The Beach Boys Love You

I'm writing a lot about albums I'm listening to at the moment. Because at the moment, I'm making an album. Perhaps it's quite delusional of me to imagine that anyone would ever care, but everyone who makes albums is delusional- except the one's who end up being famous. Since we are trying to make that Breakthrough Record, I'm going to plan on that succeeding. Thus, at some point after we're worldwide superstars, someone might wonder just what records the drummer was enamored with during the recording process. It matters. This article is about the Beach Boys album Love You. If our record, upon completion, has some Moogs on it, now you'll know why.

If one fancies oneself a rock and roll completist, at some point one must become a Beach Boys completist. And a true Beach Boys completist will sooner or later go down the rabbit hole that is Smile. I’ve been down that rabbit hole, and I’m not sure I ever fully made it out. But this particular article is not about Smile.

Brian Wilson’s failure in 1966 to realize his “teenage symphony to God” sent him spinning into a total breakdown, which rendered him about as close to Syd Barrett as anyone’s ever been who lived to tell about it. During this time Brian was largely a recluse, sporadically poking his head out to appear in music videos and at Live Aid, playing a keyboard that probably wasn’t plugged in. It would be a full four decades before he would finally reemerge as a consistent recording and touring artist.

But way back in the 70s, amidst the “Brian’s Back” campaign which the band and record label had orchestrated to boost ticket sales for Beach Boys concerts, Brian Wilson actually wrote and recorded an entire album of all new and original songs for the Beach Boys.

Love You was quietly released in early 1977 to mixed reviews and disappointing sales. Mike Love quickly steered the group back toward his ideal vision of nostalgia act, relentlessly touring the corn dog circuit. And Brian crawled back into bed. But Love You is a real album that actually happened, and you can still get it and listen to it anytime time you like.

Some of the lyrics (okay most of the lyrics) are pretty juvenile but regardless, this is a collection of pop tunes crafted by a man who’s ability to craft pop tunes is widely regarded as second to none. Gone are the Wrecking Crew and live orchestra from Pet Sounds. Instead, Brian used an array of 70s synthesizers to round out the tunes. All of the great melodies and hooks, the lush harmonies, the calls and responses you’d expect from a top notch Brian Wilson production are present and accounted for.

“Ding Dang” is a minute of silliness if ever there was one. But have you ever met anyone who could arrange those vocals? Some of the tunes, “Mona” and “Solar System” for example, sound almost satirical. Brian Wilson’s version of Spinal Tap. Even the chords are funny. But there’s also a strange, child like innocence which suggests a complete earnestness.

Love You is dripping with complex textures and while many of the songs are just a bit too weird for the casual fan to digest, it’s certainly never boring. The Beach Boys successes set a new standard for what rock and roll is capable of. Unfortunately their mediocre works excite no one and worse, they’ve got stacks of unlistenable dreck that really undermines their legacy. This really isn’t fair, because if one is to ponder the true Beach Boys canon, certainly nothing after 1980 may be included. Brian was always the creative genius, and Love You is perhaps the last full album where he really tried.

The Beach Boys catalog is often a never ending sea of compilations and repackages built around one garbage single. But there are occasional bargain bin finds of real quality, and Love You is certainly one.

Look, we only have so much time on this earth. And we have very few complete works by possibly the greatest pop composer ever. If you stopped listening somewhere between “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains”, you’re missing out on some pretty neat stuff. It’s not as shiny as “California Girls” and certainly not as beautiful as “Caroline No”, but Love You is every bit as creative and undoubtably Brian Wilson’s most David Lynch-esque piece.

Songs Of Guilt

The new album is coming along, friends. We've logged two days in the studio already and have more scheduled. I'll delve more into that and post some pics soon. In the meantime, here's a little blib about a favorite subject of mine, U2...

Songs Of Guilt

Okay, the obvious pun was too tantalizing to pass up. At least I didn’t go all Grantland-y and make the headline read : **Semi-Clever Pun**  :  **Brief description of article**.

But seriously, at what point will my comedic chops evolve from “making my friends chuckle” to “making everybody laugh”?

U2 is an entity I am more familiar with than any other. And I know more about U2 than probably anyone else you know. Trust me. U2 made headlines recently (mission accomplished- sort of) by releasing their new album for free, un announced, and by placing it in everyone’s iCloud account at once. Many people didn’t even know what an iCloud was. Some folks, like me, had to learn how to access it in order to download the album. Others were outraged that new music they didn’t ask for was popping up in their jogging shuffle.

Sadly the pushback was so great that it has thus far overshadowed what is actually a pretty great album. Casual iTunes users felt violated in some way. Contemporaries of U2 were appalled that the biggest band in the world would do something so blatant to further erode the value of music in the eyes of consumers. But who really got hurt here?

To the outraged consumers I say: You have less than zero privacy, and that’s your own choice. You post everything on Facebook. You have a GPS transmitter in your pocket at all times that broadcasts your whereabouts, along with everything you like, dislike, covet, are mildly curious about, and who all of your friends are to advertisers who in turn tailor marketing campaigns to the archetype you’ve chosen to assimilate yourself to. Get ready to find more and more things popping up in your Cloud.

To the righteously indignant musician, I submit: The genie left the bottle long ago. For better or for worse, owning media is a ridiculous notion to most people under 30. It’s the Wild West once again, and someone will figure out how to monetize music but it won’t be record sales. Blame Napster or blame Metallica, either way it’s time to get into the t-shirt business.

I have defended U2 until this afternoon. Today is payday, and like most paydays, I went to the record store. I love the record store because I love vinyl. I love the tactile experience; seeing the large artwork, pulling out the sleeve and reading all of the liner notes as I listen. I love thumbing through the bins at the record store because I always stumble across something I was not consciously aware that I wanted until I saw it. And I love hanging out among other music lovers. While I was there, a gentleman came in and asked for the new U2. I’ve felt like such a knuckle dragger for liking them these last few weeks, I welcomed the opportunity for a quick chat with a fellow fan. He, like me (and like anyone who truly enjoys music and has at least a passing knowledge and appreciation of U2) thought the new songs were excellent and couldn’t wait to own the vinyl. 

Sidenote: The album cover is so awful I almost don’t want to own the vinyl for the aforementioned reasons.

Anyhow, I chatted up the record store clerk on the subject and he was a bit salty. And it hit me. This is the real victim. You can count on two hands the number of acts with the selling power of U2. These record stores are likely hanging on by a thread. U2 puts out 2 to 3 new releases per decade, and I’m sure every record store owner was counting on this one to keep the lights on for awhile. They’re hoping this vinyl revival keeps building, but they’re likely in desperate need of a banner release by the world’s biggest band to float the whole operation in the interim. By giving the record free to everyone with an iTunes account, U2 singlehandedly took what was probably the largest payday of the year for record stores and cut it by more than half.

I still love U2. I think the new album is great. I will buy it on vinyl, not for them but for the record store. And I can’t wait for the tour. But they blew it here. For every record store that goes out of business in the next six months, the blood (red sky) is on their hands.