Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sloop John B: The Beach Boys



The harmonies, the melodies, the inventiveness, the academic nous. This band created the greatest summertime soundtracks in the history of summer itself. The exuberance of surf rock resonating along Californian shorelines are, in every single way, the sole property of this band. And let’s not even begin the deserved sycophancy which Pet Sounds so glaringly earned itself. It's a struggle to say anything about the Beach Boys without stumbling off into the precious stones of their majestic masterpiece- it would just seem terribly uneducated not to give it a nod on the way through. Best song on the album (in my opinion) is seventh track Sloop John B. Smooth guitar chomping with a full band arrangement and the shared vocal duties of Brian Wilson and Mike Love.

They are legends though, aint they? (starting a new paragraph with an observation built on something from a previous paragraph is incorrect grammatical structuring by the way) Traditionally a West Indies folk song the Beach Boys version is musically different from the original and employs tambourine, electric bass, clarinet, organ, glockenspiel, flute and saxophone throughout the transformation. Brian sang the first and third verses while Mike took charge of the second verse. Released as a single in March 1966 it charted highly throughout the world and remains their most popular hits...and the only track on Pet Sounds that isn't a Brian Wilson original.

SLOOP JOHN B
We come on the sloop John B
My grandfather and me
Around Nassau town we did roam
Drinkin' all night, got into a fight
Well, I feel so broke up, I want to go home

So hoist up the John B's sail

See how the mainsail sets
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, yeah yeah
Well, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home

The first mate, he got drunk

And broke in the captain's trunk
The constable had to come and take him away
Sheriff John Stone
Why don't you leave me alone? Yeah yeah
Well, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home

So hoist up the John B's sail

See how the mainsail sets
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don't you let me go home?
Hoist up the John B's sail
Hoist up the John B
I feel so broke up, I wanna go home
Let me go home

The poor cook he caught the fits

And threw away all my grits
And then he took and he ate up all of my corn
Let me go home
Why don't they let me go home?
This is the worst trip I've ever been on

So hoist up the John B's sail

See how the mainsail sets
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don't you let me go?

The Beach Boys Official Site

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