MOG

One of the most jarring experiences I’ve ever had while listening to music was the first time I heard ‘Pet Sounds’. I was a relatively old 20, and my previous experience with the Beach Boys was a vinyl ‘Greatest Hits’ in my dad’s collection, which was pretty much completely devoted to the ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’, ‘Surfin’ USA’ type stuff. But a guy in college, during an extended and meandering conversation told me I needed to hear ‘Pet Sounds’ and read ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee’, so I went out and bought both.

Both completely and utterly blew my mind. ‘Wounded Knee’ is a story for another time and maybe another blog, but ‘Pet Sounds’ stunned me. I’d never, ever heard an album so different from what I expected. These were the Beach Boys as I had never heard them – I loved it, but it was unexpected to me (although the most surreal and unexpected moment I’ve had involving a Beach Boy was seeing Brian Wilson perform the Barenaked Ladies song ‘Brian Wilson’.) I don’t know – maybe I’m the only one who felt this.

Having been through that, I thought I knew what to expect from ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, the recently reissued solo album by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. Originally released in 1977, it was the first solo project by any of the band. Dennis had been attempting to record a solo album since 1970, and whereas the bulk of the album was recorded between autumn 1976 and spring 1977, several tracks (including album opener ‘River Song’ and the title track) have their origins in the earlier sessions, as well as in sessions for Beach Boys albums during the period. The problem with the latter works is that the songs don’t really sound like the Beach Boys.

But this isn’t a Beach Boys album. It’s absolutely of its time and has aged dramatically in parts. The piano on ‘River Song’ is ‘Tiny Dancer’ era Elton John; there’s disco-funk bass on songs like ‘Dreamer’ and Pacific Ocean Blue’; Eagles and Gram Parsons type desert rock on ‘Moonshine’, ‘Rainbows’ and Only With You’ and even a toe dipped in Bonzo Dog Doo Dah territory on ‘What’s Wrong’. It could easily be the soundtrack to an ‘Almost Famous’ sequel (Cameron Crowe, if you’re reading this, call me. I got ideas.) But at the same time as departing from a trademark Beach Boys sound, there’s also a distinct sense that this is a surf  album – not in the same vein as the ‘Surfin’ Safari’ Beach Boys or even the nice guy surf folk of Jack Johnson. It’s a bleaker, solitary surf rock evoking a lone longboard on a dark beach.

Lyrically, the album floats between the quasi-religious ("I know a carpenter who had a dream / Killed the man but you couldn't kill the dream") and the out-and-out hippie-ish (Earth opens up its arms for me / When you get the feelin'/ The feelin' everything's all right alright / And I want you to know / I love you I love you so") but for the most part it’s simple and straightforward songwriting, and whereas a few tracks are credited to Dennis Wilson alone, much of it was written with producer Greg Jakobson; as well as with Beach Boys Carl Wilson and Mike Love and then-wife Karen Lamm, among others. Dennis’ voice is the key to the songs; rougher and scratchier than it had been on work with the Beach Boys, but far more suited to the introspective, mature sound that ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ is going for.

This being a 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, it includes a disc of songs intended for ‘Bambu’, the never-released follow-up album. I don’t know that it’s as accessible as ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’, for a lot of the songs the only thing you can really say is that they’re interesting. It’s a harder album to get your head around. The vocals aren’t always coherent and in many places there’s a heavier reliance on booming piano notes than there is on ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’. At the very end of the disc, though, there’s a surprisingly (or not surprisingly, depending on your point of view) good revision of ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ track ‘Holy Man’ featuring vocals by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (the original track is instrumental.) Hawkins voice and lyrics are a distinct and enjoyable finish to a flawed but still classic album. But bear in mind, ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ is remembered as a lost classic – ‘Bambu’ is not.

Track Listing:

As always, here’s the track listing for the two disc set. For your hard earned cash you also get liner notes written by Beach Boys scholars such as David Leaf, Jon Stebbins, Ben Edmonds and David Beard, photographs by Wilson's close friend, Jan & Dean's Dean Torrence. There’s also an option to purchase a multi-LP, 180 gram blue vinyl version, available on the Sundazed label.

Disc One - Pacific Ocean Blue
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 Blue"
10. "Farewell My Friend"
11. "Rainbows"
12. "End of The Show"
13. "Tug Of Love"
14. "Only With You"
15. "Holy Man" [instrumental]
16. "Mexico"

 Disc Two: Bambu (The Caribou Sessions)
1. "Under The Moonlight"
2. "It's Not Too Late"
3. "School Girl"
4. "Love Remember Me"
5. "Love Surrounds Me"
6. "Wild Situation"
7. "Common"
8. "Are You Real"
9. "He's A Bum"
10. "Cocktails"
11. "I Love You"
12. "Constant Companion"
13. "Time For Bed"
14. "Album Tag Song"
15. "All Alone"
16. "Piano Variation on Thoughts Of You"
17. "Holy Man (Taylor Hawkins Version)"