Smile by Luis Sanchez: A Review by Peter Reum

The latest Beach Boys book is another album-centered short selection in the 33 1/3 series entitled Smile, by musicologist Luis Sanchez, a native of West Texas, near my home state of New Mexico. The credentials Mr. Sanchez brings to this book are strong, and his love of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys music is indisputable. Mr. Sanchez brings a view of Smile's music in the more macro context of The Beach Boys' evolution and development, up to the scrapping of Smile in the wake of Brian Wilson's rapid growth as an all around musician and performer.

The first important point to make is that this book is not going to satisfy the rabid obsessive who frequents the Smile netherworld, dissecting the music Brian Wilson created so long ago. In that sense, caveat emptor.....but, Mr. Sanchez slowly builds a case for The Beach Boys' music being unique, genuine, and seasoned with a healthy degree of humor. In recounting the lead-up to Smile's Sixties demise, the author recounts how the optimism and humor in Brian Wilson's music built upon the history and traditions of American Popular Music that transcends the Rock oeurve.  This quality, evident in Brian's use of Stephen Foster and The Gershwin Brothers as a melodic basis for some of his productions outside of The Beach Boys, is one of the strands of Brian's music that the author mentions as helping Brian fall within the greater tradition of American Popular Music.

Another admirable aspect of Mr. Sanchez's is his thorough literature review leading up to his writing of this brief but informative overview of Beach Boys' music. The casual reader has a treasure trove of references for readers new to the world of Beach Boys' critical reading. His reliance upon David Leaf's Beach Boys and the California Myth tends to obscure further critical writing that has occurred since that 1979 work, revised in 1985. The details of some of Mr. Sanchez's points are hindered by some minor inaccuracies in research, but this is a fine read for newcomers to the Beach Boys' music and historical literature.

To summarize, Mr. Sanchez's thesis of placing Brian Wilson's music in the broader context of American Popular Music, and seeing Rock Music as a subset of it, is a very welcome and positive point of view. In this sense, Brian's body of work stands alongside such giants of American Music as Stephen Foster, The Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, and contemporaries who have written for screen and stage. Brian's last honor that he has not received is The Library of  Congress's Gershwin Award, and such recognition would be appropriate, given his influence on American Music in the last half century.


Text copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All rights reserved

Personal Favorites #4: Bicentennial Musical Notions: Chicken Skin Music by Ry Cooder by Peter Reum

When the Seventies were well underway, the stable of artists known as Reprise Records, originally begun by Frank Sinatra and purchased by Warner Brothers Records in the Sixties had become quite diverse, and artists who called Reprise their home were encouraged to bring their art to market in their own unique manner, ultimately with the goal of making records that were both High Art and Commercially Viable. Artists like Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, The Beach Boys, Maria Muldaur, and Neil Young made memorable records there.

Ryland Peter Cooder, better known as Ry Cooder, began his career in a blues band in 1963 with Jackie DeShannon and then formed The Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and future Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy (from Allmusic). Cooder's career in recording dates back nearly fifty years, with his solo recording career beginning with his first album, the self-titled Ry Cooder, produced by Lenny Waronker and Van Dyke Parks in 1970. In 1976, Cooder assembled an all star group of musicians from a variety of musical styles including Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Tex-Mex, and Blues to record one of his finest albums, Chicken Skin Music.

Chicken Skin Music was a breath of fresh air in the middle of a highly commercial  period of music. Ry Cooder has always shunned making pop music, in favor of recording World Music and American Folk and Blues styles, commercial considerations be damned. The album spotlights at least two American Music Masters, Flaco Jimenez and Gabby Pahinui. Both of these men were musician's musicians, known to artists who admired their styles on accordian and Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar respectively. Jimenez later became a founding member of the Tex-Mex "supergroup" The Texas Tornados, and Pahinui was only to live for a few more years after Chicken Skin Music, leaving a legacy that is unparalled in Hawaiian Steel and Slack Key Guitar artistry. 

Huddie Ledbetter aka "Leadbelly"

Cooder's knowledge of American Roots Music is encyclopedic, and he begins Chicken Skin Music with a Huddie Ledbetter composition, The Beaugeois Blues. Written in the late 1930s, it expressed the frustration many African-American artists felt with segregation in the Southern United States. Specifically, it descibes Ledbetter's anger at being excluded in Washington D.C. clubs and restaurants while with a mixed racial group after a performance in that area (Wikipedia). Cooder's version is played on what sounds like a dobro or slide guitar, with his vocals sounding much older than his 29 years. Goodnight Irene, a Ledbetter/John Lomax composition, is the album's closer.  The tune dates from 1880 or earlier, but was first sung by Huddie Ledbetter in 1908. Ledbetter first recorded Goodnight Irene in 1938 at the Louisiana State Prison in Angola for the Lomaxes, who were working with the Library of Congress. Again, Cooder's vocal sounds older than his actual age, and Flaco Jimenez contributes a killer accordian accompaniment. The song is reworked by Ledbetter from its earlier version into  3/4 waltz time, faithfully covered by Ry Cooder.

