Conversational Review: Dennis Wilson - Bambu (197?)

Josh and I (inexplicably credited as 'Miami Dan') decided to listen to Dennis Wilson's Bambu. As with L.A., I'd already heard it and Josh hadn't. However, as there is no official tracklist - the Pacific Ocean Blue reissue tracks don't hang together cohesively - I just tossed off a tracklist of my own:

01. Time For Bed

02. Wild Situation (bootleg version)

03. Are You Real?

04. Companion (bootleg version)

05. Cocktails

06. Moonlight

07. I Love You

08. School Girl (bootleg version)

09. He's A Bum

10. It's Not Too Late

11. Love Remember Me

12. Album Tag Song

13. All Alone

[22:24:50] Miami Dan: 3

[22:24:52] Miami Dan: 2

[22:24:52] Miami Dan: 1

[22:24:54] Miami Dan: PLAY

Time For Bed begins.

[22:25:09] Josh: that's a piano right there

[22:25:12] Miami Dan: yes

[22:25:16] Miami Dan: this song has crazy horns

[22:25:44] Josh: wish they were a bit more audible

[22:25:50] Josh: this song is weird

[22:25:59] Josh: he's not really singing

[22:26:00] Miami Dan: chorus is crazy

[22:26:03] Josh: it's more talking

[22:26:07] Miami Dan: I guess

[22:26:40] Josh: very country

[22:26:43] Miami Dan: hm

[22:27:04] Josh: why the in the world is this called "Time for Bed"

[22:27:11] Miami Dan: I've no clue

[22:27:47] Miami Dan: so that was a thing

Wild Situation begins.

[22:28:01] Josh: well, at least it's got some kick to it

[22:28:04] Miami Dan: true that

[22:28:08 | Edited 22:28:10] Miami Dan: this one's alright too

[22:29:14] Josh: it's okay

[22:29:20] Josh: not really anything special

[22:29:32] Miami Dan: doesn't really go anywhere

[22:29:40] Josh: this songs have a very different feel to them than POB

[22:29:50] Miami Dan: yeah, they're a bit more hard

[22:30:04] Miami Dan: I think you can hear Carl calling out the lines in this bit

[22:30:12] Miami Dan: here comes the erection part

[22:30:20] Miami Dan: yay

Are You Real? begins.

[22:30:28] Josh: woohoo for erections

[22:30:46] Josh: what does he say in the released version?

[22:30:48] Miami Dan: This one's kinda filler

[22:30:52] Miami Dan: not sure

[22:30:55] Josh: or does it fade out after the "direction" line

[22:31:22] Miami Dan: no, it's a different take altogether

[22:32:43] Miami Dan: kinda cool, this bit

[22:32:52] Josh: he was certainly going in a different direction

[22:32:58] Josh: with this album

[22:33:07] Miami Dan: yeah

[22:33:13] Miami Dan: though I do prefer POB by a longshot

[22:33:21] Miami Dan: then again, I suppose this was incomplete

[22:33:36] Josh: this seems like it's the score to an action movie

[22:33:44] Miami Dan: maybe :P

Companion begins.

[22:34:02] Josh: oh

[22:34:02] Miami Dan: DRUM SOLO

[22:34:14] Miami Dan: This track is a jam

[22:34:42] Josh: is this the whole song

[22:34:51] Miami Dan: no

[22:34:58] Josh: ah, there we are

[22:36:07] Josh: the percussion is cool

[22:36:14] Miami Dan: certainly

[22:36:21] Josh: the horns are interesting

[22:36:30] Josh: although, they kinda make me think of a game show

[22:36:46] Miami Dan: different direction, josh

[22:37:20] Miami Dan: Munoz's songs for this album are by far the best

[22:37:31] Miami Dan: though the next track's quite nice

[22:37:41] Josh: I don't know which tracks he wrote

[22:37:52 | Edited 22:38:30] Josh: I'm just kinda letting it play wthout really checking what the song is called er whatever

[22:38:04] Miami Dan: mkai

Cocktails begins.

[22:40:30] Josh: am I not supposed to be able to understand him

[22:40:37] Miami Dan: prolly not

[22:40:43] Josh: "putta cat dizno kewapale tella"

[22:40:54] Miami Dan: well, I got that last line

[22:41:24] Josh: this just seems like a really lazy effort

[22:41:28] Miami Dan: I like it

Moonlight begins.

[22:41:34] Josh: he could write hundreds of those

[22:41:59] Miami Dan: The arrangement was ok

[22:42:14] Miami Dan: if it were just him and piano it really would be boring and lazy

[22:43:07] Miami Dan: This one's pretty good

[22:43:10] Josh: I actually like "A Time to Live in Dreams"

[22:43:37] Josh: was listening to that the other day

[22:43:37] Josh: anyway

[22:43:40] Miami Dan: I don't think much of it

[22:43:53] Josh: I like the melody

[22:43:59] Miami Dan: it's a notch above some of his other piano ballads

[22:44:02] Miami Dan: but not that good

[22:44:24] Miami Dan: and by other piano ballads I mean Barbara

[22:45:04] Josh: this might have done okay if it came out back in 78 or 79

[22:45:13] Miami Dan: eh

[22:45:16] Josh: sounds like a lot of stuff that was going on at that time

[22:45:24] Miami Dan: I spose

I Love You begins.

