Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

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It's not great, but has charm. I really like "You and I." Need to get the Spring album...

eddie hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:02 (nineteen years ago) link

i liked it, but it also made me question whether solo Glenn Fry might also be worth a spin (fear of MOR).

Beta (abeta), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link

big difference there homey

duke plaint, Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:09 (nineteen years ago) link

As time passes, I find myself caring less about the moments that don't work and more about the moments that are better than anything the Beach Boys did in the 70s

POB is a good album, but there is definitely nothing that is even close to the quality of "Surf's Up", "Forever", "Tears In The Morning", "Take a Load Off Your Feet", "At My Window" or the brilliant "Till I Die"!

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Another vote for River Song's greatness, and the general goodness of POB. Geir, "Take A Load Off Your Feet" is ridiculous and it's "Forever" that's overrated, not POB.

dleone (dleone), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:14 (nineteen years ago) link

There are two Dennis songs off Carl & The Passions - So Tough that are complete tear jerkers... "Make It Good" and "Cuddle Up" (originally intended for PON)... also "Only With You" from Holland and "Baby Blue" from L.A. Light Album.

donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:20 (nineteen years ago) link

Dom is so, so right about "Forever" (and "Take a Load" — ha!). And listen, I love the Beach Boys and "Surf's Up" in particular (though I'm not sure that really counts as a '70s track, the ending aside). Though no one here's saying as much, I will say that no one is ever going to convince me that Sunflower and Surf's Up are up their with their best stuff. Also, donut bitch is OTM — I was totally overlooking Dennis's other stuff in the decade. All those tracks are amazing — "Only With You" and "Baby Blue" (written for Bamboo in particular.

Now the Spring record? That fucking bites.

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...
after the staggering effort i've gone to, er, acquire this over the past few days, i'm sincerely hoping i love it. it all began when laur3n l4v3rne waxed lyrical about "thoughts of you" in the word ... was knocked sideways by that, and have high hopes for the rest.

that, as i type, might be all of it. oooh. time to start listening.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 15 September 2006 22:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Still no reissue plans?

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 15 September 2006 22:25 (seventeen years ago) link

according to wikipedia, no there aren't. copyright misery and so forth.

i'm just sorting through a mass of MP3s here ... what i'm hearing sounds GREAT. too tired to do the whole thing tonight, but am very much looking forward to an early-morning listen tomorrow!

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 15 September 2006 22:28 (seventeen years ago) link

oh: and according to AMG, wilson (d) hated the finished product. wilson (b) adored it. make of that what you will.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 15 September 2006 22:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Download Pacific Ocean Blue and Bamboo from some jerk's blog!

King-a-Ling (King-a-Ling), Saturday, 16 September 2006 00:50 (seventeen years ago) link

buggery! wish i'd known about that earlier in the week. still, hurrah for access to bamboo.

am listening to POB right now, anyway. i think it's magnificent. so there.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 16 September 2006 09:11 (seventeen years ago) link

So, er, how dodgy is Megaupload? Am I going to have to run a virus/trojan sweep after grabbing Bamboo like this. I'm suspicious of pop-up heavy sites like this.

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Saturday, 16 September 2006 16:15 (seventeen years ago) link

Uh, er, you're getting the album for free. Zero effort whatsoever. Is it so bonecrushing an endeavor to run a virus/trojan sweep?

p.s., seems to be fine.

swagmus (veal), Saturday, 16 September 2006 18:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Not a particularly bonecrushing endeavour, no - just 45 mins of not using the laptop while AVG does its stuff. I was just asking to see if this site set off any alarm bells for anyone.

But thanks for "Listen, Dude..."-style answer. I probably deserved it.

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Saturday, 16 September 2006 19:40 (seventeen years ago) link

45 minutes? either that's really slow, or my virus checker is lying to me when it goes "WHIZZ WHIZZ YES THAT'S ALL OKAY GET ON WITH IT".

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 16 September 2006 21:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh great I think I lost mine moving

A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Sunday, 17 September 2006 05:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Well, a full sweep takes 45 minutes, yes - I've got 70,000 files on this bugger (need to clean out temp directories, yes). Did virus-check the Wilson files (15 seconds) but there could be some nasty lurking elsewhere. I think AVG is always running in the background, grabbing anything I double-click from Explorer, but I like the reassurance of the full sweep.

Anything, back to Dennis...

