Carl and the Passions

Carl Wilson was now leading the proceedings, as "musical director", and, with Brian Wilson's contributions becoming less frequent and more erratic he hired Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar to join the line-up. The result was an experimental, in parts most enjoyable, but often overlooked album.TRACK LISTING1. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone2. Here She Comes3. He Come Down4. Marcella5. Hold On Dear Brother6. Make It Good7. All This Is That8. Cuddle UpElton John loves this underrated album from 1972 and its not hard to understand why. "You Need A Mess Of help To Stand Alone" has that upbeat, bluesy but driving rocky sound that Elton John loved throughout the 70s. Add to that some Beach boys harmony and you have something worth listening to."Here She Comes" has a truly intoxicating bass, drums and jazzy Elton-style piano intro and a thumping jazz rock feel all through it. Vocalist Ricky Fataar’s voice is a bit weak though, to be honest. This track sounds an awful lot like The Band. "He Come Down" features many assorted Beach boys members on vocals (Carl, Mike Love, Al Jardine, as well as Blondie Chaplin) and the harmonies are predictably great in this, at times, gospelly rumination about religion, God and gurus and the like."Marcella" was probably the most “typical” Beach Boys track - summery, trademark harmonies, catchy hook, about a girl and so on. Just an uplifting song."Hold On Dear Brother" is a song that you could see would have appealed to Elton John - although it sounds like stuff he recorded himself in the two previous years, so who influenced who? "Make It Good" is a couple of minutes of vocal harmony "filler" that is a bit of a waste, but "All This Is That" is a wonderful return to quality. Beautiful ambience, marvellous vocals another great song of summer. It should deservedly be on any “best of” compilation.Dennis Wilson’s vocal on the plaintive, somewhat over orchestrated "Cuddle Up" is an interesting end to the album. Something of an experimental track but certainly with its beautiful moments, especially the piano and strings, and when the harmonies come quietly in at the end it is quite spine tingling.As with all Beach Boys' seventies and beyond product, it falls short when compared with a lot of their sixties work, but taken away from that context, it is not a bad album.

This has some first class tracks Marcella, hold on dear brother, all this is that to name three of my favourites. Whilst I have been acquiring a number of Analogue Productions Beach Boys albums, Carl and the Passions isn't in this range (neither 20/20 or Friends) but there does appear a pressing issue with Carl and the Passions sounding like vocal distortion on a couple of tracks (NOT miss-tracking) and having previously returned my first pressing to the supplier I tried this through Amazon. Whilst this contains the same type of distortion this is less noticeable and is in slightly different place so whilst I would have returned this one music so good decided to keep it with the view that they will all be like this.

I was totally blown away with this album......I know not many will agree, but thought it was the best work from the Beach Boys since Pet Sounds, I could not fault any track on "So Tough".....The last three tracks reducing me to tears....Dennis Wilson's soulful voice, leaving his heart open for all to see, asking to "Make it Good" and "Cuddle Up"...with "All this is That" sandwich between them, allowing the listener to admire Carl Wilson's amazing voice, accompanied by Mike Love, who I must admit, i'm not overly keen on, is pure genius! My only complaint is the CD's..which are labelled the wrong way round...ie:- Holland is actually Carl and the Passions and visa versa!

This double cd was cheaper than Holland by itself. The first 9 tracks on Holland are very good indeed. The early 70's sound of the beach Boys. BUT whats the rubbish Fairy Tale spoken word nonesence on the last part of the disc got to do with anything ?? Carl and Passion, which I didnt know is a surprise and very good on first hearing. A great package, if one ignores the Fairy Tale section on Holland.

Shame the contents on the Cds are the wrong way round and there are some stuttering false starts here and there

I bought the original vinyl album when it was first released in 1972 and I have always loved it. Some great music on it, personally I think it is a very underrated album that was sandwiched in between the classic Beach Boy releases 'Surfs Up' (1971) and 'Holland' (1973).

An old album but 👍great to do the ironing to.

"Holland" was one of those vinyl albums from my boyhood memories that I've long wanted to get back on CD. I am pleased to report that this digitally-remastered version sounds as fresh and as enchanting as ever I remember. I have never heard "So Tough" until now, but with its endorsements by Elton John and Amazon Reviewers, I am looking forward to the added bonus of some mostly new (apart from Marcella) songs to get to know and love.

