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Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again – The Dennis Wilson & Rumbo LP ‘Poops’

To celebrate the release of THE BEACH BOYS’ 1969-71 treasure trove FEEL FLOWS, SHINDIG! and TSPTR present a reconstruction of DENNIS WILSON & RUMBO’s lost album POOPS.

Words and pictures by MARTIN RUDDOCK and RUSS GATER


 

In December 1970, on the eve of a Beach Boys tour of Europe rogue Beach Boy Dennis Wilson released a stunning surprise solo single, ‘Sound Of Free’/‘Lady’ with trusted sidekick and musical director Rumbo, aka touring keyboardist Daryl Dragon. The soulful, passionate songs were inspired by Denny’s relationship with second wife Barbara Charren – an invaluable sounding board and Denny’s muse. The inseparable pair nicknamed each other ‘Big Poop’ (Dennis) and ‘Little Poop’ (Barbara).

The UK-only single wasn’t a success, but emboldened by Barbara’s encouragement, Denny, a prolific contributor to the last three Beach Boys albums began to consider striking out on his own with Dragon. Sessions for a joint album with working titles of Poops and Hubba Bubba continued through ’71 amid endless rumours that he was quitting The Beach Boys. Although Dennis hedged his bets as to whether he was in or out, events conspired to scupper his attempt to break free of his dysfunctional musical family.

Having pulled his songs from Beach Boys albums for the duration of the sessions, the project collapsed in early ’72, by which point the parent band had sequestered two of the dense, orchestrated tracks for use on underrated BBs album Carl And The Passions – So Tough. Dragon then left the touring band shortly afterwards to form The Captain and Tennille with wife Toni Tennille (also in the touring band, the only ‘Beach Girl’).

Thanks to the release of Denny and Daryl’s work in progress tracks on Feel Flows, we now have an idea of what form Poops might have taken.

Side One:

Lady
Make It Good
Barbara
Cuddle Up
(Wouldn’t It Be Nice) To Live Again

Side Two:

Medley: All Of My Love / Ecology
Before
Behold The Night
Hawaiin Dream
I’ve Got A Friend
Sound Of Free


Side One:

Lady (Recorded December 1969)

One of the earliest romantic odes written to Little Poop. Dennis recorded Lady’ on Christmas Eve 1969. Backed by the pulse of an early drum machine and swathed in a lush string arrangement from Daryl Dragon, Lady’ was submitted and rejected for an early assembly of Sunflower. In Autumn ’70 it was ruled out of the tracklist of putative new album Landlocked by manager Jack Rieley – leading Denny to take matters into his own hands and put Ladyon the flip of the only Dennis Wilson and Rumbo single Sound Of Free. Whether the other Beach Boys took part at the time and were ultimately mixed out is unknown. Its likely that they might have been, as Back Homewas laid down on the same day, but its almost definitely Carl Wilson playing the twangy lead guitar trills. Unavailable in its original form for decades, a remix of Ladyfeaturing additional vocals, possibly also from Carl was released on the 2013 Made In California box.

Make It Good (Recorded 1971-72)

A refugee from the 1971 Poops album sessions, the dark, intense Make It Good’ surfaced on the underrated ’72 Beach Boys album Carl And The Passions – So Tough. Sitting uneasily amongst the varied mix of sometimes ragged tunes on So Tough, Make It Good’ makes perfect sense in the context of the recently-released tunes intended for Poops, and Daryls dense arrangements give Dennys emoting an epic scale. Various chord sequences and motifs repeat across these songs, which in some cases seem to have possibly been built up in sections in a manner reminiscent of Brians painstaking work on the SMiLE sessions. As Make It Good’ seems to have been one of the later recordings for Poops its possible that the vocals were added quite late in the day. Dennys anguished croak of All of my life” line crops up again, as well see.

Barbara (Recorded 1971)

Big Poop sings to Little Poop again. A tender demo featuring Denny and Daryl sat at the same piano. A full recording never materialised, but the song appeared occasionally during Denny’s solo spots in 1972 Beach Boys shows.

Cuddle Up (Recorded March 1971 and early 1972)

“I know a man, who’s so in love.” Another hymn to Barbara, originally titled ‘Old Movie’. This epic weeper’s backing track was probably the first song from the main Poops sessions to be put down. The first version had no vocals but was accompanied by a choir of harmonies (probably by Dennis and Carl, whose guitar work is all over Poops). Furnished with another sumptuous Daryl Dragon arrangement, the first ‘Old Movie’, recently released on Feel Flowsis audibly a different take with more even piano playing from Daryl and its keening melody played by a clarinet. It’s unknown when the final, more dramatic vocal version that closed So Tough was cut but it’s likely to have been mid-late 1971. To complicate matters further, as engineer Stephen Desper has confirmed – Denny also used ‘Old Movie’ as a working title in April ’71 for his shattering Vietnam lament ‘4th Of July’, co-written with manager Jack Rieley and sung by Carl. The subject matter of the songs couldn’t be more different, but Denny just really liked the title.

