Beach Boys: The Manson Years

Has there ever been a band that has collapsed as quickly as the Beach Boys did in the wake of "Good Vibrations?" Probably not, and they never really recovered, which is unfortunate. They produced some good music in the late '60s that moved them past their origins.

For Brian Wilson, the pressure of trying to complete the SMiLE project and his use of psychedelics had brought on or exacerbated an underlying mental illness. Acid casualty #1. In May of 1967, he abandons the project and withdraws from the leadership of the band. The next three albums, Smiley Smile, Wild Honey and Friends were recorded in his home studio. The swimming pool was drained and used for an echo chamber. A detuned piano placed in a sandbox in the living room (so he could twiddle his toes in it as he played). The cat did what cats do in sand. Gone are the songs about sun, fun, surfing and cars. The sound is stripped down and low-fi.

With 1968's Friends, drummer brother Dennis emerges as not only a vocalist but as a songwriter as well. On that album, and 20/20 from 1969, he writes or cowrites 8 songs....or at least his name is on them. One, "Never Learn Not to Love," was written by Charles Manson. It was originally called "Cease to Exist." Manson was never given any credit.

Not that he wasn't paid...he might have been given some cash and a motorcycle. Maybe Dennis gave him and the family about $100,000. On the other hand, that $100,000 may have gone for some of the Manson Family women to work at his house as "servants." Is it one of those women that we hear at the end of "All I Want to Do," ... Big Patty, maybe Sadie Mae Glutz? The sources are unclear.

Not that the song was a big moneymaker. It was originally the b-side to their cover of Ersel Hickey's "Bluebirds Over the Mountains."

Manson may have been angry that his name was not credited on the single. He may have been angry that Dennis rearranged his song and changed the title. The sources are unclear.

They are clear that Dennis beat the hell out of Charlie when Manson threatened his family. Imagine if Manson had gotten the credit he craved. Maybe there would have been no murders...maybe LuLu or Squeaky would just be somebody's wacky grandma today.

The four albums run for less than two hours in total. A lot of the songs are only a minute or two long. Two or three of them scraped their way into the top 40, one of those a cover.
From that output, we get this playlist. It runs for about an hour. What does it say about those four albums that there may be an hour's worth of music worth your attention?

Not half bad.

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Rust Never Sleeps

What's the best concert film? That's a tough one. It depends. Many would say Stop Making Sense , it's a good performance, but it is edited together from three separate shows. Others would say The Last Waltz , but the running order of the show has been altered, probably timed to give viewers a bathroom break during Neil Diamond's segment. Consider, however, Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Rust Never Sleeps, filmed this week (10-22) in 1978 at the Cow Palace. It is a single show. Neil has some sort of concept in mind. the Jawas from Star Wars manage the stage. There are some gigantic trunks that Neil climbs around on. I guess he is a child, or maybe an action figure to fit in with the Jawas. The title was suggested by one of the guys from Devo. We get a flashback to Woodstock. It seems to be uncut. Note that there are some slow parts as Neil washes the spit out of his harmonica by sloshing it around in a bucket of water. It sounds like the bucket is miked. It's Nei

Yes, There's Gas in the Car

In 1970 the police raided the house of Owsley Stanley - famed financial backer of Blue Cheer, architect of the dread "Wall of Sound" and LSD producer of renown. It was the third bust of note. The first, in December of 1967 found him with millions of dollars of acid. He was released on bail. Three years later, in Jnnuary, 1970, he was arrested along with the Grateful Dead in New Orleans - as related in " Truckin ". This last arrest resulted in the revocation of his bail and he spent the next two years in prison. On his release, Stanley returns to the Dead - a band that he initially bankrolled - to run sound for them again, but all is not the same. He's no longer the player he was. The road crew has emerged as a power center. He builds the Wall of Sound but the band goes on hiatus in 1974. The Wall is dismantled and Owsley never works with them again. The whole arc of his time with the Dead inspired Steely Dan's " Kid Charlemagne " - working in his

She Was a Winner

Today was Marie Prevost day. She died of alcoholism on January 21, 1937. Her dog wouldn't stop barking...for two days...so the neighbors called the police. They found her in her apartment on the 23rd. Nick Lowe changed her last name to Provost , maybe to protect the innocent. He also changed the facts. January 23 became July 29. The two days between her demise and discovery became two or three weeks. The alcoholism that killed her - the police found several empty bottles in the apartment - became a pill overdose or something. Most importantly, especially for the chorus, the scratches that her dog made - it seems while trying to revive her - became a tale wherein doggie feasted on her corpse. Maybe Nick thought using her real name would be in bad taste.