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Sunday, 17 September 2006 07:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Anyway... Jeez.

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Sunday, 17 September 2006 07:09 (seventeen years ago) link

I know what's going to happen already. Grimly is going to back me up against a wall with a spear tied with vines around it and he's going to force me to feel guilty because I haven't tried this album yet. Yep, this is what will most certainly occur.

Goth Black Socks, Icicle Rocks (Bimble...), Sunday, 17 September 2006 07:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Okay I give up Grimly I'll try it.

Ficky Stingers (Bimble...), Sunday, 17 September 2006 19:11 (seventeen years ago) link

i swear that i didn't back bimble up against any kind of wall, do anything to him with a spear or even exchange a single word with him in those intervening 12 hours! if only the mere thought of me could spur so many others into action ...

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 17 September 2006 21:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Hey! This album is much better than I expected. The second half kinda wore me down though.

jim wentworth (wench), Monday, 18 September 2006 00:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Cheers for the links! It means I can listen to this album for the first time in donkey's years! But... even tho I think I was overly rude about POB upthread, I still can't really see what all the fuss is about. The "Bamboo" stuff is interesting, until you come to the various instrumentals and half-assed demos, still good to hear the "Lady/ Sound of Free" single after all these years!

Oh No It's Dadaismus! (Dada), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 10:45 (seventeen years ago) link

nine months pass...

Hey thanks for that link to The Heat Warps, it's really good shit.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 7 July 2007 03:08 (sixteen years ago) link

six months pass...

YES

max, Thursday, 24 January 2008 18:52 (sixteen years ago) link

Awesome!

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 24 January 2008 18:53 (sixteen years ago) link

AWES AWES AWES

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 24 January 2008 18:57 (sixteen years ago) link

at last at last at laaaast

Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 24 January 2008 19:03 (sixteen years ago) link

didn't even have to read the story, just saw the link & max's rxn and it was on

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 24 January 2008 19:31 (sixteen years ago) link

So excellent.

Sparkle Motion, Thursday, 24 January 2008 20:18 (sixteen years ago) link

It's about time now it's about time now
It's about time now don't you know now

gershy, Friday, 25 January 2008 07:52 (sixteen years ago) link

Not too early.

Geir Hongro, Friday, 25 January 2008 08:59 (sixteen years ago) link

Looks like it's too late to make any money from it then. I have the original CD issue. Cool that's it's coming with all the Bamboo tracks.

cheasyweasel, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:02 (sixteen years ago) link

That's 2008's Reissue Of The Year award pretty much sewn up I reckon. Can't wait for this - especially to hear all the Bamboo stuff.

Dingbod Kesterson, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:11 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost Ebay it RIGHT NOW!

Mark G, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:38 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pacific-Ocean-Blue-Dennis-Wilson/dp/B000008MDK

5 used and new available from £117

go now!

Thomas, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:46 (sixteen years ago) link

One went recently on ebay for £54.

Mark G, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:54 (sixteen years ago) link

.. and that's an actual sale, those amazon ones are not necessarily selling at that price.

Mark G, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:55 (sixteen years ago) link

I bought the cassette of the 1992 reissue out of Virgin at the time and it cost me £6.99. Obviously it's just as well I hung onto it.

Dingbod Kesterson, Friday, 25 January 2008 10:56 (sixteen years ago) link

£50-£60 sounds about right for Ebay. As Mark G said that's an actual sale, the ones on Amazon are just chancing their arm. I haven't sold it thus far so it's unlikely I'm going to rush and do it now that the news is out of the official release.

Strangely as much as I'm a big fan of the Beach Boys and Dennis's tracks on their albums I don't think this album is THAT good. It's scarcity has allowed it to be regarded as better than it actually is (just checked above and looks like my opinion hasn't changed much, that's me posting as mms above back in 2003!)

cheasyweasel, Friday, 25 January 2008 11:20 (sixteen years ago) link

Great news! Thanks a lot for the sharp eye - gotta ton of friends that are going to geek out on this and through their bad cdrs out the window! The 'Bambu' stuff should be a fun and interesting listen, too

BlackIronPrison, Friday, 25 January 2008 11:55 (sixteen years ago) link

Well, news being "out" is one thing, it won't actually be out for a while.

Also, news travels slowly. If I had a CD that was worth that now, but will drop off in a month, I'd do it now. You only need two bidders, you know.