The second track on Chicken Skin Music, I Got Mine, comes from a more obscure source, namely a July 15, 1952 recording by Earl Moore.  Red Callendar's Tuba and Milt Holland's percussion shine here, along with some dobro from Ry Cooder. The song originates as a memoir of good fortune from a man who while gambling with African-Americans saw the sheriff coming to arrest the crap gamers and escaped through the window with a $100 bill that was the pot at the time of the bust. The original version may be heard here, but the listener should be warned that the lyrics are racially offensive in the first version: http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/blairnigger1239.mp3

Always Lift Him Up, as written by Blind Alfred Reed (Hartenbach,@Allmusic), is the next  selection, and once again, the instrumental background shines, with Gabby Pahinui contributing a gorgeous backing on the verses. The melody is a traditional Hawaiian Song entitled Kanaka Wai Wai. The song is a hymn sung by Hawaiians which uses the Parable of the Rich Man by Jesus of Nazareth as it's subject matter. The original Hawaiian hymn with slack key guitar may be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPLEfUGrSaA

Gabby Pahinui-Hawaiian Master Guitarist

The Country tune He'll Have to Go is rendered profoundly and mournfully by Cooder with an almost mournful accompaniment on accordian by Flaco Jimenez. The Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar is played by Atta Isaacs, with Gabby Pahinui on steel guitar. The song, originally recorded by Billy Brown, was written by Joe and Audrey Allison, and was made famous by the late Jim Reeves, whose version may be listened to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smlaq1ezQRM  As can be readily heard, the tempo of the Jim Reeves version was closely matched by the version on Chicken Skin Music.

Atta Isaacs-Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Master

Smack Dab In the Middle originates with Jesse Stone, the song's author, using the pseudonym Charles Calhoun, although perhaps the most famous version is by Ray Charles. Like many of Ry Cooder's recordings, he renders it in a manner that is delightful and unexpected. The version here is a Dub version, with the second and fourth beats emphasized. Calhoun was one of the first employees of the post war Atlantic Records. Stone wrote many early rock and roll hits, including Shake Rattle and Roll and Money Honey. Stone's own 1955 version of Smack Dab In the Middle, recorded as Charles Calhoun, may be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLq5Iu5Mike Stoller3ijE

Jesse Stone-American Songwriting Master

Stand By Me is a rock music standard, and here is sung and accompanied in a Hawaiian Gospel manner, with Gabby Pahinui and Atta Isaacs rendering it in a manner that can be called holy. The backing vocals are most powerfully reminiscent of some of  Gospel Music's best recordings. The great Ben E. King wrote this song along with Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller.  The song was originally cut by King after he finished Spanish Harlem. As recalled by Mike Stoller, the tune was unfinished, and session musicians were called back to record the song, with a Stoller arrangement and lyric as finished by Mr. King and Jerry Lieber (Wikipedia). The tune as cut by Ben E. King is in Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 songs. King's version may be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwZNL7QVJjE

Yellow Roses as written by Ken Devine and Sam Nichols is a vehicle for Gabby Pahinui to shine. In an instrumental opening, Pahinui's steel guitar shines brightly, and becomes the star of the song. Atta Isaac's slack key may be heard on the verses. The song is rendered profoundly sad, a reminder that love is fleeting and yellow roses are already fading when received. There is a sadness here that wrenches the heart and twists the soul. The song bleeds.....

Chloe is a Gus Kahn and Neal Moret aka Charles A. Daniels composition, and the version here is a charming instrumental performance with Atta Isaacs and Gabby Pahinui shining brightly.  This version seems almost country in flavor, perhaps due to the steel guitar. That Ry Cooder could assemble such a fine collection of American songs and talent is a tribute to his musical vision and clarity. The album is truly a "goosebumps" or "chicken skin" producing work. Cooder's knowledge of American Music is encyclopedic, and he arranges it here in a manner that introduces anew the listener to each song. The styles here are all Americana at it's finest, and that this album came out in 1976 for America's Bicentennial is no coincidence. It is American Music presented by an American Master Musician, Ry Cooder.

Text Copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved

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Beach Boys Friends Who Make Music: Michael Clark Produces the Fun Girls Album by Peter Reum

Imagine a cd where the vocal harmonies are heavenly, the production is clean and complements the singing, and the songs are FUN to listen to, and you have the Fun Girls album entitled Seduced. This album has grown on me immensely, and if you have an hour to give a cd to simply put a spring in your walk and a big smile on your face, this is the album to get. Michael Clark, the producer has previously been nominated for a Grammy, and his work has been steadfast and true for many years. The performers known as The Fun Girls are veteran vocal performers who all have been singing for at least ten to twenty years. Becky Kevoian, Teresa Giles Kelly, and Cozette Myers are all residents of the Midwestern United States, and which coincidentally, is where my family also originates.

