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Night Blooming, 1981
In 1981, Dennis began to write and record music with Brian at Village
Recorders, resulting in such tunes as "Oh Lord" and "Night Blooming".
Stories of these sessions have become infamous in Beach Boys lore: they
are sometimes referred to as the notorious "hamburger sessions", a
reference to the reward strategy allegedly employed by Dennis to
motivate Brian's songwriting activity. Unfortunately, ground beef was not
the only substance reportedly abused at these sessions and soon the BBs
made a point of keeping the two apart -- but not before a significant
amount of tape had passed through the studio recording decks.
This song features Brian singing the lead. Obviously, the session left an impression on Brian, for, years later, he incorporated
this fragment into the cornerstone cut of his 1988 solo album "Brian Wilson" . "Rio Grande" was a very symbolic song....many people saw it as
Brian's valiant attempt to re-visit the spirit of such baroque, modular compositions as "Heroes and Villains" and "Cabin Essence".
But the forgotten point is that, to finish this tour de force for his solo album, Brian ALSO revisited
that one last time that he and his brother Dennis sat together in a studio
and did the one thing that meant the most to them...the one thing that bound
them together as brothers...making music.
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