Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

Any sets that come with Bamboo material are bootlegs as I don't think any of that stuff has been officially released.

It's long overdue a release though as is the rereleased POB which I managed to get years ago in a Virgin sale for about £3!

It is and it isn't. As time passes, I find myself caring less about the moments that don't work and more about the moments that are better than anything the Beach Boys did in the 70s, which include the intro to "River Song". And yes, I just said that.

POB is a good album, but there is definitely nothing that is even close to the quality of "Surf's Up", "Forever", "Tears In The Morning", "Take a Load Off Your Feet", "At My Window" or the brilliant "Till I Die"!

Now the Spring record? That fucking bites.

that, as i type, might be all of it. oooh. time to start listening.

i'm just sorting through a mass of MP3s here ... what i'm hearing sounds GREAT. too tired to do the whole thing tonight, but am very much looking forward to an early-morning listen tomorrow!

am listening to POB right now, anyway. i think it's magnificent. so there.

p.s., seems to be fine.

But thanks for "Listen, Dude..."-style answer. I probably deserved it.

Anything, back to Dennis...

Hey thanks for that link to The Heat Warps, it's really good shit.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003701480

YES

Awesome!

AWES AWES AWES

at last at last at laaaast

didn't even have to read the story, just saw the link & max's rxn and it was on

So excellent.

It's about time now it's about time now
It's about time now don't you know now

Not too early.

Looks like it's too late to make any money from it then. I have the original CD issue. Cool that's it's coming with all the Bamboo tracks.

That's 2008's Reissue Of The Year award pretty much sewn up I reckon. Can't wait for this - especially to hear all the Bamboo stuff.

xpost Ebay it RIGHT NOW!

xpost
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pacific-Ocean-Blue-Dennis-Wilson/dp/B000008MDK

5 used and new available from £117

go now!

One went recently on ebay for £54.

.. and that's an actual sale, those amazon ones are not necessarily selling at that price.

I bought the cassette of the 1992 reissue out of Virgin at the time and it cost me £6.99. Obviously it's just as well I hung onto it.

£50-£60 sounds about right for Ebay. As Mark G said that's an actual sale, the ones on Amazon are just chancing their arm. I haven't sold it thus far so it's unlikely I'm going to rush and do it now that the news is out of the official release.

Strangely as much as I'm a big fan of the Beach Boys and Dennis's tracks on their albums I don't think this album is THAT good. It's scarcity has allowed it to be regarded as better than it actually is (just checked above and looks like my opinion hasn't changed much, that's me posting as mms above back in 2003!)

Great news! Thanks a lot for the sharp eye - gotta ton of friends that are going to geek out on this and through their bad cdrs out the window! The 'Bambu' stuff should be a fun and interesting listen, too

Well, news being "out" is one thing, it won't actually be out for a while.

Also, news travels slowly. If I had a CD that was worth that now, but will drop off in a month, I'd do it now. You only need two bidders, you know.

Of course, you may want to be keeping that one, and not be bothered about the expanded reissue.

sucks...I have one of those CD's too, and will probably just hang on to it...

once this comes out i'm going to sell everything except POB and John Phillips solo jam and live on the beach...oh, and i'll need a boombox, too.

is the "LADY/Fallin' In Love" single gonna be on the POB reissue?? i only recently heard it, it's so beautiful. i love this video as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyarfNQ4tOg

*swoon*

Great news -- "He's A Bum" seems like a great song, but the quality on the bootlegs is so nth-generation, it's nearly unlistenable.

is the "LADY/Fallin' In Love" single gonna be on the POB reissue?? i only recently heard it, it's so beautiful.

That's from the 1971 Landlocked sessions so probably not.

What happened to the reissue? Was it released on May 13 and nobody reviewed or mentioned it?

I saw it mentioned in a handful of places.

I think pfork gave it a 10

lol. I just saw that it's release is June 17. I guess they changed it.

now all we need is buckingham nicks

You may get it.

i don't like this album.

:(

searing, detailed criticism there

well, i dunno - everyone bangs on about how amazing it is, and well it just sounds like run of the mill 70s aor.

I know what you mean

i think dennis's later singing voice is my least favourite of all of them. even the supposedly gorgeous stuff on Carl & The Passions is ruined by the fact it sounds like he's lying on his deathbed smoking high-tar cigars and cheese grating his own scrotum.

it just sounds like run of the mill 70s aor

What's some top-notch 70s AOR then grozart?