I rediscovered my Holland album , lp , a little worn. forgot how much I loved this album. A radical departure for the beach Boys (minus Brian Wilson)It was very ,very expensive on cd ,until I discovered this ,Carl and The Passions, complete Holland ( remastered).Actually 2 albums So Tough + Holland. I've yet to get into So Tough so its a bonus for me.Holland ,soulful , deep.easy listen..very addictive.I reversed the liner so the original Holland is all you see..........awesome so happy

as I say this double is worth it for Holland: Sail on Sailor, Trader, Leaving this Town Only with you and California Saga are exceptional songs and the singing is sublime.(don't expect Surfin' Safari though) this is far better IMO

Great.

Certte réédition vaut surtout le coup pour la réédition intégrale de "Holland" (album et single 6 titres), un album splendide.

Sans problêmes

７２年の「Carl & The Passions - So Tough」と７３年の「Holland」のカップリングＣＤ２枚組、２０００年リマスター盤。ベース、ギターのブロンディ・チャプリン、ドラムのリッキー・ファターを正式メンバーに迎えた「Carl & The Passions - So Tough」、地味ではありますが、リズムがファンキーなＤ２「Here She Comes」、コーラスが素晴らしく間奏のギターの音色も良い「Marcella」(ブライアンのスマイル・ツアーでも演奏してくれたと思う)、エレピの音が心地良いＤ７「All This Is That」(２００７年のベスト盤「the warmth of the sun」に収録されていた）、ストリングスが美しく壮大なデニスのＤ６「Make It Good」、Ｄ８「Cuddle Up」など聴き所は多いです。ブライアン色が最も希薄な作品ですが、たとえヒット性は少なくともアルバムの音の不思議な透明感が良い感じの「Carl & The Passions - So Tough」なのです！ディスク２「Holland」は、ボーカルをブロンディがとった大好きなＤ１「Sail On, Sailor」(ブライアンのスマイル・ツアー第一部のラストだった)、Ｄ３・Ｄ４・Ｄ５は、アルのカリフォルニア・サーガ３部作、ブラザー時代のベスト「テン・イヤーズ・ハーモニー」にも収録されていたカールの名作「The Trader」あたりがＧＯＯＤ！Ｄ１０からＤ１５は、ブライアンの御伽噺「MT.VERNON AND FAIRWAY」。語りはブライアン。２枚組でお安いので、ビーチボーイズのメモリアルな２０１２年、おすすめいたします。

最近ビーチボーイズを聞き始めた。こどもの頃はすでに過去の人って感じで「サーフィンUSA」の人達って印象だったけど、特に後期の音楽は全く違う。しっかり楽器等が構成されていて、ヘッドホンで聞くと各々の個性がよくわかる。ただ残念だことに周りにビーチボーイズに詳しい人がいないので、このアルバムの位置づけがよくわからない...勉強不足を痛感してます。

New to the Beach Boys, I discovered with big surprise this 1974 album which Capitol presents with the 1973 "Holland" album.I suggest strongly to buy it to get the very feeling of the 70s sound from one of the greatest band in the world.

