T2580 - The Beach Boys finish Smile
- Thread starter Guajolote
- Start date
Part 18 - The Beach Boys - The Spirit
THE BEACH BOYS - THE SPIRIT (1976)
Side One
It's OK
I Had To Phone Ya
Honkin' Down The Highway
Good Timin'
Mona
Let's Put Our Hearts Together
Ding Dang
Side Two
The Night Was So Young
We Gotta Groove
I'll Be He's Nice
That Same Song
Just Once In My Life
Rock And Roll Music (featuring some very special guests)
"What happened? (claps hands together and makes smashing noise) It all happened! The Bicentennial was happening and we couldn't let that pass without us. We were meant to be America's band. Brian and Dennis had shown they could have hits without us, but neither of them wanted The Beach Boys to just fade away. On top of all that, The Beatles are recording at Brother Studios! We'd gotten over the whole Beatles vs Beach Boys thing after Smile, but this time they're in our house! Bruce was busy producing other artists, but the rest of us were desperate to get recording again."
Carl Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"The thing that I think really spurred us on was that Brian had changed. He was dynamic again. All the psychiatrists had stopped him being so afraid, but we'd had ten years of Brian being kind of…in charge. Like Dennis said to me once, 'Those doctors gave us our brother back, but they gave us a big brother we'd never had before'. After going off to England and hanging out with McCartney, Brian came back relaxed and happy. He hadn't been that way since Pet Sounds. So, we thought we were in for a huge hit album."
Mike Love, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"On The Spirit, I was the one who was on at Brian about being commercial. Mike was fine with what we were doing because he was writing a lot of the lyrics. But it sounded bizarre to me. Every time I'd point out this was not the kind of thing that was in the charts, Brian would reply 'I've seen what's happening in England, things are changing'. If anyone joined in with my worries, Brian would just go down the hall, see if a Beatle was free, play them the latest mix and whichever Beatle it was would say 'That's amazing!'. So I'd be outvoted by a member of another band."
Al Jardine, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"It wasn't a flop. It didn't get to number 1, but it wasn't a flop. It was bit like Smile all over again. People rushed out to buy it, said 'What the hell is this?' and then a few months later all the British music press said 'This is what's happening' and it climbed back up the charts. It didn't hit the top like Smile did, but it hovered about the outside of the top ten for a loooooong time. I loved it. All our guys, our generation thought we blew it. I had like guys from the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac saying 'It's too bad man, sorry about what happened'. I just thought 'You just wait and see'. When the New Wave guys came over from England in the 80s, it wasn't Fleetwood Mac they wanted to meet. I know he's my brother but, never bet against Brian Wilson. He knows."
Dennis Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"A lot of young fans say 'It's just like Pet Sounds, the music's great and the cover's terrible'. (laughs loudly)"
Brian Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
Side One
It's OK
I Had To Phone Ya
Honkin' Down The Highway
Good Timin'
Mona
Let's Put Our Hearts Together
Ding Dang
Side Two
The Night Was So Young
We Gotta Groove
I'll Be He's Nice
That Same Song
Just Once In My Life
Rock And Roll Music (featuring some very special guests)
"What happened? (claps hands together and makes smashing noise) It all happened! The Bicentennial was happening and we couldn't let that pass without us. We were meant to be America's band. Brian and Dennis had shown they could have hits without us, but neither of them wanted The Beach Boys to just fade away. On top of all that, The Beatles are recording at Brother Studios! We'd gotten over the whole Beatles vs Beach Boys thing after Smile, but this time they're in our house! Bruce was busy producing other artists, but the rest of us were desperate to get recording again."
Carl Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"The thing that I think really spurred us on was that Brian had changed. He was dynamic again. All the psychiatrists had stopped him being so afraid, but we'd had ten years of Brian being kind of…in charge. Like Dennis said to me once, 'Those doctors gave us our brother back, but they gave us a big brother we'd never had before'. After going off to England and hanging out with McCartney, Brian came back relaxed and happy. He hadn't been that way since Pet Sounds. So, we thought we were in for a huge hit album."
