Let's talk about The Beach Boys - Holland

Since the 1993 Box Set, I just replace it with Fairy Tale Music.

 

Seriously, it was Jim Guercio who pushed them that way when he took over management of the band. And it was Dennis who went to meet with him to bring him on board.

 

We Got Love is also on the reissue from Acoustic Sounds... which was supposed to be out in February... then in March... and is now slated for this summer tentatively.

 

Recently listened to "Trader" for the first time in ages and was reminded what a brilliant track it is. As a bonus, I has completely forgotten about the whole second half, which is an amazing Carl Wilson showpiece in its own right.

 

The EP is great too. I'm a big fan of that kind of Brian Wilson weirdness.

 

Lazy lyrics, I always felt (e.g. the repetition in 'I wrest the waters, fight Neptune's waters'), but gorgeous music.

 

I think it's the best sounding BB's album. Which is odd given the 'long way around the ocean' near debacle they had recording it. Who disassembles a perfectly good and carefully designed studio, ships it from the U.S.to Holland, and rebuild it for recording one album? Why, the Beach Boys do!

 

Dude ya rave about every song except my two faves : only with you and funky pretty. What da heck? Great record but I noted to this forum recently that (after sail on sailor and steamboat, and later only with you and funky pretty), caulifornia saga, trader and leaving this town are not in tune (with a properly tuned piano). They are a bit flat. Someone noted back to me it was due to electricity/power differences between Holland and the United States.
never did check mt Vernon yet....

 

Great album from start to finish.

I still have the first cd mastered by Gastwirt and it is that good.

 

By the way, in the Dutch newspapers, specifically our biggest paper 'De Telegraaf' it was reported they rented villa's for 3000 guilders a month, so they liked to spend money back then.

 

The fact that they shipped the studio across the world instead of renting another one or working in the one they had is really all you need to know that money management wasn't their strength.

 

They also recorded in Baambrugge...there was a documentary made in Holland about Holland, but mostly in Dutch.

 

HOLLAND was my first Beach Boys album. I bought it back in June 1974 and played it endlessly that summer. As a result, it's still probably my personal favorite.

I've turned a lot of people on to HOLLAND (and The Beach Boys) over the years. A lot.

Still a fine album.

 

It's so bizarre that just a couple of years after this everything they worked so hard for went out of the window with the release of Endless Summer and the transformation to an oldies-band. It must've been so hard for Carl, who wasn't even 30 and was finally writing and producing his own material to return to crap like Barbara Ann.

 

How good is Sail On, Sailor?

One of the BB's best.

 

An excellent album that hangs together very well. Carl's Trader is great and Only With You makes me wish that Dennis and Mike could have written together more (but I fully understand why that couldn't happen). Sail on Sailor was a much better inclusion than We Got Love would have been and the California Saga is an interesting listen.

Just a shame that they couldn't follow it up and the Caribou sessions were unsuccessful. 15 Big Ones then represented a massive backward step and the beginning of the end creatively.

 

Strangely enough I just got the new SHM reissue of this yesterday and have been playing it almost non-stop. As others have mentioned, Carl's Trader is just epic! Great sounding album overall. Really digging Only With You ( for the first time).

 

Yeah, I agree! I was very disappointed when 15 Big Ones came out. After Passions and Holland, I thought they were progressively driving inland, but then popped a U-turn and went back to the beach!

 

Though I have to say that I love Love You for its weirdness and MIU for its cheesyness/weirdness. Hey Little Tomboy, Belles of Paris etc are equally cringeworthy as they are brilliant in my opinion. Unbelievable that such stuff was being released

 

I need this album. Is the Carl & The Passions "So Tough" / Holland HDCD from 2000 any good?

 

That's my favorite of Carl's (half) songs and one of my favorite of his vocals ever. The album also features the best Mike Love track ever (Big Sur, a true masterpiece) and the last Beach Boys classic written by Brian (Sail on Sailor; only The Night Was So Young would match it in the subsequent BB LP's). So sad that 15 Big Ones followed…

 

Yes. Buy it.

Carl & the Passions is patchier and doesn't hang together nearly so well but has some strong songs.

 

I have the sought-after mispress with the original track order that omits Sail On Sailor, so the album opens with Steamboat, and has We Got Love at the end of side one. Certainly makes the album sound more grown-up as a result.

 

It's a great double Cd, but in terms of sound quality, I would try and get the 1990 Caribou releases. They sound way better to me IMO.
I reckon if most people try and forget the Beach Boys as a surf group and really listened to their 70 - 75 album releases, I think people
would really be surprised at how great those albums were before the oldie's act kicked in. Just listen to the music/writing/production and
vocals, and don't think of surfin usa or fun fun fun. It's a beautiful catalogue of music by a great group period.

 

That stuff is "The Sshhitt!"!