The Beach Boys were spinning wildly into total irrelevance by the early 70's despite putting out excellent albums like Surf's up and the critically acclaimed Sunflower (which only reached 151 on the album charts). It's always been a fact that popular music since the recording era began is not just about artistry, but involves style, fashion and change for its own sake, and The Beach Boys, whose very name harkened back to the sunny days of the Kennedy era, had already had an extraordinarily long run and were perceived as long past their due date. Time and again throughout the 60's and 70's performers showed they could adapt to new trends and put out material more up to date only to be discarded anyway like last year's clothes. The Beach Boys were caught in this cycle.Something needed to be done, particularly since Brian Wilson was becoming ever more remote and erratic. In several strokes of good fortune, Carl Wilson took over leadership of the group, a new and very involved manager was found in Jack Rieley, and two new members were added to the group with Rickey Fataar (drums) and Blondie Chaplin (guitar) with both also doing vocals and composing. Long time Beach Boy Bruce Johnston also left the group sat this time, so this was a total shakeup of the group. What they seem to have wanted was to become a rock band, like many other rock bands playing all the indoor and outdoor concerts of the time, and not an oldies jukebox or only a creation of studio engineers.These two albums document this time perfectly with the relative uneven mix of Carl & the Passions and then the coming together with a cohesive Holland album. Carl & the Passions "So Tough" is pretty much disregarded by absolutely everyone, and though its mixed bag contents never come together as an album, it still has interesting parts. It begins with Brian practically screaming at you You Need a Mess of Help To Stand Alone, then settles into Ricky and Blondie's first contribution to the group, Here She Comes, which is good, but sounds more like Traffic than the Beach Boys. Marcella is the one truly identifiable Beach Boys song here, full of complex harmonies. Side two is dominated by Dennis Wilson's two tracks, which seem to be from another album altogether. Dennis was more of a singer-songwriter of the very personal type, communicating his feelings directly to you almost soul to soul in a way that is totally different than the group's usual pop-songwriter sensibility. This difference is amplified by the addition of strings by Daryl Dragon which almost puts them into Moody Blues territory. A crazy mix of things here, but most of them interesting on their own even if they don't add up to much together. It's the group in transition, scrambling for relevance in a new era.But what was with that"Carl & the Passions, So Tough" title and cover, anyway? It always threw me. Yes, I know It was an old group of Carl's, but the few people I knew who were even aware of the album's existence simply assumed the Beach Boys had gone back to doing car songs, maybe some kind of Sha-Na Na kind of thing. One of the most misleading cover/titles of all time.Seeing that the group had to somehow bond together, Rieley had the inspired idea to bring the whole group (minus Brian most of the time) to Holland for a real change of scenery and it totally worked. They produced the album so named, and it was the cohesive work of a band that sounded like a band, with one memorable song after another, and one of the best albums of their long career, certainly far better than any band so late in their career would usually ever be able to put out.Brian is right there in the opening song, Sail On Sailor, one of his masterpieces., that draws you immediately into the album. Jack Rielly is present too, more than a manager, as lyricist in a number of the songs. His thing was to make the group relevant through more social commentary in their songs, most evident in The Trader, a critique of the colonial era (which had only ended in the late 50's), and which avoids stridency in favor of lyricism and even settles into a mellow ending. Ricky and Blondie's contribution, Leaving This Town, is this time totally integrated with the sound of the rest of the album and contains the surprise of a lengthy Moog-synthesizer bridge both eerie and mysterious.The large scale work of the album is the California Saga, and even in Holland the Beach Boys are going to write about California because they are, after all, the Beach Boys. Actually, Mike Love had composed Big Sur earlier, but it's seamlessly worked in with a beautiful countryish arrangement evocative of Harvest with distant guitars and close up harmonica, very warm and glowing and a sincere tribute to its title. The Beaks of Eagles has always given some people problems. It's unusual to encounter spoken word in a rock album, especially poetry, and this tends to make it sound pretentious. On top of that in the current age of irony, anything spoken this sincerely can be taken almost humorously. Then on top of that, this is by Robinson Jeffers, an early 20th century poet given to making grand, prophetic announcements as if he'd just come down from the mountaintop, and a fan of Nietzche who despised the self-centerdness of humanity. Pretty heavy, indeed. But I respect its sincerity, and what it says is still essentially true. It works within this unique song suite. California Saga ends with the buoyant California, an ode to the group's legendary habitat, the West Coast and the ocean with all its water.All in all, a stunning album, and one that began to bring the band back to the public which they would reconquer with the double-live album that showed the world how great a band they really were. Endless Summer would turn them back towards their classic Sixties singles (which they had never totally abandoned) but they had this one great moment when it all came together for them in an album that contained everything they were eall about.The bonus is one of the oddest curios of the rock era, Brian's Mount Vernon and Fairway, which was included with Holland on a separate seven-inch record. Meant to conjure up the magic of listening to the radio at night as a boy, it fails on every level and at best seems like a sketch to be worked on. That Brian essentially split from the group in a rage over their failure to want to make it the centerpiece of their new album is a sad testimonial to his mental state at the time. That it was included as a separate record (in an era when albums didn't have bonuses) is a tribute to the respect the label had for him as well as the love of his band mates.

These two albums are tough to rate. This is especially true of Carl and the Passions. The last two songs on this albums are so good that it would hardly matter if the rest of the album was rubbish. Tracks 1-4 are pleasant enough, but there is little of the magic that was found on the albums"Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" Track 5, "Hold On Dear Brother" is a soul-tinged dirge that simply does not work with this band. Things get slightly interesting with "Make It Good", a song apparently lacking in any structure but with some excellent harmonies more like what we expect from Wilson and Co.The next song, "All This Is That" is almost enough by itself to justify the purchase of the package. Co-written by Carl, who also wrote "Feel Flows" from the previous album, this hypnotic stream-of-consciousness piece demonstrates once again that there was more than one musical genius among the Wilson brothers. And as if to reinforce the point, Dennis Wilson contributes the glorious closing track "Cuddle Up", a song that starts out sounding a little like his earlier song "Forever", but becomes majestic and emotional, and leaves one feeling that the album is not that bad after all."Holland" is a similarly uneven album. "Sail On, Sailor", is a classic,and deservedly so; "Steamboat" is slightly reminiscent of "Roll Plymouth Rock" from the Smile suite; "Leaving This Town" evokes memories of "Long Promised Road" from the Surf's Up album. Carl's"The Trader" is another highlight. I am more ambivalent about the 3-part "California Saga". Parts 1 and 3 are musically fairly trivial,; Part 2, the spoken-word "The Beaks of Eagles" is nice, but being spoken-word I imagine it will pall on repeated listening.As for the "bonus" inclusion,"Mt Vernon and Fairway: A Fairy Tale", which is exactly what the name suggests, a spoken modern-day fairy tale with musical accompaniment, I could have done without it. The repeated reference to a "transistor radio" is annoying; there was only a very short period in the 1960s when portable radios were given this appellation, and while it's hardly the writer's fault that the term has slipped out of use, it makes the whole thing sound terribly dated. Annoyingly, the accompaniment to this story contains some of the best music on the album, which is a waste as I will rarely listen to it again.Despite my 3-star rating, this package is worth getting for the good bits.