If you have read my previous review of the Bamboo Trading Company album, you will be interested to know that this album is fun, joyous, and drips with pheromones. These singers know how to infuse their vocals with attractiveness as only women singers of the highest order can accomplish. The selection of songs begins with the title track, Seduced, which offers a pre-rock and roll, almost Forties vocal jazz sound. The keyboards are exquisite, as is the tuba, which kills. Bobby Troup, author of Their Hearts Were Full of Spring, a Beach Boys chestnut, had a huge multi-artist hit with Route 66, and the gals' vocals here are edgy and swing to the max. Again, the keyboards shine, as does Vince Gill's guitar solo on the bridge. The brass is up front, and the whole tune is a tour de force.

The ambiance shifts to a stunning vocal acapella version of Brian Wilson's signature tune, In My Room. The womens' version is simply elegant. The vocal arrangement by Greg Gilpin is memorable and gorgeous. My World Is Over, a ballad with a bluesy lyric and torchsong feel is a tune I could hear Brian Wilson producing in a similar manner. Each vocalist contributes a soulful, heartfelt vibe that tells you they mean what they sing. The next tune, Men, is the rocker of this part of the album. Michael Clark's guitar and a mean Hammond B3 played by Troye Kinnett shine on this track. Chris Pyle's timekeeping on drums is steadfast. Wayfaring Stranger begins with a beautiful prelude composed by Michael Clark, and this traditional song is an album standout. The mandolin here is played by the incomparable Sam Bush, and shines. The womens' vocals are as one, and offer a contrast to the dramatic track itself, which reflects both country and jazz together. This track is one of the most musically ambitious on the album, and succeeds admirably.

Paul McCartney's Baby's Request follows, and is arranged in a Forties Jazz feel, which swings easily and brings back Rex Martin on Tuba in a central role as both bass player and soloist. The late Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman are present here songwise, represented by their classic I Can't Get Used To Losing You. The track has a nice and tasteful use of synth on it, arranged by Gary Mielke. I Can Hear Music follows, recalling Carl Wilson and The Beach Boys version of the song, yet also hinting of Ronnie Spector as well. The producers choose to hold the acapella singing which was on the bridge of The Beach Boys version, to the tag of the arrangement here. It is stunning on headphones and has to be heard to be appreciated.

Lesley Gore's contribution to Sixties Music is often overlooked, and her version of You Don't Own Me is often cited as an early anthem of the modern women's movement. Here the Fun Girls turn dead serious and sing like they mean it. It is a great version. Holland-Dozier-Holland's You Keep Me Hangin' On is rendered profoundly country in a version that is both imaginatively produced and arranged, yet retains the soulful vocals of the original Supremes version.Sam Bush shines here again on mandolin, and is supported perfectly by Jeff Guernsey on fiddle and Scott Vestal  on 5 String Banjo. Michael Clark flat picks his butt off on guitar.

Speaking of butts, Butt Dialed is a tale of cheating that chronicles the thoughts of a woman (women?) done wrong. The brass arrangement here is especially tasty, with trombones by Peter Brockman standing out. To speak of this tune any further would be to spoil the flavor of the tune. It is an album standout. Executive Producer Bob Kevoian and Whitney Grayson are the writers here. Ohio's own Roy Rogers is recalled in the finale, as a lovely version of Happy Trails is the stated end of the album, with an impromptu version of You Are My Sunshine being done by family members concluding the album.

If you love the music of the vocal jazz era, with healthy helpings of humor, good vocal vibes, country feels, and standout production, arrangements, and musicianship, this is the album for you. My apologies to Michael Clark, who sent me this cd, for being so overdue with this review. This cd is available at ITunes. The Fungirls are at thefungirls.com.

Peter Lacey's Last Leaf by Peter Reum

When Peter sends me an album, it is at once a joy and a challenge.....his albums are consistently a pleasure to hear. Upon repeated listens his albums reveal a depth that descends directly from the English Folk-Rock countryside artists of the Seventies and yet, they show a profound respect for Peter's listeners. Peter's songs allow his listeners to interpret his music in a manner that brings emotional attachment, personalizing, and interpretation. This album is quite unique in Peter's work, and is reminiscent of Brian Wilson's Smile's Second Movement or the suite of Brian's tunes that conclude the Surfs Up album.

The work Peter has put together here forms a song cycle about the seasons, yet also reflects many of the feelings a person feels going through the human experience of grief. Peter shared with me that his parents both passed away over the past year or so, and the realization that we are alone without our parents in this world is a profound life change that every human must experience. Peter asks you, the listener, to join him on this journey. The album's opening song,  Country Mile, is the invitation.