Mike Love, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"On The Spirit, I was the one who was on at Brian about being commercial. Mike was fine with what we were doing because he was writing a lot of the lyrics. But it sounded bizarre to me. Every time I'd point out this was not the kind of thing that was in the charts, Brian would reply 'I've seen what's happening in England, things are changing'. If anyone joined in with my worries, Brian would just go down the hall, see if a Beatle was free, play them the latest mix and whichever Beatle it was would say 'That's amazing!'. So I'd be outvoted by a member of another band."
Al Jardine, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"It wasn't a flop. It didn't get to number 1, but it wasn't a flop. It was bit like Smile all over again. People rushed out to buy it, said 'What the hell is this?' and then a few months later all the British music press said 'This is what's happening' and it climbed back up the charts. It didn't hit the top like Smile did, but it hovered about the outside of the top ten for a loooooong time. I loved it. All our guys, our generation thought we blew it. I had like guys from the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac saying 'It's too bad man, sorry about what happened'. I just thought 'You just wait and see'. When the New Wave guys came over from England in the 80s, it wasn't Fleetwood Mac they wanted to meet. I know he's my brother but, never bet against Brian Wilson. He knows."
Dennis Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
"A lot of young fans say 'It's just like Pet Sounds, the music's great and the cover's terrible'. (laughs loudly)"
Brian Wilson, Classic Albums, BBC2 2006
Wow! Nice bicentennial album! When would Bruce leave the band before this album and come back again? Would Blondie and Ricky be involved in some capacity with the group if Dennis is to still injure his hand in 1972?
Dennis doesn't injure his hand, so no Blondie and Ricky in the band. I haven't come up with a scenario that was different enough from OTL for The Flame's album on Brother, so I've left that to one side.
Bruce has drifted away from the group due to their inactivity after Sunburst. Obviously, he's not going to miss an opportunity to drop by Brother Studios when The Beatles are there. He hasn't actually quit, but he's less attached to the group as he's been keeping busy producing, writing and performing elsewhere. This may change.
Bruce has drifted away from the group due to their inactivity after Sunburst. Obviously, he's not going to miss an opportunity to drop by Brother Studios when The Beatles are there. He hasn't actually quit, but he's less attached to the group as he's been keeping busy producing, writing and performing elsewhere. This may change.
Part 19 - The Beatles go solo
Russell Harty: Have The Beatles split up?
John Lennon: I hope not, we're having dinner tonight and I don't want to be stood up.
Harty: But you're all recording solo albums, that's not a good sign is it?
Lennon: We're still friends, but I think I can speak for the other guys when I say, we'd like to be something other than "The Beatles". At the end of last year, we got together to plan the
next project and spent the time jamming through our favourite rock 'n' roll numbers instead. It's too much. Being The Beatles just raises everybody's expectations. I can't face it, the others can't face it. We got lucky with Solid Boom, but right now, if you get all of us in a room together, we're going to mess around and be mates. Meeting the world's expectations is just going to spoil it all and I'd rather disappoint the world than lose my friends.
Harty: Paul was the first to go solo...
Lennon: Paul likes hard work, it's one of his best faults. The boring business side of it is that we're no longer under a contract that means we have to submit Beatles albums. So now we try being ourselves. We're all...I dunno. Can I say "masturbating" on ITV?
[Audience hilarity]
Lennon: Well, that's the last in the current series of The Russell Harty Show. Russell Harty is currently appearing in Her Maesty's Prison Parkhurst for the next 18 months in the cell next to John Lennon.
- Russell Harty, London Weekend Television, September 23rd 1977
Paul: I suppose as this is about the group, we're not going to talk about our solo albums.
John: Actually, there's one thing I've been meaning to ask for all these years and now seems as good a time as any. Why did you hide behind that name?
Paul: The Ernests?
John: Yeah.
Paul: I dunno. I'd done an album called Paul McCartney in 1975. I didn't think I could get away with an album called Paul McCartney II. Plus, I sort of still wanted to be in a band. I think I wanted to relive the early days a bit as well. There was a time when nobody really knew who the Beatles were, so I wanted to recapture some of that.
Ringo: A bit like your brother.
Paul: Yeah. He could have gone around being Mike McCartney, but instead he was Mike McGear. It didn't hide who he was, but it kind of broke that link. He was my brother and he had his own projects. He wasn't doing projects and letting the fact he was my brother do the publicity for him. So, everyone knew I was behind the Ernests, but it broke that link a bit.
