Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

velko otm

lolz they excised the "erection" line out of "Wild Situation" on the reissue!

honestly with all the unreleased stuff I can kinda hear the Remain in Light comparisons - the walls of ominous synths + the odd foray into non-rock rhythms (ie, Jamaican or New Orleans funk or whatever) do make for some kind of (albeit dubious) parallel. I dunno about Kid A, I never listen to Radiohead.

I haven't gotten to the disc 2 Bambu stuff yet, but POB is really, really great. And I say that as someone who could give a fuck about the Beach Boys or 70s MOR rock. That Wire review was totally off the deep end but it's not at all a straightforward record.

I don't really get the POB love, so many fillers on it...

Where's the love for Dennis' most devastating song, "A time to live in dreams" ? You can listen to it on that page :
http://www.stephenkalinich.com/sjkdennis.html

Here's what written on the wiki page about it :
"A Time to Live in Dreams" is a song written by Dennis Wilson and Stephen Kalinich. The song was first discovered in The Beach Boys tape archive around 2000. It was first released on The Beach Boys 2001 anthology album Hawthorne, CA. In December, 2000, Brian Wilson was able to hear the song for the first time and according to Alan Boyd said "Wait - I don't remember this one. What album was this done for?"[1] Later on in the song when the organ begins to play and Dennis sings the line "in this new day, change your heart, forgive your brother...", Brian sat up straight and said softly, "Wow. What a great song."

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

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

ouch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCe-K6NiTm8

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

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

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).

I really can't stand this album.

I mean, the guy's voice was blown.

You mean Pacific Ocean Blue?!?

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).

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.

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

It's ok if you did!

lol. We're all jaded enough, already.

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

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.

it is possible to love both records

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

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.

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?!"

wow, get more details and pass it on

alfred u are NUTS

his voice is 100% part of the appeal

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

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

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)?

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

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

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.