(Wouldn’t It Be Nice To) Live Again (Recorded May 1971)

Locked away in the vaults for over 40 years, this staggering anthemic ballad belatedly made its debut on the Made In California box. Running to almost seven minutes, it features arguably Denny’s finest lead vocal, its melody echoing The Beatles’ ‘Golden Slumbers’ in places. Cut in May 1971, nobody seems quite sure whether it was intended for Surf’s Up or Poops. As to the involvement of the other Beach Boys, there are brief sections of block harmony and what sounds suspiciously like Mike Love muttering the bass vocal at the end. There’s also a Moog bass typical of the band’s recordings of the time, suggesting the involvement of Carl. We can’t be sure exactly the song fits into the puzzle of Denny’s activity during ‘71, but there is evidence to suggest that much of Poops was intended to feature elaborate segues, and Denny offered some songs to The Beach Boys before subsequently withdrawing them. I have a belief in my music. And it sounds nothing like it should on the album – it should have a flow on it from one song to another…,” he told Al Aronowitz in a September ’71 interview. “It didnt sound like The Beach Boys. They thought it did. I said Bullshitand pulled my songs off.” To complicate things further, manager Jack Rieley contended in interviews that it was his decision to leave Denny’s songs off Surf’s Up.

Whatever the intention, the key and tempo of ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again’ dovetail perfectly with the end of ‘Cuddle Up, so we thought it was a fitting finale to Side One.

Side Two:

 Medley: All Of My Love / Ecology (Recorded 1971)

Aside from his considerable sexual antics, Denny’s other extracurricular activities usually involved being outdoors – hiking, fishing, surfing, camping, swimming – his heart was in nature. Both of his favourite obsessions (love and nature) are blended succinctly with the beautiful opening gambit of All of my love / Ecology’ – All of my love, bigger than the ocean. All of my heart, I give it to you. All that I am is moving in the river”. His lyrics articulate a quasi-transcendental, romantic faith in natures benevolence, a primitivist sense of its mystic, sacramental properties. There’s also a critical desire, to experience and venerate, fully immersing and identifying himself in the natural world while utilising the ecology to demonstrate the sheer breadth of his love for wife Barbara. For Dennis, nature wasnt just a romantic metaphor but moreover a spiritual analogue. The “All of my life….” line turns up in slightly revised form in ‘Make It Good’ while elements of Ecologywould later be developed into Pacific Ocean Blues ‘River Song’, the piano melody (first introduced in ‘Sound Of Free’) intact but the Run Run River Runmotif sadly missing, however Daryl and Denny’s harmonic resolutions and rising and descending key changes ensured that nature never sounded so sweet.

 Before (Recorded 1971)

 Before’ demonstrates the deftness and lightness of touch inherent in Daryl Dragons arrangements. The melancholy opening bars share the same chord progression as the “I know a man, who’s so in love” line in ‘Cuddle Up’. It quickly shifts into soaring harmonies, and then into a different, more sexually assured sidewinding groove incorporating Dennis’ vocal that beckons his Lady to Come on, come in…..”, a familiar refrain that channels one of his earlier songs, 1969s ‘Celebrate The News’, B-side of The Beach Boys’ final Capitol single ‘Break Away’. Although recorded in 1971, Befores inception was possibly earlier, around the same time as ‘Sound of Free’, the overall vibe of both tracks dovetailing unlike any others on the album.

Behold The Night (Recorded July 1971)

An aching, shape-shifting ballad, ‘Behold The Night’ is one of the more complete songs on Poops with a breathtaking filmic arrangement of low fluting synths, organs and Harry Lime zither from Dragon. With a structure that never settles, unlike the other songs it appears to catch Denny and Barbara in a rough patch. “Lie on my bed, look at the wall/Maybe this longing will go away,” he sings in a wracked tenor. Captured just weeks after Denny put his hand through a pane of glass, taking him off live drumming duties until 1974, perhaps this documents their first big row.

Hawaiian Dream (Recorded 1971)

Presented as an instrumental ebb and flow of Denny and Daryls musical musings that would ultimately find their fruition as ‘Farewell My Friend’ on Pacific Ocean Blue, ‘Hawaiian Dream’ shares Island-style nuances with Pet Sounds instrumental track ‘Let’s Go Away For A While’ but transcends it with a soaring harmonic conclusion.

I’ve Got A Friend (Recorded 1971)

In Fall 1971, Dennis was only 27 years old, but had already done a lot of living. Here, he delivers a soul searching, piano driven ballad about personal reliance. Exposing his own vulnerability, he sings Sometimes I feel lost and cant find the way….”, sounding like someone physically and emotionally 20 years his senior, an old soul revelling in the ephemeral nature of time and love. Daryl Dragon later recalled his first introduction to Dennys solo music while playing keys as part of The Beach Boys touring band, Before a typical tour sound check, I saw Dennis sitting at the piano, playing some beautiful chords… I asked him what composer that was: He answered I wrote that. I was stopped cold! He hummed a melody to these absolutely inspired chords…I realised that Dennis’ heart was NOT in rock ’n’ roll, as much as it was in romantically based musical writing.” As with all of the Poops tracks, Dragons work with Dennis hints at new artistic blueprint that would later be fully realised on Pacific Ocean Blue.

Unfortunately the studio cut of ‘I’ve Got A Friend’ never received a vocal, but a very fuzzy live version with The Beach Boys can be heard here

 

Sound Of Free (Recorded November 1970)

The Beach Boys band dynamic was always extremely complicated, but none more so than Dennis’ relationship with his cousin Mike Love. Usually at loggerheads, to the point where apocryphal accounts have Dennis literally beating Love down both on and off stage, they would also find the harmony at times to collaborate on several songs including ‘Only with You’, ‘Pacific Ocean Blues’ and 1970s ‘Sound Of Free’. Love doesn’t sing on the track, but Carl Wilson provides his signature needling guitar trills and big brother Brian makes a one word cameo with a single high “Free!”, making this basically a Beach Boys cut by any other name. Recorded post-Sunflower during the early Surfs Up album sessions, it opens with Dragons unmistakeable harpsichord riff, kicking into a powerful Sunflower-esque jam with Dennis’ seductive vocal driving the song forward. The tempo shifts down a gear into some beautiful sections that evoke much of whats to come in Dennys music, analogising with the natural world, the familiar Come on…’ refrain once again present before building into a crescendo. According to Love the Children of light…’ referenced in the lyrics refer to the practitioners of Transcendental Meditation with the Sound of Freebeing the achievement of inner balance and unity. Although hed already written a number of standout tracks (‘Little Bird’, ‘Forever’, ‘Slip on Through’, ‘All I Wanna Do’), in many ways ‘Sound of Free’ reflects the genuine burgeoning of Dennis Wilson as a songwriter, growing in confidence and power thanks to the encouragement and support of Dragon.

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8 thoughts on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again – The Dennis Wilson & Rumbo LP ‘Poops’

  1. Jon, Thanks for posting this ‘re-creation’ of the never released album by Dennis and ‘the Captain’.

  2. Dennis Wilson is one of the great underrated talents of popular music. Criminal that some of his great work wasn’t released in his lifetime (or pushed on to Beach Boys ‘B’ sides like “Celebrate The News”).
    “The Real Beach Boy” – indeed!
    Thanks so much for article and especially the music. First time I have heard several of these.
    Ron Dickinson

