Pacific Ocean Blue (1977)

Pacific Ocean Blue is the only solo studio album by American musician Dennis Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys. It was released on August 22, 1977, through Caribou Records. The album was warmly received critically, and noted for outselling the Beach Boys' contemporary efforts. Two singles were issued from the album, "River Song" and "You and I", which did not chart.

The album remains a focal point of Wilson's legacy, being referred to as a "classic". It was voted number 838 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. Wilson intended to record a follow-up, entitled Bambu, but the album was left unfinished at the time of his death in December 1983.

Background and recording

After several attempts, starting in 1970, to realize his own project, some of which made it to the finished album, Wilson recorded the bulk of Pacific Ocean Blue in the months spanning the fall of 1976 to the following spring, at the Beach Boys' own Brother Studios. At the time of recording, Dennis' hard living had begun affecting his looks and more importantly his singing voice, which now delivered grainy and rough, yet still deeply soulful, vocals.

Some of the album's songs were originally recorded with the Beach Boys in mind. "River Song" was derived from an earlier recording in collaboration with Daryl Dragon, titled "Ecology". The song was reworked in 1974 in collaboration with Carl Wilson and was performed live at Beach Boys concerts during this period. Final arrangement would not be completed until 1977, including added vocals by The Double Rock Baptist Church Voices of Inspiration Choir. The title track, "Pacific Ocean Blues", was written in collaboration with bandmate Mike Love and was originally intended for the Beach Boys with Love on lead vocal. Wilson also recorded "Rainbows" (co-written with Carl and Stephen Kalinich) and "Holy Man", though the latter was left incomplete.

Recalling the time Wilson spent working on the album, co-producer Gregg Jakobson said, "This was when he fully accepted himself as an artist. Brian had shown him chords on the piano, but as he'd become more proficient the music that came forth was not derivative of that. Having his own studio helped tremendously. With a little encouragement, and the right tools, Dennis took off."

Reception

Released in August 1977, Pacific Ocean Blue received mixed reviews upon release, but in subsequent years has been re-evaluated by critics and is now widely praised. It has appeared on "Best-of" lists including Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die," and Mojo's "Lost Albums You Must Own" and "70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70s" lists. In 2005, it was ranked No. 18 in GQ's "The 100 Coolest Albums in the World Right Now!" list. He did occasionally perform his solo material on the 1977 Beach Boys tour. Pacific Ocean Blue later developed a status as a cult item. In December 2018, under the name Chewing, Nik Ewing of Local Natives along with Cults, Nico Segal and Pop Etc covered Dennis Wilson's album in its entirety.

At the time of its initial release, the album did not perform well commercially: Despite a significant promotional campaign, the album peaked at No. 96 during a short 12-week Billboard chart run. The disappointing performance of the record, combined with Wilson's increasingly unreliable professional behavior, led his record label to pull support for a modest West Coast tour that had been scheduled to promote the album.

In a 1977 interview, Brian reported that his reaction when Dennis played him early mixes of the album was "Dennis, that's funky! That's funky!" Dennis remembered:

When my record was finished, Brian was the first to hear it. In the middle of some tracks he'd say, "I can't stand this" and walk out of the room. Sometimes he'd laugh. Sometimes he'd cry. I guess he was thinking that he'd seen me grow up as a musician.

In a 2008 interview, Brian said that he had never heard the album. He clarified in his 2016 memoir:

After Dennis died, people used to ask me all the time what I thought about his solo record, Pacific Ocean Blue. I have said that I never heard it, that I won't listen to it, that it’s too many sad memories and too much for me. That’s sort of true, but not really. I know the music on it. I was around for much of the time in the mid-'70s when Dennis was cutting the record. I loved what he was doing. My favorite song that he ever made was ["You and I"]. ... I love that cut. But I haven't ever put the record on and listened through it the way I have with other records, or the way that other people have with that record.

The Beach Boys' Al Jardine retrospectively said of the album:

...I like [Dennis'] music better than some of our stuff. When I listen to his music now it's like, "God, that's better than anything we've ever done." ... [Pacific Ocean Blue]'s strong, original and melodic. Great production.

Personnel

Credits from Beach Boys sessionographer Craig Slowinski.