The Beach Boys - Carl & The Passions - So Tough / Holland

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Free Music Notes for Carl & The Passions - So Tough / Holland

Free Music Review: A combination of a "tough" rock album, and a quieter pop one
Hit: 5 Stars

Bruce Johnston had left for a solo career, and new members Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar were added to the line-up. With outside help like that, SO TOUGH (1972) was guaranteed to be even further removed from what people wanted the Beach Boys to be...and it sure was. While SO TOUGH may have been one of the least Beach Boys-sounding records in their history, that's not to say it was terrible. The Beach Boys had always been masters at resilience, and SO TOUGH makes that all the more apparent. For this album, Brian Wilson was creatively at his quietest to date. Only the opening "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone" has any instance of Brian's production. But it's little brother Carl that really makes the most important contribution to the song. In fact the album's subtitle CARL & THE PASSIONS was an early name for the Beach Boys. Unlike his beautiful vocals on classics like "God Only Knows", Carl contributes a rougher performance that suits the rockier sound of the song excellently. Carl also produces the ode to meditation on "He Come Down", the more traditional pop of "Marcella" (great doo-wop-derived harmonies) and "All This Is That", a much less obvious ode to that sense of spiritual oneness. The third Wilson brother Dennis makes the next big contribution to SO TOUGH with the sheer beauty of "Make It Good" (Brian's not the only one who can make the studio an instrument for emotions) and "Cuddle Up". Early in the Beach Boys' career, Dennis sang mostly uptempo rockers like "Do You Wanna Dance", but songs like previous two on here show that he had just as much a melodic voice as his brothers. New band additions Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin contribute "Here She Comes" and "Hold On Dear Brother". These are the songs that are often called the least Beach Boys-sounding, and they are after all. While Ricky and Blondie may not have fit in well with the traditional Beach Boys line-up, their songs mesh wonderfully with the uncharacteristcally rootsy sound of SO TOUGH. They probably haven't been performed much since 1972, but they certainly deserve some more recognition in spite of the fact that they're not essentially Beach Boys songs.

1973's HOLLAND was still quite edgy like SO TOUGH, but some of those rough edges are smoothed out a little more. Ricky and Blondie are still with the Beach Boys at this point, but their contribution to the album is somewhat lesser than that of SO TOUGH. "Leaving This Town" is the only song with the two new members contributing, and as expected it doesn't sound very Beach Boys-y, but is still a good song in its own right. Brian Wilson is back in vogue somewhat on HOLLAND, a wonder considering the fact that he would soon enter his 3 years of seclusion shortly after this album was released. "Sail On Sailor" saw Brian working with Van Dyke Parks again after they failed to see eye-to-eye on SMILE. The song was intended to be yet another comeback single for the Beach Boys, but because they were still considered uncool, it didn't get any higher than #49. Brian also contributes to the appropriately titled "Funky Pretty", showing that Brian might not be as hung up on nice melodies as people would think. His "Mt. Vernon and Fairway" suite was his most extensive production since the SUNFLOWER era, and while its childlike nature may have further showed how mentally far gone Brian was at this point, it's quite endearing really. The other Beach Boys contribute their usual good works on HOLLAND. Dennis contributes two very disparate tunes: the rocking "Steamboat" and the beautiful "Only With You". The latter may not overtake "Forever" as his all-time best song, but Dennis still makes a very moving love song out of "Only With You". Carl Wilson's one song on HOLLAND is again a memorable one with "The Trader". His vocal performance has been acclaimed to this day as another thing of sonic beauty, and no less than Tom Petty has professed amazement at "The Trader". HOLLAND's magnum opus is the "California Saga", which has the Beach Boys paying tribute to their home base. Mostly Al Jardine's idea, the suite is still an excellent tribute to the gold rush state that I wouldn't be surprised if it became the new state song someday.

With Brian Wilson retreating into himself, the Beach Boys were a bit lost without even the little bit of energy he was known for giving at this point in time. HOLLAND would be the last studio album for the 3 years Brian was in seclusion, as the Beach Boys concentrated on live performing, where they still had some fans to entertain.

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