Kick-Ass Beach Boys Song #2: "Marcella"

As there are merely hours left before Brian Wilson's birthday, it occurs to me that it's been a long time...a really long time...since I've discussed a "kick-ass Beach Boys song," and that was only the first one!

My last KABBS was "Surfin' USA" for what it was at the time and what it still means to this day, even for hodads like me who have never been on surfboards, unless you count a Boogie Board. This time, though, I need to draw attention to the next decade.

In 1972, the Beach Boys released an album called Carl and the Passions - "So Tough". It was an odd one for several reasons. First of all, the Beach Boys' name did not appear on the cover. (That's right, young 'uns -- that CD you have is an inaccurate representation of the original cover! The stenciled band name was added when Caribou reissued the album on CD in 1990.) Certainly that omission caused some confusion. Second, the album only had eight songs. Third, in the United States it was packaged as a double-album with a reissue of Pet Sounds, which meant that if you wanted to buy the new Beach Boys album that had only 8 songs, you had to buy Pet Sounds with it and pay for a double-LP. Perhaps the inclusion of Pet Sounds was to make up for the fourth oddity about this album: not much from Brian Wilson. Yeah, he's listed as one of the producers and a background vocalist, but he only had two songs on the album; at the time, this album had less input from Brian Wilson than any other new Beach Boys album.

However, one of the two songs he contributed, "Marcella," is pure gold. Based mainly on a then-unreleased song from 1969 or 1970 called "I Just Got My Pay," "Marcella" has a good driving rhythm with some nicely layered vocals, including a soulful Dennis Wilson countermelody that really stands out at the end of each verse. Just good, raw rock'n'roll. Sure, the track has some oddities, like the weird wordplay that's characteristic of many songs whose lyrics are cowritten by then-manager Jack Rieley, and the intro is very weird (single a high-pitched chord that sounds like a sledgehammer hitting the post of a chain-link fence), but once you get past that, pure enjoyment.

You want a true kick-ass experience? Get yourself a copy of Greatest Hits Volume Three: The Best of the Brother Years. Next time you go for a drive, pop it in the CD player. Now, crank the bass up...all the way up. And turn the volume up loud enough for you to enjoy it, but not loud enough that you ruin your ears. And keep the windows ROLLED UP. (You'll know the bass is forward enough and the volume is loud enough if you start to suspect your rearview mirror might rattle off the windshield or you're afraid your windows might shatter. Don't worry -- they won't.) Something about the mix or the mastering on this particular CD really packs an extra punch that you don't get on the other CD releases of "Marcella."

Or perhaps enjoy the version from the 1973 album The Beach Boys In Concert. The weird chord at the beginning is replaced by a really cool rock'n'roll riff on an electric guitar.

Is Brian Wilson performing near you soon? Then go to his concert -- he usually has "Marcella" in his set. (Word on the street is he loves performing that song.) The arrangement his band uses is basically the same as the version on In Concert except in the beginning, Brian plays some doo-wop chords on his keyboard with Taylor Mills improvising a wordless vocal over it. For the choruses, Paul Mertens whips out his diatonic A harp. And dig Mike D'Amico belting out the "Marcella, he-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-y" vocal during the end of the song..and count yourself lucky if Scott Bennett is designated to play the guitar solo that night. Wow. Just wow.