Ringo: George, I think we should be offended.
Paul: No, it's fine. You do things your way.
George: I rather liked seeing my name in big type on an album cover.
John: Ringo had his name the biggest of all of us.
Ringo: That's 'cause I have the best name.
John: I think those first few solo albums show that we did the right thing. You can't make a Beatles album out of those albums, they're all too different. George's is epic and progressive. Mine's all funk and strut. Ringo's is lush easy-listening, very Radio 2. Paul's is like Ringo's performed by Kraftwerk.
Paul: Thanks. I think.
John: I love that album, it was useful a couple of years later when I was in a bad place. We're not going to go through all the solo albums are we? Please don't talk about my second solo album.
Paul: We have to talk about Ringo's fourth solo album.
Ringo: It's not a solo album, though, is it?
Paul: Your name on the cover. Them's the rules.
- Anthology (1995)
John Lennon: I hope not, we're having dinner tonight and I don't want to be stood up.
Harty: But you're all recording solo albums, that's not a good sign is it?
Lennon: We're still friends, but I think I can speak for the other guys when I say, we'd like to be something other than "The Beatles". At the end of last year, we got together to plan the
next project and spent the time jamming through our favourite rock 'n' roll numbers instead. It's too much. Being The Beatles just raises everybody's expectations. I can't face it, the others can't face it. We got lucky with Solid Boom, but right now, if you get all of us in a room together, we're going to mess around and be mates. Meeting the world's expectations is just going to spoil it all and I'd rather disappoint the world than lose my friends.
Harty: Paul was the first to go solo...
Lennon: Paul likes hard work, it's one of his best faults. The boring business side of it is that we're no longer under a contract that means we have to submit Beatles albums. So now we try being ourselves. We're all...I dunno. Can I say "masturbating" on ITV?
[Audience hilarity]
Lennon: Well, that's the last in the current series of The Russell Harty Show. Russell Harty is currently appearing in Her Maesty's Prison Parkhurst for the next 18 months in the cell next to John Lennon.
- Russell Harty, London Weekend Television, September 23rd 1977
Paul: I suppose as this is about the group, we're not going to talk about our solo albums.
John: Actually, there's one thing I've been meaning to ask for all these years and now seems as good a time as any. Why did you hide behind that name?
Paul: The Ernests?
John: Yeah.
Paul: I dunno. I'd done an album called Paul McCartney in 1975. I didn't think I could get away with an album called Paul McCartney II. Plus, I sort of still wanted to be in a band. I think I wanted to relive the early days a bit as well. There was a time when nobody really knew who the Beatles were, so I wanted to recapture some of that.
Ringo: A bit like your brother.
Paul: Yeah. He could have gone around being Mike McCartney, but instead he was Mike McGear. It didn't hide who he was, but it kind of broke that link. He was my brother and he had his own projects. He wasn't doing projects and letting the fact he was my brother do the publicity for him. So, everyone knew I was behind the Ernests, but it broke that link a bit.
Ringo: George, I think we should be offended.
Paul: No, it's fine. You do things your way.
George: I rather liked seeing my name in big type on an album cover.
John: Ringo had his name the biggest of all of us.
Ringo: That's 'cause I have the best name.
John: I think those first few solo albums show that we did the right thing. You can't make a Beatles album out of those albums, they're all too different. George's is epic and progressive. Mine's all funk and strut. Ringo's is lush easy-listening, very Radio 2. Paul's is like Ringo's performed by Kraftwerk.
Paul: Thanks. I think.
John: I love that album, it was useful a couple of years later when I was in a bad place. We're not going to go through all the solo albums are we? Please don't talk about my second solo album.
Paul: We have to talk about Ringo's fourth solo album.
Ringo: It's not a solo album, though, is it?
Paul: Your name on the cover. Them's the rules.
- Anthology (1995)
Another brilliant update once again! I should mention that I'm making my own personal notes/list of the albums released ITTL. So I must ask, when are the 4 above Beats solo albums released? And who would be in The Ernests with Paul, unless it's like the Blue Ridge Rangers and Paul is the only member? Thanks again!
