Long Promised Road

Last updated
"Long Promised Road"
Beach Boys - Long Promised Road & Deirdre.jpg
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album Surf's Up
B-side "Deirdre"
ReleasedMay 24, 1971
RecordedApril 3, 1971
Length3:30
Label Brother/Reprise
Songwriter(s) Carl Wilson, Jack Rieley
Producer(s) The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Wouldn't It Be Nice (live)" / "Deirdre"
(1971)		"Long Promised Road" / "Deirdre"
(1971)		"Long Promised Road" / "'Til I Die"
(1971)
Licensed audio
"Long Promised Road" on YouTube

"Long Promised Road" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up . It was written by Carl Wilson and Jack Rieley. Aside from a few guitar instrumentals written in the early days of the band and collective co-writing credits, the song is Wilson's first solo composition, and he plays all of the instruments himself. [1]

Contents

Background

Asked about the song in a 2013 interview, Jack Rieley said:

That was the first Beach Boys lyric I wrote; Carl asked me to have a hand in it. I felt that I was onto something. Van Dyke Parks wrote ethereal lyrics. Surf’s Up's a masterpiece but it’s also ethereal. I was writing personal lyrics – love songs with a sense of poetry. I was trying to tell the tale of life and love that we go through at different times in life. I adore the English language so much [and it] gave me the opportunity to stretch out. Carl and I were experimenting with chemicals, and it enhanced that song. I wanted to see Carl make something extraordinary. His vocal is so precious on it. There’s that screaming deep guitar which holds the song together and gives it relevancy beyond the first minute and 30 seconds. I worked very hard with him on his performance, which was stellar. Carl was really proud of it. [2]

Release

The song was first released as a single in May 1971, and did not chart. It was then included on Surf's Up, and was re-released as a single, with a different b-side, "'Til I Die", in October of the same year. This time it made it to No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.[ citation needed ]

Brian Wilson, who has included the song in his solo concerts, described it as "an incredible tune." [3]

Personnel

Credits from Craig Slowinski [1]

The Beach Boys

Guests

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Wilson</span> American musician (1946–1998)

Carl Dean Wilson was an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's de facto leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.

<i>Holland</i> (album) 1973 album by the Beach Boys

Holland is the 19th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released January 8, 1973 on Brother/Reprise. It is their first album recorded without Bruce Johnston since 1965, their second with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and their final studio album created under the de facto leadership of Carl Wilson and manager Jack Rieley. The LP was originally packaged with a bonus EP, Mount Vernon and Fairway, which consisted of a 12-minute fairy tale written and produced by Brian and Carl Wilson.

<i>Surfs Up</i> (album) 1971 studio album by the Beach Boys

Surf's Up is the 17th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 30, 1971 on Brother/Reprise. It received largely favorable reviews and reached number 29 on the U.S. record charts, becoming their highest-charting LP of new music in the U.S. since 1967. In the UK, Surf's Up peaked at number 15, continuing a string of top 40 records that had not abated since 1965.

<i>Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"</i> 1972 album by the Beach Boys

Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" is the 18th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released May 15, 1972 on Brother/Reprise. The album is a significant musical departure for the band and is the first to feature the Flames' Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar as additions to their official line-up. It sold poorly and was met with lukewarm reviews, but later gained stature as a cult favorite among fans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail On, Sailor</span> 1973 single by the Beach Boys

"Sail On, Sailor" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1973 album Holland. It was written primarily by Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson with Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, and Jack Rieley. The lead singer on the song is Blondie Chaplin, making this one of the band's few well-known songs not sung by Mike Love, Brian Wilson, or Carl Wilson. The song was released as a single in 1973, backed with "Only with You", and peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard singles chart. A 1975 reissue charted higher, at No. 49.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Help Me, Rhonda</span> 1965 song by the Beach Boys

"Help Me, Rhonda" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, appearing first on their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! and subsequently in re-recorded form on the following 1965 album Summer Days . It was written by Brian Wilson, with additional lyrics by Mike Love. Unlike many other songs by the band from this period, "Help Me, Rhonda" features a lead vocal sung by Al Jardine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surf's Up (song)</span> Song written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for the Beach Boys

"Surf's Up" is a song recorded by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It was originally intended for Smile, an unfinished Beach Boys album that was scrapped in 1967. The song was later completed by Brian and Carl Wilson as the closing track of the band's 1971 album Surf's Up.