[22:46:06] Miami Dan: I like this one alright

[22:46:22] Miami Dan: gospelly

[22:47:32] Miami Dan: that was odd

School Girl begins.

[22:48:15] Josh: is this Dennis' take on "Hey, Little Tomboy"?

[22:48:21] Miami Dan: of course

[22:48:59] Miami Dan: here are the vocals they got rid of

[22:49:33] Miami Dan: I'm pretty sure he just said "put it there"

He's A Bum begins.

[22:49:56] Josh: I couldn't really make any of it out

[22:51:00] Josh: I really just don't think Dennis is for me

[22:51:16] Miami Dan: this one doesn't do much for me either

[22:51:19] Miami Dan: but hey

[22:51:22] Miami Dan: best song of the album next

[22:51:31] Josh: I like his early Beach Boy stuff

[22:51:48] Josh: but this stuff just doesn't really

[22:51:50] Josh: grab me

[22:51:50] Josh: at all

It's Not Too Late begins.

[22:52:57] Miami Dan: yeah, pretty much everything of his CATP onwards doesn't really do it for me

[22:53:09] Miami Dan: the big inexplicable exception being POB

[22:53:14] Miami Dan: which I adore

[22:53:18] Josh: I like two tracks from that

[22:53:24] Josh: "River Song" and "Pacific Ocean Blues"

[22:53:25] Miami Dan: I like all tracks from that

[22:53:29] Josh: maybe "What's Wrong"

[22:53:57] Miami Dan: Carl :D

[22:54:01 | Edited 22:54:05] Josh: I was just gonna ask

[22:54:25] Miami Dan: This song seems unfinished

[22:54:28] Miami Dan: still the best one

[22:55:39 | Edited 22:55:44] Miami Dan: because more or less the entire second half is just Carl doing this

[22:55:57] Josh: Carl is dope

[22:56:38] Miami Dan: dang right

[22:57:09] Josh: actually, Carl's part was pretty nice

Love Remember Me begins.

[22:57:17] Miami Dan: yup

[22:57:18] Josh: makes that song worth it

[22:57:23] Miami Dan: yay

[22:57:31] Josh: I wonder how involved he usually is with Dennis' stuff

[22:57:41] Josh: like him shouting out Dennis' lines for "Time for Bed"

[22:57:46] Josh: why was he there doing that

[22:57:55] Miami Dan: you mean Wild Situation

[22:57:57] Miami Dan: no idea

[22:58:07] Miami Dan: he's on POB too, pretty sure

[22:58:14] Josh: Yeah, he sings on RS

[22:59:10] Miami Dan: I hope you like this part because it's the rest of the damn song

[22:59:44] Josh: allmusic is recommending that I listen to the Jonas Brothers..

[22:59:45] Josh: like

[22:59:47] Josh: what did I rate

[22:59:58 | Edited 23:00:11] Josh: that they thought

[23:00:38] Miami Dan: big star

Album Tag Song begins.

[23:01:42] Josh: well, these songs are just comin and goin

[23:01:56] Miami Dan: these songs are just bits on a loop

[23:02:06] Miami Dan: because I spose they're unfinished

[23:02:13] Miami Dan: I like this one though

[23:04:11] Josh: these pieces don't fit together very well

[23:04:19] Miami Dan: SMILE BLAH

[23:04:52] Josh: is it influenced by that?

[23:04:56] Miami Dan: no clue

[23:04:57] Miami Dan: probs

All Alone begins.

[23:05:21] Josh: i feel like I know this song

[23:05:28] Josh: oh

[23:05:31] Miami Dan: It wasn't written by Dennis

[23:05:33] Josh: cuz it's on Endless Harmony

[23:05:37] Miami Dan: ohhh k

[23:05:51] Miami Dan: I don't think much of it

[23:06:14] Josh: at least it's mixed well

[23:07:08] Josh: compared to the bootleg ones

[23:07:12] Josh: you see

[23:07:22] Miami Dan: ah

[23:07:43 | Edited 23:07:51] Josh: why are sax solos inescapable

[23:08:15] Miami Dan: sax sells

[23:08:37] Miami Dan: yay we're done

Album ends.

[23:09:24] Miami Dan: so

[23:09:25] Miami Dan: what did you think

[23:09:38] Josh: I would rather listen to POB, i think

[23:09:44] Miami Dan: me too

[23:10:08] Miami Dan: Listening back, there are more tracks I don't care for than I remembered

[23:10:28] Miami Dan: I still really like It's Not Too Late and Companion

[23:10:35] Miami Dan: which were both Munoz blah

[23:10:43 | Edited 23:10:46] Josh: which is Carl on

[23:10:51] Miami Dan: not too late

[23:11:17] Josh: I feel like

[23:11:36] Josh: maybe if I was a bigger fan of straight forward rock music

[23:11:40 | Edited 23:11:59] Josh: and ballads and the like

[23:11:46] Josh: then I would appreciate this more

[23:12:24] Miami Dan: yeah, bluesy hard rock and piano ballads aren't my thing

Final ratings:

Miami Dan: ★★★

Josh: ★★★

[23:13:26] Miami Dan: It's better than LA

[23:13:40] Josh: it's certainly more fun to listen to than LA

[23:14:03] Miami Dan: yay

[23:14:07] Josh: I feel wrong giving it any higher or lower

[23:14:16] Miami Dan: me too

[23:14:19] Miami Dan: so yh

[23:14:21] Miami Dan: that existed

[23:14:26] Josh: it still does