The Dennis Wilson track Holy Man featuring Taylor Hawkins, Brian May & Roger Taylor will be released on vinyl this April. The B-side features an instrumental version of the track.
source: link
Thanks for bringing this up. There is a video on YouTube of a - supposedly older - version with Hawkins, but no May or Taylor at that point. link
Cheers,
Ogre-
Such a beautiful track. Dennis Wilson was really underrated. He wrote some stellar tracks as part of the Beach Boys and he was really creative in the 1968-1977 period.
Some tracks which are essential listening:
Sound of Free
Fallin' In Love
Forever
Never Learn Not To Love
Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again
Steamboat
Slip On Through
River Song
+ many more.
According to Brian’s post on Twitter/Instagram the track was released yesterday, April, 13th. The song with alone Wilson and Hawkins is very pure and has a nice melody. I hope the version with Brian and Roger is not over-produced.
The BR+RT version has the original drums treated by Rog, they sound beefier, a little treatment to the cymbals here and there, and some subtle backing vocals from Rog (a lovely extended "holy maaaaaan" later on in the track that bleeds through too).
Brian has... Brianified the track. His guitar sound is so familiar to Queen fans, that it changes what you're hearing so much. That said, some relatively tasteful guitar, some soloing, and PLENTY of backing vocals. The song ends kinda abruptly (it might be fine, sounded a bit sudden to my ears), but the outro is quite nice, and he's done a nice little edit as such of the piano for it.
I've only listened twice tbf, and I'm ten years deep on Hawkins' version, but it's still decent. Hawkins' version definitely suits the vibe of Dennis Wilson's tracks, I think this version may have been slightly out of place on the original POB deluxe release.
GreatKingSam wrote:
The BR+RT version has the original drums treated by Rog, they sound beefier, a little treatment to the cymbals here and there, and some subtle backing vocals from Rog (a lovely extended "holy maaaaaan" later on in the track that bleeds through too).
Brian has... Brianified the track. His guitar sound is so familiar to Queen fans, that it changes what you're hearing so much. That said, some relatively tasteful guitar, some soloing, and PLENTY of backing vocals. The song ends kinda abruptly (it might be fine, sounded a bit sudden to my ears), but the outro is quite nice, and he's done a nice little edit as such of the piano for it.
I've only listened twice tbf, and I'm ten years deep on Hawkins' version, but it's still decent. Hawkins' version definitely suits the vibe of Dennis Wilson's tracks, I think this version may have been slightly out of place on the original POB deluxe release.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! It is shame, that they do not release it digitally..
I was happy to find this single in my local record shop yesterday and I really like it. I think Brian and Roger have added their thing without changing the Original vibe of the song. Nice one, they (Brian and Roger) should do more of these collaborations.
I bought it from Amazon, in digital edition. Beautiful song, It shows Brian's guitar and voice. I hope Brian and Roger edited these types of songs in the future. Sorry, there a are other topic about this song.
Rick, re:
>I like it, but I do prefer the original. Less is more.
Brian, being Brian, decided it had to have more guitar on it than was entirely necessary. I remember his Soapbox incredulity at the track not being on the Deluxe Edition - clearly, those compiling the set were able to see that indulging Maylor wouldn't do anything to further the legacy of Brian Wilson.
Wise men indeed.
dudeofqueen wrote:
Rick, re:
>I like it, but I do prefer the original. Less is more.
Brian, being Brian, decided it had to have more guitar on it than was entirely necessary. I remember his Soapbox incredulity at the track not being on the Deluxe Edition - clearly, those compiling the set were able to see that indulging Maylor wouldn't do anything to further the legacy of Brian Wilson.
Wise men indeed.
I agree, although the song was written by Dennis Wilson ;)
After hearing it multiple times, I'm starting to really appreciate this version. The background vocals are amazing and I think Dennis would approve. On the Pacific Ocean Blue album he experimented a lot with vocal harmonies. I love Brian's guitar work, although it sounds as a 'quickie'. Roger's drumming is solid, as always. I have always loved Hawkins' vocals on this track.
Rick wrote:
After hearing it multiple times, I'm starting to really appreciate this version. The background vocals are amazing and I think Dennis would approve. On the Pacific Ocean Blue album he experimented a lot with vocal harmonies. I love Brian's guitar work, although it sounds as a 'quickie'. Roger's drumming is solid, as always. I have always loved Hawkins' vocals on this track.
Same here. I LOVE the original version and after 1st listenings of this new take I thought that Brian had really gone too far. Too many vocal harmonies, guitar solo too long etc etc... but now I'm getting used to it and start to like it a lot.
I guess I will always prefer the first version a little bit more. So subtle, so peaceful, and there's something in the main vocals mix that I prefer too.
But now that I really appreciate the new additions to the song, I'm glad I'll be able to enjoy both takes anytime.