Ha! I know what you're saying but it's the damage that helps make "Make It Good" and "Cuddle Up" so great.

Things like "Thoughts Of You" don't really have any parallels in '70s AoR though.

Actually if you listen to his fills on "The Girls On The Beach" he had that 100-a-day voice as far back as '63!

Just bought this on Itunes and so far I'm a bit underwhelmed. This is my first listen so I'm sure it will grow on me a bit- I must say "Thoughts of You" is stunning, especially the middle part. I'm also digging "Time." I haven't gotten to any of the Bambu stuff yet.
For whatever reason, the drummer from the Foo Fighters sings on the last track.

Maybe it's the production that's bothering me so far, I love the stripped down vibe of Dennis's tunes on Friends and 20/20 and Sunflower.

Actually, this is growing on me by the minute!

I just bought this disc and I really enjoy it (full disclosure: I have a real soft spot for that 70s West Coast rock sound, aside from The Eagles, obv.). I was hoping it would include a song called Carry Me Home, which I'm pretty sure is a Dennis Wilson song, but alas, it doesn't. It's the song where, at the end, Wilson is singing about how he "wants to go home," and it would be okay if he was "taken home." He's obviously talking about death. A really powerful, moving song. Anyway, I'm disappointed that it isn't on Pacific Ocean Blue. Anyone know this song, or know what album it appears on? Thanks.

It Won't Be Long -- from the unfinished Bambu disc -- is a stunner.

I guess Dennis Wilson reminds me of his brothers. But who he really reminds me of on Pacific Ocean Blue is Chris Bell (Big Star), on his one solo disc, I Am The Cosmos.

Sorry for multiple posts. Just totally enjoying this, and finally unwinding after a week of emergency projects.

now all we need is buckingham nicks

Probably won't get that until Lindsey is dead and can't stand in the way.

destro: they put out that dennis wilson album officially
deej: yes
destro: and remastered it so the cymbals cut like a hot razor
destro: as usual
deej: too bad
destro: i have the lossless rip of the japanese CD that sounds like it's by a wilson brother
destro: i guess they thought that when he made his music sound thick and lush and warm, it was a studio error
destro: what he REALLY meant to do was make a ride cymbal sound like a broken radiator
destro: he just lacked the skills to do so
destro: so theyve done him a favor

I was hoping it would include a song called Carry Me Home,

I love this song, but it wasn't a part of either album: P.O.B or Bambu. It was actually going to be a Beach Boys song. That's why it's not there. Apparently, if this does well, there's the possibility of a collection of outtakes and demos. That would most definitely have "Carry Me Home."

By "It Won't Be Long" I assume you mean "It's Not Too Late?"

x-post

destro: i have the lossless rip of the japanese CD that sounds like it's by a wilson brother

^^ this version is mastered better than the american cd?

thats what hes sayin yeah - but the japanese version is old, its not part of the same reissue

this guy im quoting my convo w/ is a friend of mine who does post sound as, like, his job so hes a bit aspie about it but i also find hes right.

he said its possible the vinyl pressing of the reissue was mastered differently, although sometimes its just the same job pressed to vinyl.

have not heard the re-issue yet, but "Companion" from Bambu is an in-fucking-credible song-- just sayin'...

By "It Won't Be Long" I assume you mean "It's Not Too Late?"

Right. If not the best song I've heard this year, certainly the most moving song I've heard this year. It reminds me that as interesting as experimental music is, there's always a place for conventional, straightforward songs. It also reminds me how powerful simple lyrics can be. I love Craig Finn's lyrics, for instance, but there's just nothing like hearing Wilson -- in that raw, desperate voice -- sing "Please don't be long/No no no no, it won't be long." Just an breathtaking performance. I bought Smile, and I like it a lot (except for some cringeworthy lyrics), but after spending some time with Pacific Ocean Blue this week, I think it's heads-and-shoulders above that other "lost classic."

