Rock and Roll of Ages - 9/9/22
FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK---THE BEACH BOYS
by B.A. Bartell
The Beach Boys sang in ‘Surfin’ U.S.A”, their first hit single: “Everybody’s gone Surfin’, Surfin’ U.S.A.”. Everybody that is, except for the Beach Boys. (With the exception of Dennis Wilson- barely). Brian Wilson, the group's song writer and occasional lead vocalist admitted "I wouldn't go out surfin'. I was scared of the water." A somewhat surprising admission from the man who fronted a group that became surf music's most popular proponents. That could be considered the equivalent of Cheech and Chong claiming they didn't like to smoke marijuana.
Brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson combined with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine to comprise the most- recognized Beach Boys lineup. The Beach Boys admittedly weren’t the first surf rock artists, but they were by far the most responsible for the rise of surf music, unlike any artist prior to and after them. The Beach Boys’ music combined Chuck Berry-like guitar riffs with the vocal harmonies of ‘50s pop groups like the Four Aces and the Four Freshmen, to create a sound theretofore unique to rock and roll.
The Beach Boys 2nd album Surfin’ U.S.A. containing the #3 single of the same name, was released in April 1963 -launching the Surf music craze. The Beach Boys added two more Top 10 LPs in 1963. They released seven Top 40 singles from those LPs, with “Surfer Girl” and “Be True to Your School” joining “Surfin’ U.S.A.” in the Billboard Top 10. The Beach Boys achieved their first #1 single with “I Get Around” in June 1964. Their live LP Beach Boys Concert (November 1964) rode the wave, pardon the pun, of popularity to spend four weeks at #1 on the LP charts.
It was at this point that Brian Wilson decided to quit touring due to frequent hearing problems. (Rumors and conjecture that he took a hiatus to take surfing lessons are totally unsubstantiated). Brian focused instead on songwriting and the production and engineering of albums. The aforementioned skills resulted in his being hailed, as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame proclaims, “One of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music”. Brian dismisses such puffery by stating “I’m not a genius; I’m just a hard working guy.”
The prime example of his recording prowess was the album released in May 1966. It was Brian’s response to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (1965) also known for its inventive song compositions and production techniques. The title of this Beach Boys album reflected the other band members’ dissatisfaction with Brian’s change in musical direction-which was dissimilar to any record the Beach Boys previously released. Mike Love, the group’s primary lead vocalist inquired of Brian “who’s gonna hear this shit? The ears of a dog?” Hence the name Pet Sounds. Despite containing the single “Sloop John B”, “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, the LP did clearly did not reflect the type of music that was previously their signature sound. It was not the type of music that encouraged one to dress in cut-offs and sandals and then boogie ‘til you puke.
Changes in musical tastes and radio formatting in the late ‘60s virtually ended the Beach Boys reign of producing marketable pop songs. The Beach Boys became, as one critic noted, a “shameless nostalgia act”, opening for other groups during the ‘70s and ‘80s, ultimately living off their past glory for over 40 years. Two brief comeback exceptions come to mind: (1) The greatest hit package Endless Summer (7/74) reaches #1 on the LP charts; (2) the #1 single “Kokomo” (9/88) from the movie Cocktail becomes their only (and last) Top 10 since “Good Vibrations” in 1966.
The Beach Boys sold over 100 million records, releasing thirty-nine Top 40 singles-fifteen reached the Top 10, finishing 2nd only to the Beatles in the 1960s Top 40 charts. They had a substantial impact on pop music generally and rock & roll specifically, popularizing the surf music sound. Brian Wilson recollected his brother Dennis coming home from school and saying “…it looks like surfing’s going to be the next big craze. You guys ought to write a song about it”. The Beach Boys did, and more than once! The rest is rock & roll history. Cowabunga dude! Surf’s up! (Except for you Brian).
Antoine-Joseph was born in what is now known as Belgium on November 6, 1814.
He was luck to escape childhood. So lucky that his mother said that "he's a child condemned to misfortune; he won't live."
While barely able to stand on his own, Antoine-Joseph fell out of a window, crashing to the pavement below hitting his head so hard on a stone that he was believed dead.
When he was three, he drank a bowl of watered down sulfuric acid believing it to be milk. A gun powder explosion burned him badly. He added to the burns by falling onto a hot cast-iron skillet. Three times he nearly died of asphyxiation sleeping in a room where varnished furniture dried. He nearly drowned after having hit his head on cobblestone and falling into a river.
That he survived into adulthood was a miracle but survive he did becoming an excellent musician and following in his parent's footsteps of making musical instruments.
Antoine-Joseph moved to Paris in 1842 to ply his trade, but being curious, he couldn't resist tinkering around with the instruments me built, inventing a significant improvement to the bass clarinet which he patented when he was just 24 years old.
