|
发信人: roy_young(杨落伊) 整理人: roy_young(2001-06-20 16:55:47), 站内信件 |
Formed: 1961 in Hawthorne, CA Years Active: 1960's - 1990's Group Members: Brian Wilson, Blondie Chaplin, Bruce Johnston, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Ricky Fataar, Alan Jardine, Dennis Wilson Genres: Rock Styles: Sunshine Pop, Psychedelic Pop, Pop/Rock, Surf, Psychedelic, Pop, Rock & Roll, Rock Tones: Wistful, Romantic, Complex, Sentimental, Sweet, Gentle, Joyous, Poignant, Trippy, Happy, Naive, Cheerful, Amiable/Good-Natured, Quirky, Sophisticated, Summery, Earnest, Carefree, Soothing, Innocent Labels: Capitol (79), EMI (15), Caribou (13), Sea of Tunes (10), Disky (5), Brother (4), [Bootleg] (3) Albums: 1962 Surfin' Safari Capitol 1963 Surfin' U.S.A. Capitol 1963 Shut Down Capitol 1963 Surfer Girl Capitol 1963 Little Deuce Coupe Capitol 1964 Shut Down, Vol. 2 Capitol 1964 All Summer Long Capitol 1964 Beach Boys Concert [live] Capitol 1964 The Beach Boys' Christmas Album [Capitol] Capitol 1964 The Beach Boys Christmas Special Capitol 1965 The Beach Boys Today! Capitol 1965 Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) Capitol 1965 Beach Boys Party! [live] Capitol 1966 Pet Sounds Capitol 1967 Smile [Not Released] Capitol 1967 Smiley Smile Capitol 1967 Wild Honey Capitol 1968 Friends Capitol 1968 Stack-O-Tracks Capitol 1969 20/20 Capitol 1970 Live in London MFP 1970 Sunflower Caribou 1971 Surf's Up Caribou 1972 Carl and the Passions-So Tough Brother 1973 Holland Caribou 1973 The Beach Boys in Concert [live] Caribou 1976 15 Big Ones Caribou 1976 Beach Boys '69 (Beach Boys Live in London) Caribou 1977 Love You Caribou 1978 M.I.U. Album Caribou 1979 L.A. (Light Album) Caribou 1980 Keepin' the Summer Alive Caribou 1985 The Beach Boys Sessions 1989 Still Cruisin' Capitol 1992 Summer in Paradise Brother 1996 Stars & Stripes, Vol. 1 A&M 2000 Christmas Album [Disky] Disky 2000 Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys [Delta] Delta 2000 Christmas Album [Empire] Empire 2001 Smiley Smile [France Bonus Tracks] EMI Compilations: 1966 The Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. 1 Capitol 1967 The Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. 2 Capitol 1967 The Beach Boys Deluxe Set Capitol x 1968 The Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. 3 Capitol 1969 Close-Up Capitol 1969 The Beach Boys' Biggest Beach Hits Era 1970 Good Vibrations Capitol 1970 Summertime Blues Pickwick 1970 All Summer Long/California Girls Capitol 1970 Bug In Starline 1971 Fun, Fun, Fun/Dance, Dance, Dance Capitol 1971 Dance, Dance, Dance Capitol 1971 Do You Wanna Dance MFP 1972 Wow! Great Concert! [live] Pickwick 1972 Girls Capitol 1972 The Beach Boys' Greatest Hits [Orbit] Orbit 1972 The Best of the Beach Boys [Scepter] Scepter 1973 High Water Pickwick 1973 Their Twenty-Two Greatest Hits Axis/Capitol 1974 Endless Summer Capitol 1974 Wild Honey/20/20 Brother/Repris 1974 Friends/Smiley Smile Brother/Repris 1974 The Beach Boys' Greatest Hits [Springboard] Springboard 1974 The Beach Boys' Greatest Hits [Springboard] 1975 Spirit of America Capitol 1975 Good Vibrations: The Best of the Beach Boys Brother 1975 The Golden Years of the Beach Boys [2 LPs] Capitol 1975 American Summer [2 LPs] Capitol 1975 Wild Honey/Friends Capitol 1976 20 Golden Greats Capitol [UK] 1978 The Beach Boys Super Hits Ronco 1978 1962-65 Capitol 1978 1966-69 Capitol 1979 Surfing with the Beach Boys, The Marketts... Gateway 1980 Girls on the Beach Capitol 1980 Fun Fun Fun Capitol 1981 Rare Early Recordings Everest 1981 Ten Years of Harmony Caribou 1982 Sunshine Dream Capitol 1982 Be True to Your School Rhino 1982 Profile Teldec 1983 Beach Boys Rarities Capitol 1983 Collection EMI 1983 Disque D'or EMI 1983 Supergold EMI 1983 40 Greatest Hits EMI 1984 The Capitol Years [France] Pathe x 1984 All Seasons Pair 1986 Made in U.S.A. Capitol 1986 Wipe Out Meteor 1986 Surfin' Music Golden Circle 1987 California Girls Capitol 1987 California (And Other) Girls EMI-Capitol 1988 Gift Set Capitol x 1988 Concert Days [live] EMI-Capitol 1989 Surfin' U.S.A./Surfer Girl Mobile 1990 Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Vol. 2 Capitol 1990 Surfin' Safari/Surfin' U.S.A. Capitol 1990 Today!/Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) Capitol 1990 Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long Capitol 1990 Beach Boys Party!