Audio CD review:
The Beach Boys - 15 Big Ones/Love You

The Beach Boys - 15 Big Ones/Love You

Band: The Beach Boys Title: 15 Big Ones/Love You Rating: Release Date: 2000-08-15 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Rock and Roll Music - The Beach Boys, Berry, Chuck 2: It's OK - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 3: Had to Phone Ya - The Beach Boys, Love, Michael 4: Chapel of Love - The Beach Boys, Spector, Phil 5: Everyone's in Love with You - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 6: Talk to Me - The Beach Boys, Seneca, Joe 7: That Same Song - The Beach Boys, Love, Michael 8: TM Song - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 9: Palisades Park - The Beach Boys, Barris, Chuck 10: Susie Cincinnati - The Beach Boys, Jardine, Alan 11: A Casual Look - The Beach Boys, Wells, Ed 12: Blueberry Hill - The Beach Boys, Lewis, Al [1] 13: Back Home - The Beach Boys, Norberg, Bob 14: In the Still of the Night - The Beach Boys, Parris, Fred 15: Just Once in My Life - The Beach Boys, Spector, Phil 16: Let Us Go on This Way - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 17: Roller Skating Child - The Beach Boys, 18: Mona - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 19: Johnny Carson - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 20: Good Time - The Beach Boys, Jardine, Alan 21: Honkin' Down the Highway - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 22: Ding Dang - The Beach Boys, McGuinn, Roger 23: Solar System - The Beach Boys, 24: The Night Was So Young - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 25: I'll Bet He's Nice - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 26: Let's Put Our Hearts Together - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 27: I Wanna Pick You Up - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 28: Airplane - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 29: Love Is a Woman - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian

The Dramatic Return Of Brian Wilson I. This is another in the Capitol/Brothers Records 2000 releases which pulled together their 1970s albums [see also Carl & The Passions "So Tough" and M. U. Album]. In the 6 pages of liner notes covering the album 15 Big Ones, Dennis Diken opens by saying "In 1976 the words that were planted on the lips of Beach Boy fans all over this whole world were "Brian is back. " Apparently under severe pressure from Warner Brothers to produce not only an album but a hit as well as part of the contract signed back in 1970, Wilson returned to the fold to help formulate this collection of songs, which was released in July 1976. Not only did it do well on the album charts, it also contained a single hit [actually released a couple of months earlier] covering Chuck Berry's Rock And Roll Music. Rising to # 5 Billboard Hot 100 that summer, b/w The T M Song, it was their first Top 10 since Good Vibrations a decade earlier. As with the original vinyl album, there's a page in the notes showing the names of all those involved with each track. For the only moderately successful The Beach Boys "Love You" album, Peter Buck (who nevertheless claims this is his personal favorite Beach Boys LP] provides the detailed liner notes which includes track-by-track background information. As with the earlier CD Carl & The Passions "So Tough"/Holland", the sound reproduction is perfect. An essential addition to any serious Beach Boys collection. . Brian is back with 14 songs and a raspy voice He went from a sweet falsetto to a raspy croak after 3 years of heavy drug use. On Love You - Brians voice takes some getting used to here. However he is back in action with loads of new songs and a mediocre Brian is better than no Brian. brian is back! From "roller skating child" to "solar system" the album reflects brian's genius and sense of humor. 15 big ones was the return of brian wilson to the producers chair & major involvment in the studio,some fun in the sun songs are on the album with 1/2 oldies,1/2 originals,just sit back and lie in the sun!"love you"is brian back in full form bb fans have come to love this album. Brian is back! The girls will never forget how handsome they all were a decade earlier. Triumphantly,Brian Wilson is back with his Beach Boys bandmates! It is 1976,and the Beach Boys are now 30ish,bearded and "Beach Men". One of the 15 BIG ONES is a cover of Chuck Berry's ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC,earlier covered by The Beatles. THE BEACH BOYS LOVE YOU was released in 1977,a year after 15 BIG ONES. I vaguely remember,as a child in the 70's,seeing the Beach Boys on American Bandstand performing RARM. These are the group's fifth and sixth non-compilation albums,respectively,on the Brother label,a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Fans were very happy when Brian rejoined his bandmates. For several years,beginning in the mid-60's,he was battling depression and drug addiction. So he put on a few pounds,big deal! He's back!. superb reissue of two albums that really go well together Not counting the "Endless Summer" & "Spirit Of America" compilations, the Beach Boys hadn't put an album out in well over 2 years when "15 Big Ones" appeared in July of 1976. Now here's a damn great reissue--take these two quirky albums that make an ideal pairing and put them together on a single disc; remaster them exquisitely; and add solid, informative liner notes. With those two aforementioned compilations having been surprisingly huge commercial successes, it seems that Mike Love felt it was high time to try and capitalize on that success, so he cooked up the "Brian Is Back!" campaign, and "15 Big Ones" was released, its title referring both to the 15 songs on the album as well as the 15th anniversary of the Beach Boys. Consisting largely of `oldies' covers, "15 Big Ones" has been badly over-criticized over the years--it's actually a heck of a lot of fun. Also, it really does point the way to the cult classic "The Beach Boys Love You"--the Moog bass that`s so prominent on "Love You" crops up on the cover of "Chapel Of Love", and the loony, off-kilter, gospel-flavored "That Same Song" is a definite sign of things to come on the later album; in other words, the presence of Brian Wilson, who receives the production credit for the album, is strongly felt. However, despite the fact that Brian was going through a notoriously bizarre/ troubled period, "15 Big Ones" is a feel-good album all the way--the somewhat disco-fied version of "Rock And Roll Music"; the harmony-rich surf-rock throwback "It's OK"; the plodding, synth-string laden "Chapel Of Love" with great lead vocals from Brian; the energetic version of "Palisades Park" with spirited lead vocals from Carl; Al Jardine's's lively riff-rocker "Susie Cincinnati" (left over from the early `70s); and the aforementioned "That Same Song" are all a lot of fun. Even Mike's religion-themed "Everyone's In Love With You" is still respectably tuneful and by all means listenable, despite the corny lyrics, and the brief "TM Song" is highly amusing with it's mock-argument intro leading into the main song portion. "Had To Phone Ya", was previously done by Brian's then-wife Marilyn and her sister Diane (aka Spring) in the early '70s--the version here is elaborately-arranged and engagingly tuneful, with Mike, Carl, Al, Dennis, & Brian all sharing the lead vocals, although Carl sounds painfully bored. Like I said, I don't think this album deserves such a bad rap--if you're in the mood for giddy fun, you'll find lots of it on "15 Big Ones". That said, "The Beach Boys Love You", released in April of 1977, is even MORE of a blast. Brian's pretty much in total control here (or totally out of his mind, depending on how you look at it). In addition to producing again (with Carl credited as the `mixdown producer`), Brian receives sole writing credit on 11 of the 14 tracks (although it's long been rumored that Brian's notorious shrink/ guru Eugene Landy helped with a lot of the lyrics), & Brian also played the lion's share of the instruments, including the technically rudimentary drumming. Indeed, the album was thought to be released as a Brian Wilson solo album entitled "Brian Loves You". Also, it's almost beyond all belief how much Brian's voice had changed over the course of the decade--as if you needed a reminder, the album contains the Al Jardine-Brian Wilson composition "Good Time" with a lead vocal from Brian recorded in the early `70s which explains why it lacks the hoarse, lower-register tone of his vocals on the rest of the album (goes to show what drugs can do). The resulting album is, on one hand, extremely primitive, but at the same time, Brian's incredible songwriting ability and his ear for harmony remain on full display. On `Side 1' of the album, Brian is basically living in a fantasy world, offering up rousing, irresistibly fun songs like the stomping album-opener "Let Us Go On This Way" (written by Brian & Mike); the lustful "Roller Skating Child"; the 4-chord, Phil Spector-style "Mona"; a tribute to "Johnny Carson"; the ultra-catchy, highly amusing "Honkin' Down The Highway" (the version here restores the drum intro that was missing on the old Caribou CD release of "Love You"); and the brief "Ding Dang" (written by Brian & Roger McGuinn) with its delirious party atmosphere. `Side 2' then, in somewhat similar fashion to 1965's "The Beach Boys Today!", is the `ballad side', offering up such gems as the waltzing, wondrous, & gloriously silly "Solar System"; the tender "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" (with lead vocals from Brian & Marilyn); the brilliantly tuneful ode to babies "I Wanna Pick You Up" (with lead vocals from Dennis & Brian); and the casually anxious "Airplane" which ends with an "I-can't-take-it-anymore" boogie-woogie coda. "I'll Bet He's Nice" is a strong piece of material, although I prefer the demo version that appears on the "Brian Loves You" bootleg opposed to the overproduced version here. The album closer "Love Is A Woman" is kind of half-baked, but it does have a vibe startingly similar to Leonard Cohen's "Death of a Ladies' Man" album, which, tellingly, was produced by Phil Spector and came out the same year. Overall, there's an absolute wealth of unique and terrific music to be found on this two-fer. No, this isn't "Pet Sounds", but if you're truly interested in the eclectic genius of Brian Wilson, i. e. , a serious music listener, this disc ranks at must-have status. You can see a complete list of all The Beach Boys discography, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs