As a kid I remember being jealous of another family whose dad my dad worked with because they took a station wagon summer vacation to Southern California and went to Disneyland. That hurt. But going to Florida in 1968 made up for it (in part). I didn't visit California until 1988 and moved there about 7 years later.
Here's a Beach Boys song that features the Wrecking Crew and especially Carol Kaye on the electric bass:
The lyrics...
The first mate he got drunk...remind me of a nursery rhyme my mother used to sing to me well before that song came out in 1966:
And broke in the Captain's trunk
The constable had to come and take him away
Sheriff John Stone
Why don't you leave me alone, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up I wanna go home
The monkey he got drunk[ADDED] OK this is pretty cool:
He climbed the elephant's trunk
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
And that was the end of the monk monk monk!
I'm indifferent to The Beach Boys myself. Oh, I like Good Vibrations well enough and their last hit, Kokomo, is undeniably infectious though my dear wife cringes whenever it comes on the radio, to the delight of our girls. But, otherwise, meh. (Though The Beatles kept an eye, or an ear, on them, didn't they? I think it was McCartney that said it was Pet Sounds that drove them to record Sgt Peppers. Once again, competition encourages excellence.)
ReplyDeleteSomeday you'll have to further explore the topic of electric sound and write about the Theremin featured in Good Vibrations.
ReplyDeleteBrian Wilson's a genius. Once a genius always a genius.
ReplyDeleteTragic family story, though. Who knows to what degree that impacted his talents and their displacement by sloth and insanity.
I agree that Wilson was a genius. That's why I wonder what's he's up to- I mean really up to creatively.
ReplyDeletegoogles...
Reimagining Gershwin I just learned: link
That might be interesting.
Ritm: Thanks to you I googled Brian Wilson to find out what he's up to just learned that he had released an album last week called "Reimaging Gershwin". I just bought it from iTunes and am listening it. It's spooky hearing that familiar voice doing something new after all this time.
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