/Stack-O-Tracks Capitol 1990 Smiley Smile/Wild Honey Capitol 1990 Friends/20/20 Capitol 1990 The Beach Boys Concert/Live in London Capitol 1990 Greatest Hits [Capitol] Capitol 1991 The Absolute Best, Vol. 1 Capitol 1991 The Absolute Best, Vol. 2 Capitol 1991 Lost and Found! (1961-62) DCC 1992 Back to Back Dominion 1992 All-Time Greatest Hits CEMA 1992 Do It Again! CEMA 1992 Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys [EMI... CEMA 1992 Greatest Car Songs Cema 1993 Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach... Capitol x 1994 Greatest Hits 1961-1963 Hollywood 1995 20 Good Vibrations: The Greatest Hits Capitol 1995 Greatest Hits [Prime Cuts] Prime Cuts 1995 Covers Capitol 1995 Original Surfin' Hits: Their First Recordings Curb 1995 The Best of the Beach Boys [CEMA] EMI 1996 Little Deuce Coupe [Special Markets] EMI-Capitol 1996 Surfer Hits Remember 1997 Golden Surf Public Music 1997 Greatest Surfing Songs! Cema Special 1997 Perfect Harmony Capitol 1997 Pet Sounds 30th Anniversary Box Set Capitol x 1997 Surfin' [Columbia River] Columbia River 1998 Rarities Import 1998 Endless Harmony Capitol 1998 Dutch Singles Collection EMI 1998 Originals Capitol x 1998 Ultimate Christmas Capitol 1999 Capitol Years [Australia] EMI x 1999 Summer Dreams EMI 1999 Greatest Import 1999 Pet Sounds [Mono + Stereo] Capitol 1999 20 More Good Vibrations, Vol. 2 1999 20 More Good Vibrations, Vol. 1 1999 Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Capitol 1999 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Capitol 1999 Original Gold [2 CD Set] EMI 1999 The Original Gold [Disc #1] Disky 1999 The Original Gold [Disc #2] Disky 2000 Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: The Best of the... Capitol 2000 Surfin' [Varese] Varese 2000 20 Great Love Songs Disky 2000 Rock 'N Roll Christmas Beach Delta x 2000 Sunflower/Surf's Up Capitol 2000 Greatest Hits 1961-1965, Vol. 1 EMI 2000 Greatest Hits 1966-1969, Vol. 2 EMI 2000 Carl and the Passions-So Tough/Holland Capitol 2000 15 Big Ones/Love You Capitol 2000 Keepin' the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys '85 Capitol 2000 M.I.U. Album/L.A. Album Capitol 2000 Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 EMI 2000 Studio Sessions 1961-1962 Import 2001 California Dreamin' Collection Disky 2001 Greatest Hits [EMI Australia] EMI 2001 I Love You EMI 2001 Surfin' Beach Party Legacy 2001 Hawthorne, CA Capitol 40 Great Hits Capitol Greatest Hits [Deluxe] Deluxe Greatest Hits [Evergreen] Evergreen The Beach Boys Vs. Jan & Dean: 15 Greatest... Everest The Beach Boys & Jan & Dean: Original Artists Exact The Beach Boys 1962-1967 Time-Life Surfin' Back to Back Phantom Surf's Up [Compilation] All Summer Long [Disky] Golden Harmonies Singles: 1964 4 by the Beach Boys [EP] Capitol 1977 Sail on Sailor [EP] Reprise 1990 Problem Child RCA s 1991 Megamix Alex s 1992 Kokomo Elektra/Asylum s 1992 Hot Fun in the Summertime Brother s 1995 Summer of Love Scotti Bros. s 1996 I Can Hear Music A&M s 1996 Little Deuce Coupe A&M s 1997 Good Vibrations Bootlegs and Videos: 1964 Silver Platter Service (From Hollywood)... 1964 Silver Platter Service (From Hollywood)... 1964 Programming Aids from Capitol Capitol 1966 Pet Sounds Rehearsals [Bootleg] b 1967 Smile Sessions [Bootleg] b 1967 Silver Platter Service (From Hollywood)... 1976 The Beach Boys Radio Special Promo Spot [live] Reprise 1977 The Crawdaddy Interview Record Crawdaddy 1985 An American Band Vestron v 1994 Lei'd in Hawaii Rehearsal Vigotone b 1994 Mike Love, Not War Spank b 1996 Nashville Sounds: Making of Stars & Stripes... Image v 1997 Live In Sacramento 1964, First Show! Sea of Tunes b 1997 Live In Sacramento 1964, Second Show! Sea Of Tunes b 1998 Nashville Sounds: Making of Stars & Stripes... Intersound v 1999 Lost Concert [live] Image v 2000 Endless Harmony [live] Capitol v 2000 Endless Harmony Soundtrack [2000 Revision... [live] Capitol v 2001 Goodbye Surfing, Hello God! Vigotone b Silver Platter Service (From Hollywood) Capitol Time to Get Alone [Bootleg] b The Live Box (1965-1968) b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 1 (1962): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 2 (1963): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 3 (1963): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 4 (1963):... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 5 (1964):... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 6 (1964): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 7 (1964): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 8 (1965): The... Sea of Tunes b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 9 (1965): The... b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 10 (1965) b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 11 (1965):... b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 12 (1965): Sloop... b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 13 (1965-1966):... b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 14 (1966): The... b Good Vibrations b Smile b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 17 (1966-1967) b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 18 (1967) b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 19 (1967) b Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 20 (1968-1969) b Christmas Sessions: The Alternate Beach Boys... Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's preeminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the over-arching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community. From their 1961 debut with the regional hit "Surfin," the three Wilson brothers — Brian, Dennis, and Carl — plus cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine constructed the most intricate, gorgeous harmonies ever heard from a pop band. With Brian's studio proficiency growing by leaps and bounds during the mid-'60s, the Beach Boys also proved to be one of the best-produced groups of the '60s, exemplified by their 1966 peak with the Pet Sounds LP and the number one single, "Good Vibrations." Though Brian Wilson's escalating drug use and obsessive desire to trump the Beatles (by recording the perfect LP statement) eventually led to a nervous breakdown after he heard Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the group soldiered on long into the 1970s and '80s, with Brian only an inconsistent participant. The band's post-1966 material is often maligned (if it's recognized at all), but the truth is the Beach Boys continued to make great music well into the '70s. Displayed best on 1970's Sunflower, each member revealed individual talents never fully developed during the mid-'60s — Carl Wilson became a solid, distinctive producer and Brian's replacement as nominal band-leader, Mike continued to provide a visual focus as the frontman for live shows, and Dennis developed his own notable songwriting talents. Though legal wranglings and marginal oldies tours during the '90s often obscured what made the Beach Boys great, the band's unerring ability to surf the waves of commercial success and artistic development during the '60s made them America's first, best rock band. The origins of the group lie in Hawthorne, California, a southern suburb of Los Angeles situated close to the Pacific coast. The three sons of a part-time song-plugger and occasionally abusive father, Brian, Dennis and Carl grew up a just few miles from the ocean — though only Dennis Wilson had any interest in surfing itself. The three often harmonized together as youths, spurred on by Brian's fascination with '50s vocal acts like the Four Freshmen and the Hi-Lo's. Their cousin Mike Love often joined in on the impromptu sessions, and the group gained a fifth with the addition of Brian's high-school football teammate, Al Jardine. His parents helped rent instruments (with Brian on bass, Carl on guitar, Dennis on drums) and studio time to record "Surfin'," a novelty number written by Brian and Mike Love. The single, initially released in 1961 on Candix and billed to the Pendletones (a musical paraphrase of the popular Pendleton shirt), prompted a little national chart action and gained the renamed Beach Boys a contract with Capitol. The group's negotiator with the label, the Wilsons' father Murray, also took over as manager for the band. Before the release of any material for Capitol, however, Jardine left the band to attend college in the Midwest. A friend of the Wilsons, David Marks, replaced him. Finally, in mid-1962 the Beach Boys released their major-label debut, Surfin' Safari. The title track, a more accomplished novelty single than its predecessor, hit the Top 20 and helped launch the surf-rock craze just beginning to blossom around Southern California (thanks to artists like Dick Dale, Jan & Dean, the Chantays, and dozens more). A similarly themed follow-up, Surfin' U.S.A., hit the Top Ten in early 1963 before Jardine returned from school and resumed his place in the group. By that time, the Beach Boys had recorded their first two albums, a pair of 12-track collections that added a few novelty songs to the hits they were packaged around. Though Capitol policy required the group to work with a studio producer, Brian quickly took over the sessions and began expanding the group's range beyond simple surf rock. By the end of 1963, the Beach Boys had recorded three full LPs, hit the Top Ten as many times, and toured incessantly. Also, Brian began to grow as a producer, best documented on the third Beach Boys LP, Surfer Girl. Though surf songs still dominated the album, "Catch a Wave," the title track, and especially "In My Room" presented a giant leap in songwriting, production, and group harmony — especially astonishing considering the band had been recording for barely two years. Brian's intense scrutiny of Phil Spector's famous Wall of Sound productions were paying