Album: “15 Big Ones/Love You”

Description

2 LPs on 1 CD: 15 BIG ONES (1976)/LOVE YOU (1977). Compilation producers: Cheryl Pawelski, Paul Atkinson. 15 BIG ONES: The Beach Boys: Carl Wilson (vocals, guitar, harp, bass, percussion); Al Jardine (vocals, guitar); Brian Wilson (vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, ARP synthesizer, Moog bass); Dennis Wilson (vocals, drums, percussion); Mike Love (vocals). Additional personnel includes: Ed Carter, Billy Hinsche, Ben Benay, Jerry Cole, Tommy J. Tedesco (guitar); Carol Lee Miller (autoharp); Steve Douglas (flute, saxophone); Charles Lloyd (flute); Dennis Dreith (clarinet, saxophone); Plas Johnson, Mike Altshul, John J. Kelson, Jr., Jack Nimitz, Roy Wood & Wizzard (saxophone); Bruce Johnston (piano, background vocals); Daryl Dragon (Clavinet); James Hughart (acoustic bass); Ricky Fataar (drums, percussion); Hal Blaine (drums); Julius Wechter (percussion, bells); Gene Estes (percussion); Marilyn Wilson, Toni Tennile (background vocals). Producer: Brian Wilson. Engineer: Stephen Moffitt, Earle Mankey. Recorded at Brother Studios, Santa Monica, California between January 30 & May 15, 1976. Originally released on Brother/Reprise. Includes liner notes by Dennis Diken. LOVE YOU: Producer: Brian Wilson. Engineers: Stephen Moffitt, Earle Mankey, Steve Desper. Recorded in 1977. Originally released on Brother/Reprise. Includes liner notes by Peter Buck. Digitally remastered by Andrew Sandoval & Dan Hersch (DigiPrep). This two-fer, which compiles two of the band's late-period albums, 1976's 15 BIG ONES and 1977's LOVE YOU, should give both critics and fans much to chew on. While not up to the caliber of milestones like PET SOUNDS and SURF'S UP, both sets contain the hallmarks of the Boys' best material: irresistible melodies, inventive, intricate arrangements, and melting harmonies from heaven. 15 BIG ONES, the album on which Brian Wilson re-teamed with the rest of the band after a hiatus of many years, alternates originals with covers such as "Rock and Roll Music" and "Chapel of Love." As usual, Wilson's compositions outshine the rest, as on the pop carousel of "It's OK" and the delightfully quirky "TM Song." The real treasure, however, is found on LOVE YOU. Though the brilliant studio sheen of classic Beach Boys production is absent here, what remains is an album of honest, original, idiosyncratic pop songs. A trip through Brian Wilson's warped, sunshine-splattered funhouse, LOVE YOU delivers up gems of sweet melancholy like "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and the ridiculous, amazing "Johnny Carson." Ragged and intimate, LOVE YOU alone makes this disc a must for fans of the band and scholars of alternative pop.