The Woodwind, the second song, is both a reflection and a request for Music to lift the composer out of his deep grief into a  better state of being. Anyone who has experienced a deep state of grief will recognize immediately that we begin to put our lives back together by turning to the aspects of life that bring joy. For Peter, Music has served this need, and he again turns to music to lift him up. Sunrise Rise, the album's third song, alludes to the changing of the seasons, asking life to return to balance after a long cold winter of grief.

Right As Rain is a tune that reflects the innocence of Spring gently removing the winter of discontent, with the return of life, reminding the listener of newness of life, and also the generations that succeed the generations that have passed. The interrelationship of lives gone and lives coming is one of the joyful mysteries of life itself... The Tree of Life.....our lives, so fragile, so fleeting, so precious. Harvest Moon is a reflection on death, the fact that the scythe eventually falls for all of us, making room for new life. Suffice to say that we all live our lives our own way, and the fact that we must die makes us aware of the sweetness of Life, however brief it may be.

Seven Hills to Hangleton is a pretty instrumental, serving the function of a palette cleanser, a way of giving the listener a brief respite before Last Leaf's song cycle resumes. It is a perfect tune for this purpose. The album's next song, Fisherman, alludes to the realization some people have in the winter of their life, having realized that they walked unconscious through their days, unaware of their own soul, their lot at the end of their days being a life walked through in a clueless manner.

The Gatekeeper, the next song, speaks of an Outlander, a person who is out of place, out of time itself. The song is reminiscent of the writings of C.S. Lewis, especially his work concerning Narnia. The waltz tempo is deceiving, as the song is a powerful reflection on consciousness, especially self-consciousness. In my field of Rehabilitation Psychology, we refer to gatekeepers as the people who determine whether healing is probable or even possible. There is a tendency for those people, those gatekeepers, to lose their compassion and treat people as a file, not a person. They have heard it all before. The next tune, Swallow begins vigorously, as life does.....children have so much energy. It then grows quiet and moves into a rhythm that is warm and mellow, as middle life can be. This chrysalis we call Life is warm and brief, in the sense of our tempestuous Universe. A narrator shares a fable of a sparrow enjoying a brief time of warmth, Life, then reentering the tempest outside Life.

They say no one has true faith until they are on their deathbed. When a relative passes after suffering at the end of Life, due to regret or illness, how are we, the survivors and caregivers to feel? When my own mother passed at 92 of Alzheimer's Disease, I felt relief, survivor's guilt, angry, desolate, forsaken. On my last visit to her she thought she was 17 years old, and asked me if I wanted to date her. The smile on her face belied the emptiness in her eyes. She wasn't there.....Peter's own feelings turn up in the next two songs, He Is Sleeping and Boy In the Rings of a Tree. Poignantly, he reflects on his father's suffering, then comforts himself by saying his father is sleeping. Peter then places his own life in perspective by thinking of his father as a permanent part of the Tree of Life... broken branches, emotional isolation, the physicality of aloneness. A rose plucked dies immediately, but brings sweet fragrance and memories to those around it. Memories, dried flowers in a book, pictures....capturing a time long ago, in Life.

This is Peter's best work to date. Born of pain, it brings great beauty to those who will take the time to listen.




The album may be found at Amazon Digital Download and through pinkhedgehog.com


Text copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved

Brian Wilson and Others-The Big Beat 1963 by Peter Reum

Brian Wilson and Other Artists-The Big Beat 1963 by Peter Reum

This compendium of Brian Wilson and Beach Boys related tracks was a welcome archival release for those of us who love to hear the nearly lost and obscure music Brian Wilson/Beach Boys related music that emanates from the Universal/Capitol Vault. Like other companies, Universal has to deal with European Copyright Laws which deem that any music not published or released within fifty years becomes public domain. The initial release that sparked record companies scrambling to compile and release tracks that are "aging out" of the fifty year window was a fantastic but very limited Bob Dylan compilation that was released in 2012.

Suffice to say that collectors of obscure music often play a vital role in these types of projects. With the cooperation of The Honeys, Lee Dempsey, Daniel Rutherford, and other parties in the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys world, several of the tracks in this compilation are available for the first time commercially. Some of these selections have circulated in the shadow world of hard core Beach Boys and Brian Wilson collecting for decades, but for the collector who came to that world lately, The Big Beat 1963 is a potential revelation. This compilation includes several very rare reference acetates, which often were used by Brian or The Beach Boys to listen to and critique their own studio work on a home stereo or record player. In some cases, Brian's early production work outside of the Beach Boys was his ticket to subsequent experimentation that he did with Beach Boys records. It is clear from the earliest period of his work that Brian had aspirations to write and produce other artists, as these early recordings demonstrate. Research is showing that Brian recorded the Rachel and the Revolvers and Bob and Sheri singles before he received deserved credit for producing The Beach Boys. 