quick dividends, and revealed his intuitive, unerring depths of musical knowledge. The following year, "I Get Around" became the first number one hit for the Beach Boys. Riding a crest of popularity, the late 1964 LP Beach Boys Concert spent four weeks at the top of the album charts, just one of five Beach Boys LPs simultaneously on the charts. The group also undertook promotional tours of Europe, but the pressures and time-constraints proved too much for Brian. At the end of the year, he decided to quit the touring band and concentrate on studio productions. (Glen Campbell toured with the group briefly, then friend and colleague Bruce Johnston became Brian's permanent replacement.) With the Beach Boys as his musical messengers to the world, Brian began working full-time in the studio, writing songs and enlisting the cream of Los Angeles session players to record instrumental backing tracks before Carl, Dennis, Mike and Al returned to add vocals. The single "Help Me, Rhonda" became the Beach Boys' second chart-topper in early 1965. On the group's seventh studio LP, The Beach Boys Today!, Brian's production skills hit another level entirely. In the rock era's first flirtation with an extended album-length statement, side two of the record presented a series of downtempo ballads, arranged into a suite that stretched the group's lyrical concerns beyond youthful infatuation and into more adult notions of love. Two more LPs followed in 1965, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) and Beach Boys' Party. The first featured "California Girls," one of the best fusions of Brian's production mastery, infectious melodies, and gorgeous close harmonies (it's still his personal favorite song). However, dragging down those few moments of brilliance were novelty tracks like "Amusement Parks USA," "Salt Lake City" and "I'm Bugged at My Old Man" that appeared a step back from Today. When Capitol asked for a Beach Boys' record to sell at Christmas, the live-in-the-studio vocal jam-session Beach Boys' Party resulted, and sold incredibly well after the single "Barbara Ann" became a surprise hit. In a larger sense though, both of these LPs were stopgaps, as Brian prepared for production on what he hoped would be the Beach Boys' most effective musical statement yet. In late 1965, the Beatles released Rubber Soul. Amazed at the high song quality and overall cohesiveness of the album, Brian began writing songs — with help from lyricist Tony Asher — and producing sessions for a song suite charting a young man's growth to emotional maturity. Though Capitol was resistant to an album with few obvious hits, the group spent more time working on the vocals and harmonies than any other previous project. The result, released in May 1966 as Pet Sounds, more than justified the effort. It's still one of the best-produced and most influential rock LPs ever released, culminating years of Brian's perfectionist productions and songwriting. Critics praised Pet Sounds, but the new direction failed to impress American audiences. Though it reached the Top Ten, Pet Sounds missed a gold certificate (the first to do so since the group's debut LP). Conversely, worldwide reaction was not just positive but jubilant. In England, the album hit number two and earned the Beach Boys honors for best group in year-end polls by NME — above even the Beatles, hardly slouches themselves with the releases of "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" and Revolver. The Beach Boys' next single, "Good Vibrations," had originally been written for the Pet Sounds sessions, though Brian removed it from the songlist to give himself more time for production. He resumed working on it after the completion of Pet Sounds, eventually devoting up to six months (and three different studios) on the single. Released in October 1966, "Good Vibrations" capped off the year as the group's third number one single and still stands as one of the best singles of all time. Throughout late 1966 and early 1967, Brian worked feverishly on the next Beach Boys' LP — a project named Dumb Angel, but later titled Smile — that promised to be as great an artistic leap beyond Pet Sounds than that album was from Today. He drafted Van Dyke Parks, an eccentric lyricist and session man, as his songwriting partner, and recorded reams of tape containing increasingly fragmented tracks that grew ever more speculative as the months wore on. Already wary of Brian's increasingly artistic leanings and drug experimentation, the other Beach Boys grew hostile when called in to the studio to add vocals for Parks lyrics like, "A blind class aristocracy / Back through the opera glass you see / The pit and the pendulum drawn / Columnaded ruins domino / Canvas the town