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Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"

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Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" is the 18th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 15, 1972. The album is frequently considered a transitional album for the band, with the addition of Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar on guitar and drums, respectively, and long-time member Bruce Johnston departing during its initial sessions.

The initial American pressings of the album included the band's 1966 studio album, Pet Sounds, as a bonus record. It has been speculated that Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" was either scheduled to be released, or re-released, as a single album. A Warner/Reprise catalogue number, MS 2090, had been assigned to this single disc release, but nothing came of it. The album was released as a standalone album in Europe on Reprise Records.

Carl and the Passions was Brian Wilson and Mike Love's high school band. This was the first album released under a new deal with Warner Bros. that allowed the company to distribute all future Beach Boys product in foreign as well as domestic markets.

Background

In 1971, Carl Wilson, who served as the group's de facto musical director at this time, decided to spice up the structure of The Beach Boys by hiring third guitarist Blondie Chaplin, whose soulful singing brought a strong R&B element into the band's sound. Drummer and singer-songwriter Ricky Fataar also joined at this time, as Dennis Wilson had suffered a debilitating hand accident. Both South Africans, Blondie and Ricky were discovered by Carl while playing in seminal South African band the Flames in London, c. 1969. The album sees the Beach Boys entering a period of roots-based rock.

Not long after the sessions began, Bruce Johnston had a falling out with manager Jack Rieley and left the band. Conflicting reports state that Johnston either quit or was fired. According to Johnston, he quit because he was unenthusiastic about Rieley's suggestion that the group adopt a hard rock approach and felt that Brian Wilson's prolonged lack of involvement had resulted in declining artistic quality. However, Rieley claims he fired Johnston, both to prevent him from voting in the group's democratic processes and because of the supposed disrespect and contempt Johnston was showing Brian Wilson at the time. Johnston's main writing contribution, an early version of "Endless Harmony" entitled "Ten Years of Harmony", was re-recorded and eventually released in 1980 on Keepin' the Summer Alive. Johnston has said that his only musical contribution on the released album is as a background vocalist on "Marcella".[citation needed]

Music

Brian Wilson sporadically contributed to the album's sessions, distracted by the production and promotion of the debut album of American Spring titled Spring. The extent of his contributions for Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" were his collaboration on the writing of three songs and the recording of both vocal and instrumental tracks. Two songs were written and sung by Fataar and Chaplin. Dennis Wilson also contributed two songs which he wrote with Daryl Dragon, hinting towards the sound of his solo debut album, Pacific Ocean Blue. Other songwriting contributions came from Jack Rieley (two co-credits), Alan Jardine (two co-credits), Mike Love (two co-credits), Tandyn Almer (one co-credit) and Carl Wilson (one co-credit).[citation needed]

This LP was mixed for Quadraphonic reproduction (also compatible with stereo).[citation needed] It was to be played back using the now long-extinct Dynaco or EV Stereo-4 decoders,[1][page needed] or later, using the "360Surround" matrix decoder built by Stephen Desper and previously included with purchases of his limited-edition book Recording the Beach Boys.[2] However, the recording (LP or CD) can be played back in Quad by most of today's audio-video receivers. The surround sound information can be extracted using the Dolby Pro Logic setting, albeit imperfectly, due to the different matrix coefficients.[citation needed]

Reception

Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" met with moderate commercial success upon release, reaching number 25 in the UK and number 50 in the US.

Stephen Davis in a contemporary review in Rolling Stone felt that only four of the tracks were "acceptable", and that Brian Wilson's lack of genuine involvement hurt the album.[3]

It was reviewed favourably in The San Diego Door.[4] And unfavourably by Robert Christgau.[5]

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Blender[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
MusicHound3/5[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

English Britpop band Saint Etienne used the title So Tough for their 1993 album as an homage to the Beach Boys. Likewise, they also named their compilation of the same year, You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone, after the Beach Boys song.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone"Brian Wilson/Jack RieleyCarl Wilson3:27
2."Here She Comes"Ricky Fataar/Blondie ChaplinFataar/Chaplin5:10
3."He Come Down"Al Jardine/B. Wilson/Mike LoveLove/Chaplin/Jardine/C. Wilson4:41
4."Marcella"B. Wilson/Tandyn Almer/RieleyC. Wilson/Love3:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Hold On Dear Brother"Fataar/ChaplinChaplin4:43
2."Make It Good"Dennis Wilson/Daryl DragonD. Wilson2:36
3."All This Is That"Jardine/Carl Wilson/LoveC. Wilson/Jardine/Love4:00
4."Cuddle Up"D. Wilson/DragonD. Wilson5:30

Track notes per 2000 liner notes.[11]

Personnel

Partial credits per Scott McCaughey and 2000 liner notes,[11] except where otherwise noted.

The Beach Boys
Session musicians and production staff

Charts

Albums
Year Chart Position
1972 UK Top 40 Album Chart 25
1972 US Billboard 200 Albums Chart 50
US Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1972 "Marcella" US Billboard Singles Chart 110

Chart information courtesy of Allmusic and other music databases.[12]

Bibliography

  • Desper, Stephen W. (2002). Recording the Beach Boys. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

References

  1. ^ Desper 2002.
  2. ^ "RECORDING THE BEACH BOYS by Stephen W. Desper: book ordering info". 2002. Archived from the original on 2005-12-18. Retrieved 2016-06-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Stephen Davis (June 22, 1972). "The Beach Boys: Carl And The Passions: So Tough". rollingstone.com.
  4. ^ Crowe, Cameron (1972-06-22). Review: The Beach Boys - Carl and the Passions-So Tough. The San Diego Door. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  5. ^ "CG: beach boys". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  6. ^ Bush, John (1972-05-15). "Carl and the Passions - So Tough - The Beach Boys : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  7. ^ Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Carl and the Passions: So Tough/Holland". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  9. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 84. ISBN 1-57859-061-2. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 46. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ a b McCaughey, Scott (2000). Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" / Holland (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  12. ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". EveryHit. Archived from the original on 2007-07-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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