After Holland's release, The Beach Boys returned to the road and in 1973, continued to slowly build a new base of followers in a manner that was methodical, and typical of the period in which Carl Wilson oversaw road work. The Beach Boys did not record heavily in 1973, but their touring in that year let them continue to expand their constituency through FM radio and college stations. They submitted a single live album to Reprise in 1973 which was rejected, and the reason given was its lack of commerciality. This meant in Beach Boys terms, not enough of the old songs. They retooled the album into a double set, and it was released in November 1973 and went gold in 1974. This was the first album on the Reprise
contract to earn that distinction.
In 1974, The Beach Boys experienced a resurgence of popularity which was unprecedented. For the group themselves, the early summer release of Endless Summer by Capitol Records created a demand for the early Beach Boys music which Brian Wilson produced prior to Smile’s demise. Brian had been retreating from writing and producing for years, and The Beach Boys were at a crossroads as to whether to continue to try to continue to write and produce albums without him, or to try to revive his interest in writing and producing at a time when his mental health and chemical dependency problems were escalating rapidly.
Concert wise, I had attended a small show in Colorado Springs in February 1974 which had featured mostly music from 1966 onward and had an encore devoted to Brian`s pre Pet Sounds hits. About 2000 people attended the show, which was well done. Some 4 months later, in July 1974, The Beach Boys were at Mile High Stadium to 75,000 people being second billed to Crosby,Stills, Nash, and Young. The crowd went nuts, and thus began my experience with seeing The Beach Boys playing in stadiums and huge arenas. The reaction by the crowd to The Beach Boys was especially focused on the oldies, which had expanded to about 50 per cent of their act in the 4 months that had elapsed between the two 1974 shows I attended. The fact is that Endless Summer and its April 1975 sequel, Spirit of America, forced The Beach Boys to play their summer oriented hits. Brian`s songwriting had become less reliable, and his increasing health problems made a bigger reliance on older music a necessity. Warner/Reprise, The Beach Boys` label during this period had previously rejected a number of Beach Boys albums submitted for release. Most of them had been rejected for lack of a single to spur radio play. I caught the Beach Boys in December 1974 at Denver University with Honk, and their set was much more versed in pre 1967 material.
The Beach Boys, especially Carl, knew that they needed Brian`s input in new material to compete with other groups for radio play. Brian was still grieving from the death of his father the previous year, and was becoming more and more estranged from his family and his group, his extended family. Due to a lack of confidence in their own songwriting quality, and a paucity of new Brian songs, The Beach Boys ended up focusing on touring, playing a set increasingly more devoted to oldies, and asked a new manager, James William Guercio, producer of the classic Chicago albums, to manage the band. More importantly, Mr. Guercio encouraged the group by actually playing bass on many of their tours in the period from roughly 1974 to 1976, including the blockbuster combined tour with Chicago. Sadly, it became more common to hear Carl, Alan, Dennis, Michael, and sometimes even Brian turn up singing backup on other groups` records during this period than to hear a new Beach Boys song released. Gorgeous background work on Chicago`s Wishing You Were Here and Elton John`s Don`t Let the Sun Go Down on Me were prominent examples. There were no Beach Boys songs other than oldies on the radio for most of 1974 and 1975.
For Brian and his family, it was a difficult period. Rumors circulated through this time that Brian was staying in bed for days at a time. Several published accounts said he was in his room for two or more years. The truth has been well documented by now. Brian was simply doing everything he could to avoid writing or recording. In the fall of 1974, Brian finally accompanied The Beach Boys to Caribou Studios in Nederland, Colorado to try to record an album. The sessions were marginally productive. Brian`s growing dislike of being asked by The Beach Boys for songs and his growing addictive tendencies made the idea of recording a dismal experience for The Beach Boys. There were notable exceptions, such as California Feeling, a Brian and Steve Kalinich tune which Brian demoed in 1974, and Just An Imitation, a tribute to his father after his death. More often, Brian`s work was hurried and reflected his dislike of writing for actual recording at that time. For fans like myself, the music press hinting at a possible album coming in early 1975 made that year a longer and more disappointing experience. I was managing a small chain of stores at that time, and the reply that I constantly got about a new Beach Boys album from our distributor was "no Peter, not this week."
