Originally published in
The Aquarian Weekly
July 30, 2008
Dennis Wilson
Pacific Ocean Blue
Sony Legacy
ÒNothing much was
expected
of Dennis Wilson.Ó So
begins Ben
EdmondsÕ essay that is
included
in this reissue of the
long-out-of print
Pacific Ocean Blue, and the
long lost Bambu. Despite the fact
that it was Dennis who
had
brought surfing and cars
to the
attention of The Beach
Boys in
1961, thus powerfully
informing
their early career, he
was
something of a wild
child, and he
didnÕt even really want
to be in
the band in the first
place.
If Wilson was aware of
the low
expectations, it never
seemed to
bother him. He was happy
to have
the fame, cash the
checks, and
drive the fast cars. And
yet there
was something inside of
him
screaming to get out,
and in 1977
he surprised nearly
everyone by
releasing the first
Beach Boys
solo album, Pacific
Ocean Blue.
It had a nice little run
on the charts,
and got some good
reviews, but
Wilson wasnÕt satisfied.
He
continued to record,
working on
an album he was going to
call
Bambu. Sadly, by then his
personal life was in
free fall. The
second album was never
finished.
Wilson accidentally
drowned in
1983.
Both albums were traded
underground for years,
and more
recently theyÕve been
readily
available on various
blogs and
bittorrent sites. But
Sony Legacy
has demonstrated once
again
how the proper packaging
can
make music that you may
already
own worth buying again.
The two disc
package includes three
essays, including pieces
from
Beach Boys insiders
David Leaf
and Dennis Wilson and
biographer Jon Stebbins,
as well
as additional content on
the disc.
The music has been
painstakingly
remastered without the
ponderous compression
heard
on too many albums these
days.
WilsonÕs voice is husky
and
raw, but so full of
emotion that it
works perfectly in the
service of
these very intimate
songs. The
opening track on Pacific
Ocean
Blue is the majestic
ÒRiver Song,Ó
which stands alongside
any of
the Beach Boys classics,
and
in fact was part of The
Beach
Boys live set in the
early Ô70s. But
the real treasure here
is Bambu
since itÕs never before
seen the
light of day in any
official form.
It rocks a little harder
than POB,
but in WilsonÕs hoarse
whisper
you can hear the sound
of a man
who has very little left
to hold on
to. ÒItÕs Not Too LateÓ
features
younger brother Carl
Wilson on
vocals, and reminds us
once
again that both Dennis
and Carl
are gone, and without
them, all
that remains of The
Beach Boys
is the unforgettable
music.
In A Word: Personal
Grade: A
—by Ken Shane