Cabinessence
Encyclopedia
"Cabin Essence" is a song written by Brian Wilson
and Van Dyke Parks
for the American
rock
band
The Beach Boys
. It was released on their 1969 album 20/20
. It was originally intended for release on the scuttled 1967 album Smile.
Brian Wilson stated that he and Van Dyke Parks wrote the song along with "Heroes and Villains" "Wonderful" and "Surf's Up" in a giant sandbox with a piano in it that Wilson had built in his living room. The song is noted for being one of a number of Smile tracks which contained controversial lyrics that the other bandmembers (most notably Mike Love
) did not approve of. A recording session for the vocal overdubs, reportedly on 6 December 1966, saw tensions within the band boil over when Love confronted lyricist Parks on the meaning of the coda line "Over and over, the crow cries, uncover the cornfield. Over and over, the thresher and plover, the wheatfield". Love claimed the lyrics had no substance and were mere "acid alliteration". Consequently, Parks left the session and would eventually leave the project in the spring of 1967, which many consider to have doomed the album, already months overdue, though close to completion.
"Cabin Essence", however, was mixed and completed before the abandonment of the project. Although the final Smile version would have most likely been released in mono (in accordance with Wilson's usual mixing technique), the track was finally released in stereo (retitled "Cabinessence") on their 1969 album 20/20, with minor vocal overdubs. It was met with interest and praise upon its release in 1969 (along with "Our Prayer") due to its roots in the much publicised Smile project three years earlier.
The song was never performed live by the band.
An instrumental version can be found on the Beach Boys' 1993 Good Vibrations
box set. The song was re-recorded by Brian Wilson's band and released on his 2004 version
of Smile. A new mono mix of the song was prepared in 2011 for the Smile Sessions box set.
Brian Wilson version:
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
. It was released on their 1969 album 20/20
20/20 (The Beach Boys album)
20/20 is the sole 1969 album release by The Beach Boys, and their last studio album to be released with Capitol Records for the next seventeen years.-Recording:...
. It was originally intended for release on the scuttled 1967 album Smile.
Brian Wilson stated that he and Van Dyke Parks wrote the song along with "Heroes and Villains" "Wonderful" and "Surf's Up" in a giant sandbox with a piano in it that Wilson had built in his living room. The song is noted for being one of a number of Smile tracks which contained controversial lyrics that the other bandmembers (most notably Mike Love
Mike Love
Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
) did not approve of. A recording session for the vocal overdubs, reportedly on 6 December 1966, saw tensions within the band boil over when Love confronted lyricist Parks on the meaning of the coda line "Over and over, the crow cries, uncover the cornfield. Over and over, the thresher and plover, the wheatfield". Love claimed the lyrics had no substance and were mere "acid alliteration". Consequently, Parks left the session and would eventually leave the project in the spring of 1967, which many consider to have doomed the album, already months overdue, though close to completion.
"Cabin Essence", however, was mixed and completed before the abandonment of the project. Although the final Smile version would have most likely been released in mono (in accordance with Wilson's usual mixing technique), the track was finally released in stereo (retitled "Cabinessence") on their 1969 album 20/20, with minor vocal overdubs. It was met with interest and praise upon its release in 1969 (along with "Our Prayer") due to its roots in the much publicised Smile project three years earlier.
The song was never performed live by the band.
An instrumental version can be found on the Beach Boys' 1993 Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys
Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys is a 1993 boxed set released by Capitol Records which collects tracks spanning The Beach Boys' entire career to that point on four CDs. A fifth disc contains mostly studio session tracks, complete vocal and instrumental tracks, and rare live...
box set. The song was re-recorded by Brian Wilson's band and released on his 2004 version
Smile (Brian Wilson album)
Smile, sometimes typeset with the idiosyncratic partial capitalization SMiLE, or referred to as Brian Wilson Presents Smile is a solo album by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Van Dyke Parks released on September 28, 2004 on CD and two-disc vinyl LP...
of Smile. A new mono mix of the song was prepared in 2011 for the Smile Sessions box set.
Details
- Written by: Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
/Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile.... - Album: 20/2020/20 (The Beach Boys album)20/20 is the sole 1969 album release by The Beach Boys, and their last studio album to be released with Capitol Records for the next seventeen years.-Recording:...
/ SmileSmile (Brian Wilson album)Smile, sometimes typeset with the idiosyncratic partial capitalization SMiLE, or referred to as Brian Wilson Presents Smile is a solo album by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Van Dyke Parks released on September 28, 2004 on CD and two-disc vinyl LP... - Time: 3 minMinuteA minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units...
34 secSecondThe second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... - Produced by: Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
Performers
Beach Boys version:- Jimmy Bond, Jr. - upright bass
- James BurtonJames BurtonJames Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
- dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar... - Jesse Ehrlich - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Carl Fortina - accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
- drums (on early takes)Drum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tambourine with a stick - Al JardineAl JardineAlan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, a guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early life:...
- vocals - Armand Kaproff - cello
- Carol KayeCarol KayeCarol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
- banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new... - Mike LoveMike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
- lead vocal - Jay MiglioriJay MiglioriJay Migliori was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker....
- saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Oliver Mitchell - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Tommy Morgan - harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
s - Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
- upright piano - Bill Pitman - guitar
- Lyle Ritz - upright bass
- Tommy TedescoTommy TedescoThomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
- guitar, bouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but... - Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
- vocals - Carl WilsonCarl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
- guitar, lead vocal - Dennis WilsonDennis WilsonDennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
- vocals
Brian Wilson version:
- Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
- lead vocals, keyboards - Scott Bennett - vocals, keyboards
- Nelson Bragg - vocals, percussion
- Jeffery FoskettJeff FoskettJeffrey Foskett is a guitarist and singer best known for his work with Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.Foskett originally came from San Jose, California, where in the early-1970s his first band was a surf group named "Cherry", after the Willow Glen area street on which he lived. He attended Willow...
- vocals, guitar - Probyn Gregory - vocals, banjo
- Jim Hines - drums
- Bob Lizik - bass
- Paul Mertons - saxophone, harmonica
- Taylor Mills - vocals, percussion
- Darian SahanajaDarian SahanajaDarian Sahanaja is a singer, songwriter, and is currently playing in the Brian Wilson band with The Wondermints. He has also collaborated with numerous other artists in the genre of orchestral/underground pop, including Baby Lemonade, Wonderboy, Aimee Mann, Now People, Lisa Mychols and Donna Summer...
- vocals, keyboards - Nick Walusko - vocals, guitar
- Stockholm Strings 'N' Horns
See also
- The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
- 20/2020/20 (The Beach Boys album)20/20 is the sole 1969 album release by The Beach Boys, and their last studio album to be released with Capitol Records for the next seventeen years.-Recording:...
- Smile (Beach Boys album)
- Smile (Brian Wilson album)Smile (Brian Wilson album)Smile, sometimes typeset with the idiosyncratic partial capitalization SMiLE, or referred to as Brian Wilson Presents Smile is a solo album by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Van Dyke Parks released on September 28, 2004 on CD and two-disc vinyl LP...
- List of songs by The Beach Boys