and brush the backdrop" (from "Surf's Up"). A rift soon formed between the band and Brian; they felt his intake of marijuana and LSD had clouded his judgment, while he felt they were holding him back from the coming psychedelic era. As recording for Smile dragged on into spring 1967, Brian began working fewer hours. For the first time in the Beach Boys' career, he appeared unsure of his direction. If Smile ever appeared salveagable, those hopes were dashed in May, when Brian officially cancelled the project — just a few weeks before the release of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In August, the group finally released a new single, "Heroes and Villains." Very similar to the fragmentary style of "Good Vibrations," though a distinctly inferior follow-up, it missed the Top Ten. That fall, the group convened at Brian's Bel Air mansion-turned-studio and recorded new versions of several Smile songs plus a few new recordings and re-emerged with Smiley Smile. Carl summed up the LP as "a bunt instead of a grand slam," and its near-complete lack of cohesiveness all but destroyed the group's reputation for forward-thinking pop. As the Beatles were ushering in the psychedelic age, the Beach Boys stalled with the all-important teen crowd, who quickly began to see the group as conservative, establishment throwbacks. The perfect chance to stem the tide, a headlining spot at the pioneering Monterey Pop Festival in summer 1967, was squandered. Though the Beach Boys regrouped quickly — the back-to-basics Wild Honey LP appeared before the end of 1967 — their hopes of becoming the world's preeminent pop group with both hippies and critics had fizzled in a matter of months. All this incredible promise wasted made fans, critics, and radio programmers undeniably bitter toward future product. Predictably, both Wild Honey and 1968's Friends suffered with all three audiences. They survive as interesting records nevertheless; deliberately under-produced, including song fragments and recording-session detritus often left in the mix, the skeletal blue-eyed soul of Wild Honey and the laidback orchestral pop of Friends made them favorites only after fans realized the Beach Boys were a radically different group in 1968 than in 1966. Sparked by the Top 20 hit "Do It Again" — a song that saw the first shades of the group as an oldies act — 1969's 20/20 did marginally better. Still, Capitol dropped the band soon after. One year later, the Beach Boys signed to Reprise. The first LP for Brother/Reprise was 1970's Sunflower, a surprisingly strong album featuring a return to the gorgeous harmonies of the mid-'60s and many songs written by different members of the band. Surf's Up, titled after a reworked song originally intended for Smile, followed in 1971. Though frequently loveable, the wide range of material on Surf's Up displayed not a band but a conglomeration of individual interests. During sessions for the album, Dennis put his hand through a plate glass window and was unable to play drums. Early in 1972, the band hired drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin, two members of a South African rock band named the Flame (Carl had produced their self-titled debut for Brother Records the previous year). Carl and the Passions - So Tough, the first album released with Fataar and Chaplin in the band, descended into lame early-'70s AOR-rock. For the first time, a Beach Boys album retained nothing from their classic sound. Brian's mental stability wavered from year to year, and he spent much time in his mansion with no wish to even contact the outside world. He occasionally contributed to the songwriting and session load, but was by no means a member of the band anymore (he rarely even appeared on album covers or promotional shots). Though it's unclear why Reprise felt ready to take such a big risk, the label authorized a large recording budget for the next Beach Boys album. After shipping most of the group's family and entourage (plus an entire studio) over to Amsterdam, the Beach Boys re-emerged in 1973 with Holland. The LP scraped the bottom rungs of the Top 40, and the single "Sail On, Sailor" (with vocals by Chaplin) did receive some FM radio airplay. Still, Holland's muddy sound did nothing for the aging band, and it earned scathing reviews. Perhaps a bit gun-shy, the Beach Boys essentially retired from recording during the mid-'70s. Instead, the band concentrated on grooming their live act, which quickly grew to become an incredible experience. It was a good move, considering the Beach Boys could lay claim to more hits than any other '60s rock act on the road. The Beach Boys in Concert, their third live album in total, appeared in 1973. Then, in mid-1974, Capitol Records went