Copy, repackage and sell it as your own original stuff in an askew context - typical blogger behaviour? If thats true, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys must be hailed as the original blogger. It was late 1965, and having just started out his lifelong affair with schizophrenia, candy bars and drug (ab)use on an industrial scale, the Beach Boys mastermind was under pressure from then record company Capital Records to put out a new album for the very lucrative christmas season.
Brian, already a bit 'under the weather' and not feeling very compelled on writing new material contemplated what to do.. In the light of the previous years release, a live album titled Beach Boys Concert who released to some success, it suddenly came to Brian. He would make another live album! "But hmm", thought Brian, this is the year when my various mental illnesses and drug abuse stopped me from being able to perform on stage, "what to do, what to do" - Suddenly "eureka", a strike of genius suddenly made Brian fall off his chair and into the sand covering the floor of his santa monica appartment. "I will record a studio album only featuring other peoples songs and market it as a live album"!
Said and done. Brian gathered the rest of his dynamic pop duo plus some friends and during september and october they rehearsed some current and old 'hits'. The subsequent album "Beach Boys' Party!" was presented as a live recording, although all the songs were prerecorded and mixed carefully, plus a laughter and background chatter later mixed in during postproduction to give the appearance of the whole thing being recorded at a - yeah thats right - Beach Boys Party.
The song selection on the album contains some surprises, two particular artists covered stands out, first off Phil Spector. Wilsons relationship to Spector was kinda twisted, at times vieving him, as his greatest inspiration, and at other times, as his greatest competition, fearing and hating him with a passion. Both fellow weirdo geniuses, and both recorded almost exclusively in mono, Spector to acchieve his 'wall of sound' and Brian due to his partial deafness.
Another choice was to cover two songs by the beatles. Nick Kent, rock journalist for NME in it's heydays (and perhaps more of a rock star than any of the artists he covered) exposed some of the madness of Brian and his twisted relationship with the Beatles in general and Paul McCartney in particulair in his book "The Dark Stuff". Kent recounts of McCartney’s visit to Brians house in 1974, where a drugged up and paranoid Brian refused to answer the door and letting in his 'friend':
"It was all to do with... something about Paul McCartney once claiming that Brian’s song 'God Only Knows' was the greatest pop song ever written. And in his mind it had all become hopelessly twisted. Like, if 'God Only Knows' is the greatest song ever written then I'll never write anything as good again! And if I never write anything as good, then I'm finished. I'm a has-been and a wash-up, just like everyone keeps saying".
Anyway, the record later released and was a suprise hit. Although not featuring a proper single (which was unusual at the times), it ended up outselling the Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds. And truth be told, it's a pretty, pretty good album, atleast on the Beatles/Phil Spector/Bob Dylan cover parts, plus featuring a truly wonderful medley of "I Get Around/Little Deuce Coupe"...
...Which leads us straight on to Canadian rockers Sloan who 30 years later adopted Wilsons concept and released "Recorded Live at a Sloan Party!" The Album was featured as a bonus to the 1996 album 'One Chord to Another' exclusively for the US release/market. One Chord to Another didn't sell very well in the US, for the simple reason that it wasn't a very good album (imo), so the 'party album' is somewhat of a rarity as an original pressing nowadays. Anyway, although the "One Chord.." album wasn't very good, the "Live"-album was!
Sloan recorded 10 songs (including two of their own, "I am the cancer" & "I can Feel It") using the Beach Boys approach, down to the gimmicky talk and partysounds between the tracks, there is although a giveaway in the middle of the 'Transona Five/On The Road Again" medley where Jay Ferguson "walks outside" and talks to an over-enthusiastic fan in the middle of the song... But, some true pop gems are included on the release, my favourites are the fantastic cover of Roxy Musics "Over You" and "Stood Up", originally recorded by Matthew Grimson plus a wonderful pop gem in April Wine's "I Wouldn't Want to Lose Your Love"
Beach Boys - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Beach Boys - There's No Other Like My Baby (Phil Spector/Leroy Bates)
Sloan - Stood Up (Matthew Grimson)
Sloan - Over You (Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music)
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