The Reprise Years (1970-1975)
With the Beach Boys’ almost entirely new sound and subsequent dwindling sales (despite a minor hit with 20/20’s “Do It Again”) Capitol Records decided to drop the Beach Boys from their label and let them coast into irrelevance somewhere else. The Boys quickly rebounded by signing to Reprise and got to work on a new album…
There are three different ways to listen to the Beach Boys. The first is the early 60’s surf fluff that many of us grew up on, the Beach Boys that most of the world thinks of when the band is referenced. This is the Beach Boys that drove to the top of the charts with cheesy little pop trifles like “Surfin’ Safari,” “Fun Fun Fun,” “Little Deuce Coup” and later on “Help Me Rhonda” and “California Girls.” It’s mostly shallow, harmless fun, but the emphasis is always on fun, which is entirely forgivable. Brian Wilson’s songwriting during this era is fairly rudimentary, but the harmonies are timeless and the songs pack an incredible amount of wholesome nostalgia. Everyone likes this era at least a bit, but only a few tracks like “Wendy,” “In My Room” and the beautiful “Don’t Worry Baby” (among a few others) hint at what was to come next.
The second way to listen to the Beach Boys is simply the whole of their 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds. The album is widely considered one of the best, if not the best, albums of all time. After having a bit of a nervous breakdown on the road, Brian Wilson decided to stay home at the studio full-time and let Glen Campbell take the reins of traveling bassist. The results proved immensely rewarding to both the band and the listener. Pet Sounds is just about perfect, capturing the naiveté of young love and the frightening, flawed beauty of maturation. If you haven’t heard it yet, go out and buy it now. I’ll wait…
After Pet Sounds shone its bright light upon our ugly world, Brian and the Boys headed back into the studio in an attempt to release an album of even more staggering genius and ambition. What they didn’t realize was that you can’t improve on Pet Sounds, just like you can’t add to infinity. The follow up was to be called SMiLE, and to make a long story short, some bad drugs, bad vibes and a crippling inferiority complex to the Beatles got in the way and the album never saw the light of day (until Brian Wilson finally got his shit together and released his version nearly 40 years later). That’s where our story begins…
“Absolutely Cuckoo” by The Magnetic Fields (from 60 Love Songs, Vol. 1)
The first song, on the first disc of Stephin Merritt’s sprawling, genre spanning concept album. “Cuckoo” is a terrific opening track and it really sets the tone for the album’s near perfect first disc.
So I guess I don’t update a lot. Sue me. I’m busy. It’s true. In the four or so months since I became a professional writer (I get paid very little dollars to write for my local newspaper full time) I have become a terrible, negligent amateur writer. I apologize profusely, dear reader.
But, and that’s a big but, all that has changed. 2008 is a new year, with new music, new words to write and….a new iPod. Lucky me, eh?
I’m probably going to bale on the “A New Song For A New Week” feature because I don’t always want to apply 500 words to one song. I am, however, quite happy to apply 500 words to 50 songs. So that’s what I’m doing. I’ve loaded up the iPod and I’m listening to all of my songs in alphabetical order. Then I will write (either very briefly or very extensively) on each track I hear. I’ll do as many tracks as I want per day, some days it might be 20, other days it may only be one song. But it will be consistent.
That doesn’t mean my other favorite little pieces won’t be showing up. In fact, this little iPod experiment will merely appear when I can’t think of anything better to write. I have some other pieces already written (Overrated/Underrated, V&B Hall of Fame plus another big ass one that I am in the process of writing) and I will post them on the site when I see fit. In the interim, prepare for the self-indulgence that is My Alphabetical iPod Diary.