I didn't have super-specific answers in mind, except the covers are in the order released John and George in 1977 and Paul and Ringo in 1978. For The Ernests, I'm thinking of something like maybe Laurence Juber and Steve Holley from the late 70s Wings. Perhaps Rick Price adding bass for some sessions when Paul wants to play something else or to double a part for that Brian Wilson touch. These straightforward sessions are then layered with keyboards by Paul and Linda. There's definitely a version of You Gave Me The Answer from OTL's Venus & Mars, but with production like Front Parlour from McCartney II laid over the top.
Part 20 - The Beach Boys - Our Team
THE BEACH BOYS - OUR TEAM (1979)
Side One
It's A Beautiful Day
Keepin' The Summer Alive
California Feelin'
She's Got Rhythm
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
It's Over Now
Side Two
Going To The Beach
Our Team
Honkin' Down The Highway '79
Goin' On
Almost Summer
Winds Of Change
"Looking back, it feels like the worst thing we could have done. At the time, it seemed like the only option."
- Carl Wilson
"We couldn't agree on what sort of album we should do. So instead of doing an album some of us would love and some of us would hate, we did an album none of us cared about. Figures it would be a big hit."
- Al Jardine
"Al and Mike wanted to do something spiritual about TM, which didn't fly with Carl and Dennis. Carl wanted a polished, adult contemporary rock sound and Dennis wanted to keep going where they'd left off with The Spirit. Brian felt that as he'd failed to deliver a hit with The Spirit, he was no longer in a position to tell them what to do. Brian called me and asked me to produce with just the instruction 'be commercial'."
- Bruce Johnston
"Say what you like about The Spirit, Brian really thought that was the album people wanted to hear from The Beach Boys. After that, you had Mike, Al, Carl and me all pitching albums we wanted to hear ourselves. Brian, had another vision of what people wanted from The Beach Boys and got Bruce to deliver that for him. And he was right, it was a big hit, but Jesus, it was not the right thing to do in the long term. Summer and fun and beaches and fun and summer. We knew that was going to torpedo any credibility we had. So we all turned on one another. We'd argued when we hadn't had a hit and we argued when we did have a hit.
"One thing they all agreed on. Something had to be done about me or I'd be dead soon."
- Dennis Wilson
Side One
It's A Beautiful Day
Keepin' The Summer Alive
California Feelin'
She's Got Rhythm
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
It's Over Now
Side Two
Going To The Beach
Our Team
Honkin' Down The Highway '79
Goin' On
Almost Summer
Winds Of Change
"Looking back, it feels like the worst thing we could have done. At the time, it seemed like the only option."
- Carl Wilson
"We couldn't agree on what sort of album we should do. So instead of doing an album some of us would love and some of us would hate, we did an album none of us cared about. Figures it would be a big hit."
- Al Jardine
"Al and Mike wanted to do something spiritual about TM, which didn't fly with Carl and Dennis. Carl wanted a polished, adult contemporary rock sound and Dennis wanted to keep going where they'd left off with The Spirit. Brian felt that as he'd failed to deliver a hit with The Spirit, he was no longer in a position to tell them what to do. Brian called me and asked me to produce with just the instruction 'be commercial'."
- Bruce Johnston
"Say what you like about The Spirit, Brian really thought that was the album people wanted to hear from The Beach Boys. After that, you had Mike, Al, Carl and me all pitching albums we wanted to hear ourselves. Brian, had another vision of what people wanted from The Beach Boys and got Bruce to deliver that for him. And he was right, it was a big hit, but Jesus, it was not the right thing to do in the long term. Summer and fun and beaches and fun and summer. We knew that was going to torpedo any credibility we had. So we all turned on one another. We'd argued when we hadn't had a hit and we argued when we did have a hit.
"One thing they all agreed on. Something had to be done about me or I'd be dead soon."
- Dennis Wilson
Part 21 - The Beach Boys - LA Blue
"If he's here, I'm not."
- Brian Wilson is introduced to Eugene Landy, Brother Studios, 1979
THE BEACH BOYS - L.A. BLUE (1980)
Side One
Good Timin'
Lady Lynda
Full Sail
Angel Come Home
Love Surrounds Me
Side Two
It's Not Too Late
Are You Real
Baby Blue
Goin' South
Cocktails
"What happened during LA Blue? I'd fallen out with Mike and Al. They had problems with Brian ever since they got into meditation and he kept saying therapy was better. Carl wanted me to stop taking drugs and got me a psychiatrist. Brian fell out with Carl when he said Carl's guy wasn't a proper psychiatrist and wanted me to speak to his psychiatrist. I didn't want to do that so I fell out with Brian. The Beach Boys didn't split, it's just that Bruce was the only member of the group by the end. He finished the album and then quit. For some reason, we thought we could play live while all hating each other. That's what happened."
- Dennis Wilson, Great Rock & Roll Bustups, VH1 1995
The uneasy peace which had held The Beach Boys together throughout the 1970s finally collapsed at the end of the decade; this led to an event that, years earlier, had been considered impossible – a Beach Boys album featuring minimal involvement from Brian Wilson.
Upon its release, L.A. Blue proved a modest critical success and an outright commercial hit; however, the band could not fully capitalize on their success. When the group's various factions finally agreed to tour – minus the eldest Wilson – the album was already sliding down the charts.
The belated shows were a lacklustre affair which failed to revive interest in L.A. Blue; an altercation that brought the New York show – and, indeed, the whole tour – to a premature close was initially viewed as the humiliating finale to a great legacy.
In fact, it would prove to be – as Carl Wilson phrased it – 'the storm before the calm'.
- Andrew Barbicane
- Brian Wilson is introduced to Eugene Landy, Brother Studios, 1979
THE BEACH BOYS - L.A. BLUE (1980)
Side One
Good Timin'
Lady Lynda
Full Sail
Angel Come Home
Love Surrounds Me
Side Two
It's Not Too Late
Are You Real
Baby Blue
Goin' South
Cocktails
"What happened during LA Blue? I'd fallen out with Mike and Al. They had problems with Brian ever since they got into meditation and he kept saying therapy was better. Carl wanted me to stop taking drugs and got me a psychiatrist. Brian fell out with Carl when he said Carl's guy wasn't a proper psychiatrist and wanted me to speak to his psychiatrist. I didn't want to do that so I fell out with Brian. The Beach Boys didn't split, it's just that Bruce was the only member of the group by the end. He finished the album and then quit. For some reason, we thought we could play live while all hating each other. That's what happened."
- Dennis Wilson, Great Rock & Roll Bustups, VH1 1995
The uneasy peace which had held The Beach Boys together throughout the 1970s finally collapsed at the end of the decade; this led to an event that, years earlier, had been considered impossible – a Beach Boys album featuring minimal involvement from Brian Wilson.
Upon its release, L.A. Blue proved a modest critical success and an outright commercial hit; however, the band could not fully capitalize on their success. When the group's various factions finally agreed to tour – minus the eldest Wilson – the album was already sliding down the charts.
The belated shows were a lacklustre affair which failed to revive interest in L.A. Blue; an altercation that brought the New York show – and, indeed, the whole tour – to a premature close was initially viewed as the humiliating finale to a great legacy.
In fact, it would prove to be – as Carl Wilson phrased it – 'the storm before the calm'.
- Andrew Barbicane
Is this "Child Is Father Of The Man" parallel to Surf's Up or is it similar to the 2011 version of CIFOTM, unless it has extra lyrics (like the 2004 version)?
Part 22 - Ringo Starr - Almost Completely Unassisted
John: That's enough, let's skip the other solo albums. Cut to the chase. The 1981 summit meeting.
Paul: We signed some papers, ate some pizza and decided to leave things more or less as they were. What happened next was Ringo's fault.
Ringo: It was your idea, Macca!
Paul: You started it.
George: He's right. Ringo's a nice guy, but truth be told, he's a bit of a Beatles fan on the quiet. Fatal, that. Having a fan in the band.
Ringo: All I said was "are we going to do another Beatles album?".
John: All? All? That's more than enough. That's a nuclear question, Rich. You should have waited until the rest of us had gone home and then asked.
Ringo: Anyway, Paul had a plan.