Brian  appears to have set up a separate publishing company aside from Sea of Tunes, New Executive Publishing, even at this early period of his songwriting. Add to this his compositions for Jan and Dean records and The Muscle Beach Party soundtrack, and his intentions are very clear. Brian did not want to be limited to giving all of his compositions to Sea of Tunes Publishing, and the quality of his outside productions grew progressively more sophisticated, paralleling his Beach Boys productions. There is some speculation in collecting circles that Murry Wilson paid disc jockeys NOT to play Brian's outside productions, and to play Beach Boys records instead. Due to Murry's untimely passing, we will never know the veracity of such speculation.

Brian's Demos and Productions for Bob Norberg and Vicki Kocher

The Big Beat 1963 begins with a Bob and Sheri tune credited to Brian Wilson as composer entitled The Big Beat. The players are not identified, but the tightness of the arrangement suggests an early Wrecking Crew recording. Musically, the tune evolved into Do You Remember on 1964's All Summer Long album. The background  vocals are by Brian and Bob Norberg, with the presence of a tack piano foreshadowing future Brian and Beach Boys recordings. which owe a debt to this pioneering Brian outside production. Ride Away is another Brian composition which is credited as being performed by Bob and Sheri. The tune bears a remarkable resemblance to Surfers Holiday. It is quite possible that Ride Away preceded Surfer's Holiday,  but the trading of male and female vocals in the tune is very similar to Annette and Frankie in the Muscle Beach Party soundtrack. As has often been said of Brian, he never lets a good melody go to waste. Thanks to some ground breaking research by Lee Dempsey, we now know that Brian reworked The Surfer Moon into The Summer Moon.  Either Bob Norberg or Brian may be heard doubling Vicki's vocal in the background.Vicki Kocher is not the Sheri of Bob and Sheri. That singer was Cheryl Pomeroy.

Brian's Beach Boys Related Demo Work

Mother May I has some chord similarities to Our Car Club, but the vocal almost sounds like a novelty record. 1963 certainly had its share of novelty hits, but Mother May I has what is a fairly straight ahead track and set of lyrics  One can only wonder what the motivation for the cartoon like lead vocal might have been. It sits with some of Brian's Seventies work from the "write a song, get a hamburger days" as one of his most unusual compositions and productions. Perhaps it was intended to be a track like Cassius Love vs. Sonny Wilson on a future album. Its closest cousin in the Sixties is perhaps I'm Bugged At My Old Man. Brian's demo for I Do sparkles with the effects of the Gold Star echo chamber. It is a Spector type of production, with Brian's growing mastery of the Wall  of Sound in evidence. The tune was cut in a very brief time with preciously few minutes of studio session time remaining. Rabbit's Foot was probably intended to be a Honeys single, but an overworked Brian Wilson chose to take the basic track, which is cited by Brian Wilson collaborator Andy Paley as musically radical and innovative for its time, and reworked the tune into what we now know as Our Car Club. Side Two (Instrumental) to this listener's ears sounds like an alternative approach to Little Deuce Coupe. That would make sense in that it's working title of Side Two (Instrumental) would make it the tune that eventually became Little Deuce Coupe, the actual "B" side of the Surfer Girl single, Capitol 5009. The demo for Ballad of Old Betsy is an unanticipated jewel that makes this collection worthwhile by itself. Brian's vocal may be heard faintly in the background at times.

Brian's Demos For Artists Other Than The Beach Boys or Honeys

Brian's Gonna Hustle You demo has been in the hands of hard core Brian/Beach Boys collectors for 30+ years. For the uninitiated, this tune evolved into Jan and Dean's The New Girl In School, and came to Jan Berry simultaneously with Surf City, Brian's first chart topping composition. Brian's vocal is great, and he also sings the preponderance of the backing vocals with an unidentified backing vocalist in more of a baritone range which could be either Jan Berry or Mike Love, most likely the former. First Rock and Roll Dance is a Brian Wilson composition which owes a great deal to the bizarre "B" sides on the flip side of  Phillies Records singles. The record is unusual, with the late"Shutdown Steve" Douglas contributing sax and what sounds like Glen Campbell playing an almost "acid rock era" guitar. It is intriguing to speculate which single might have had this tune as a "B" side, but with Brian's predilection for double sided Beach Boys singles, it was undoubtedly intended for a Brian produced single destined to be outside of The Beach Boys, although whose record it was intended for is unknown. My Bobby Left Me is another example of Wall of Sound style production. The track was another Gold Star recording. The intended artist for the tune is unknown. Given the style of production and Brian's recordings with Sharon Marie, an educated guess would point toward her being the performer. If It Can't Be You is a demo Brian and Gary Usher cut with the intention of going for a more country and pop music oriented sound, in a very similar manner to Sacramento and That's Just the Way I Feel. It was one of the earlier tunes cut  written and cut by Brian with Gary, and would fit into a genre in 1962 filled by artists like The Everly Brothers and Gene Pitney. Thank Him is a demo that sounds like a Brian Wilson/Gary Usher tune from late 1962 or early 1963. The tune bears no similarity to any Brian melody I have heard. Given its title, it was probably written for a female artist.