OTOHWTFdoiknow?nothingthat'swhat.

i hear the cymbal thing deej's friend is talking about but i wouldnt have picked up on it otherwise and i dont think it's really a distraction or anything

smile is way better than this fwiw

I'm certainly not trying to ridicule Smile. I think Brian Wilson and Dennis Wilson's songs have a core sadness about getting older. Brian's Smile-era music sounds like someone struggling to be a child again. Dennis' POB/Bambu music sounds like someone heartbroken over time lost, people lost, not being young anymore, the finality of the choices you make, and what's left for you. That's the kind of sadness I connect with, and POB/Bambu nails it.

i understand the impulse to compare this album to smile but its going after something pretty different, i think

I was hoping it would include a song called Carry Me Home ...Anyone know this song, or know what album it appears on? Thanks.

this song was never officially released afaik it exists only in demo form. I got it on some bootleg of unreleased/Bamboo stuff a few years ago. Kinda surprised it isn't on the reissue - speaking of which, can someone post a tracklisting? I'm curious if there's anything on there I don't have. Is "He's a Bum" on there? "Wild Situation"?

Max, you're right. They are both different, and both very good.

Surely an excellent album, and wonderful to finally have it available on CD.

BUT. I feel like the praise these days has become exaggerated in a few ways.

For starters, it is being marketed as "possibly the best solo album by a Wilson". Hello? "Smile", anyone??? And even if that doesn't count (largely old material), I would still say that "Brian Wilson" is better.

I have also seen it described as re-release of the year. Now 2008 has seen and will see lots of excellent re-releases, but it could be argued that this is more important than those Genesis, Cure, U2 or Bee Gees titles because it has been unavailable for so long. Yet, still, "Jesus Of Cool" was also unavailable for ages, and that album is definitely a better album than "Pacific Ocean Blue".

But don't misunderstand me. Again, this is a wonderful album.

And even if that doesn't count (largely old material), I would still say that "Brian Wilson" is better.

I confess the first s/t Brian Wilson album is a lost gem but its lows are worse than the lows on POB (of which there are few).

Shakey, that's the disc with Love And Mercy, One For The Boys, Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long and Melt Away, right?

Heresy, I guess, but I return to that album much more than I do Smile.

I remember the press going crazy for that first Brian solo album (I was reading a lot of Rolling Stone then, I guess). It was called an extension of Smile, basically picking up where he left off in the 60s. I listened to it so much in 1988, just non-stop rotation. Wonder how it would sound to me now.

the synth patches on it are alternately great and hilariously bad

its more like an extension of the sound of "Love You" than "Smile". I think the "Smile" talk was mostly due to "Rio Grande" (which recycles some "Smile" melodies/material - incidentally it also quotes Dennis' "River Song")

that "Little Children" song on it tho = ugh.

and don't forget Terence Trent D'Arby and Christopher Cross

okay I'm breaking out my cassette of this right now lolz

and don't forget Terence Trent D'Arby and Christopher Cross

What songs are they on? I may have to break out my CASSETTE of this, too. If it was released a few years earlier, I'd have to break out my 8-TRACK ot it.

Rolling Stone four star roflz

I never trust Rolling Stone reviews, unless they reinforce my preexisting beliefs. Then they're okay.

"Brian Wilson is a stunning reminder of what pop's been missing all these years." lol.

Had Rolling Stone not heard of A Flock Of F--g Seagulls by 1988?

(j/k about the Flock Of Seagulls part. Still, lol at that line from the review).

This is so going to end up top of the Metacritic table for 2008 come December. Serious bummer. But look at what it's got in its favour! He's dead! He was a Beach Boy! It was unavailable long enough to become mythologised! Beatles catalogue still not remastered!

Why a bummer, Nick? You don't like the disc?

I've not got it, to be honest; I have heard it, a few years ago when I was downloading like mad, but like I Am The Cosmos and Starsailor I was left pretty non-plussed by it. I remember it being nice, but not some kind of epochal, criminally unreleased mountain of genius, as all the 100% ratings on Metacritic from classic rock mags would lead you to believe. But then again I'm not a Beach Boys fan by any stretch of the imagination.

Understood. FWIW, I actually do think I Am The Cosmos was epochal, criminally overlooked mountain of genius (like POB), but I can't stand one minute of Starsailor.

I love all 3 personally. Starsailor is especially fantastic.
I suppose you guys are gonna diss Oar now?

or Gene Clark's "No Other"?

He's dead! He was a Beach Boy! It was unavailable long enough to become mythologised!

hey Carl Wilson's got all three of these things going for his solo records and nobody cares about them

(which is totally okay - they are not good)

you know there are at least a couple "this so-called lost classic is overrated pile of crap" reviews of the reissue about to drop. there is always a backlash to myth rock landmarks.