All: PAUL ALWAYS HAS A PLAN!
Paul: We'd all chipped in on Ringo's solo albums before, so I just thought why not do it again. If Ringo wanted to be in a band with us, then we'd be his band. It got around the Beatle problem.
RINGO STARR* - ALMOST COMPLETELY UNASSISTED
*featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as "Pippin The Wonder Dog"
All songs credited to Starkey/Harrison/Lennon/McCartney
Side One
Real Love
All Those Years Ago
Nobody Told Me
Ballroom Dancing
Mr H Atom
Somebody Had To Say It
Side Two
I Really Love You
Drumming Is My Madness
It's My Carnival
I Don't Wanna Face It
Wanderlust
Free As A Bird
John: Kind of backfired, didn't it?
Ringo: How?
John: It was just meant to be a way for us to work together and it ended up making us relevant. Somehow, we allowed a single to be released from it and making a music video for it sounded like fun and got us off the hook for promoting it.
Ringo: Took ages, that. All that standing and stopping, whatever you call it.
John: Pixilation. We brought in these animators and it got kind of elaborate. [1] MTV wouldn't stop showing the thing. A bunch of 40-year-old Beatles and we were relevant again.
George: I was only 39.
John: Sometimes, it's very hard to like you, Harrison.
[1] Basically, The Beatles have become the OK Go of the early 80s.
Paul: We signed some papers, ate some pizza and decided to leave things more or less as they were. What happened next was Ringo's fault.
Ringo: It was your idea, Macca!
Paul: You started it.
George: He's right. Ringo's a nice guy, but truth be told, he's a bit of a Beatles fan on the quiet. Fatal, that. Having a fan in the band.
Ringo: All I said was "are we going to do another Beatles album?".
John: All? All? That's more than enough. That's a nuclear question, Rich. You should have waited until the rest of us had gone home and then asked.
Ringo: Anyway, Paul had a plan.
All: PAUL ALWAYS HAS A PLAN!
Paul: We'd all chipped in on Ringo's solo albums before, so I just thought why not do it again. If Ringo wanted to be in a band with us, then we'd be his band. It got around the Beatle problem.
RINGO STARR* - ALMOST COMPLETELY UNASSISTED
*featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as "Pippin The Wonder Dog"
All songs credited to Starkey/Harrison/Lennon/McCartney
Side One
Real Love
All Those Years Ago
Nobody Told Me
Ballroom Dancing
Mr H Atom
Somebody Had To Say It
Side Two
I Really Love You
Drumming Is My Madness
It's My Carnival
I Don't Wanna Face It
Wanderlust
Free As A Bird
John: Kind of backfired, didn't it?
Ringo: How?
John: It was just meant to be a way for us to work together and it ended up making us relevant. Somehow, we allowed a single to be released from it and making a music video for it sounded like fun and got us off the hook for promoting it.
Ringo: Took ages, that. All that standing and stopping, whatever you call it.
John: Pixilation. We brought in these animators and it got kind of elaborate. [1] MTV wouldn't stop showing the thing. A bunch of 40-year-old Beatles and we were relevant again.
George: I was only 39.
John: Sometimes, it's very hard to like you, Harrison.
[1] Basically, The Beatles have become the OK Go of the early 80s.
Great to see this back! Wonder how their solo careers would have been from 78-80? Does "Somebody Had To Say It" have an OTL musical equivalent? I'm assuming Ringo would sing lead on every track?
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Ringo does sing lead on every track. Somebody Had To Say doesn't have an OTL analogue as it's written about Ringo blurting out "are we going to do another Beatles album?" at the meeting.
The reason I didn't do the solo albums is that I felt I'd just be doing playlists of solo tracks and slapping a Photoshop cover on them. I didn't think that would tell much of a story. I do have an unused cover for TTL's equivalent to McCartney II.
There are two more parts to post and after that I might just end there.
The reason I didn't do the solo albums is that I felt I'd just be doing playlists of solo tracks and slapping a Photoshop cover on them. I didn't think that would tell much of a story. I do have an unused cover for TTL's equivalent to McCartney II.
There are two more parts to post and after that I might just end there.
