The Beach Boys: 15 Big Ones (Brother/Reprise)
In the good old days (around 1965) people had a very short memory span. For that reason the pop groups had to release new singles constantly and at least two albums a year. If they didn’t, they were forgotten. In the 70’s or in the old days as we say, people had developed a better memory, so the pop groups could relax a bit and be content with an album a year.
Nowadays people have such a trained memory that they don’t need to be reminded all the time, the pop stars may easily restrict themselves to an album every three or four years with no risks involved at all. That is impressive when you consider that those records, even if there are years between them, sound quite similar. Or perhaps people simply need the break to recover and re-build some sort of anticipation for the next one, forcing themselves to believe that “next time they will definitely surprise me, I am sure they will, I think… maybe.”
Enough of that. Back in the old days (the 70s, remember), The Beach Boys had taken a long break from the recording studios. Three years had passed since they were in Holland and made a pretty satisfying album, named, yes, you guessed it, “Holland”. A strange bonus EP was included; it contained a cry for help from the band’s former leader Brian Wilson who heard strange noises inside his head – as proven by the EP.
While Brian was taken care of by some very nice guys who knew exactly the right treatments needed if paid an ever so slight fee, The Beach Boys had to go on tour playing all their old hits to remind both themselves and the public that they still existed.
Eventually Brian Wilson finally felt much better, at least that’s what his kind therapists were telling him. He heard almost no weird noises in his head, he was up and ready for something totally unexpected: Producing a complete Beach Boys-LP on his own – for the first time since 1966. It would be their first studio album in three years. And believe me, in 1976 1973 was very long ago, so long that a new album automatically would be considered a full come-back. The title of the album was a clever double-pun: 15 years had passed since they started as a band, and the album contained 15 tracks. Brilliant.
However the path to the finished product was not as carefully planned and smooth as the title suggests. True, Brian didn’t hear any noises in his head anymore, at least not that many, but he didn’t hear any new sounds in there either. In short: He wanted The Beach Boys to record an album of cover songs, a bunch of old rock’n’roll and pop-classics.
Now that did not go down well with his younger brothers. They argued that if this was going to be the big Beach Boys/Brian Wilson-come back it would be totally pointless to deliver a pile of cover-songs. That would not be what ageing fans and eager rock writers were expecting. The younger brothers Wilson wanted a proper Beach Boys-album, just like in the good old days (around 1965), all brand new songs preferably composed by the master himself.
It was not easy to persuade Brian who had more doubts about himself and his own abilities than anyone could have envisaged, even in their darkest nightmares. For a while there was talk of a double album, one album with cover versions and one with new originals. Not very realistic. In the end they went for a painful compromise.
As it turned out “15 Big Ones” was not quite the trump card that the record company, the band, and the fans had hoped for. There was nothing wrong with the sales figures though, thanks to a massive launch and plenty of TV time. It hit no. 8 on the Billboard charts. But the disappointed buyers let the brilliant successor suffer, “The Beach Boys Love You” only got to no. 53.
The single, released as a teaser for the album, Chuck Berry’s “Rock And Roll Music”, is a strange ditty – its stop-and-start arrangement in fascinating conflict with the song’s idea. I mean, it doesn’t rock nor roll – but The Beach Boys’ brave treatment grows on you, and when you get used to it you appreciate that they chose this original solution. It’s not a classic, but it’s different. The remaining cover songs are not given the same bold treatments. They never get past the recurring question: What’s the point?
The Brian Wilson originals, which must have been squeezed out of him under threats of no more pancakes, have a completely different effect on the listener. The whimsical, unambitious and unpolished little vignettes remind me of the “Wild Honey”-album. And that’s not a bad thing. “It’s OK”, “Had To Phone Ya” and “That Same Song” are both simplistic and strange in that unique Brian Wilson-way and they breathe like living creatures. Al Jardine’s “Susie Cincinnati” isn’t bad either, even if it keeps its teeth in a glass of water at night.
Overall “15 Big Ones” suffers hard if scrutinized track by track, but it is better than the sum of its parts as it strangely enough plays pretty good if one lowers one’s expectations and just lets it be what it is, a soft summer’s breeze through an open window.
The following year The Beach Boys released the album that “15 Big Ones” failed to be (but actually pointed towards): “The Beach Boys Love You”, a bona fide classic. I guess they had to struggle their way through the “15 Big Ones”-sessions to get rid of the rust. The therapists stayed, of course, they don’t disappear easily once they get their hooks in you and your money.
Produced by: Brian Wilson
Released: July 5, 1976)
Side One
1. “Rock and Roll Music” (Berry) 2:29
2. “It’s O.K.” (Wilson/Love) 2:12
3. “Had to Phone Ya” (Wilson/Love) 1:43
4. “Chapel of Love” (Barry/Greenwich/Spector) 2:34
5. “Everyone’s in Love with You” (Love) 2:42
6. “Talk to Me” (On the back sleeve titled “Talk to Me (Medley)”, referring to the interpolation of the 1959 Freddy Cannon song “Tallahassee Lassie”) (Seneca) 2:14
7. “That Same Song” (Wilson/Love) 2:16
8. “T M Song” (Wilson) 1:34
Side Two
1. “Palisades Park” (Barris) 2:27
2. “Susie Cincinnati” (Jardine) 2:57
3. “A Casual Look” (Wells) 2:45
4. “Blueberry Hill” (Lewis/Stock/Rose) 3:01
5. “Back Home” (Wilson/Norberg) 2:49
6. “In the Still of the Night” (Parris) 3:03
7. “Just Once in My Life” (Goffin/King/ Spector) 3:47
The Beach Boys:
Al Jardine – vocals, guitar (on “Susie Cincinnati”)
Mike Love – vocals
Brian Wilson – vocals, organ, piano, Moog bass, arpeggiator, string ensemble, bass guitar, harmonica, chimes, bells
Carl Wilson – vocals, guitar, bass, synthesiser, harp, percussion
Dennis Wilson – vocals, drums, percussion, vibraphone
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