Examples of extant material from the time include early versions of what would become Ding Dang on Love You and a difficult to listen to version of Battle Hymn of the Republic. The Beach Boys failure to deliver the expected album in the Fall of 1974 led to the release of double sets of late 60s albums on Brother/Reprise. Wild Honey was paired with 20/20, and Friends was reissued with Smiley Smile. The fact that these sets sold as well as they did spoke well for the anticipation of and the demand for new material from The Beach Boys. Brian went into the studio in late 1974 and cut a tune which was a prelude to the material on Love You. Child of Winter was another Brian and Steve Kalinich tune that was produced with values later seen on Love You. Child of Winter hit the stores too late for the 1974 Christmas season, and came out due to Brian`s personal request that it see release that holiday season. Fan did not know what to make of it, and it quickly became a collector`s single. That Brian was growing increasing ill was well documented in later years as Stan Love spent part of 1975 watching Brian, and in late 1975, Eugene Landy was retained by an exhausted family to try to help Brian's chemical dependence and mental health issues.
After The Beach Boys` highly successful appearance on Dick Clark`s New Years Rockin` Eve with Chicago, touring was still the order of the day as Endless Summer went gold and then platinum. The rumors surrounding Brian were that he was going to write and produce for Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher`s Equinox label distributed through RCA. The Beach Boys began headlining larger venues. and guesting on other artist`s records, and that was still the only way one could hear Beach Boys` singing at that time. Johnny Rivers cut a hit recording of Help Me Rhonda, and Brian sang on it. It was the most Beach Boy sounding single of 1975. The Beach Boys continued to wait for Brian to step up, and his reluctance to enter the studio with Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher seemed to reflect his aversion to the studio overall. The only product of their association was a version of Why Do Fools Fall in Love that quickly disappeared just as Child of Winter had months earlier.
Brian's chemical dependence became serious enough to consider rehabilitation, and Nick Kent's 3 part NME piece on Brian hurt his overall public image. Adjectives such as "reclusive genius" began to be applied by journalists in music to him. The Beach Boys played Wembley in 1975 to over 100,000 people and by many accounts stole the show from headliner Elton John who was premiering his Captain Fantastic album. The Beach Boys were loved by promoters and by fans because they always delivered a crowd pleasing bleacher rocking show. Their summer 1975 appearance at Mile High Stadium in Denver with Santana and Fleetwood Mac was notable in that authorities were alarmed by the upper stand at Mile High going up and down about a foot and a half rhythmically when The Beach Boys played. The Beach Boys were an escape from a time that had America reeling with its first Presidential resignation in history, a war that ended with a helicopter evacuation, and two assassination attempts.
People were flocking to The Beach Boys because their older music represented an earlier, more innocent time. Yet, Brian's life got more complicated, as he was placed in a milieu therapy situation that had him busy on a schedule that he could not deviate from without negative reinforcement under the system taking place. In late 1975, he began to write new music, but the writing was fairly therapeutic as opposed to being artistic. He was expected to write songs on a schedule, as well as eat, record, be with his family, and make supervised public appearances. Subtly, Brian rebelled, and he once again adapted to a situation that he outlasted. In the end, his family became tired of the overly controlling atmosphere of milieu therapy, and Brian was gain able to pursue his life without being shadowed. The Beach Boys continued to try to put together a formula studio wise that would appeal to Brian.
In early 1976, Crawdaddy Magazine published a two part landmark article by Timothy White that expressed cautious optimism about the future of Brian and The Beach Boys. California Feeling was cited by Mr. White as an example of Brian's new and most creative music, and it was no wonder. The demo he heard was breathtaking, as it still is today. Brian agreed to try to produce an untitled double set which would be comprised of one album of oldies and an album of new Brian material. Recording commenced in January 1976, but there were a few older pieces of music that were utilized. Back Home dated from 1975, and a track for Its OK was still around from 1974. The oldies were recorded in a flurry of activity stretching from January 30 through roughly early May 1976. Brian worked quickly, as he had in the Sixties, but there was as he termed it "a lack of fire" in him. The oldies were done in a few takes, and sounded fairly primitive. Brian may have been listening to The Ramones, but for The Beach Boys, especially Carl and Dennis, the results were questioned. There was a quote from a news magazine article from the era that quoted an anonymous Beach Boy as saying that the recording process was "a little bruising."