to the vaults and issued a repackaged hits collection, Endless Summer. Both band and label watched, dumbfounded, as the double-LP hit number one, spent almost three years on the charts, and went gold. Endless Summer capitalized on a growing fascination with oldies rock that had made Sha Na Na, American Graffiti, and Happy Days big hits. Rolling Stone, never the most friendly magazine to the group, named the Beach Boys their Band of the Year at the end of the year. Another collection, Spirit of America, hit the Top Ten in 1974, and the Beach Boys were hustled into the studio to begin new recordings. Trumpeted by the barely true marketing campaign "Brian's Back!," 1976's 15 Big Ones balanced a couple of '50s oldies with some justifiably exciting Brian Wilson oddities like "Had to Phone Ya." It also hit the Top Ten and went gold, despite many critical misgivings. Brian took a much more involved position for the following year's The Beach Boys Love You (it was almost titled Brian Loves You and released as a solo album). In marked contrast to the fatalistic early-'70s pop of "Til I Die" and others, Brian sounded positively jubilant on gruff proto-synth-pop numbers like "Let Us Go on This Way" and "Mona." However idiosyncratic compared to what oldies fans expected of the Beach Boys, Love You was the group's best album in years. (A suite of beautiful, tender ballads on side two was quite reminiscent of 1965's Today.) After 1979's M.I.U. Album, the group signed a large contract with CBS that stipulated Brian's involvement on each album. However, his brief return to the spotlight ended with two dismal efforts, L.A. (Light Album) and Keepin' the Summer Alive. The Beach Boys began splintering by the end of the decade, with financial mismanagement by Mike Love's brothers Stan and Steve fostering tension between him and the Wilsons. By 1980, both Dennis and Carl had left the Beach Boys for solo careers. (Dennis had already released his first album, Pacific Ocean Blue, in 1977, and Carl released his eponymous debut in 1981.) Brian was removed from the group in 1982 after his weight ballooned to over 300 pounds, though the tragic drowning death of Dennis in 1983 helped bring the group back together. In 1985, the Beach Boys released a self-titled album which returned them to the Top 40 with "Getcha Back." It would be the last proper Beach Boys album of the '80s, however. Brian had been steadily improving in both mind and body during the mid-'80s, though the rest of the group grew suspicious of his mentor, Dr. Eugene Landy. Landy was a dodgy psychiatrist who reportedly worked wonders with the easily impressionable Brian but also practically took over his life. He collaborated with Brian on the autobiography Wouldn't It Be Nice and wrote lyrics for Brian's first solo album, 1988's Brian Wilson. Critics and fans enjoyed Wilson's return to the studio, but the charts were unforgiving, especially with attention focused on the Beach Boys once more. The single "Kokomo," from the soundtrack to Cocktail, hit number one in the US late that year, prompting a haphazard collection named Still Cruisin'. The group also sued Brian, more to force Landy out of the picture than anything, and Mike Love later sued Brian for songwriting royalties (Brian had frequently admitted Love's involvement on most of them). Despite the many quarrels, the Beach Boys kept touring during the early '90s, and Mike Love and Brian Wilson actually began writing songs together in 1995. Instead of a new album though, the Beach Boys returned with Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, a collection of remade hits with country stars singing lead and the group adding backing vocals. Also, a Brian Wilson documentary titled I Just Wasn't Made for These Times aired on the Disney Channel, with an accompanying soundtrack featuring spare renditions of Beach Boys classics by Brian himself. Just as the band appeared to be pulling together for a proper studio album though, Carl died of cancer in 1998. Ten years after his first solo album, Brian became aware of his immense influence on the alternative-rock community; he worked with biggest-fans Sean O'Hagan (of the High Llamas) and Andy Paley on a series of recordings. Again, good intentions failed to carry through, as the recordings were ditched in favor of another overly produced, mainstream-slanted work, Imagination. By early 1999, no less than three Beach Boys-connected units were touring the country — a Brian Wilson solo tour, the "official" Beach Boys led by Mike Love, and the "Beach Boys Family" led by Al Jardine. In 2000, Capitol instituted a long-promised reissue campaign, focusing on the group's long out-of-print '70s LPs. ---- I left my heart in San Francisco |
|
[关闭][返回] |