Reeves-Stevens G. : Ultimate Trivia:Pop Music
The Auckland Vinyl Record Collectors Fair takes place this Saturday July 19 at Polish House, Morningside. Stalls include New Zealand vinyl and music posters and foreign, 60s, rare, dance, reggae etc vinyl. I will be selling more funk, soul vinyl Read more..
Apart from the non-release of Smile, the biggest lament of hardcore Beach Boys fans is that Bruce Johnston aside, none of the non-Brian Wilson solo albums are available on CD. But now, for fans of late drummer Dennis Wilson, there’s reason to celebrate as his only-released solo album gets the reissue it deserves. Widely acknowledged as the finest Beach Boys solo effort, it’s now presented with clarity, allowing the full sonic palette–the punch of opening “River Song” for example–to be heard in its intended glory. Wilson’s raspy vocal may have been past its prime, but it’s still affecting and ably supported by the sumptuous production values he gave the album. With high quality tracks such as the funky “Dreamer” and the poignant “Farewell My Friend”, this will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in The Beach Boys, as well as a delight for hardcore fans as the unreleased tracks (from the unfinished follow-up Bambu), easily match the original’s quality.
While the disappointing absence of earlier singles (”Lady” or “Sound of Free”) prevents this from being a definitive career anthology, this is as essential a Beach Boys artefact as Pet Sounds or Sunflower/Surf’s Up. –Thom Allott
List Price: ?11.99
Amazon Price: ?8.98
Used Price: ?8.49
Customer Review: A forgotten classic
I’d heard a lot about this album but only came by a copy earlier this year for the first time. I’d been expecting dissapointment - after all, the catalogue of great drummer’s albums is a pretty slim volume - and 30 years on maybe the moment would have passed. But this one is a revelation - a rarity that delivers. Dennis had real talent as a writer withstanding comparison way up there with his more revered brother Brian. Not as a pale immitation but as a strong independent voice. The album is obviously the work of a Beach Boy but not a Beach Boys album by any means. Pacific Ocean Blue has a range and depth that is quite unexpected without the pomposity and grandeur of some 70s contemporaries. It manages to side step the sunny Califoria cliches too - more ‘Hotel Califorina’ than ‘California Girls’ in sentiment. It’s still very much of its time yet it retains its self-respect. It’s a mature peice with a heart, and often heart-achingly beautiful, particularly when Dennis’s occasionally mournful voice is to the fore. It is clearly conceived as a connected group of songs with an underpinning sensation of warmth and empathy. It’s a whole album first, rather than a set of separate songs - so if one of the tracks crops up on ipod shuffle I just have to hear the rest. What a shame that it has lain forgotten for so long or that Dennis never built on such a solid foundation. The Beach Boys catalogue seems so relentlessly re-packaged and re-marketed it seems odd that this album has avoided the ‘de-luxe re-master with bonus tracks’ treatment. It’s not over egging it to call this a forgotten classic which is surely long overdue for a decent reissue.
Customer Review: there’s very little to say,if you have a soul and a functioning eardrum-buy it
there are a growing number of ppl who think that with this album and (the never officialy released)bamboo Dennis proved himself a genuine rival to brian as the main talent of the beach boys.enough said
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Top Quality Wrapping Paper, Perfect For Teenagers And Anyone Who Is Slightly Quirky!
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Pop into the Middle Ages. New settings of medieval lyrics for group music making … Score
Reeves-Stevens G. : Ultimate Trivia:Pop Music