Of course, you may want to be keeping that one, and not be bothered about the expanded reissue.

Mark G, Friday, 25 January 2008 12:03 (sixteen years ago) link

sucks...I have one of those CD's too, and will probably just hang on to it...

henry s, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:22 (sixteen years ago) link

once this comes out i'm going to sell everything except POB and John Phillips solo jam and live on the beach...oh, and i'll need a boombox, too.

QuantumNoise, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:38 (sixteen years ago) link

is the "LADY/Fallin' In Love" single gonna be on the POB reissue?? i only recently heard it, it's so beautiful. i love this video as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyarfNQ4tOg

gershy, Saturday, 26 January 2008 05:52 (sixteen years ago) link

*swoon*

Joseph McCombs, Saturday, 26 January 2008 07:08 (sixteen years ago) link

Great news -- "He's A Bum" seems like a great song, but the quality on the bootlegs is so nth-generation, it's nearly unlistenable.

is the "LADY/Fallin' In Love" single gonna be on the POB reissue?? i only recently heard it, it's so beautiful.

That's from the 1971 Landlocked sessions so probably not.

Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 31 January 2008 02:56 (sixteen years ago) link

I picked up the MIU/LA twofer used the other day. "Angel Come Home" is great.

C. Grisso/McCain, Monday, 25 August 2008 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

I just got this finally. I thought I'd heard most of Bambu on a previous boot -- clearly, I hadn't.

At first blush, a lot of what makes this kind of extraordinary (and may account for the ludicrous Kid A and Remain in Light comps) is that he has zero regard for form -- or conventional form anyway. That began in some sense on POB, but really comes to the fore on Bambu Sections just pop up and rather than disappearing as they did on POB, here they just go on forever -- the REALLY long coda to "Are You Real?" and the intro to "Love Remember Me" to name just a few. There are also several deeply weird textural things going on -- the backwards choral stuff on "I Love You" is almost hard to explain it's so oddly put in the mix (with the intro to the next song, given how the CD is sequenced, even Dennis says at the conclusion of "I Love You": "Weird!").

At any rate, even for someone who thought he had a lot of this, this is a great package.

Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 18 September 2008 04:02 (fifteen years ago) link

Also worth adding that this includes an outstanding version of "Only With You" (which is on here for no reason I can discern, unless it was supposed to be on POB, but the liners don't say that).

Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 18 September 2008 13:16 (fifteen years ago) link

Also, it should be said that "Holy Man" is every bit the stone cold classic all the fanboys said it was. Even with the vocal by Taylor Hawkins instead of Denny, it's a great, great song.

Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 20 September 2008 01:39 (fifteen years ago) link

one month passes...

lolz I got the OOP "The Real Beach Boy" bio of Dennis for my birthday.

Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 October 2008 23:47 (fifteen years ago) link

I think that's the book I read several years ago -- if it is, it includes this amazing story at the end where some guy details this RIDICULOUS day he spent with Dennis that sounded like a microcosm of the dude's crazy beautiful life.

Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 01:18 (fifteen years ago) link

if yr referring to "young musician/fan spends day doing tons of coke with Dennis and his pals and then WHOAH Brian shows up and he's a big fat mess and they play the piano and do more coke!!" ... yeah that story is in there.

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 15:58 (fifteen years ago) link

I don't remember Brian showing up. But the first part sounds about right!

Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link

I'm almost through the end - its a pretty trashy/breezy read but there's been some interesting stuff I didn't know about in it.

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 16:41 (fifteen years ago) link

nine months pass...

The Love Remember Me Love Surrounds Me 1-2 punch on Bambu is so devastating. <3 christine mcvie's backing vocals on the latter.

i also love Time For Bed because it's drunken bleariness is the aural equivalent of how I imagine the last few years of his life played out

velko, Wednesday, 22 July 2009 18:36 (fourteen years ago) link

one month passes...

Can't open that YouTube, Shakey. The other Beach Boys said something bad/dismissive about Dennis Wilson?

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link

nah they're all there, but Dennis can't even keep his head up/sit up/sit still and is obviously blitzed out of his mind. kinda amazed this aired to be honest

go Nick go! Scrub that paint! Scrub it!! Yeah!! (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link

What a talented guy, but what a sad story and life. It all feeds into my "rockist" tendencies, I think (Wilson is the tormented, confessional songwriter who never got his due).