Playful versions of several oldies were rerecorded later by The Beach Boys. Songs such as Peggy Sue, Shortnin' Bread, Come Go With Me, and Rock and Roll Music were redone. The hit version of Rock and Roll music can be contrasted with the longer, more echoed version of the same song. In the end, the group deferred to Brian's instincts, which were proven right, at least for that single. Other oldies recorded reveal an interesting group set of decisions about which songs made the album and which did not. A rocking version of Mony Mony was left off the album. The last song cut before the album was mastered was a version of Michael Row The Boat Ashore which many people find surprisingly good, if a little lengthy. Sea Cruise was later released on Ten Years of Harmony with a great Dennis lead vocal. On Broadway was a nice record, deferred to the unreleased Adult Child album, which remains unheard. Shake, Rattle, and Roll is a dynamite rocker, and was left off the album. Short Skirts, Running Bear, and Lets Dance, by Hawthorne's own Chris Montez were a little less successful. Don't Fight the Sea, recently placed on Al's solo album was recorded, as was a new version of Had to Phone Ya, an American Spring track. The Beach Boys’ version was possibly the most underrated song on the album. Brian's lack of attention to detail during 15 Big Ones caused the group to actually stage a session at Western Recorders with the Hal Blaine Crew and the old tube analog equipment. Brian recorded the track in one take and thanked the crew for coming. It was apparent that Brian's attention or lack thereof was not due to unfamiliarity with new recording techniques or equipment. A fact that was borne out in the marvelous basslines he cut for Beach Boys Love You on Moog Bass.
Rolling Stone cautiously gave the album 2 and a half stars upon release, despite its huge sales. Crawdaddy blistered the album in a review by Timothy White, who later was to write the book which helped Brian understand his family heritage over the preceding generations. It was evident that no one wanted to say Brian was wounded, but the evidence was there in interviews like the David Felton interview in Rolling Stone and in the vinyl itself. After Brian's Saturday Night Live Appearance, Eugene Landy was castigated in an editorial by Crawdaddy Magazine. Brian and The Beach Boys recorded some new material on the album that probably provoked more questions than answered questions. Yet, the Child of Winter single had foreshadowed it all. Brian was making personal music, to please himself. He wrote about Gregorian Chants in That Same Song, and shared his love of Phil Spector in Just Once in My Life, Blueberry Hill, and Chapel of Love. Just Once in My Life is the sleeper on 15 Big Ones...a majestic production passionately performed by Carl and Brian, and worth the price of admission alone. As Rolling Stone said in 1976, the "looney saxophones" in the introduction to Blueberry Hill were a return to the Brian Wilson we knew and loved. More Brian at his most movingly eccentric was to follow on Love You. His work on Still I Dream of It and Its Over Now showed his mood during the 1976-77 period. Those were the Brian recordings that showed the attention to detail of his Pet Sounds period productions.
The Beach Boys became increasingly potent as a concert attraction through roughly the end of the Seventies, and continued to ignore the incredible
compositions that Brian's brother Dennis was laying down. This inattention led to the release of Pacific Ocean Blue, an album that towers over any of the group's mid to late Seventies output. That is another story. But as 1976 faded into 1977, marriages were ending, and a shadow was creeping over The Beach Boys that did not again bring the optimistic expectations that awaited 15 Big Ones, which went gold in the autumn of 1976, in the shadow of Endless Summer, and 20 Golden Greats, it United Kingdom counterpart. The Beach Boys had leaped forward into a course of action that would never be reversible, until Brian Wilson’s solo career and new Brian material emerged that showed a renewed interest in writing and performing after Carl’s death in 1998.
The author would like to thank Andrew and Ian at Bellagio for their exhaustive research that allowed me to write this article.
Copyright 2011 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved
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