Vol.05
THE BEACH BOYS / STACK-O-TRACKS (1968)
I can't get enough of summer. I can't wait for summer to arrive. It's all because of the Beach Boys, for one thing.
THE BEACH BOYS / STACK-O-TRACKS (1968)
When I was 7 or 8 years old, there was an anime rerun on channel 8 at 7:30 in the morning before I went to elementary school. It was called "Morning Manga Theater." . like "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" or "Frohne of the Mysterious Island. . I missed them.
Morning Cartoon Theater" is a 30-minute program, and about 15 minutes into the program, there is a commercial break, and as usual, TV shopping for the latest CD player is shown. . The image of a man sliding on a strange board on the sea, and the music sung in a teke teke teke unintelligible language. What on earth is this? I wondered.
. that's how I discovered surfing. And the music that made no sense was "Surfing USA" by the Beach Boys.
I immediately begged my mother, "Buy me the Beach Boys!" I begged my mother to buy me the Beach Boys. After I got it, I started listening to the Beach Boys every day. This was my first encounter with Western music.
As a side note, I was born and raised in Tokyo . However, since my father was born in Ehime, I went to Ehime every summer since I was a child, and I used to go to the beach and imitate surfing on a board I had picked up. Also, my father's cousin was a fisherman, so he would take me on his fishing boat to deserted islands and empty beaches. Each time, I would ask, "Which way is California?" I used to ask, "Which way is California?
The composition is perfect, with the Beach Boys' faces surrounding the open-reel master tape.
Well, I'm going to mention here that the Beach Boys' "STACK-O-TRACKS" that I am about to introduce. It has not sold well at all....
. In fact, this album is the world's first karaoke record. Nowadays, it is common to include karaoke tracks, but back in 1968, it was unheard of.
So, why was this unusual album released to the world?
At the time, the Beach Boys were living in semi-retirement due to Brian Wilson's drug use. This slowed down their releases, and album sales after "Smiley Smile" were sluggish. In the midst of all this, in August 1968 (two months after "Friends" was released), "Stack-O-Tracks" was released. . In short, his company, "CAPITOL," got angry. They said, "Whatever, just make a record!" . .
Guitarist Al Jardine came up with the idea of releasing all of the instrumental tracks from the past on one record.
The Beach Boys formed in 1961 and debuted with "Surfin'" on the "CANDIX" label. , followed by their major label debut in 1962 with "Surfin' Safari" on the "Capitol" label. Then in 1968, they released "Stack-O-Tracks", and for the first time, this album did not rank in the charts. But I like the cover of this album the best of all the Beach Boys albums. It's not the sound! It's the jacket.
The Beach Boys are surrounded by a huge stack of reel-to-reel master tapes on either side. Nice angle! Brian's glasses are also very chic. Bruce Johnston, who joined the band midway through the album, makes his first appearance on the cover.
At this time, the Beach Boys' album covers were taken at "Capitol Photo Studio" and the names of the photographers and illustrators are credited. However, only for this "STACK-O-TRACKS", there is no credit anywhere.... . it is a mystery.
The previous film, "Friends," was cover design by Geller&Butler, Advertising Cover illastration by David McMacken , and the later film, "20/20," is credited to Capitol photo studio / Ed Simpson. Ed Simpson. Perhaps Capitol hired an appropriate photographer for each release, and the art directors within the company completed the cover images for the Beach Boys. Incidentally, many of the early works are credited to a photographer named Ken Veeder.
Usually, karaoke is a spoiler for the arrangement, so I wonder how they released such a project. It was also 30 years after the release that Dr. Eiichi Otaki, the Fussa hermit, released a pure karaoke version of "Rombake" ... you don't want to spoil the story, do you? At that time, Brian was not yet recognized as an excellent arranger. So, of course, there is no attraction to listen to the arrangement in detail.
. "Stack-O-Tracks" comes with sheet music. . which reminds us how complex the music of the Beach Boys is.
In other words, "Stack-O-Tracks" is purely a record for singing and playing guitar with the Beach Boys. A booklet with chords and solo parts for each instrument, with even lyrics, is inserted as an appendix.
Especially the four songs from "Pet Sounds" are very valuable. The chord progressions are very complicated and quite difficult to sing. The melody and the instrumental part create a different harmony from the song.... This is the Beach Boys, isn't it? It's wonderful.
When I was in first grade , the movie "Cocktail" starring Tom Cruise was a big hit. The theme song was "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. . I remember going out to buy the 8cm single. In the movie, there is a scene where Tom Cruise twirls shakers and bottles to make cocktails, and I was influenced by the scene and for a while, I was twirling various things with "Kokomo" as background music. I was influenced by this scene, and for a while I was spinning various things with "Kokomo" as background music.
So, I'll see you next time.
PROFILE
Born in Tokyo in 1974, he dropped out of Kuwasawa Design School in 1996 and started a custom-made shirt brand while working on costumes for theater companies and entertainers. 2000 AW he started his fashion brand "Yuge". In June 2018, he opened "Adult Oriented Records" in Yoyogi Uehara, and is currently presenting "modern AOR". AOR" in the modern age.
