Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue" Finally Reissued After Fifteen Year Disappearance

After being out of print for nearly fifteen years, the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson's lone solo album Pacific Ocean Blue will finally be re-released and reissued as a two-disc set. The set will celebrate the album's thirtieth anniversary (even though it came out in 1977) as the copyright disputes that made it unavailable for more than a decade have been resolved by means of a Caribou/Epic/Legacy co-release. The scarcity of the record has made it both a cult-favorite and a high-priced collector's item over the years. In addition to Pacific Ocean Blue, which feature the Beach Boys' Mike Love and brother Carl Wilson on a few tracks, the set will also include previously unreleased bonus songs "which are still being sorted through by label archivists." The album captures Wilson on the precipice of his drugs-and-alcohol-fueled decline, which eventually led to Wilson's drowning death in 1983.

Following Pacific, Wilson promised to release a superior sophomore album called Bamboo. While the album was never completed due to financial woes and Beach Boys obligation, for the first time ever legally (thanks, bootleggers), songs from Bamboo will make their way onto the second disc of the set. While the exact second-disc contents are unknown, they will hopefully contain some of the sessions Dennis and his brother Brian Wilson collaborated on in 1980-81. The set, barring any last minute copyright issues, will hit stores on May 13th as either a two-disc set or a standalone vinyl.

Related Stories:
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• Beach Boys' Brian Wilson Finally Defeats One of Mike Love's Dubious Lawsuits

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Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

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