"Funky Pretty" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their January 1973 album Holland. Themed around astrology, the song was written by Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Jack Rieley. Carl Wilson explained that the song was quickly recorded in a "spontaneous flurry". Brian was an active participant in its production, a rare occurrence at the time. In April 1973, it was issued as the B-side to their single "California Saga/California".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Girls (1957)</span> 1971 song by the Beach Boys

"Disney Girls (1957)" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It was written and sung by Bruce Johnston, who also plays upright piano, Moog synthesizer, and mandolin. Johnston later rerecorded the song for his 1977 solo album, Going Public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cool, Cool Water</span> 1971 single by the Beach Boys

"Cool, Cool Water" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1970 album Sunflower. It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love and later issued as an A-sided single in March 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Go Near the Water (The Beach Boys song)</span> 1971 song by the Beach Boys

"Don't Go Near the Water" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. Written by Mike Love and Al Jardine, the song puts an ironic, ecological spin on the traditional Beach Boys beach- and surf- based songs: instead of enjoying surfing and other fun activities, this time the listener is advised to avoid the water for environmental reasons.

"A Day in the Life of a Tree" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It was written by Brian Wilson and the group's manager Jack Rieley, who also performed lead vocal. The lyrics were inspired by Wilson's feelings toward environmental pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcella (song)</span> 1972 single by the Beach Boys

"Marcella" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1972 album Carl and the Passions – "So Tough". Written by Brian Wilson, Jack Rieley, and Tandyn Almer, the lyrics were inspired by Wilson's fixation with a local massage therapist. It is the last song to feature Bruce Johnston during his original tenure in the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone (song)</span> 1972 single by the Beach Boys

"You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1972 album Carl and the Passions – "So Tough". It was written by Brian Wilson and Jack Rieley, and was issued as the album's lead single with the B-side "Cuddle Up". The single failed to chart.

"Feel Flows" is a song recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It was written by guitarist Carl Wilson and band manager Jack Rieley, and was one of Wilson's first songs.

"Take a Load Off Your Feet" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It was written by Al Jardine, Brian Wilson and Gary Winfrey.

"Student Demonstration Time" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It is an altered version of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller's "Riot in Cell Block Number 9" with new lyrics by Mike Love.

"Child Is Father of the Man" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys that was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It was originally recorded for the band's never-finished album Smile. In 2004, Wilson rerecorded the song for Brian Wilson Presents Smile. In 2011, the Beach Boys' original recording was released on The Smile Sessions.

<i>Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour</i> 2013 live album by The Beach Boys

Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour is a live album by the Beach Boys released on May 21, 2013. The album was recorded during the band's 50th anniversary reunion tour.

<i>Mount Vernon and Fairway</i> 1973 EP by the Beach Boys

Mount Vernon and Fairway is an EP by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was included as a bonus record with their 1973 release Holland. It is a 12-minute musical fairy tale, primarily composed by Brian Wilson, assembled by Carl Wilson, and narrated by manager Jack Rieley. Brian provided the voice of the Pied Piper and drew the sleeve cover.

References

  1. 1 2 Slowinski, Craig (Summer 2021). Beard, David (ed.). "Surf's Up: 50th Anniversary Edition". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. Vol. 34, no. 134. Charlotte, North Carolina.
  2. ↑ "The Life of RIELEY". Record Collector Mag. September 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ Brian Wilson: Behind The Scenes At His New York Concert , retrieved 2022-08-02
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.