He even went so far as to invent new instruments, many that have gone by way of the dodo bird. But a new invention built in seven sizes caught the interest of the French composer Hector Berlioz so much that he arranged for one of his compositions to be played using nothing but Antoine-Joseph's instruments. This instrument in seven sizes paved the way for the later invention of the flugelhorn.
His instruments were so innovative that they could play difficult pieces with the precision of woodwinds while still maintaining the volume and clarity of brass. This lead them to become a part of the military bands in France and earned him a teaching position at the Paris Conservatory in 1857.
Poor Antoine-Joseph. He suffered from lip cancer from about 1853 to 1858. Usually a death sentence, he survived long enough to go bankrupt three times. In fact, he made full recoveries from all of the above.
Somehow he survived until he was 79 years old. Quite old for the nineteenth century.
Antoine-Joseph is gone, but the instrument that Berlioz loved so much survives and thrives to this day. It has become a part of the symphony orchestra and marching bands the world over. Jazz would not be jazz without Antoine-Joseph's creation. Springsteen's E-Street Band would not be the same without it.
Neither would your onstage orchestra, Elvis.
You see, Antoine-Joseph, the accident-prone kid from Belgium, was known all his life as Adolphe and gave his last name to the instrument of his creation.
Elvis, did you know that Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax, in fact, invented the saxophone.
By Rocky Hatley
Cover Me is our column that deals with — you guessed it — cover songs. The cover may be superior to the original, just as good as the original, or it may fall into the "What were you thinking," category.
All will be represented, and we'll cover the original as well as the cover — see what I did there?
At some point, we'll bring in guest columnists with their covers. Folks like Tennessee Stud, Rip Kahuna, Stu B. Doobee, and others will step up to the plate and take a swing. I'm sure B. A. will have a few covers to cover as well — see what I did there?
Leading us off is Simon and Garfunkel’s "The Sound of Silence."
I love this song. It's one of those that stays with you long after you hear it. It's deceptively simple and has serious depth.
Here are some highlights.
Paul Simon loved playing the guitar and writing songs in his bathroom. Since the floor was made of tiles, it created what he thought of as a kind of "echo chamber." Turning off the lights allowed his imagination to flow. He would turn on the water and let it run creating a soothing environment, one that inspired the opening lines "Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again."
Simon wrote it over the course of few months in late 1963 and early 1964.
Art Garfunkel described the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly intentionally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."
Now I'm not sure exactly what he meant by "not particularly intentionally but especially emotionally" but, there you are. I do see what he meant about people not being about to communicate emotionally or being able to love each other. It doesn't take a shrink to understand that emotions, particularly love, make you so dadgum vulnerable. And vulnerability is a risk that we all have to face if we're going to communicate with and love each other.
Simon and Garfunkel originally recorded The Sound of Silence as an acoustic number — a folk song that blended well with the counterculture movement going on at the time. The duo recorded this version in March 1964 for their album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and soon after — with a little help from Paul Simon — attracted the attention of producer Tom Wilson.
Wilson heard that The Sound of Silence was picking up steam in overnight radio around the college campuses despite the commercial failure of Wednesday Morning, 3 A. M. To him, though, it didn't really have a wide commercial appeal as an acoustic number.
Without the knowledge of either Simon or Garfunkel, Wilson remixed it, adding more instruments, giving it more of a folk/rock feel along the lines of The Byrds, "Mr. Tambourine Man."
The boys didn't find out about the remix until the song had hit the charts.
Simon was horrified. Garfunkel found the remix interesting and thought it might sell.
The remix hit and battled with The Beatles "We Can Work It Out" for number one all through January 1966.
The Sound of Silence takes us into the clouds to look down on the world the song invokes. It cautions us about this song world with elegance and the beautiful blend of Simon's and Garfunkel's voices.
You can hear the hit version down below.
We'll tackle the cover next week.
You can jump ahead, if you like, and leave comments. We hope you do.
SEVEN BEACH BOY SONGS YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO—IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
(1) “All Summer Long” (‘64)
A sunny tune (get it?) referring to a happy summer romance about spending time with your main squeeze riding Hondas (the scooter not the Civic) and playing miniature golf (does any Millennial remember “Putt Putt” golf). The song was used as the perfect ending for the movie American Graffiti (1973) about the summer of ‘62. (Mistakenly used perhaps, because the song wasn't released until 1964- but who cared. The album of the same name peaked at #4 LP chart.
(2) “Do It Again” (‘66)
A nostalgic glimpse of surfing and sunny days, it reached #20 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. Singer Mike Love wrote most of the lyrics before Brian Wilson finish them and added the musical instrumentation. Love claims they “banged the song out in the maybe 15 minutes”. The raison d'etre for the song? Love points out “one of the great things about the beach is it attracts good looking girls”, adding a whole new dimension to what the lyrics “do it again” might suggest.
