Pacific Ocean Blue

Dennis Wilson was famously the only Beach Boy who surfed. He was the bands drummer and was overlooked as a lead singer because it was felt he didn't match the 'angelic' harmonies of his two brothers Brian and Carl, although his style of vocals was regarded as 'rougher' he was still an integral part of the Beach Boys recorded sound that flooded the airwaves throughout the sixties. Dennis did contribute songs to the Beach Boys body of recording work but in the bigger scheme of things he was overlooked as Brian took over the writing, recording and producing duties.

This album, made available again after a gap of fifteen years whilst rights and ownership have been contested, is quite simply stunning. Recorded between September 1976 and March 1977 - after initial attempts to record the album in 1970 had failed - it was originally released in August 1977 and sold 300,000 copies. It was then deleted and re-released again in 1991 when once again legal proceedings made sure it was on the 'most wanted' list of most serious record collectors within a year or two. This Tuesday sees the release of the legacy edition, the original album coupled with the songs Dennis recorded for a possible follow-up which was to be called Bambu.

The album has featured on a number of 'best of', 'you must hear this', 'coolest albums ever' type lists and in my opinion, unlike the vastly overrated Pet Sounds, it is worth it. The musicians on the album, which was produced by Dennis and Gregg Jackobson, a friend of the family who also contributed to a couple of the tracks as writer, include fellow Beach Boys Carl Wilson on guitar and Bruce Johnston on piano - both of course add to the vocals, others taking part include Carli Munoz and Hal Blaine. Munoz, a jazz pianist originally from Puerto Rico, has a musical CV to die for having worked with, among others, George Benson, The Beach Boys, Wilson Pickett, The Association and Jan and Dean. Munoz now lives back on Puerto Rico where he runs a restaurant in which he often plays, which sounds like the basis of a Hemingway novel to me. The irony of Hal Blaine appearing on the album is that Brian Wilson used Hal Blaine on many Beach Boys sessions to get the 'sound right' before trusting the actual job of performing on the final recording to his brother.

I first came across this album by chance, watching one of those made-for-tv movies called The Story of The Beach Boys on a wet Sunday afternoon there was a sequence where Dennis returns to the house of his estranged wife and plays her Thoughts of You on the piano. Sung by Dennis it is truly an achingly beautiful love song, a man's love for the woman he has lost forever wishing to make amends, knowing he has no chance of winning her back.

Back to the album though. It begins with River Song, backed by a gospel choir Dennis shows that he had one of the best voices in musical history as the song drives along telling the story of a man who wants to leave the city that he sees dying behind and head for the wide open space, using the river as a metaphor. Next up is What's Wrong which is about a rock singer chatting up a girl in a bar and explaining to her that he can't love a woman who spends all his money but doesn't love rock and roll - which seems not unreasonable to me. Moonshine is so rich in sound that you wonder where Dennis was when the Beach Boys were turning out rubbish during the seventies, presumably on the beach or on his yacht taking drugs. Track four is Friday Night which begins with the portentous sound of piano tinkling before the drums and guitar kick in. Dennis sounds like Joe Walsh on this track but once again its the extraordinary sonic impact of the sumptuous recording that strikes you. We've reached the midway point on the album with track five Dreamer which is a slice of funk that you can't believe would have ever sat on a Beach Boys album. The song itself is about all those wannabees who think that being in the right place at the right time is a substitute for having real talent, this is the sound of a Beach Boy getting down and dirty. Track six is Thoughts of You, beginning with the lines:

The sunshine blinded me this morning love,

Like the sunshine, love comes and goes again,

I love you, I love you.

It's simply beautiful. After one and a quarter minutes Dennis decides to take the track off in another direction and following a brief interlude on the piano an orchestra kicks in and (he sounds scarily like Ozzy Osbourne) recoiling at the loss of love before bringing everything back together again.

Time is a song about somebody returning home to the love of his life, to share as he puts it ' the love again.' The harmonies are definitely rooted in Beach Boys mythology but its the horn solo that stands out on this track reminiscent of Chet Baker at his best although its probably a session musician called Michael Andreas. You and I is possibly the weakest album on the album and one which I can imagine would have appeared the film FM had it been commercially available at the time, it's that sort of 'round midnight driving down Hollywood and Vine' schmaltz beloved of producers of 'true-life' movies in 310-325 range on your Sky satellite.

The title track is the number nine on the album and once again Dennis shows his funkier side. Farewell My Mind sounds like it was recorded with dolphins in the studio and is more of a musical sketch than a song to be honest, simple piano, very basic lyrics and those weird marine like noises played over what sounds to me like a marimba - (but then my knowledge of marimbas is limited to seeing Evelyn Glennie perform at the Proms one year). Along with You and I this is probably the most, how can I put it, hippy sounding song on the album.

The penultimate track is Rainbows and fortunately is 100% free of Zippy and Bungle. The last track is End of The Show and is really a song looking back on a relationship and trying to bring a whole load of feelings together in under three minutes. The song fades away as the sound of audience applause grows, one last throw of vanity for the Beach Boy who felt unloved and misunderstood by the rest of the band.

Because this album has been unavailable for so long it has acquired some sort of mythical status, partly encouraged by a music press that loves anything that the general public can't get access to. It's divided fans and critics as well, some saying it's over-hyped rubbish and clear to see why the Beach Boys 'family' refused to sanction its release prior to this special 30th anniversary legacy edition. I'd say that nine of the twelve tracks stand up to scrutiny thirty years on and that five of the tracks would appear on any Beach Boys collection I'd put together.

Dennis Wilson drowned at the Marina Del Rey on December 28 1983 after a long, unsuccessful, fight against alcoholism and was buried at sea off the California coast a week later.