Sucking Since the '70s

The Rolling Stones released Tattoo You on this day in 1981. It was their last good album. Their last great album was probably Exile , maybe Some Girls . Sandwiched between the two, Emotional Rescue is almost as good. It wasn't even really recorded as an album. Its core is mostly comprised of outtakes stretching back to 1972. The band needed a new album to tour, but the Twins weren't getting along, so associate producer, Chris Kimsey, went through the archives and found the best bits for the band to finish off in 1980-81. "Little T&A" comes from a basic track cut during the Emotional Rescue sessions. "Start Me Up" originated during the Some Girls . The band worked on "Hang Fire" during both. It's a bit like Physical Graffiti, except that most of that album's tracks were new, whereas most of Tattoo consists of outtakes. It's a bit like Odds & Sods except that the tunes were worked on and finished off in the run u

George Jones Jones

The Possum would have turned 90 today. To mark the day, I'll suggest a live album, Back in the Saddle (Live: 1979) . It is an interesting LP. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on it. George seems to be playing at Gilley's in Houston....as Mickey gets several mentions. It says "1979", but that may not be right. Lorrie Morgan is in the band, singing backup and the Tammy parts, but he wasn't with George until 1981-83. In 1979, however, she was married to Jones Boy Ron Gaddis, so the date could be accurate. George introduces " He Stopped Loving Her Today " as a song he always likes to play when he's in Houston, The audience responds with enthusiasm and recognition, but George cut that one in 1979 and didn't release it until 1980. It is not a concert, per se, because the audience fades in at the beginning of most songs and then fades out at the end. The recordings seem to be genuinely live, though. There is some feedback that creeps

NRBQ

Here's wishing Joey Spampinato a happy birthday. His old band, NRBQ, should've been a presence on the airwaves. Instead they showed up mostly on the college radio and NPR affiliates left of the dial. While the band had friends and admirers in high places - Keith Richards, Bonnie Rait, REM, the Simpson's, Dr. Demento, Captain Lou - they never managed a mainstream breakthrough. In part, perhaps, it was of their own making. They could play, play anything: and they did. Their first album, in 1969, includes covers of Sun Ra , " Hey Baby ", Eddie Cochran - that last, one of the best ever. With three songwriters contributing equally, they may've been too eclectic and radio didn't know what to do with them. The debut also included a song of Joey's - " You Can't Hide " - which points the way to the the band's power pop of their late '70's - early '80's heyday. In fact the band would return to the song on 1980's " Tidd

SMiLE

Fifty five years ago today, Brian Wilson called it quits on the SMiLE project. The story goes that Brian saw himself in competition with the Beatles. Pet Sounds was in response to Rubber Soul - an album without filler. Like Revolver "Good Vibrations" demonstrated a mastery of the studio, and its use as an instrument in and of itself. The intended follow-up, SMiLE , would be the same - writ large - in album form. What happens? Supposedly he hears "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the radio - in January '67- and gasps, claiming that the Beatles "got there first." At another point, he heard that several conflagrations had broken out all over LA during recording sessions of the "Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)" from the "Elements Suite." He feared that some bad karma linked the tune and the fires. Then there was the cat. Brian had built a sandbox in his living room. He placed his piano in it so that he could twiddle his toes

Birthday Greetings, Bottle of Wine

John referred to some of Paul's songs as "granny music", music hall influenced pieces that would fit in on the a vaudeville stage....jaunty, tap dancing, tux-and-top hat stuff. For years this contibuted to the perception that Paul wrote the light stuff while John was the rocker. Maybe so, but "Helter Skelter" is as wild as "Revolution" and some of John's work could be pretty sappy. Looking at his output from the '70's we see that Paul wrote quite a few rockers and power pop gems that cohere together nicely....or nastily, if you prefer. Not that there is anything wrong with "Granny Music". The man turns 80 today after all. Sir Paul, happy birthday to you.

Eagles: Laid Back Rockers...or Bogus Dudes?

If you think about it....and you might not want to....you can divide the Eagles' output into two periods. The first, beginning with the release of "Take it Easy" --fifty years ago this past week--constituted their slick country-rock, adult contemporary easy listening period. That which was encapsulated in that first Greatest Hits album. This period coincides with Bernie Leadon's tenure with the band. He had previously been in the Flying Burrito Brothers (for their second and third albums) and, before that, had played with Gene Clark in Dillard and Clark. His B-bender telecaster and banjo were, as much as anything, responsible for much of the Eagles' country sound. At the end of the One of These Nights tour, Bernie poured a beer over Glenn Frey's head and - in what would become an end of tour ritual - quit the band*. Enter Joe Walsh and so begins the second, laid back stadium rocker, period. The riffs and guitars got heavier. Joe playing featured more heavy s

Богатирські ворота (The Great Gate of Kyiv)

On May 9th, we caught a show by Shakey Horse at the Witch's House in Haunchyville, WI. Posted below is a soundboard recording of an excerpt from their arrangement of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". Unfortunately, the mellotron part is inaudible (maybe unlistenable). The band's tron player, Tommy, had his amp turned up so high that they cut his volume in the mix.

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