get out of my house.

I think I'm starting to remember why I got a bad grade on my essay.

 

Trader - great melody, great Carl vocals, fits well in the context of the album. What’s not to love?

5/5

 

5/5 For both Trader and California. This is the Beach Boys of the 70's we will remember for their creativity. Yes, it's hard to believe we will soon be listening to the Beach Boys trying to do something that is accepted critically, but not usually succeeding.

 

Oh, man, do I love this song with the chemistry going on between Carl and Jack that just cooks on all four burners. I'd be willing to say that had Jack stayed, we most likely would have had several more of these gems on upcoming albums if not a Carl/Jack solo outing. Is there a music only version of Trader anywhere to be found?While Feel Flows is my favorite of the triad, Trader's instrumentation is both superlative and captivating all in one. I've often wondered if this could have been parts of two different pieces that were somehow cobbled together so incredibly well. 5/5

 

I'd love to hear an instrumental plus background vocals version of this one -- like Wouldn't it be Nice on the PS box. Really great performances here in the classic Beach Boy tradition with those soaring vocals on the verses and counterpoint harmonies on the choruses. And that fat bass sound on the second half--yum. This one was lovingly rendered.

 

Big fat 5/5.

The comparisons to Smile are valid.

Carl's crowning achievement.

 

5 for The Trader

 

That's a funny clip! The January/February 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill should have nixed all mentions of getting to the cool cool water of the ocean. Those little sandpipers would have been running for their lives away from those oily waves, not going back and forth. "Don't Go Near the Water" was a good idea in 1971 - cause the water was still a mess, but then the spill helped to cause things to change. 1 January 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) took effect. Yeah, what took you so long, Uncle Sam? Soon afterwards, the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act was passed. By 1972 we had the Clean Water Act (effective in October 1972), and the California Coastal Commission, aimed directly at protecting the California coastline. So, by that time Al felt he should write a song about the new world view = "Californ-i-a". Wishful thinking on Al's part or not, it was time for the group to start singing positive things again about water.

On your side note: "Cool Cool Water" was an old Smiley thought briefly brought back to life in early 1970. They must not have thought too much of it, tho. It wasn't finished for inclusion of the "offerings" to Reprise (February), or Capitol (June). Instead, it was finished in the last batch, in early July - one of the last tracks they needed to get a green light for Sunflower to be released. "Big Sur" showed up around this time (August 1970). Those boys were slow to finish things off. Mike held onto that tune for a while, didn't he? And Al's singing about an event, the Big Sur Festival in 1970. I almost got to see them there. I was down in Hermosa Beach on 3 October, but it wasn't in the plan to start our trip up the coast to San Francisco until the 10th.

The California song set took me a long time to get to love. My friends hated all three songs when I would play this record at listening parties. The poem especially. They would say things like, "could you take your Rod McKuen crap somewhere else?". The whole of side one got no good response. Side two got a bit more slack. I never tried once to play the EP fairytale. I'd listen to that alone in the dark, as Brian instructed...

 

It's great that the trilogy became more popular as time went on. Forgot to give my rating for "Californ-I-a" - 4/5 or 7/10. It was a fun song to see them do live.

 

Country Joe was one of the acts at the festival, but the liberty bit was clunky.

I think Mike held on throughout the seventies vocal-wise. After that he became more of an actor.

 

Let’s keep in mind, The Beach Boys were a band comprised (at this time) of seven singers/songwriters and with Brian pretty much absent, not one of them had any “god given” right for their material to trump all. All these decisions were based on votes and reason. Was there some jealousy? Perhaps. Isn’t there usually a lot of jealousy and hurt feelings in bands? I mean, I’ve witnessed the most horrific arguments/drama with bands just trying to get a set list together, so I’m not quite ready to believe there was some jealously fueled plot in motion to rob the world of Dennis’ work. And let’s also remember it was Dennis himself who pulled his songs off Surf’s Up.

 

Sounds like two separate songs to me. And I love them both. 5/5 or 10/10 says the same thing - a perfect meeting in the middle.

 

Can’t agree. Brian had the Midas touch during the 60’s but by Holland, there were some things that Dennis and Carl could frankly, do better and in a more timely/relevant fashion. After all, they were students of Brian and this was also a group that together were the single greatest vocal performers in rock history. Not a bad start it you’re going in crippled, so to speak. As a progressively minded rock album circa 1973, Holland is tops and is SO different from Brian/BB’s heyday, that I find any reason to compare to be pointless.

 

"Trader"

This is in the bush league of Bob Dylan's "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" and "Hurricane" in terms of manipulative, limited, and convenient narrative to try to make a point and shame societies/people groups.

Thankfully, Rieley would leave the realm of the band at this point in their history.

1/5

 

Your ratings for The Trader:
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5-14 votes

 

Today's song is Leaving This Town:

 

Leaving This Town -- To me this is a step down from the first 6 songs, but still a very enjoyable psychedelic blues tinged soul song. I like the keyboard solo, the vocal is heartfelt and the harmonies at the end are a great vocal moment, 70s-style.

4/5

 

3 for me.

 

4/5.

Unlike the first two Chaplin/Fataar songs they did, this one fits their (more recent) style. You could medley it with Dennis' "Be With Me" or Carl's "Long Promised Road" and the transition would be relatively smooth.

Anyone know who plays the synth solo? Jon Stebbins' "FAQ" book doesn't give credit. Online, I've read it's Ricky. I've heard live recordings where Carli Munoz does a great version on Hammond. And I think back in college I read in a book it was Carl -- but my Reagan Era college memories could be off.

Whoever plays it, that solo has the majesty of Steve Hackett's guitar solo on Genesis' "Firth Of Fifth" in the way it lifts the song to a whole new level. Great lead vocal by Blondie too.

 

I keep repeating this ad nauseam but "Leaving This Town" is one of only two BB songs with an extended instrumental workout over its own repeating pattern (and not the chords of the verse/chorus/whatever).

Ricky's solo builds beautifully. OK, so this isn't standard BB fare (touch of Traffic, touch of Elton) but I love it. And the Beatlish tag is sheer heaven.

5/5

 

There’s a lot I love about Leaving This Town: Blondie’s sinuous, behind the beat vocal; the sad, evocative lyrics; the strong piano-driven melody; the nice vocal round at the end that reminds you what band this is — lots of great stuff. But my ADD kicks in when that Low Spark of High Heeled (Beach) Boys synth solo begins. I’m sure it’s a virtuoso performance, just not my bag. At least it doesn’t go on for half an hour as in the aforementioned Traffic song. And on the plus side, it does give me a chance to let the dog out and unload the dishwasher without having to hit the pause button. Overall, a very strong song that keeps the album’s momentum going. 4/5.

 

This is where Flame becomes more integrated with the Beach Boys - at least there are some more typical Beach Boys harmonies on this track, and of course that lovely tag . . . and the melody is much more interesting than either of Blondie and Ricky's previous efforts on CATP. A solid effort, too bad this was the last gasp for the two with the group (well, except for Hard Time, which is great also). 4/5

 

Upon release, I've always felt that this song was the odd man out of the set due to the non BB feel of it. Oh, it's very well executed except for the strange ending but it comes off as a throwaway in light of the rest of the content. It could have found a more fitting home on CATP than here. Going with Uncle Ernie on this one but a bit more conservative on the points given. 3/5

 

I appreciate the more integrated sound but I find it dreary. Plodding a la Elton, even.