Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

Yeah, I'm with lou. A nice piece but I'd like to know more about its origin. Even in the musical theme of Adult/Child it sticks out as almost too old school. As a result, I've never had it on my A/C playlist, though I regularly debate whether it should be included. Not bad, so it scores a 3.

 

Pleasant but nothing noteworthy. 3

 

I wish the sound was a tad better, but it's great. 4/5.

 

There's a bit in there that was recycled for "Chain Reaction of Love", which of course, is also unreleased.

 

Following along on the week-ends get a bit tough. I love "New England Waltz". 5/5, 9/10. really.

 

Waltz - had potential. 3

I always wonder if Brian has a tape of un-used stuff laying around that he revisits or if he just has a warehouse of uncompleted bits and pieces sitting in his head waiting to get dusted off. 20 years later he was working with Paley and was like, "need a part here, let me use a scrap of New England Waltz".

 

Your ratings for New England Waltz:
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2-0 vote
3-5 votes
4-1 vote
5-1 vote

 

Today we'll discuss & rate Going Public, a solo album by Bruce Johnston released in 1977.

[Tracklist]
1. I Write The Songs
2. Deirdre
3. Thank You Baby
4. Rendezvous
5. Won't Somebody Dance With Me
6. Disney Girls
7. Rock And Roll Survivor
8. Don't Be Scared
9. Pipeline

 

Going Public: some points

• I like his version of "I Write the Songs", which is a song I've always liked.
• Other songs like "Thank You Baby" is acceptable.
• Covers of "Deirdre" and "Disney Girls" are lame. Man, I get tired fo the Beach Boys re-recording their songs.
• "Pipeline" is something I actually love.
• "Won't Somebody Dance with Me" may be the worst thing I've ever heard.

I give the whole thing a 1.5/5, which you can round up to 2: there are a few worthwhile tracks, but not enough to make this anything near a good album.

 

I agree about your first bullet point and I have a soft spot for Thank You Baby (I often use it after a desperate search to make a customised more enjoyable MIU) and I do like Disney Girls (though not as much as his Whistle Test version) . I'm not a fan of the original Deidre so this does nothing for me. I agree about everything else. Not so much a missed opportunity but a fumbled one. I'll go as high as 2.

 

I think I have "Thank You Baby" on my MIU, too! Both albums are good for fantasy record playlist plunder.

 

I bought this expecting more songs and productions like Disney Girls and was sorely disappointed. You can see why Bruce has mentioned in interviews that his music wasn’t really compatible with Beach Boys music. It’s MOR pablum, laconic to the point of stupor. 1/5

 

Generally awful and yes, as much as I hate to say, bought it used then quickly traded it away after listening just once. Perhaps I should have given it more attention, but I've never been much of a Bruce fan to begin with. 1/5

 

Collated ratings for Adult Child

1. Life Is For the Living 4.1
2. Deep Purple 2.75
3. It's Over Now 4.7
4. Everybody Wants to Live 3.8571
5. Shortenin' Bread 3.125
6. Lines 3.75
7. On Broadway 3.875
8. It's Tryin' To Say 3.5
9. Still I Dream Of It 4.8889

Adult Child album: 3.5714

Average by song (not including the 1971 songs or "Hey Little Tomboy"): 3.7071

Bonus track

• New England Waltz 3.4286

 

I’ll listen along but agree with most that Bruce, though essential in the BBs vocal blend after 1965, is a gifted craftsman but not really an inspired artist (which he would probably agree with). I do love Deidre and Disney Girls though.

Agree on the re-record, rarely is that ever not pointless...

 

Bruce was particularly miffed at a meet n greet few years back when I brought a copy of Looking Back with Love for Mike to sign and not a copy of any of his solo records. I smiled and just told him "next time"

 

After all the good quality music he did with the Beach Boys I was surprised at how uninspired this record was. I still have it, but the last time I remember playing it was for a rating poll. I like Barry's version of "I Write the Songs" more, and those re-makes are not up to snuff. I can only go a 2/5, 3/10. Will say I did like what he brought to the later Beach Boys albums, and some of the music on the California Project comp. He just missed the mark completely with this album.

 

Your ratings for Going Public:
1-2 votes
2-3 votes
3-0 vote
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5-0 vote

 

*Pacific Ocean Blue (Dennis Wilson, 1977):
1. River Song
2. What's Wrong
3. Moonshine
4. Friday Night
5. Dreamer
6. Thoughts of You
7. Time
8. You And I
9. Pacific Ocean Blues
10. Farewell My Friend
11. Rainbow
12. End of the Show
[Non-album Tracks]
Tug of Love
Only With You
Holy Man [Inst.]
Mexico

(I'm still thinking whether we go through Bambu tracks song-by-song or not.)

 

Today's song is River Song:

 

River song - great 5/5. I like the early Beach Boys mix from 74 which has the heavy guitar and younger Dennis vocal. Hopefully we'll get a good version of that in a few years.

 

Utter MASTERPIECE. The first time I heard it was on the version of Ten Years of Harmony with the wrong mixes of ‘Come Go With Me’ and ‘School Days’ circa 1990. I was completely blown away. I had seen the LP in cut out bins for years but never knew what was hiding in the jacket. It started a lifelong love for all things Dennis (excepting ‘The Gong’ perhaps). 5/5 with a bullet!

 

River Song is definitely a 5/5, I think it's just great. I haven't listened much to the 74 version because the copy I have has pretty bad sound, but I don't really need to.

I love this; it's thrilling, it's over the top production-wise, but for me that just suits it. It's a grand, dramatic production of a grand song. You can hear the Beach Boys influence, but it mainly sounds like nothing else: it's soulful, sunny, rockin' and bluesy, truly "spiritual" as a Wilson brother would say. Drenched in the Power.

A masterpiece.

Dennis dropped this like a nuclear bomb. I can't believe this isn't more well-known!

 

I vote track-by-track on the Bambu disc: reasons:

1. Some of those songs are actually Pacific Ocean Blue outtakes, if you look at the AGD's site and see when they were recorded.
2. It's not really an album, so it's hard to rate it as an overall album.
3. Some of the songs are great and none of them are really bad in my opinion, I don't think it will be a slog to get through at all. Many of the contributors to earlier albums (in the sixties) have dropped out; I doubt if any of the people regularly voting now are going to no matter what. WE are the hardcore.

 

Tremendous album and this one of the outstanding tracks on it - and it offers a glimpse of what might have been.song. One of Dennis' best; a real emotional whirlwind of a song.

Not great quality, but here it is from 73: