Marcella (song) - Misplaced Pages

"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.

Background

The verse melody of "Marcella" branched from an earlier track entitled "I Just Got My Pay" (recorded during sessions for Sunflower) which itself branched from another discarded song called "All Dressed Up for School" (recorded during the making of The Beach Boys Today!). Both songs were released on the 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys.

"Marcella" was written about a real woman that Wilson knew. Music journalist Nick Kent explains that she "worked at a parlour just off the strip called Circus Maximus" and had allowed Wilson to "stay and talk to her even though she was aware most of what he said was crazy bullshit." According to Jack Rieley:

About that time Brian began talking in detail about a massage parlour in West Hollywood and one of the girls who worked there. At first he spoke only of going there for massages. Some days later he began going on and on about the masseuse who he said was turning him on.… The only thing I could think of to quell Brian's fixation was to channel it. Thus it was I who suggested Marcella as the title for a tune Brian had been working on. With my promise to write the Marcella lyric, he jumped into the project with immense enthusiasm. Brian, Carl, Desper and I worked hard on that record. Dennis helped too. The zither was a cool idea but it was mixed poorly. My lyric was minor... efficient at best.

Wilson later said that one of the lead guitar parts was inspired by George Harrison's playing, namely, Harrison's solo on "Let It Be" (1970). On another occasion, Wilson said that the song "represents one of the first times we tried to emulate The Rolling Stones. In my mind, it was dedicated to the Stones, but I never told them that. It's one of the rockingest songs I ever wrote."

Recording

"Marcella" was recorded on February 17, 1972 during the same session for "Out in the Country" and "Body Talk" at the Beach Boys' Bel Air studio.

Release

"Marcella" (backed with "Hold On Dear Brother") was released on June 26, 1972 as the album's second single. It peaked at No. 110 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, No. 116 on the Cashbox singles chart and No. 129 on the Record World singles chart.

Record World said it "is the Beach Boys at their very best."

Personnel

Credits from Craig Slowinski, John Brode, Will Crerar and Joshilyn Hoisington.

The Beach Boys

Ricky Fataar – drums, castanets
Al Jardine – backing vocals
Bruce Johnston – backing vocals
Mike Love – lead and backing vocals
Brian Wilson – backing vocals, grand piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer (bass), vibraphone
Carl Wilson – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, producer
Dennis Wilson – backing vocals

Additional musicians

Tandyn Almer – autoharps
Tony Martin Jr. – pedal steel guitars
Jack Rieley – backing vocals
unidentified players – 2 trumpets, trombone, bass trombone, sleigh bells, cabasa, bongos

References

Guy, Timothy (August 26, 2014). "FANTASY SPRINGS: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine bring 'Good Vibrations'". The Press Enterprise. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
"Watch Brian Wilson and His Band's 2001 Soundcheck of 'Marcella'". 24 January 2022.
* Lambert, Philip (2007). Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. Continuum. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-8264-1876-0.
Kent, Nick (1995). "The Last Beach Movie Revisited: The Life of Brian Wilson". The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music. Da Capo Press. p. 47. ISBN 0306806460.
"Jack Rieley's comments & Surf's Up". smileysmile.net.
Kubernik, Harvey (2014). It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: The Beatles Invade America and Hollywood. Los Angeles, CA: Otherworld Cottage Industries. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-9898936-8-8.
Kubernik, Harvey (July 2, 2021). "Beach Boys "Feel Flows" Box Set". Music Connection. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
Wilson, Brian (2002). Classics Selected by Brian Wilson (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
Doe, Andrew G. "GIGS72". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly.
Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
"Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. July 1, 1972. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
"Sail On Sailor Sessionography". The Beach Boys. Retrieved 2023-02-03.