Ginger Blake Recalls The Honeys Work Presented On The Big Beat 1963

You Brought It All On is my all time favorite Honeys track, and features a beautiful Ginger Blake lead vocal on the verses that rides an incredibly catchy melody featuring The Wrecking Crew. The tune was resurrected at my suggestion for the 1980 Ecstasy album by The Honeys. Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford contributes the cool sounding lead vocal on the chorus. "Shutdown Steve" Douglas contributes the sax solo on the bridge. Ginger Blake of The Honeys shares her memories: "You Brought It All On Yourself was a great grooving track recorded at Goldstar Recording Studio with the famous Wrecking Crew musicians. As you know, Brian loved R & B and the Wall of Sound. He merged the two and came up with this fantastic track. Actually The Honeys sing the track in three part harmony as well as in unison. I do tend to be a little bit louder though when there is a driving R & B track to sing to. Marilyn does the counter parts, she has such a sweet voice."

Funny Boy is a catchy Honeys track with a great Ginger Blake lead vocal in the "tough girl" mode of Rhythm and Blues and Rock records of 1963.  The song is closely related to Hide Go Seek, the "B" side of the second released single, Pray For Surf. Ginger, in a 1978 interview with me, disclosed that "We (The Honeys) were casting a wide net with the goal of landing a hit single and finding a niche we could use to build upon for future success." In this case, Ginger said: "We were going for a sound similar to the Shangri-Las" (of  Leader of the Pack fame). For this article, Ginger added a few more details for me: "Now, Funny Boy was an incredible Honeys song and I do sing the lead vocal . Diane and Marilyn love when I " let loose" and I loved doing it for them and for Brian. We would have loved to really polish it up and finish it and put it out but unfortunately it just didn't happen with Capitol Records."

 The Honeys are billed as the artist for Marie, but the track is an obvious Brian Wilson experiment with the sound that Dion DiMucci was getting at the time. Dion's sound was almost immediately identifiable in 1963, and The Beach Boys did The Wanderer live in their late 1963 live repertoire. Dennis's vocal spotlight became a vehicle for letting the young girls of the audience to vent their attraction to him. The Honeys are very obvious on the backing vocals here, and perhaps this was a Brian Wilson solo idea that never got off the ground. It has that "stroll" feel to it that propelled Little Deuce Coupe to the upper reaches of the 1963 Billboard Charts. Ginger Blake: "Brian loved The Honeys Sound so much he always created a background part for himself to sing. We affectionately called him " The 4th Honey."

Make the Night Just a Little Longer is a 1963 Honeys recording that NikVenet produced. Ginger Blake sings the lead with backgrounds by all three Honeys. The strings are mixed highly and prominently in the mix available here. The song is reasonably commercial, but Capitol did not choose to release it. Make the Night Last a Little Longer is the Carole King tune cut by The Cookies originally. A Honeys album was in the works in 1963, but was eventually nixed by Capitol, according to Nik Venet. The album would have been co-produced by him and Brian, Venet said. In addition to the three early Honeys singles on Capitol, the album probably would have included three songs recorded in late 1963 and never released -- "You Brought It All On," a Brian Wilson composition copyrighted January 13, 1964; and "In the Still of the Night" and "Make the Night (Just a Little Longer)." Group member Ginger Blake said "You Brought It All On" was a Brian production and the other two were Venet productions. (Correspondence from Lee Dempsey, 2014)

The Big Beat 1963 closes with several Honeys acetates that I had in my old Collection that were part of a Honeys Fan Album that I assembled in 1978.  Apparently Daniel Rutherford also was able to use copies of them belonging to his wife Marilyn, which he made available for this compilation.  Concerning these demos, Ginger Blake states: "Diane and I wrote a lot of unreleased music as well as with Marilyn. The demos were made for us to sing and to send out to various artists. They are pretty rough. I played piano on most of them." Once You've Got Him is a demo that Ginger Blake and Diane Rovell of The Honeys wrote. Of this recording Ginger Blake shares that " One song in particular, Once You Got Him, was written with Hayley Mills ( British pop singer and actress then ) in mind. If you listen closely you'll hear us sing it with a British Accent." Of  For Always and Ever, Ginger recalls "For Always And Ever was a perfect Honeys song too. It was recorded as a demo for The Paris Sisters" Of the two country demos, Darlin' I'm Not Steppin' Out On You and When I Think About You, Ginger recalls that they were intended for the burgeoning country music market and that "We recorded both of those country demos with a full combo. Jerry Cole played guitar on the country demos." Little Dirt Bike was a cute demo in the spirit of the motocross craze that was exploding across the nation in 1963.

There is the hope that Universal/Capitol will do this type of archival release for each year of the 50+ years of The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson's recording history. If done, it will be an invaluable resource for historians interested in their work.

Copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved

 

Beach Boys Friends Who Make Music-Jez Graham by Peter Reum

Jez Graham is a man who loves both The Beach Boys' and Brian Wilson's music and jazz, like myself. The music Jez makes is spiritually sonorous, bringing a deeply emotionally comforting sound that only someone who loves Brian's music can create. His hands resonate with the shifts in feeling that Brian's compositions present. Brian Wilson has often stated that he pours love into his songs, and this elusive quality, which so many musicians have failed to capture, is present in the manner that Jez plays Brian's songs.

This is one album that grows with repeated listening. The initial impression one could take away is that Jez created a lounge music version of Brian's compositions. With repeated listens, the subtle jazz shadings emerge, especially in unexpected places, such as the "if Mars had life on it" section of Solar System. In Jez's interpretation, the couplet is rendered gentle and loving, as two  happily married people might lightly tease each other. The whole tune is shone in its best light, and the beauty of the melody is exposed powerfully.

Jez's version of Dennis Wilson's Be Still from the Friends album is notable, in that, as an opener to the album, it asks the listener to suspend judgement and to listen to the tunes we have all heard so often with a fresh ear. The advice is sagacious, as there is so much one can miss here without listening actively. There are so many shades of color on this album, that it is best heard several times before judging. If you rush through this album, it will be like driving 3000 miles to visit Yellowstone National Park, but only giving yourself a single day to take it all in.

Jez's interpretation of I Just Wasn't Made For These Times is deeply and gently comforting, yielding a feeling of uncertainty in youthful contemplation being acceptable to experience. The tune on Pet Sounds is quite sad, with the feeling there being one of resignation to being alone and misunderstood. Jez brings a flavor to his interpretation of being okay with that feeling. On the other side of the Dark Night of the Soul must be a place where like St. Teresa of Avila and  St. John of the Cross landed, a feeling of being unified, yet alone but okay.

Albert Hay Malotte's The Lord's Prayer is a surprising choice for this album, yet, fits beautifully. Before it is in the listener's conscious mind it is gone. The the hymn is rendered profound by its simplicity. Malotte may have heard The Beach Boys' breathtaking version in 1963, as he was living in Los Angeles at the time.
Jez makes it fresh once again.

Feel Flows comes into focus next. Jez plays an empathetic version, offering the music as a blues flavored meditation, far from the more complex production from the Surfs Up album. In Jez's version, the tune is more contemplative, more targeted toward the jazz feelings the Surfs Up version only hinted at. The potential for jazz workups of Carl's music is high, as he had a feel for jazz in the music he composed, especially in the Seventies.

The medley of Ding Dang-This Whole World-It's Over Now is not only surprising but a tour de force. Ding Dang is transformed into a 12 Bar Blues Workout. You won't hear Ding Dang the same way after hearing this. The tune morphs into This Whole World, yet retains the blues feeling that counter-intuitively changes that song into a bluesy segue from Ding Dang. Who would have thought these two tunes belong together? Gradually This Whole World gives away to a deep and mournful It's Over Now. The chords here literally weep as they emerge from the piano. The blue notes in It's Over Now recall George Gershwin, and, no wonder....Brian is one of Gershwin's most intuitive interpreters.

Goin' South by Carl Wilson is brought forward as the next medley introduction, and is sympathetically offered, with none of the Carl Wilson feeling of resignation from the original. Here, the tune is a quiet statement of intention, a commitment of mnigration to warmer chords and feelings. The segue into Cailfornia Feelin' fulfills the intention of Goin' South, with a warm set of chords, a killer melody, and a feeling of rejuvenation from the It's Over Now medley. Van Dyke Parks and his amazing sense of place and chords in Orange Crate Art concludes this medley with almost a nostalgic feeling, remembering life before complications of adulthood set in.

Wonderful, a Brian and Van Dyke composition, is reflective and yet hopeful in its tone. Innocence begun and lost is contemplated from a piano seat. Once again, there is a smattering of blue notes added  to this song. I hear a single mother sharing her experiences with her teenage daughter in these notes. It is as if she begins with sad memories of her daughter's birth, then as she reflects on her daughter's life up to this moment, her tone grows proud and hopeful, yet also cautionary, as if to say "it turned out okay for us, but don't tempt fate again."

Girls On the Beach follows, a meditation on youthful carefree living, perhaps the last summer before leaving home. Variations on Brian's wistful melody reveal moods that are not present in The Beach Boys' version, only implied. It is apparent here that Jez has spent a long time listening to the nuances of Brian's melodies and producing. The melody segues into Brian and Andy Paley's Marketplace, and the improbable linking of these two tunes is a joy to hear. The relationship explored here has changed from youthful wistfulness to practical partnership, a marriage. And Your Dream Comes True is next, a brief  but crucial reflection on the movement from summer teenage dreams to a mature and reciprocal partnership between two adults.

