Customer Reviews

Going Public

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I love this CD! I bought it when it was an album and NEVER thought I'd see it's release on Compact Disc! Thank God it was!

I find myself in the peculiar position of having to defend my love for this CD! A lot of my friends are real Beach Boys fans and dismiss this solo outing by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston as a waste of money. Not So! There's some outstanding music here and I highly reccomend it- without reservation!

"Won't Somebody dance With Me" is the standout cut- unabashadley romantic- this song immediately grabs your heart, and pulls you into the world of a man watching his daughter ("a lonely wallflower") at a dance, hoping to be asked to dance. A wonderful little production that hits all the right notes.

Bruce wrote "Disney Girls" for the Beach Boys, "I write The Songs" for Barry Manilow and "Rendezvous" for the Hudson Brothers. He reprises each of these songs on this Cd and makes them all uniquely his own.

"Rock and Roll Survivor" is another outstanding cut- Bruce goes country and does so with style. I love this song- the production on this one is especially strong.

"Pipeline" is another show of Bruce's versatility- this is an impressive, spirited disco-fied version of the surf classic. Bravo bruce. This cut rocks.

Great Songs, Great Voice and Great production throughout by Gary Usher makes this CD a keeper!

Bruce Johnston, who joined the Beach Boys in 1965 (he can be heard singing on "California Girls" and the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album) released this solo album in 1977, and it has some interest for Beach Boys fans. It contains updated covers of two songs: "Disney Girls" and "Dierdre" which the Beach Boys included on a couple of their early 70's albums, as well as his own version of his hit composition for Barry Manilow "I Write The Songs" (reportedly written as a tribute to Brian Wilson). Not a must-have album, but interesting for Beach Boys fans, and a pleasant, inconsequential outing. The complete track listing: 1. I Write the Songs 2. Deidre 3. Thank You Baby 4. Rendezvous 5. Won't Somebody Dance with Me 6. Disney Girls 7.Rock and Roll Survivor 8. Don't Be Scared 9. Pipeline.

I am a big BB fan. I am also a fan of Bruce & Terry as well as the late Terry Melchers 2 wonderful solo albums (check out Bruce on both of these as well as the first Roger McGuinn solo lp). I owned this when it came out on vinyl and am glad to have a clean CD copy. The material is uneven (Won't Someone Dance with Me is just too sugary even for my overly-sweet preferences).

However, I consider the vocals outstanding across the board. Bruce has a superb voice for both lead and background. I think Rock & Roll Survivor is the standout track on here. Unlike the other reviewers, I think the sparse production suits the material. I could do without the disco Pipeline.

The album is short on running time. But I stll regularly play and enjoy what is there. If you can find it, also check out Bruce (and Terry and Brian and Curt Boettcher) on the California Music 45s. Each is a gem.

Bruce Johnston is a very gifted singer/musician and a really nice guy. I met him at a post-concert party in 1995. Reportedly due to the new management of Jack Riley in the early 1970s, Bruce took a break from being in the Beach Boys. South Africaners Blondie Chaplin (later to back up the Stones on their 1999 tour) and Ricky Fataar (later of the Rutles) hopped aboard the BB tour team, and contributed to their '72-'74 albums. Bruce, meanwhile, was doing something. This 1977 disco-fied release seems to have been the only yield. Had it had more new material, I might have been able to stomach the tasty (but still disco) arrangements. GP has a disco version of "Pipeline" (yikes!), simpler, understated arrangements of "Dierdre", "Disney Girls", and "I Write The Songs". Remember that Bruce penned this last tune as a tribute to Brian Wilson, and his recording here was done with the Calif. Boys Choir, under the direction of Doug Neslund, with whom I myself worked over a decade later (another really nice guy). It's sad that during their shows in the 90s, Mike Love was known to make fun of Barry Manilow and Bruce's tune just as Bruce would mount a Fender Rhodes to do a solo live version of it.The bottom line is that this album -- now reissued onto CD -- is really only for BJ and BB completists, or for anyone who wants to do the hustle to a surf rock classic. In his defence Bruce rejoined America's Band right after this album, and went on to helm the knobs for the next two BB albums -- the Light Album, and Keeping The Summer Alive, both of which shine with tasty studio production. Even the disco remake of "Here Comes The Nite" is tolerable as the culmination of the Beach Man's solo effort here.

I own this recording on vinyl and find it an album of pleasant songs. Bruce is best known as a member of the Beach Boys, and some of the songs on this album were written by him and recorded earlier with the Beach Boys. It's interesting to hear them in a stripped-down production with the usual large production values used on Beach Boys' recordings. I like his uptempo remake of the song "Deirdre" better than the original Beach Boys version. Bruce is also the songwriter of the the million seller "I Write The Songs" which was a big hit for Barry Manilow. It is nice to hear the songwriter's own interpretation of the song. One of the songs I don't like on the album is "Won't Somebody Dance With Me?" which is just a little too sweet & syrupy for my taste. This album show a couple of things:1) Bruce Johnston is a talented singer and songwriter who really isn't a rocker but more of a mellow pop singer/songwriter 2)Its too bad that after Brian Wilson was no longer producing the Beach Boys that Bruce's influence on the band's music was not felt as much should have.

Bruce Johnston had some interesting songs included in the late 60's "20-20"/early 70's "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" Beach Boys albums. They were lush full productions, intricately woven that showed perhaps a talent waiting to emerge. Unlike the Wilson brothers solo efforts, most notably Brian (of course) and Dennis, this solo effort by Johnston does not come remotely close to those prior recordings in quality in this recording released 6 years after Johnston quit the band. The songs from top to bottom each sound like they were recorded by the house producer who didn't care. The vocals throughout the album are again pathetically produced and tinny sounding to a point of embarrassment. After hearing this album, I am thoroughly convinced that either Brian and/or Carl Wilson were behind the finished quality of Johnston's efforts on Beach Boys albums. Johnston comes nowhere close to that quality here. Johnston had success after leaving the Beach Boys as the writer of "I Write the Songs" (his own rendition included here) which was a major hit for Barry Manilow....but, he clearly demonstrates here that that was the exception in a 40 year career. You might want just to complete a collection, but that will be the goal of only the hearty few who absolutely have to have everything ever connected with a band....My recommendation: Skip this one.