Who knows what possessed the Beach Boys to turn in such a horrendous cover. Well if I'm being honest, it's horrendous in the best way. The track, released in 1976 came from the "15 Big Ones." The album coincided with Capitol's mining and getting gold and platinum with 1974's "Endless Summer." At nearly the same time, the whole deal seemed to prompt Brian Wilson to get behind the boards once again.
Who knew what caused this idea to take place? It was either because of a lack of new material or the fact that these often cringe-worthy "oldies" seemed to get Brian Wilson's tamale wagging more than anything else. The whole concept did get him out of bed and that's a plus right there.
"palisades Park" of course is a cover of Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon's hyper 1962 hit. For this version, the Beach Boys slows the tempo, adds pedal guitars, a honking sax and pretty much offers enough feign enthusiasm for this to teeter straight into parody. Odder still the main "culprit" is the sweet voiced, totally cool Carl Wilson. With his lead vacillating to blissed-out dude to corny kid, he makes you love this track. You'll laugh with him not at him.
We here at the Pop Culture Idiot have heard great things about "Palisades Park." You know, no one really complains about "Palisades Park."
What's Good About This- Well, it isn't "Blueberry Hill."
Recollections Perhaps Lost On Younger Readers: Around this time Brian Wilson often gave some of the saddest performances around. With a zonked out stare and weird actions on stage, it was nearly frightening TV. If I remember correctly he'd be behind the piano and would barely play.
Unfortunate Pop Culture Moment I Can't Forget In Spite of Years of Therapy: Mike Love's goofy finger pointing and "dance" moves. Ok, I stil think they're pretty cool.
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