Transcendental Meditation, an obvious Brian Wilson experiment with jazz (the reader is referred to the Transcendental Meditation track on Disc 6 of Made In California) from the Friends album, which is Brian's most jazz flavored album, is sympathetically transformed by Jez into the jazz workout it was always intended to be. You owe it to yourself to revisit this tune on this cd to appreciate it for the swinging jazz workout that it is.

What this album offers is a subtle reworking of many of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson's music into a new creation, a creation that swings,  and that tips its hat to Brian's jazz roots in The Jazz Age and The Four Freshmen. When people say there is nothing new under The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson Sun, they are wrong, and the evidence is right here on this marvelous cd, which I highly recommend to anyone who loves jazz piano or the musical melodies of Brian Wilson, and his two exceptionally talented brothers who left this third rock from the sun much too early.

Copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved

A Turd In the Punchbowl: The Human Eye With Cataracts by Peter Reum

For the last six years, my vision has gotten progressively more and more impaired due to the rapid advance of cataracts in both of my eyes. Unlike many visual impairments, cataracts insidiously sneak up on you and gradually blur your vision and eventually make your world an artificially dark world, even on a sunny day.  For several years, I did not realize that my  vision was headed southbound, and that my confidence in my own perceptions was being impacted by my vision's deterioration.

Something began to look wrong when I could not read a computer screen at a normal distance, even with glasses.  I found myself creeping closer and closer to the words on the screen, and thought it was due to my corrective lens prescription. I have always trusted my glasses, as they are a part of me, a tool I have used with 20/500 vision since I found I could not see the blackboard in first grade over 50 years ago. In the Disability Rights Movement, we have worked hard to help the general public to see that a wheelchair does not confine a person with quadriplegia, it gives that person freedom to move anywhere they desire, as long as the world is accessible.The Deaf Culture has fought hard to preserve American Sign Language, even though the cochlear implant has made aural correction possible for many people who are deaf.

So, what happens when a person with a disability has the chance to be "cured?" Would a person with paraplegia accept technology or medical intervention that would eliminate fully that mobility impairment? Would a "little person" be willing to accept medical intervention if they could effectively be of  "average height?" That was the question that was posed to me in my 2012 Annual Eye Exam when my opthamologist told me that I would gradually go blind, if I did not accept corneal implant surgery, I was caught flatfooted, as I did not know much about cataracts, at least until he told me that I had a moderate to severe case, and that I could see if I went through with the surgery.

In a sense, the human eye is a ball of liquid, nearly round, with light entering the eye through the pupil, then being focused by the cornea or lens, thereby projecting the image to the retina at the back of the eye, which then travels to the brain's visual cortex. The lens of the eye, due to several factors, including aging, will become gradually clouded, and changes from being clear at birth to opaque in later life, thereby creating a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty of visual perceptions over time.

With the gradual darkening of the eye's lens comes blurred vision, and an inability to read subtle elements of facial expression and nonverbal communication through body language. Other domains of life are also impacted... I have not driven at night for several years, and my vision has deteriorated to the degree that I cannot read street signs during the brightest part of day.

Into this situation came the possibility of replacing my eyes' lenses with corneal implants. I had been approached with the idea during my 2012 eye exam, and had chickened out that year. In 2013, my opthamologist again advanced the idea, and I accepted his recommendation to have corneal implant surgery. We scheduled the surgery after a review of my health, and I looked forward to the surgery

On last Wednesday, I enter the Billings Clinic Outpatient Surgery Building, and with some mild temerity awaited my first eye to be changed forever. As an aside, I will say that I have been very nearsighted since birth, and have never had the experience of seeing the way ordinary sighted people see....until now. The operation was preceded by some very thorough preparation by the delightful Billings Clinic Staff, and each of them did their utmost to make me comfortable and feeling safe. Having spent the last year reading about corneal implants, I felt that the surgery was a wonderful experience, if a bit anticlimactic.

The operating opthamologist and the anesthesiologist came by and told me what to expect, and then did exactly what they said that they would do. I was under sedation but awake, and remember the surgery as an experience of lights hovering over me like a fleet of UFO lights. The time in the recovery room went by quickly, and they covered my eye with a taped patch, with my orders being not to touch it. I had no feeling in the eye, at least nothing felt painful. The next day, I went to the Billings Clinic Opthamological Department, and met with the operating doctor, who removed the patch.

What I saw in that eye was completely unprecedented and utterly fantastic. My vision measured 20/20 in the eye, and all that I have experienced since has been mind blowing but wonderful. Imagine walking without  a limp if your were born with a bad leg, or whatever metaphor works for you,  The interesting dichotomy that is my vision, is that I still have a cataract in my other eye for a few more days, and it is a contrast bordering on mind fornication....one eye functioning perfectly, the other dark, hazy, blurred, and shadowy.

Next Wednesday, for the first time in my life, I will see as others see, and it cannot come too soon. My sincere thanks to Billings Clinic, the Outpatient Surgery Staff, and Doctors Bell and Schmidt for their amazing work. Your work literally helps the almost blind see.