Have you ever heard "This Whole World"?
In 1970, perhaps the best Beach Boys album was released: Sunflower. By 1970, Brian Wilson was but an empty shell of his 1965-7 self. His Smile concept album had fizzled out, unfinished, in early ’67, and he had retreated to the master bedroom of his Bel-Air mansion (where I paid him a visit in ’75, a story for another time). Yet, on the Sunflower album a new song from Brian appeared, and it was a shock. It is stunningly good.
Sunflower is perhaps the best Beach Boys album of them all. Brothers Carl and Dennis had risen to take Brian’s place in directing the group. By 1970, the group was already considered a ’60’s oldies act; Hard-Rock, Blues-Rock, Acid-Rock, Country-Rock, and Progressive-Rock were what was being listened to and considered hip.
In 1971 I was in a band with a bunch of hippies, and try as I might, I could not get them to take The Beach Boys seriously. I played them the incredible "This Whole World" from the album, and sat there in absolute disbelief as the brilliance of the song appeared to go unnoticed by the band members. I quit the band.
Brian is known for his melodies and harmonies, but his brilliance starts on a deeper level: that of his chord progressions. In the first 22 bars of "This Whole World", the song modulates (changes keys) four times! At each of those junctures, the first chord of the new key contains a couple of notes also contained in the last chord of the old key. The modulation revolves around the "pivot point" of those notes. It is a technique used by J.S. Bach, Gershwin, and other superior composers, but by NONE of Brian’s contemporaries.
Another musical technique Brian is brilliant at employing is that of the inversion: having the bass (or the piano voicing) play not the tonic (root note of the chord), but the 3rd or 5th of the chord. J.S. Bach used inversions a lot. Rockers, not so much. ;-) One exception is the bass part James Jamerson (the Motown house band bassist, and Paul McCartney’s favorite on the instrument) came up with for the exquisite "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted". Original by Jimmy Ruffin, and Joan Osborne does a great version.
There are a number of YouTube videos wherein a music teacher breaks down the chord structures of Brian’s songs: "Surfer Girl" (go ahead, laugh. The joke’s on you ;-) , "God Only Knows" and others from the Pet Sounds album (Paul McCartney’s all-time favorite album, and the impetus for Sgt. Pepper), "Surf’s Up" (Leonard Bernstein included an examination of the song in his Pop Music TV special), a number of others. Compare them to any songwriter you care to, including Lennon & McCartney. He is in an entirely different class.
Then go buy the Sunflower album. You’ll thank me.
@roxy54, as always, what you hear in music is that which you listen for. Most songs written by members of Rock bands have chord progression/structures pedestrian at best. Brian’s are the rare, welcome exception. Jackson Browne and Randy Newman have written some fine ones too. A song with the base of a great chord arrangement is something I’m always listening for, and rarely hear, especially in Rock. I go to J.S. Bach when I want a heavy dose. ;-) @limomangus, I love Wild Honey too, but that is more a Carl Wilson album than a Brian Wilson one. I discovered both Smiley Smile and Wild Honey in early-’68, and my teen combo learned both "Darlin’" and "How She Boogalooed It" off the album, playing it in High Schools, Teen Clubs, and Frat Houses (those at Stanford University in Palo Alto in particular) around the South Bay. The Beach Boys were my first live concert, at The San Jose Civic in the Summer of ’64. My second was The Beatles at The Cow Palace in S. San Francisco a year later. After that it was up to the Fillmore Auditorium and Carousel Ballroom to see Cream, Hendrix, and The Who. None of those bands had songwriters who knew anything about advanced chord structure, the use of inversion, or superior melodies and harmonies. They were good musicians, mediocre writers. IMO, of course. |
Yeah, I love the Beach Boys. I stayed with them when the Flower Children spurned them. I remember trying to figure out the chord changes to Brian Wilson's songs and being totally defeated. I've got the Endless Summer compilation on LP. I've got Smiley Smile on CD. I should say, too, that many Beach Boy cuts have absolutely great tone. Oddly, I never warmed to Pet Sounds. It sounded too contrived for me. I wound up selling it at one of those L.A. hipster used record stores. I just searched my pile of 45s for my "I Get Around." It's missing. Where the hell'd it go? |
@edcyn, when Brian's debut solo album came out, there was a record release signing event at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. In addition to the CD, I brought my 7" 45 RPM copy of "Caroline, No" for him to sign. Though included on the Pet Sounds album as a Beach Boys track, the 45 was released under Brian's name. At the event, I handed the single to Brian, and as he gazed at it, a heartbreaking look of wistful longing crossed his face. I came close to crying. I too couldn't get into Pet Sounds at first, it sounding like "girls" music to me ;-) . It was only after I was exposed to J.S. Bach (by a great songwriter I recorded with in the mid-70's) that I finally "got" it. "God Only Knows" is now my favorite song. As close to genius as any Pop writer has ever gotten. Others, including Leon Russell and Elton John, aren't as conditional as I. |
I tend to agree with @roxy54 It was an interesting arrangement and I could see how someone who appreciates classical compositions would have his interest piqued. But this song has none of the clever lyrical hooks, a catchy melody, nor any other element that makes you want to sing along - the exact stuff that made the Beach Boys hugely popular. I can't see how this would have ever been radio friendly for instance. Other than for those into cerebral elements of music it's understandable why this wasn't widely appealing - especially to Beach Boys fans. It would be like listening to George Harrison play sitar for an entire album. |