I remember it being nice, but not some kind of epochal, criminally unreleased mountain of genius, as all the 100% ratings on Metacritic from classic rock mags would lead you to believe.

yeah seriously this reminds me of chuck eddy complaining about other critics raving about the Betty Davis reissues. has more to do with being annoyed by hype than the actual material methinks

I don't think I was swayed by the hype, at least no more so than virtually anyone -- critics included -- is normally swayed. I just feel a strong nostalgic pull toward that kind of music (70s West Coast rock), and these songs are especially good examples of that genre. And it's not like other artists (save Wilco maybe) are churning out stuff like this routinely, anymore. Hence my semi-irrational love for this disc.

Well, "critics included" I imagine. I mean, I'm guessing critics get caught up in hype like anyone else, as much as they try to evaluate something on its merits alone.

Being unavailable for a while often gives a boost. The Traveling Wilburys albums, for instance, are regarded considerably better now than they were back then. Particularly "Volume 3", which got a pretty lukewarm reception back then, but which is now often seen as almost as good as the debut.

See also "Sunflower". (I mean, it is an amazing album, but most people didn't realise until the re-release a few years back)

But is that because they were unavailable or it just took some time for the albums to gain a following of vocal supporters?

Wilburys are unlistenable glop lets get that straight

But is that because they were unavailable or it just took some time for the albums to gain a following of vocal supporters?

I think a bit of both. When an album is unavailable, you don't get the chance to get sick of it in the same way, and you remember it for its positive qualities while you ignore what you might not have liked so much about it.

That is, unless you play your old vinyl records or cassettes a lot, but fewer and fewer people do that.

I don't know about that. Seems like it cuts both ways. Tusk, which I think shares some commonalities with P.O.B., has always been available, I believe. And its rep seemingly grows by the year.

Wilburys are unlistenable glop lets get that straight.

Yeah, I sort of think this, too.

I think Pacific Ocean Blue is good, and this reissue is great news and generally a lot of fun. But I also think it's off-base to peg it as an experimental avant-pop album. West Coast rock, not far from the kind of thing Wilco is making now, is right on the money, but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

THAT'S what's irritating me. It's insane.

Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

Okay, well, that's just ri-damn-diculous. It's still a lost classic, and I do think that term ("lost classic") is used far too loosely.

i love this album and so have read zero press about it

But I also think it's off-base to peg it as an experimental avant-pop album. West Coast rock, not far from the kind of thing Wilco is making now, is right on the money

But Dennis Wilson, like Jeff Tweedy today, didn't have the kind of voice you expect from a West Coast MOR singer.

the trick is not to read the press guys

but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

maybe cuz the Wire guys haven't bothered to listen to a lot of West Coast 70s MOR rock...? or no wait maybe its cuz Remain in Light and Kid A owe more to West Coast 70s MOR rock than previously recognized haha

Yes, there's a strong Jacksone Browne/Doobie Bros. vibe in Kid A.

lolololol

Jackson Browne/Doobies/Talking Heads/Dennis Wilson = cokeheads

I dunno about tom yorke

I suppose you guys are gonna diss Oar now?

OK, I'll step up to the mark. Not that good, is it? Frankly.

i like oar and POB and no other - oh no, i am beardo cliche

I put Am The Cosmos on the other day after this thread and turned it off again after two songs. Uergh.

"I Am the Cosmos" isn't really considered in the same class as "POB", "Oar, "No Other" etc - by "beardo cliche" critical consensus, I mean

Southall my office tomorrow 9 am sharp

Big Star's 3rd album, fer sure (xp)

On the bright side, I look forward to reading James Masterson's chart commentary when Buckley's Starsailor gets reissued and goes straight in at number one.

Shame Jimmy Saville's not around, there's that track on where Timbo impersonates him after all

The Traveling Wilburys albums, for instance, are regarded considerably better now than they were back then.

What on earth are you talking about? Volume One got overwhelmingly positive.

"but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A"

Just read that yesterday. Listening the album now for the first time, and fortunately The Wire's review is bullshit.

What a surprise. Who wrote it?

Just checking the Wire website, see our very own (How hot is) Dominique Leone (in person?) is reviewed in this issue. Must get a copy.

Richard Henderson writes it.

He also sez that POB is like a Bill Laswell production from the last ten years. WTF x 1000?

okay yeah I don't hear that at all

This re-issue sounds amazing to my ears thusfar! Definitely better than my Australian boot CD or Bambu randoms culled from internets.

yeah, my bambu boots were abysmal, great to really hear this stuff now

yeah the low quality of the stuff I have is kinda the only reason I may get this... not to be a broken record here but can someone post a tracklist for the reissue? I can't find one online.