The naysayers are wrong. These two albums are not just curiosities; they contain some of the best music of the Beach Boys' career. Had the band maintained the momentum that carried them through these two transformational albums, who knows what great work they could have left us from the 1970's.The Beach Boys had already been around for over a decade and all the hit singles about cars and surfing, then the glories of TODAY! and PET SOUNDS, were behind them. With Brian deeply depressed and drugging, Carl took a much more active role. South African musicians Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin joined the band, bringing a rock sensibility with them. Then there was the influence of Carl's ally, friend and co-writer, Jack Rieley. Jack inspired the composer in Carl, and they made a memorable songwriting team, producing two earlier beauties, "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" from SURF'S UP.Think of CARL AND THE PASSIONS-SO TOUGH and HOLLAND as one long album, because of its consistent personnel and the overall feel. With the exception of a few clunkers: "Funky Pretty," "He Come Down," and "Leaving this Town" (actually a good song that's too long), the rest are gems.Carl was at the helm and his beautiful vocals, producing and songwriting abilities are showcased. With Jack Rieley, he wrote "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone," and "The Trader," which sets a high artistic standard for 1970's political songwriting. Carl did some of the best vocals of his career here ("All This is That," "Steamboat," "The Trader," "Only with You"). Dennis added deep and soulful songs and vocals ("Make It Good" and "Cuddle Up") and shared writing credits ("Steamboat," "Only with You"). Fataar and Chaplin spiced things up with "Here She Comes" and "Hold On Dear Brother," where you'd swear you were listening to The Band (Levon Helm et al). Chaplin provided the wonderful vocal for "Sail On, Sailor," the biggest Beach Boys hit of the 1970's. "Marcella," with Rieley's new-agey lyrics, Brian's tune and Carl's production, is a catchy, sexy, rock 'n roll standout.On HOLLAND, even Mike Love and Al Jardine shine. With the exception of the egregious recitation of poetry on "The Beaks of Eagles" (there's nothing like listening to the same damn poem, even a good poem, over and over on a music CD to make you want to fast forward), the 3-part "California Saga" is an eloquent tribute to nature, California, and the progressive times in which they were living. Mike's ode to Big Sur is genuinely lovely and uncharacteristically revealing. As always, Al's vocals shine and his writing on parts two and three of the Saga is first-rate.(Note: The weird and embarrassing "Mt. Vernon and Fairway" indulgence that Brian created appears at the end of the CD. There's no reason to play it, not even to ponder its origins.)What a stupid shame that the new direction of SO TOUGH and HOLLAND was rejected in favor of turning the Beach Boys into a nostalgia act. Never mind -- let's celebrate what they produced here, and be thankful we have these wonderful songs to remember them by.

'Carl and the Passions - So Tough'It is a rockin' album with more influence from, at the time, new members Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin....this album is good but not great. There are no real standouts, except for 'Here She Comes' and maybe 'Marcella'. I give this album 3/5 stars.'Holland'One of my favorites. This album is perfect to listen to while sitting with friends around a campfire.'Sail On Sailor' is fantastic. The harmonies, the vocals, the instrumentals, the lyrics - it is a great intro to an amazing album...'Steamboat' is the song that made me go out and buy 'Pacific Ocean Blue' by Dennis Wilson. This song has a great chorus, great lyrics, and a great melody,The California Saga is a major highlight of the album. 'Big Sur' is more of a folk song with a beach boys twist. 'The Beaks of Eagles' is spoken as a poem with a great chorus line. 'California' is a great "remake" of California Girls.'Trader' is good and keeps the chill flow of the entire album.'Leaving This Town' is not your average Beach Boys song, but still a great add to the album.'Only With You' is a phenomenal piece of work. It sounds like it could go on 'Pet Sounds' - just a great love song.'Funky Pretty' is just awesome...I didn't get it at first. It took a few listens, but I really see the genius in the song. The outro is fantastic.The fairytale, at the end of the album, is very out of place but a good add to any Beach Boys collection.'Holland' is one of my favorite Beach Boys albums.5/5