I was never hip to Beach Boys stuff outside of the 60's classics. Once again, bdp24 widening my musical awareness! That song has a lot changes going on. I can understand it not grabbing the ears of the casual listener-no hooks, or catchy musical riffs. As a side note, I rode my bike up Signal Hill yesterday. I passed where the infamous Foothill used to be where you, and more than a few notable bands played. I played my 64 mono copy(the 3D cover) of All Summer Long, after reading your entry. EVERY time I listen to that album, it stirs my imagination, and has me fantasizing about being a teen during that period here, in SoCal. What a magical place this place was, even with the smog and traffic. |
@tablejockey, I listened to All Summer Long every day after it was released in July of ’64, making out with my blonde girlfriend as it played. Later that Summer we both went to the San Jose Civic Auditorium to see The Beach Boys live. When Brian sang "and she makes love to me" during "Don’t Worry Baby" (another fantastic song), every girl in the Auditorium screamed. It was at that moment I decided to become a musician. ;-) The Foothill Club was a great one, Rockabilly and other roots music every night of the week. You remember I mentioned playing a show there with Don & Dewey? They were label mates with Little Richard on Specialty Records, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris was later in Zappa’s band for a while. After the gig Dewey came up to me and said "I like your style." This from a man who had Earl Palmer on his recordings! @roxy54 and @three_easy_payments: Well, I tried. ;-) Allow me to encourage you to go back to YouTube, and listen to the remastered listing of "This Whole World". After that song ends, "God Only Knows" automatically comes up. That song contains not only a great melody (not to mention an astounding chord progression), but as the song slowly fades out, you will hear The Beach Boys singing what in Classical music is called a Fugue. Recording with the songwriter I mentioned up above, I got a free introduction to music theory and composition. He was a music major at San Jose State, transferring down to The University Of California Riverside for advanced studies. The hardest thing I ever had to learn to do was sing one of the three Fugue vocal parts he wrote into one of his songs. J.S. Bach is the Fugue master, but Brian is pretty good at it himself. ;-) |
Of course, I love all their early work and Pet Sounds but my favourite Beach Boys album is Holland. It’s not a Brian Album but really highlights the talent standing by him. Carls Vocal is sublime and the song should have been a big hit. Go Figure. They all were talents in their own right yes even Mike Love.Do yourself a favour and take a listen if you haven’t heard it The Trader.....thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3udOtr6U84 |
@pjr801, Holland also contains a pretty good song with music by Brian, "Sail On, Sailor". Lyrics by Brian’s Smile collaborator Van Dyke Parks. The title, by the way, is a play on words: Sail On = Ceylon, the ancient name for what is now Sri Lanka. That darn Van Dyke. ;-) The bonus 45 included with the first pressing of Holland is a trip, pretty surreal. Then there is the Carl & The Passions: So Tough album (Carl & The Passions was Brian and Mike Love’s High School band’s name), which includes a great song by Brian: "Marcella". And be sure to give a listen to a wonderful song on the Surf’s Up album, both music and lyrics by Brian: "Til I Die". On the Bernstein TV special, the host/narrator discusses the album’s title song, and Brian is seen performing it on the grand piano in his Bel-Air living room, the piano famously sitting inside a giant sandbox. The living room also for a time had a tent pitched in it, where band "smoking sessions" and meetings were held. Ah, good ol’ LSD. ;-) |
bdp24- This thread is just a reminder the Beach Boys were part of music revolution which was the early 60's, before the British Invasion. I did a refresher course on BB history. Their earliest years are especially interesting. Imagining the music revolution without them is impossible. Spun my mono 63 copy of Little Deuce Coupe, this morning. Being a gear head, 409 is my favorite cut. My oldest brother had a 64,(standard) that my mom would later drive, when he got sucked up in the first wave of the draft. |
Right @tablejockey, The Beach Boys appeared during the era of the Girl Groups, The Four Seasons, the teen idol Pop singers, instrumental Surf music (I loved The Ventures), Paul Revere & The Raiders, etc., and they continued to be associated with that era after the British Invasion killed the careers of almost all those American entertainers. But Brian Wilson was no mere entertainer, as everyone in the music business knew. He was progressing musically at light speed, and his Pet Sounds compositions and production (unlike The Beatles, who relied upon George Martin, Brian did it all himself while the other Beach Boys were on the road) took everyone by surprise, especially Paul McCartney. But I was just a 14-year old kid, oblivious to all of that. The British Invasion groups were much "tougher" sounding than the angelic Beach Boys, Brian’s falsetto vocals harkening back to the sounds of the early-60’s. The All Summer Long album was the last of theirs I bought, ignoring the Today and Summer Days (And Summer Nights) albums. I was listening to The Yardbirds, The Animals, Manfred Mann, etc. and of course The Beatles and Stones. As far as I was concerned, The Beach Boys were history, no longer of interest. The new American bands---The Byrds, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape, The Airplane, etc.---and then Cream, Hendrix, and Procol Harum---are who I was listening to when "Good Vibrations" appeared on the radio. I dug it, but didn’t even consider buying the album it was on. I considered The Beach Boys a singles Pop group, not a Rock band. Then in early-’68 a guy I knew at school gave me copies of the Smiley Smile and Wild Honey albums. I got high and listened to them, and couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I later read the article about the Smile album in Crawdaddy Magazine, written by Paul Williams (not the singer-songwriter), and thus began my obsession with Brian Wilson. That 2-part Smile article by Williams later appeared as two chapters in his great book Outlaw Blues, a must read. |
