The Beach Boys share 1970s outtake ‘Carry Me Home’
This December, Beach Boys fans will be able to pour over the new box set Sail On Sailor – 1972. Featuring remastered material from the band’s 1972 album Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” and the 1973 album Holland, Sail On Sailor – 1972 highlights a unique and short-lived period of The Beach Boys’ career.
With Brian Wilson once again returning to his reclusive state and Dennis Wilson sustaining an injury to his hand, guitarist Blondie Chaplin and drummer Ricky Fataar were recruited into the band. Rather than acting as touring musicians, Chaplin and Fataar were brought into the band, expanding their lineup to include eight different musicians.
Chaplin would depart in 1973, while Fataar left in 1974. It was a brief time when The Beach Boys were largely out in the wilderness, unsure of where to go without the leadership of Brian. All eight members contributed to songwriting, but it was Carl Wilson who was largely responsible for the direction of the group.
Through his injury, Dennis Wilson continued to write songs, eventually compiling his best material into his one and only studio album, Pacific Ocean Blue. All the while, he was still contributing songs like ‘Steamboat’, ‘Only With You’, and ‘Cuddle Up’. During the recording of Holland, Dennis wrote a song chronicling the poor treatment of a Vietnam War veteran who returns home. ‘Carry Me Home’ didn’t make it onto the album, but it did have a notable afterlife.
“I wrote a song intended for Holland about Vietnam,” Wilson recalled in a contemporary interview. “I got the image of a soldier—me—dying in a ditch, and I ended up doing a song about it. The soldier began feeling, ‘Why the hell am I here?’ Then the coldness started move up his body, from his feet to his legs, to his chest … until he was dead. See? It was too negative! How could I put that on a Beach Boys album?”
You can find an old Primal Scream cover of the outtake somewhere out in Internet Land. But Wilson’s original still languished on bootlegs before Sail On Sailor – 1972 was assembled. Now, we can hear the track in all its original glory.
Check out ‘Carry Me Home’ down below. Sail On Sailor – 1972 will be released on December 2nd.
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