Dreamer (Dennis Wilson Song)
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''Pacific Ocean Blue'' is the only
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American musician
Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...
, co-founder of
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
. When released in August 1977, it 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 Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''. 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 Brother Studios (later renamed Crimson Sound) was the name of a recording studio located at 1454 5th St, Santa Monica, California established by brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, co-founders of the Beach Boys. History 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. Recalling the time Wilson spent working on the album, co- producer
Gregg Jakobson Gregg Jakobson (born August 2, 1939) is an American songwriter who was a friend and songwriting partner of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and a prosecution witness in the murder trials of members of the Manson Family. Beach Boys Jakobson and W ...
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 several "Best-of" lists including Robert Dimery's "
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
," and
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'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 Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), ...
along with
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,
Nico Segal Nico Segal (born June 25, 1993), formerly known by his stage name Donnie Trumpet, is an American trumpeter and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He is part of the hip hop collective Savemoney with Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, among ...
and
Pop Etc Pop Etc (pronounced "pop et cetera"), formerly known as The Morning Benders, is an indie rock band. They originally formed in Berkeley, California but moved to Brooklyn, New York later in their career. In 2008, they released their debut album ''T ...
covered Dennis Wilson's album in its entirety. At the time of its initial release, the album didn't do 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.The Real Beach Stebbins,"Jon Stebbins, "Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy" (2000)" 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, In a 2008 interview, Brian said that he had never heard the album. He clarified in his 2016 memoir:


Release history

Issued by
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/
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
on CD in 1991, ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' went
out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...
within a year due to ongoing disagreements over
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
ownership; the album was virtually unavailable for more than fifteen years. Copies of the extremely rare 1991 CD sold for over $200.
Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...
released a
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30th anniversary, 2-disc edition of ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' on June 17, 2008. It includes material from the ''Bambu'' sessions. A limited edition 180-gram
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
multi- LP
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was also released on the
Sundazed Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...
label. Notable on the reissue is the inclusion of the song "Holy Man", recorded for ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' in 1977, in two versions. Wilson had completed work on the instrumental backing track but never finished a satisfactory vocal, erasing an original attempt. For the reissue,
Taylor Hawkins Oliver Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he recorded eight studio albums between 1999 and 2021. Before joining the band in 1997, he ...
of the
Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
was recruited to record a vocal version in Wilson's style given their similarities. The song's original lyricist, Gregg Jakobson, was tapped to help recall the song's original melody and to write lyrics for the song.
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guitarist
Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...
and drummer
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also recorded backing vocals for the track, along with guitar by May, although their contributions went unused until the version featuring them was released as part of
Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
2019. Despite missing the
UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
on its original 1977 release, the expanded reissue of ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' entered the UK album chart at No. 16, also reaching No. 5 on the Norway album chart. In addition, the package managed to reach No. 8 on
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
's
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chart.


Track listing


''30th Anniversary Edition''


Personnel

:Per Craig Slownski


References


External links


Official Site
(2008 reissue) *
Buddyhead's review/interview of "POB/Bambu" reissue
{{Authority control Dennis Wilson albums 1977 debut albums Caribou Records albums Albums produced by Dennis Wilson Albums produced by Gregg Jakobson CBS Records albums Legacy Recordings albums Sundazed Records albums