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link

I really can't stand this album.

post-contrarian meta-challop 2009 (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link

I mean, the guy's voice was blown.

post-contrarian meta-challop 2009 (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:48 (fourteen years ago) link

You mean Pacific Ocean Blue?!?

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:48 (fourteen years ago) link

I actually see his strained voice as part of the appeal. I feel the same way about some late Billie Holiday (e.g., Lady in Satin).

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link

Not in the least appealing. Listening to this last summer was a real shock; I thought it'd be at least okay. I mean, if you're going to play studio-rock, then please hire a real singer if you can't hit the notes.

post-contrarian meta-challop 2009 (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:51 (fourteen years ago) link

De gustibus non est disputandum. (And not meant in a snarky way).

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link

It's ok if you did!

post-contrarian meta-challop 2009 (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link

lol. We're all jaded enough, already.

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 August 2009 16:54 (fourteen years ago) link

wtf there are plenty of people singing on this album who are not Dennis (Carl, the gospel choir on the first song, etc.), and I like his gruff voice for the most part

go Nick go! Scrub that paint! Scrub it!! Yeah!! (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 28 August 2009 16:57 (fourteen years ago) link

I could never get into it either, but I don't mind the vocals.

My problem with this is that I got Wolfking of LA at the same time, and that just blew me away - and gave me the californian fuckup fading star fix I needed. They're totally different records, I know. Just unfairly connected in my mind.

I should give Dennis another shot maybe.

Brio, Friday, 28 August 2009 17:54 (fourteen years ago) link

it is possible to love both records

velko, Friday, 28 August 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link

of course! just hasn't worked out for me that way yet.

Brio, Friday, 28 August 2009 18:20 (fourteen years ago) link

dennis wilson is sort of like judee sill in that every song seems weirdly the same, not in a repetitive way but just that the same obsessions are so upfront and overwhelming every time.

velko, Friday, 28 August 2009 18:27 (fourteen years ago) link

holy crap! just found out that carl was in my dad's church and that he was really close with him. went to their shows, hung out at parties. my dad was even the lawyer on his divorce. carl asked my dad to represent the wife (who he was close with also) because carl wanted her to get everything she deserved. my mom went on a platonic dinner date w/him and she sat in on a recording session!! and they met brian and dennis, dennis came to the church once, but hid in corner, too many "secrets" to hide. dad says dennis was the most beautiful man he'd ever met. i yelled at them "why didn't you tell me this before?!"

jaxon, Saturday, 29 August 2009 00:07 (fourteen years ago) link

wow, get more details and pass it on

velko, Saturday, 29 August 2009 00:20 (fourteen years ago) link

alfred u are NUTS

butthurt (deej), Saturday, 29 August 2009 08:22 (fourteen years ago) link

his voice is 100% part of the appeal

butthurt (deej), Saturday, 29 August 2009 08:23 (fourteen years ago) link

i love blasting this song while i'm driving around la

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMHiYrnYx64

velko, Saturday, 29 August 2009 08:43 (fourteen years ago) link

seven months pass...

got this today. is it bad if on first listen I like the Bambu sessions better than POB (though I do like that one too)?

Phoenix in Flight (Cattle Grind), Saturday, 17 April 2010 21:06 (fourteen years ago) link

my favorite song is on the bambu sessions (it's not too late) and i adore POB.

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 17 April 2010 21:09 (fourteen years ago) link

four years pass...

"It's Not Too Late" is gutting. the desperation just drips from his voice on that one.

Hammer Smashed Bagels, Sunday, 22 March 2015 16:28 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

Returning to this reissue this week as my car can only play CDs for the moment and I pulled this out.

There are really only a few songs in POB proper that sound purely 70s MOR – "What's Wrong," "You and I" and maybe one or two others. The rest tend toward really plodding, heavy orchestration, peculiar textural choices (such as the bass harmonicas and blaring brass on "Dreamer") and modal chord voicings that create something that is both bombastic and delicate – often at the same time. There is also an undeniable alcoholic sentimentality slathering almost everything here.

So I understand if this record isn't for everyone. Some may find it scattered or unremarkable. But for my part, I love its singularity and shamelessly big hearted and ramshackle nature – qualities I think aren't so much enhanced by the Bambu stuff as underscored.

Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 23 March 2017 13:24 (seven years ago) link


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