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Dennis Wilson
07/03/08
I am currently weeping to ‘End Of The Road’ from ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ by Dennis Wilson. If anyone can find a lusher song in this world, show me it please. He sounds completely out of it, hardly pronouncing certain words, but his singing is beautiful and the arrangement is heart-stoppingly vast. I know the record’s been out of print for a while – check it out below.
Listen at Myspace (titled End Of The Show, the same tune) Album at Amazon
Pacific Ocean Blue is Dennis Wilson’s only ‘proper’ solo album, released in 1977. After several attempts, starting in 1970, to release his own project – some of which made it to the finished album – Dennis recorded the bulk of Pacific Ocean Blue in the months spanning the fall of 1976 to the following spring. Dennis became the first member of The Beach Boys to undertake a solo project. Released in August 1977, Pacific Ocean Blue received glowing reviews for its depth and emotion and performed encouragingly in the U.S. charts.
It is also notable that Dennis’ hard living had begun affecting his singing. This actually seemed to work in Dennis’ favour and he delivered grainy and cracked, soulful vocals that gave added weight to every word he sang. Dennis played almost all of the instruments himself, (his unique piano style is especially notable) and he wrote all the songs, (although a few others – including Carl Wilson & Mike Love – share songwriting credits) making the album intensely personal.
On it’s release Pacific Ocean Blue matched the current Beach Boys album ‘Love You’ in sales, but Dennis fell out of love with it quite quickly & it was out of print within a year. Nowadays copies of the extremely rare CD sell for over $200. Due to current disagreements over copyright ownership, the album is still awaiting fresh remastering and re-release, which is a shame, because everybody should be able to hear this wonderful music. This masterpiece, alongside his pioneering work with The Beach Boys, remains a focal point of Dennis Wilson’s legacy.