(3) “Good Vibrations” (‘66)
Brian Wilson suggested the idea for the lyrics came about due to a discussion he had with his mother regarding dogs “bark at some people, but …not at others. So it came to pass that we talked about good vibrations” (emphasis added). An expensive song to produce costing $50,000 ($457,000 today) involving over 90 hours studio time. The Beach Boys did not perform instrumentally, as Brian used L.A.’s famous “Wrecking Crew” as session musicians. “Good Vibrations” reached #1 on the charts, despite Capitol Records’ initial reluctance to release a song they thought was too long- at 3:35.
(4) “I Get Around” (‘64)
No deep lyrical content here! A fun song about teenage lifestyle in the 1960s- girls, cars, girls, surfing, girls. The first #1 single for the Beach Boys in the U.S. A little technical aside: fuzz and reverb guitar were utilized in the song, but subtly. Hendrix, Clapton and Richards merely amplified the sound a few years hence.
(5) “In My Room” (‘63)
Written from the point-of-view of a teenager who felt comfortable and safe within the confines of his bedroom. Brian Wilson was agoraphobic and wrote it to describe to people how he felt while alone in his bedroom. The theory that the song was about masturbation did not ring true-unless while listening you were, as Chuck Berry put it, “playing with your own ding-a-ling”. Mass murderer Charles Manson made the outrageous, dubious claim that the Beach Boys stole the song from him-that the lyrics reflected his time alone in jail cells.
(6) “Sail on Sailor” (’73)
An interesting, spellbinding departure from the usual Beach Boys hit singles. The song was recorded in the Netherlands in 1972, included on the Beach Boys Holland LP. It was released twice as a single, coming in at #79 when originally released in ’73, and two years later climbing to #49 when rereleased. The song featured a soulful lead vocal by guitarist Blondie Chaplin, and backup vocals were provided by Gerry Beckley (America), Billy Hinsche (Dino, Desi & Billy) and of course the Beach Boys Carl Wilson.
(7) “Surfin’ U.S.A.” (’63)
Lyrically a guide to good surf locations (Pacific Palisades, San Onofre and Sunset, Redondo Beach, Wa’imea Bay). Musically based on Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”. The Beach Boys, however, did not get Chuck’s okay (possibly because Chuck was in prison at the time)-they later agreed to give Chuck some royalties and writing credit. This song was the prime example of what would become their signature sound, becoming a #3 hit on the U.S. Billboard charts.
WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A-HAPPENING
THIS WEEK IN MUSIC SEPTEMBER 8th – SEPTEMBER 14th
9/8/73) Marvin Gaye starts a two-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Let’s Get It On”, his second #1 (the first was “I Heard It Thru the Grapevine”). It only went as far as #31 in the U.K.- perhaps they could have used repeated exposure to the “love” scene between Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissima in the movie Austin Powers:The Spy Who Shagged Me.
9/8/73) The Allman Brothers began five-week run at #1 on the US LP charts with Brothers and Sisters (the Brothers only #1 release. More’s the pity). The album yielded the singles “Ramblin’ Man” (#2) and the awesome instrumental “Jessica”.
9/9/65) The Hollywood Reporter and Variety run ads seeking “Madness, folk & roll, musicians, singers wanted for acting roles in new T.V. show, parts for 4 insane boys. The “boys” selected were Davy, Mike, Mickey and Peter, and the Monkees were born. Among those who auditioned but tried and failed were Stephen Stills, Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night), Paul Williams (who came up short-on the LIST) and Charles Manson (he got the “insane” part right)
9/10/69) John Lennon tells his business manager he is leaving the Beatles. He waits nine days to inform his bandmates. Whether it is John’s reluctance due to disrespect or his lack of fortitude, it is NOT delayed due to his ingestion of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
9/12/87) Michael Jackson achieves his second consecutive #1 album with Bad, his follow-up to Thriller. It remains #1 for six weeks. (Compared to Thriller’s astronomical sales and universal acclaim, perhaps his next record would have been better titled Not So Bad.
9/13/64) Disc Jockey Murray the K’s 10-day Rock n’ Roll Spectacular commences. Motown artists Martha & the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye are just a few of the acts highlighting this event. Tickets could be purchased for the meager sums of 2-4 dollars.
9/13/69) A veritable corps d’elite of 50s Rock & Roll icons appear at the Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival Concert. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent are among those who perform at the concert. Alice Cooper, and The Doors also perform. John Lennon was present, but as a spectator.
“THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY”- NOTABLE MUSIC-RELATED BIRTHDAYS
9/8/32) Patsy Cline; died 1963
9/9/41) Otis Redding; died 1967
9/9/46) Billy Preston; died 2006
9/10/42) Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night)
9/10/46) Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
9/12/44) Barry White; died 2003
9/13/44) Peter Cetera (Chicago)
9/14/49) Steve Gaines (Lynyrd Skynyrd); died 1977