  3. My name is Stanley Shapiro…
    I wrote 100% of the words in the song WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN. I wrote those words long before Dennis met Barbara Charren and the song had NOTHING to with Barbara whatsoever… As a matter of fact I was with Dennis when we met Barbara for the very first time at the Hamburger Hamlet in the Westwood Village next door to the theater on the corner.
    I wrote the song as a part of a six page letter appealing to my girlfriend to come back after she moved out and moved in with an older man who was an associate of Bill Hayward (the co-producer of EASY RIDER).
    Dennis and I agreed to write the songs for the movie… but, NOT that particular song. I wrote that song in 1969… not 1971.
    These are the facts… my girlfriend came to ‘Hollywood’ from the Midwest to visit her long time friend who was living with Hayward at the time. She moved in with me before production on EASY RIDER began. She was smitten with the movie business and, after we were invited to a dinner party at Hayward’s home in the Hollywood hills, met a picture producer who was 26 years older than she. She was an aspiring actress and he enticed her with the loan of a Mercedes Benz 280 SE convertible and the use of his Bel Air residence. She fell for that and moved in with him. I was heart broken and pleaded with her to come back in a six page letter, in which I penned the poetic song.
    I sent the letter to her and a few days later it was returned unopened. I opened the envelope and left the letter on my kitchen table. Dennis read the letter and pleaded with me to let him use it in a song. I turned him down…
    (and, for the record, at that point Darryl had nothing to do with it)…
    I didn’t like his suggestion that Dennis was a reincarnation of ‘Wagner’ … an anti-Semitic Nazi who was sympathetic to Hitler in WW2.
    A couple of weeks later I got a call from another producer who asked me if I heard what happened to my girlfriend..
    I was devastated to learn that she had taken her own life after a falling out with the movie maker, and Dennis begged me, once again, to let him put the words to music. This time I acquiest to his persistence and let him record it…
    the two of us own that song 50/50 and Daryl Dragon owns none of it.
    Mike Love hated the song and the two of us as well. Dennis went to war over the inclusion of the song on the Surf’s Up album and decided to yank it off after a bitter fight over the lack of interest on the Beach Boys part, telling them they weren’t worthy of the song.
    On the way out of the studio he turned and told Mike to go back and write something ‘earth shaking’… like a few more stupid ‘car’ songs. It was a bitter disappointment and wound up in the vaults at Capitol Records.
    It was rediscovered by Alan Boyd (the Beach Boys archivist and award winning documentarian after Dennis died).
    It was subsequently covered by a little known group called CHAOS and wound up being placed on the ballot for a Grammy nomination as the SONG OF THE YEAR.
    In the end, the Beach Boys did nothing to use it or promote it, and it stayed hidden in the vaults for an eternity.
    Mike Love replaced the song with an inappropriate ‘tune’
    called Student Demonstration Time using the music from another song composed by Mike Stoller… WHAT A GENIUS!!!

  4. Love the way you’ve sequenced these. No question that Make It Good makes a lot more sense as a prelude to Barbara. Beautifully done.

  5. Very interesting post-Stanley, except Wagner died before Hitler was born, hence Wagner was never a Nazi, the Nazi party having been started in 1920, Wagner having died in 1883. However, Wagner was an anti-Semite who wrote several articles on the subject. The question remains: is there anything anti-Semitic in Wagner’s music? I believe the answer is no: music cannot be anti-Semitic, and Wagner’s opera librettos never discuss the topic. Because his music is grand, the Nazis high-jacked it for their own purposes. Nietzsche broke with Wagner on account of the latter’s anti-Semitism, but not because of his music: Nietzsche was a huge fan of Wagner’s music. A lot of artists have odious beliefs but unless their art represents those beliefs, I think we must separate the artist from their social/political beliefs. I have often thought that Dennis was Wagner to Brian’s Bach.

  6. Thanks for that background Stanley.

    What a greater world we all would live in if Mike Love had stayed pumping gas as he was meant to do.

    Met that azz one time involving a beach boys show and the White House, long sad story, and so sad that he is such an incredibly horrible guy who absolutely proves that TM is bullshite and the Maharishi was a fraud.

    Bought Dennis’s album when it came out when I was in high school and loved it deeply. Still do. This song is amazingly beautiful. So sad about the young woman who it was written for. You should say who the producer is so we can slander and revile him in the grave.

  7. Thank you so much for the information Stanley. And thank you for your profound, moving lyric.

    I’d agree about Dennis not being too like Wagner. The emotionality is more akin to his fellow Sagittarian Beethoven.

    I love the music!!!

  8. I was a creative consultant on The Beach Boys’ box set ‘Made In California’ contributing ideas to my great friends and box producers Alan Boyd and Mark Linett. It was my idea to include ‘Sound of Free’ on the box, a track I had first heard in 1976 on the 6-hour Beach Boys radio special ‘The Best Summers of Our Lives.’

    Alan and Mark said ‘Yes!’ and a search was launched to find the master tape for ‘Sound of Free,’ which ended up being in the EMI vaults in London. Alan Boyd told me the good news, and it was quickly shipped to Los Angeles. Alan then had to convince Mike Love to let Alan and Mark include it on ‘Made It California’. ‘You wrote the lyrics Mike’ was all it took to get a thumbs-up from Mr. Love.

    I was also am the one who submitted ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Live Again’ to the Grammy Awards in 2007, making it the first time ever that Dennis Wilson’s name appeared on the Grammy ballot as a songwriter along with Stanley Shapiro. I’m so happy that are aware of that Stanley!

    Complete Beach Boys Projects:
    http://www.bignoisenow.com/beachboys.html

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