External links

Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"

Songs

Side one	"You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" "Here She Comes" "He Come Down" "Marcella"
Side two	"Hold On Dear Brother" "Make it Good" "All This Is That" "Cuddle Up"

Outtakes

"Body Talk"
"Change Partners"
"Gimme Some Lovin'"
"Out in the Country"
"Rooftop Harry"
"Spark in the Dark"
"Oh Sweet Something"

The Beach Boys singles

1960s

1961	"Surfin'" / "Luau"
1962	"Surfin' Safari" / "409" "Ten Little Indians" / "County Fair"
1963	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "Shut Down" "Surfer Girl" / "Little Deuce Coupe" "Be True to Your School" / "In My Room" "Little Saint Nick" / "The Lord's Prayer"
1964	"Fun, Fun, Fun" / "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" "I Get Around" / "Don't Worry Baby" "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" / "She Knows Me Too Well" "Dance, Dance, Dance" / "The Warmth of the Sun" "The Man with All the Toys" / "Blue Christmas"
1965	"Do You Wanna Dance?" / "Please Let Me Wonder" "Help Me, Rhonda" / "Kiss Me, Baby" "California Girls"/ "Let Him Run Wild" "The Little Girl I Once Knew" / "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" "Barbara Ann" / "Girl Don't Tell Me"
1966	"Sloop John B" / "You're So Good to Me" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "God Only Knows" "Good Vibrations" / "Let's Go Away for Awhile"
1967	"Then I Kissed Her" / "Mountain of Love" "Heroes and Villains" / "You're Welcome" "Wild Honey" / "Wind Chimes" "Darlin'" / "Here Today"
1968	"Friends" / "Little Bird" "Do It Again" / "Wake the World" "Bluebirds over the Mountain" / "Never Learn Not to Love"
1969	"I Can Hear Music" / "All I Want to Do" "Break Away" / "Celebrate the News"

1970s

1970	"Add Some Music to Your Day" / "Susie Cincinnati" "Cottonfields" / "The Nearest Faraway Place" "Slip On Through" / "This Whole World" "Tears in the Morning" / "It's About Time"
1971	"Cool, Cool Water" / "Forever" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (live) / "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (by Merry Clayton) "Long Promised Road" / "Deirdre" "Long Promised Road" / "'Til I Die" "Student Demonstration Time" / "Don't Go Near the Water" "Surf's Up" / "Don't Go Near the Water"
1972	"You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" / "Cuddle Up" "Marcella" / "Hold On Dear Brother"
1973	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You" "California Saga/California" / "Funky Pretty"
1974	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "The Warmth of the Sun" "Child of Winter (Christmas Song)" / "Susie Cincinnati"
1975	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You"
1976	"Rock and Roll Music" / "T M Song" "It's O.K." / "Had to Phone Ya" "Everyone's in Love with You" / "Susie Cincinnati"
1977	"Honkin' Down the Highway" / "Solar System"
1978	"Peggy Sue" / "Hey Little Tomboy"
1979	"Here Comes the Night" / "Baby Blue" "Good Timin'" / "Love Surrounds Me" "Lady Lynda" / "Full Sail" "It's a Beautiful Day" / "Sumahama"

1980s

1980	"Goin' On" / "Endless Harmony" "Livin' with a Heartache" / "Santa Ana Winds"
1981	"The Beach Boys Medley" / "God Only Knows" "Come Go with Me" / "Don't Go Near the Water"
1985	"Getcha Back" / "Male Ego" "It's Gettin' Late" / "It's O.K." "She Believes in Love Again" / "It's Just a Matter of Time"
1986	"Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue" / "Good Vibrations" (live) "California Dreamin'" / "Lady Liberty"
1987	"Happy Endings" (with Little Richard) / "California Girls" (live)
1988	"Kokomo" / "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard)
1989	"Still Cruisin'" / "Kokomo"

1990s

1990	"Somewhere Near Japan" / "Kokomo" "Problem Child" / "Problem Child (Instrumental)"
1992	"Hot Fun in the Summertime" / "Summer of Love"
1996	"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" / "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "Here Today"

2010s

2011	"Good Vibrations" / "Heroes and Villains" "Don't Fight the Sea" / "Friends"
2012	"That's Why God Made the Radio" / "That's Why God Made the Radio" (instrumental) "Isn't It Time" / Live in Chicago

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