My theory is this: in the early 70s, the Beach Boys were touring Europe and took a little sabbatical to record in Amsterdam. Thus, the picture of the canal barge on the original album cover of "Holland" where, I speculate, the Boys lived during their sojourn. This kind of craft was, and still is, a popular pad for well-heeled hippies and yuppies, and I can imagine the Boys lounging about, mellowed out, pots of ganja sprouting on the gunwalls, coming up with "Holland".The Beach Boys' sound is alive and well here, but instead of being applied to Southern California dreamin', its focus is moved up the coast, above Big Sur. There is a mystical sound here - perhaps as contemplative as the Boys have ever been up to this point. Yet, as the Amazon reviewer says, there's vitality in these mellow, medium-cadenced melodies, like Funky Pretty and Trader and Sail on Sailor, the latter showcasing that wonderful Beach Boys harmony.Yes, one might call "California Saga" ham-fisted, but I think there's something endearing about it. I like the imagery - an eagle soaring overhead, while "an old man takes his time about dying." For me, it's truly evocative of my times spent in that part of the world. Northern California is a different kind of "Old West," and I think the Boys have captured it.I rarely hear about "Holland" these days, and it's a shame. It didn't take me long literally to wear out the LP and have to buy a replacement, which has now become one of my precious vinyl artifacts. Now, when I One-Click on "Carl and the Passions," I can rest assured that I can't wear out a CD . . . although with this one, I may achieve a first!

This "two-fer" features two Beach Boys albums from 1972/1973. This was the period during which Bruce Johnston had quit the group and was replaced by two South African musicians named Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin. Carl and the Passions - So Tough  is an underrated album, probably because it doesn't sound that much like the Beach Boys. But taken on their own merits, the songs are pretty good, particularly "Mercella". Holland  is much more popular with Beach Boys fans, which is understandable, because it is a better album. It starts with "Sail On, Sailor", which is probably the best song the group recorded in the '70s. The rest of the songs are very good, although the poem read during "California Saga" is somewhat pretentious. The album came with a 7 inch EP called "Mt. Vernon and Fairway". This is a fairy tale about a prince with a magical transistor radio. It's pretty weird and I still don't quite know what to make of it.One pretty good album + one very good album = a CD worth buying. Carl and the Passions - So ToughHolland

I'm not a Beach Boys fan -- I still dig that line from Hendrix in "Third Stone From the Sun" when the alien destroys humanity and says he "won't have to hear surf music again." Of course "Good Vibrations (GV)" is a classic single, and  PET SOUNDS  is a great pop album.HOLLAND is a lost classic every bit as good as those. It got lost because the Beach Boys had come to be seen as totally uncool by then, but "Sail On Sailor" is arguably their best song after "Good Vibrations." They had become hippies in the late Sixties, and HOLLAND is one of the last statements of the counterculture, on the heels of Earth Day in 1970. (The Sixties didn't really end until 1973, after the defeat of McGovern, and HOLLAND was recorded in 1972.)In this package, you also get SO TOUGH, which does nothing for me other than "Marcella," which is very nice. And you also get Brian's "Mt. Vernon" fairy tale, which was originally included as a separate single with HOLLAND, not part of the LP. You may listen to it once. But every song on HOLLAND is superb -- it really withstands the passage of time. Tom Petty nails it in his liner notes -- the album's centerpiece is "Trader," which is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. The first part tells the ugly tale of the destruction of the Indian peoples by the Trader (also "Traitor?"). Implicit too is condemnation of the genocide the U.S. was carrying out at the time against Vietnam with Agent Orange and carpetbombing. The second part is an amazing bittersweet hopeful note, the countercultural dream that we can adopt a different way of life and realize a peaceful, ecological Utopia. The "California Trilogy" is deliberately naive, an environmental vision of California.Part of what makes it so effective is who is singing it -- the very same Beach Boys who had earlier helped create the mainstream, auto-based view of the Golden State. From cars and surfboards to a song from the point of view of an eagle! By the Eighties, the Beach Boys were playing the White House and the group's leader Mike Love was an arch-conservative, playing the old surfing songs again and supporting Reagan and Watt while they waged war on the environment.But fortunately we now have HOLLAND on CD, a beautiful, beautiful statement from a more hopeful time. PET SOUNDS