Artist:The Beach Boys
Song Sail On Sailor
Album:Greatest Hits Vol. 3:Best Of The Brother Years
The Beach Boys 1973 hit Sail On Sailor is interesting because apparently it was the first song ever sung by someone who wasn't an original member of the group. Of course the band had been using session musicians like Bruce Johnston on tour for years. Brian Wilson just worked on music in the studio. Things had gotten so bad that Capitol Records dropped them in 1969 and conflict was growing between Brian and Mike Love. So they started their own label Brother Records with Warner Bros. distribution. While they were working on the 1972 album Surf's Up, Dennis Wilson accidently put his hand through a plate glass window and was unable to play the drums. So they needed a drummer. They had signed a South African group called The Flame and decided to hire drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin. They appeared on Carl & The Passions and the follow up Holland. When Sail On Sailor was released as a single, fans didn't recognize the singer. It was Blondie Chaplin. It's a great song but it doesn't sound like The Beach Boys. Chaplin & Fataar left The Beach Boys in 1974. Fataar joined the Beatles spoof band The Rutles and still plays sessions today and has played drums with Bonnie Raitt. Chaplin worked with The Band and joined the group after Richard Manuel died in 1986. He's also recorded with the Rolling Stones. So Sail On Sailor is an oddity in Beach Boys history and this comp covers the Brother years adequately. Here's The Beach Boys performing Sail On Sailor in Largo, FL 1977. The lead singer is Bobby Figueroa.
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