Holland

Biography

Holland is the nineteenth studio album by the American rock group The Beach Boys, released in January 1973. It was famously (and expensively) recorded in Baambrugge, Netherlands over the summer of 1972 using a reconstructed studio sent from home, and with two Brian Wilson tracks rush-recorded in Los Angeles and added to the album at the last minute. Just as Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" was coming to print, The Beach Boys, at manager Jack Rieley's urging, decided to pack up and record thei...

Holland is the nineteenth studio album by the American rock group The Beach Boys, released in January 1973. It was famously (and expensively) recorded in Baambrugge, Netherlands over the summer of 1972 using a reconstructed studio sent from home, and with two Brian Wilson tracks rush-recorded in Los Angeles and added to the album at the last minute. Just as Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" was coming to print, The Beach Boys, at manager Jack Rieley's urging, decided to pack up and record their next album in the Netherlands. They felt the change of scenery would make for some inspirational sessions, and perhaps even snap former leader Brian Wilson out of his deep depression. By mid-1972, Wilson was well into mental illness. Keenly aware that he was creating less music than ever before, The Beach Boys were hoping to jump-start his creative juices. Although he did make the trip (after three separate attempts to get on the plane), Wilson contributed little to the album, concentrating his musical efforts on "Mount Vernon and Fairway", a ten-minute long "musical fairy tale" which was later included with the album as a bonus EP. With Carl Wilson in charge, the rest of the band had to carry the album, and the resulting effort, named Holland, was one of The Beach Boys' more respected 1970s releases. Due to homesickness, Al Jardine and Mike Love conspired to create a three-part song cycle as an ode to California. Mike Love donated the country-laced "Big Sur" (written three years earlier and here presented in 3/4 waltz time), while Love and Al Jardine delivered the partially spoken-word of Robinson Jeffers' poem "Beaks of Eagles" and the shuffle-arranged "California", which features Brian on its first two lines. A remix of "California" was issued as the second single from the album and retitled "California Saga (On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a)". Dennis, who was not given a lead vocal on Holland, offered up "Steamboat" and "Only with You". Carl included "The Trader": an anti-imperialist two-part epic that starts with a gleeful "Hi!" from his 3-year-old son, Jonah. The photograph on the front sleeve of the "Holland" album is an upside down image of the Kromme Waal, a canal that runs through the center of Amsterdam. Holland's bonus EP, entitled Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale), was based on the intersection where the Love family lived in Los Angeles, and was primarily composed by Brian Wilson. Side One "Sail On, Sailor" "Steamboat" "California Saga/Big Sur" "California Saga/The Beaks of Eagles" "California Saga/California" Side Two "The Trader" "Leaving This Town" "Only with You" "Funky Pretty" Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale) All narration by Jack Rieley. Side One "Mt. Vernon and Fairway - Theme" "I'm the Pied Piper - Instrumental" "Better Get Back in Bed" Side Two "Magic Transistor Radio" "I'm the Pied Piper" "Radio King Dom" Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.