Disk: 1
1. River Song
2. What's Wrong
3. Moonshine
4. Friday Night
5. Dreamer
6. Thoughts Of You
7. Time
8. You And I
9. Pacific Ocean Blues
10. Farewell My Friend
11. Rainbows
12. End Of The Show
13. Tug Of Love - Previously Unreleased
14. Only With You - Previously Unreleased
15. Holy Man - Instrumental, Previously Unreleased
16. Mexico - Previously Unreleased

Disk: 2
1. Under The Moonlight - Previously Unreleased
2. It's Not Too Late - Previously Unreleased
3. School Girl - Previously Unreleased
4. Love Remember Me - Previously Unreleased
5. Love Surrounds Me - Previously Unreleased
6. Wild Situation - Previously Unreleased
7. Common - Previously Unreleased
8. Are You Real - Previously Unreleased
9. He's A Bum - Previously Unreleased
10. Cocktails - Previously Unreleased
11. I Love You - Previously Unreleased
12. Constant Companion - Previously Unreleased
13. Time For Bed - Previously Unreleased
14. Album Tag Song - Previously Unreleased
15. All Alone - Previously Unreleased
16. Piano Variations On Thoughts Of You - Previously Unreleased
17. Holy Man - Taylor Hawkins Version

no "quad symphony"!

still, a bunch of stuff I don't have - must get then.

(thx btw)

just ordered the triple vinyl(!) from Sundazed

there is an hour-long NPR produced special about the album playing right now on WBEZ in chicago (you can listen online):

http://www.wbez.org/Program_SS.aspx

POB and Bambu are tolerable (sometimes barely), rarely superb ("River Song")

Take all the songs Dennis contributed to the Beach Boys proper between 1968 and 1974, put them together, and you'd have an album 100 x better than either POB or Bambu.

somewhere betwixt rong and challops

velko otm

lolz they excised the "erection" line out of "Wild Situation" on the reissue!

honestly with all the unreleased stuff I can kinda hear the Remain in Light comparisons - the walls of ominous synths + the odd foray into non-rock rhythms (ie, Jamaican or New Orleans funk or whatever) do make for some kind of (albeit dubious) parallel. I dunno about Kid A, I never listen to Radiohead.

I haven't gotten to the disc 2 Bambu stuff yet, but POB is really, really great. And I say that as someone who could give a fuck about the Beach Boys or 70s MOR rock. That Wire review was totally off the deep end but it's not at all a straightforward record.

I don't really get the POB love, so many fillers on it...

Where's the love for Dennis' most devastating song, "A time to live in dreams" ? You can listen to it on that page :
http://www.stephenkalinich.com/sjkdennis.html

Here's what written on the wiki page about it :
"A Time to Live in Dreams" is a song written by Dennis Wilson and Stephen Kalinich. The song was first discovered in The Beach Boys tape archive around 2000. It was first released on The Beach Boys 2001 anthology album Hawthorne, CA. In December, 2000, Brian Wilson was able to hear the song for the first time and according to Alan Boyd said "Wait - I don't remember this one. What album was this done for?"[1] Later on in the song when the organ begins to play and Dennis sings the line "in this new day, change your heart, forgive your brother...", Brian sat up straight and said softly, "Wow. What a great song."

I picked up the MIU/LA twofer used the other day. "Angel Come Home" is great.

I just got this finally. I thought I'd heard most of Bambu on a previous boot -- clearly, I hadn't.

At first blush, a lot of what makes this kind of extraordinary (and may account for the ludicrous Kid A and Remain in Light comps) is that he has zero regard for form -- or conventional form anyway. That began in some sense on POB, but really comes to the fore on Bambu Sections just pop up and rather than disappearing as they did on POB, here they just go on forever -- the REALLY long coda to "Are You Real?" and the intro to "Love Remember Me" to name just a few. There are also several deeply weird textural things going on -- the backwards choral stuff on "I Love You" is almost hard to explain it's so oddly put in the mix (with the intro to the next song, given how the CD is sequenced, even Dennis says at the conclusion of "I Love You": "Weird!").

At any rate, even for someone who thought he had a lot of this, this is a great package.