Part 23 - Elvis Presley - Stubborn
ELVIS PRESLEY - STUBBORN (1982)
Side One
I Love You (Chris White)
Dragon Attack (Brian May)
Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down (Andy Partridge)
Misirlou (Nick Roubanis)
Sympathy (Rare Bird)
Alison (Elvis Costello)
Side Two
Bogey Music (Paul McCartney)
Tempted (Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford)
Listen To The Band (Michael Nesmith)
Whole Wide World (Eric Goulden)
The Eagle And Me (Harold Arlen and EY Harburg)
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, And Understanding (Nick Lowe) [1]
"Originally, it wasn't going to be called 'Stubborn' it was going to be called 'Stubborn Old Man'. Elvis got called that more than once during the making of this and he started to wear it as a badge of pride. For a start, he wouldn't treat it like a comeback. As far as he was concerned, he was within his rights to not release an album for four years and come straight back as King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis wasn't bound by the usual rules. If he needed time to get his affairs in order and mourn his father, that's what he'd do and the world could just wait for him.
The label had all these ideas for relaunching him for the 80s. Some of us gave him this Queen album and told him 'there's a song on there that's meant for you'. He agreed, but we wanted him to do Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Elvis said 'That's someone trying to sound like me. I already sound like me. I don't need help'. End of discussion. Elvis didn't care what we said was cool. Every step of the way he looked at our suggestions and did something else. The only thing we could do was talk him out of calling the album 'Stubborn Old Man'."
- Jerry Schilling, Elvis Presley's manager from 1979 on
"Stubborn old man is what the label called him. I had no problem at all with him. He was eager to work and always gave his best. He didn't always make the obvious choices, but I was able to introduce him to some New Wave stuff and broker a peace between him and the other Elvis.
The secret was not to tell him not to do something. He had a list of songs he wanted to do and the label fought him on it. I didn't and so he was open to recording some of the more up to date stuff. Even then, he would make interesting choices, like covering one of XTC's flops.
The fact is, if Elvis sings a song he really wants to sing, it'll be amazing. It doesn't matter if it's the cool choice. He'll make it work."
- Nick Lowe, producer of Stubborn
Side One
I Love You (Chris White)
Dragon Attack (Brian May)
Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down (Andy Partridge)
Misirlou (Nick Roubanis)
Sympathy (Rare Bird)
Alison (Elvis Costello)
Side Two
Bogey Music (Paul McCartney)
Tempted (Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford)
Listen To The Band (Michael Nesmith)
Whole Wide World (Eric Goulden)
The Eagle And Me (Harold Arlen and EY Harburg)
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, And Understanding (Nick Lowe) [1]
"Originally, it wasn't going to be called 'Stubborn' it was going to be called 'Stubborn Old Man'. Elvis got called that more than once during the making of this and he started to wear it as a badge of pride. For a start, he wouldn't treat it like a comeback. As far as he was concerned, he was within his rights to not release an album for four years and come straight back as King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis wasn't bound by the usual rules. If he needed time to get his affairs in order and mourn his father, that's what he'd do and the world could just wait for him.
The label had all these ideas for relaunching him for the 80s. Some of us gave him this Queen album and told him 'there's a song on there that's meant for you'. He agreed, but we wanted him to do Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Elvis said 'That's someone trying to sound like me. I already sound like me. I don't need help'. End of discussion. Elvis didn't care what we said was cool. Every step of the way he looked at our suggestions and did something else. The only thing we could do was talk him out of calling the album 'Stubborn Old Man'."
- Jerry Schilling, Elvis Presley's manager from 1979 on
"Stubborn old man is what the label called him. I had no problem at all with him. He was eager to work and always gave his best. He didn't always make the obvious choices, but I was able to introduce him to some New Wave stuff and broker a peace between him and the other Elvis.
The secret was not to tell him not to do something. He had a list of songs he wanted to do and the label fought him on it. I didn't and so he was open to recording some of the more up to date stuff. Even then, he would make interesting choices, like covering one of XTC's flops.
The fact is, if Elvis sings a song he really wants to sing, it'll be amazing. It doesn't matter if it's the cool choice. He'll make it work."
- Nick Lowe, producer of Stubborn
Really cool! So are you going to go into how Elvis lived? Does he go back into acting?