Guest Graham Smyth
GuestForum Replies Created
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Hello Jung, I have to say that of the hundreds of Beach Boys songs I possess, this is one of those that I like the least! I find it very annoying on so many levels, poorly produced, fake party effects, and largely ad-libbed. I believe Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean fame sang on this record also, you can hear Carl thanking him for his efforts on the outro. The B-side however is pure quality and proof of Brian’s growing studio mastery and genius.
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Hi David, I have just listened again to the song, Paul is exaggerating the “r” in quite a few instances in this song, he would not normally do this in his everyday speech. I have a similar accent. I guess it was just for effect as he doesn’t do it in I saw her standing there but he does it in A taste of h0ney. Now you’ve got me puzzled 🙂
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Hello David, You are quite correct! To me the this is perfectly normal, particularly in the north of England. I live approximately 20 miles from Liverpool.
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Thanks for the reply Lisa. I’d prefer to watch you two play it in a video but great either way. I can’t wait to hear your new album! Thanks for everything so far.
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Hello David, Yeah, I realise that Bruce used to compose as did Judith (Colours of my Life) etc but not enough to make great albums and put them up there with the “big boys”.
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Hi Jung, Yeah, Anifrid, Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha. Please excuse the spellings! They are probably wrong.
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Hello Jung, Yes I have seen the Mamma Mia films. Both easy on the eye and ear, I was particularly impressed with the singing talent of Meryl Streep! I think her appearance and vocal near the end of the second film is tremendous!
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Hi Jung, I first came across the Beach Boys around 1975ish,while watching TV commercial was aired for 20 Golden Greats by the Beach Boys. I think it was possibly a Capitol UK version of Endless Summer, I was blown away! I’d never heard anything like it before, at the time Glam Rock was almost at an end and progressive music was quite big here. Bands such as Yes, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Pink Floyd et al were dominating album sales along with the likes of Elton John, Wings, ELO and 10cc. Anyway, soon after I bought 15 Big Ones shortly followed by Love You. It was then that I discovered that they were basically a family band and I was intrigued! Over the following years I got my hands on everything they recorded and released and years later started buying books to learn more about them. Their inner turmoils are legendary as is Brian’s genius, the fact that they turned out such great music over such a long period is staggering, I think! Personally, I think that the Light Album in 1979 was their last major contribution. I don’t like the digital recordings of the 80s onward. Incidentally, there is another artist I follow on Youtube called Kayla Williams from Alberta, Canada I think. She has done loads of Beach Boys covers as well as covers by other artists and some of her own original material. Obviously she’s not a patch on the Mona Lisa Twins but then again, who is?
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I think the appreciation of the music of ABBA continues to grow, a lot of people considered the music to be cheesy and rather popish back in the 70s but today a whole new generation of fans seem to be accepting their output for what it was, quality recordings.
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Hello again Jung! Mona is a good track from what many critics label “The Wilsons album” as it mainly features the Brothers alone on most tracks. Did you notice Brian’s lyrical tip of the hat to Phil Spector?
There is a track on that album called “I’ll bet he’s nice” that features all three brothers and it contains a breath taking middle eight by Carl.
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Hello Howard, My initial idea was to open up a discussion aimed at featuring the strong points and differences between the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The heading “Beatles vs Beach Boys” was chosen simply to start the ball rolling rather than lead to direct comparison. Obviously the Beatles are regarded, almost universally, as the worlds most talented and successful group and I have to agree also. However, in a 1966 NME poll in the UK the Beach Boys were chosen as Top recording artists ahead of the Beatles! A straight comparison between those two bands is pointless due to the group dynamics, nationalities, culture and song content. I find it quite interesting that despite their obvious differences there was a friendly rivalry between 1964-68 that no doubt influenced and inspired each others output! No doubt other groups benefited at the time also.
One final point, I think it is strange that lots of people (over here anyway) see the Beach Boys mainly as a surf band, while the Beatles aren’t tied to their mop-top era image in the same way! Strange.
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Yeah, they made up a few years before John’s death.
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John had a brilliant lead voice at this point!
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Jung, I totally agree. Like I said, I prefer their older stuff but I love Nowhere Man, Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude and especially Penny Lane! Although they are universally loved it was when they went to the USA that they were REALLY taken seriously globally. Funny really because Pet Sounds was appreciated over here more than in their homeland. I think the imagination of the audience had a lot to do with their paralleled success. In England we have nothing even remotely like California, surfing, sunny beaches etc! Likewise, I don’t think the Americans were tuned in to British humour and fashions etc. Before the Beatles, English bands were just rehashing old American rock and roll hits, we had nothing else to go on. Then the Beatles took off which gave America a lust for more, hence the Stones, Kinks, Who etc. I believe this meant the end for a lot of stars over there such as Neil Sedaka. I think Elvis was in the army at the time and he got left behind also!
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Hi there! I believe that Darlin’ was originally going to be released by a band Brian was producing at the time called Redwood (later to become Three Dog Night) until Mike jumped in!