Also worth adding that this includes an outstanding version of "Only With You" (which is on here for no reason I can discern, unless it was supposed to be on POB, but the liners don't say that).

Also, it should be said that "Holy Man" is every bit the stone cold classic all the fanboys said it was. Even with the vocal by Taylor Hawkins instead of Denny, it's a great, great song.

lolz I got the OOP "The Real Beach Boy" bio of Dennis for my birthday.

I think that's the book I read several years ago -- if it is, it includes this amazing story at the end where some guy details this RIDICULOUS day he spent with Dennis that sounded like a microcosm of the dude's crazy beautiful life.

if yr referring to "young musician/fan spends day doing tons of coke with Dennis and his pals and then WHOAH Brian shows up and he's a big fat mess and they play the piano and do more coke!!" ... yeah that story is in there.

I don't remember Brian showing up. But the first part sounds about right!

I'm almost through the end - its a pretty trashy/breezy read but there's been some interesting stuff I didn't know about in it.

The Love Remember Me Love Surrounds Me 1-2 punch on Bambu is so devastating. <3 christine mcvie's backing vocals on the latter.

i also love Time For Bed because it's drunken bleariness is the aural equivalent of how I imagine the last few years of his life played out

ouch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCe-K6NiTm8

Can't open that YouTube, Shakey. The other Beach Boys said something bad/dismissive about Dennis Wilson?

nah they're all there, but Dennis can't even keep his head up/sit up/sit still and is obviously blitzed out of his mind. kinda amazed this aired to be honest

What a talented guy, but what a sad story and life. It all feeds into my "rockist" tendencies, I think (Wilson is the tormented, confessional songwriter who never got his due).

I really can't stand this album.

I mean, the guy's voice was blown.

You mean Pacific Ocean Blue?!?

I actually see his strained voice as part of the appeal. I feel the same way about some late Billie Holiday (e.g., Lady in Satin).

Not in the least appealing. Listening to this last summer was a real shock; I thought it'd be at least okay. I mean, if you're going to play studio-rock, then please hire a real singer if you can't hit the notes.

De gustibus non est disputandum. (And not meant in a snarky way).

It's ok if you did!

lol. We're all jaded enough, already.

wtf there are plenty of people singing on this album who are not Dennis (Carl, the gospel choir on the first song, etc.), and I like his gruff voice for the most part

I could never get into it either, but I don't mind the vocals.

My problem with this is that I got Wolfking of LA at the same time, and that just blew me away - and gave me the californian fuckup fading star fix I needed. They're totally different records, I know. Just unfairly connected in my mind.

I should give Dennis another shot maybe.

it is possible to love both records

of course! just hasn't worked out for me that way yet.

dennis wilson is sort of like judee sill in that every song seems weirdly the same, not in a repetitive way but just that the same obsessions are so upfront and overwhelming every time.

holy crap! just found out that carl was in my dad's church and that he was really close with him. went to their shows, hung out at parties. my dad was even the lawyer on his divorce. carl asked my dad to represent the wife (who he was close with also) because carl wanted her to get everything she deserved. my mom went on a platonic dinner date w/him and she sat in on a recording session!! and they met brian and dennis, dennis came to the church once, but hid in corner, too many "secrets" to hide. dad says dennis was the most beautiful man he'd ever met. i yelled at them "why didn't you tell me this before?!"

wow, get more details and pass it on

alfred u are NUTS

his voice is 100% part of the appeal

i love blasting this song while i'm driving around la

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMHiYrnYx64

got this today. is it bad if on first listen I like the Bambu sessions better than POB (though I do like that one too)?

my favorite song is on the bambu sessions (it's not too late) and i adore POB.

"It's Not Too Late" is gutting. the desperation just drips from his voice on that one.

Returning to this reissue this week as my car can only play CDs for the moment and I pulled this out.

There are really only a few songs in POB proper that sound purely 70s MOR – "What's Wrong," "You and I" and maybe one or two others. The rest tend toward really plodding, heavy orchestration, peculiar textural choices (such as the bass harmonicas and blaring brass on "Dreamer") and modal chord voicings that create something that is both bombastic and delicate – often at the same time. There is also an undeniable alcoholic sentimentality slathering almost everything here.

So I understand if this record isn't for everyone. Some may find it scattered or unremarkable. But for my part, I love its singularity and shamelessly big hearted and ramshackle nature – qualities I think aren't so much enhanced by the Bambu stuff as underscored.