A Cork on the Ocean: Beach Boys and Wilson Brothers song-by-song

When a Man Needs a Woman

On an album I consider one of my favourites, this is my third "4" in a row (as opposed to "5"). It's gorgeous but I always found the lyric to be off-colour. And that's me talking, who usually has a liking for Brian's lyrical eccentricities.
However, when you put these songs together in a row, they're much more than the sum of their parts.

4/5

 

When A Man Needs A Woman
Sweet, melodic and uplifting. Easily my fav track on the album. This tune makes me feel good. Alt version is considerably less strong with the extra vox being less smooth.
Rating 4.5
Alt version Rating 3.5

 

Today’s track manages to meander despite being so short: 3/5.

 

I love the organ that sounds like he pushed the "skating rink" button. It would also play a major role in the next track on the album as well. Every time I hear this, I can't help but think that Brian had to be musically inspired by the old chestnut, "Walkin' My Baby Back Home," originally a hit for Ted Weems & His Orchestra in 1931. In 1952, there were suddenly two remakes of it by Johnny Ray and Nat King Cole vying for attention, I think it's a safe bet that 10 year old Brian was fond of both versions.

 

When A Man - I'd not really thought about the 'son' element re the eventual delivery of Carnie. It was a fairly male-oriented time, the 60s.
Lovely song anyway, impeccable playing from the sessioners, just fits nicely on the album.
4/5

 

When A Man Needs A Woman

Tasty guitar work. I love the urgency in Brian’s vocal in the bridge leading up to “Oh oh oh oh oh oh ohhhh”

4/5

When A Man Needs A Woman (alternate version)

There’s something endearing about Brian singing “You’ll be groovin’ to another song, what a good boy”

4/5

When A Man Needs A Woman (early take)

Great to hear the guys have a go at playing the track.

 

Innocuous music, gruesome lyrics. This is the first emergence of the alarmingly childlike viewpoint on sexual relations that we'll be hearing more from in future, particularly in the late seventies. I don't think the chauvinism of the times gets you very far in accounting for the assumption that a boy was on the way -- in relation to what was self-evidently a 50-50 proposition, it just comes over as weird and clumsy. I'd be interested to learn what five other people did to earn their songwriting credits -- this is Brian all over, which for once I don't mean in a good way. 2/5

 

Another sweet slice o' life. 4

 

"When A Man Needs A Woman” doesn’t sound like a final take to me. It’s too low key and unconvincing in its celebration of Brian’s impending fatherhood. I wouldn’t say it’s insincere, but it does sound off-hand. Brian, the vocals and Lyle Roz all are fine, but those guitars sound amateurish to me. I suppose Carnie would have mixed feelings about this. It’s one I wish I liked more. 3.8/5

"When A Man Needs A Woman” [alternative version] Carnie must have very mixed feelings about this. I like the early version without vocals played by The Beach Boys (that we’re not rating) more. 3.4/5

When I look at DVDs at the thrift stores, I see all the romantic comedies about when men need women and women need men, and then I see the multitudes of kids videos (that sit there for weeks until they mysteriously disappear) and sometimes think of this song.

 

"When A Man Needs A Woman"

Never cared for this one. Next.

 

When a Man
Touching and sweet and direct to the point. Brian's excitement and wonder is literally audible in his voice. So nice to hear him write something this melodically direct and so sweetly sung

Dig those guitars too!

4.5/5

 

When A Man Needs A Woman: 3.5/5
A lesser track on Friends is still a fantastic track. Brian's joy at fatherhood gives the whole thing that infectious feel-good mood. The alternate version is nice, and a glimpse at how good a remixed Friends album could sound, but the verse isn't really needed.

 

That makes seeing the Beach Boys in 1980 WITH Brian on keyboards even more special I guess. They played at a wonderful outdoor baseball stadium in Tempe (Arizona State U). On a wonderful sunny spring day. Magical.

 

Such a happy feel good song that exudes Brian's happiness...infectious and lovely. 5/5

 

So true...Being newly married in 1973, buying (and listening) to new music was a very low priority, unlike teen life growing up in the golden age of rock, when (for me) music was everything....well ...and girls!

 

'When A Man Needs A Woman' - such a Brian song! By which I mean its lyrical content primarily... I mean, overall it's really charming and so melodically sweet that it's hard to dislike. Since they're hitting the saccharine that heavily, why not throw in that organ solo to be the even more sugary icing on the cake?! I sometimes find myself wondering when listening to this what Carnie thought about the assumption that the imminent arrival which inspired the song would be male... No preview scans in those days, I suppose... Another strong track as far as I'm concerned, so 4/5.

 

When a Man - Brian’s vocal is superb full of wide eyed wonder as he contemplates the birth of his first child. Love the guitar interplay and Lyle’s bass, and the roller skating rink organ solo. Could use more backing vocals. Brian writing and singing about his life - this is what I love about The Beach Boys. (Not so much in the Brian solo years however)

4.5/5

Alternate version - vocals are too high in the mix (or the track too low) and the extra verse doesn’t seem to fit into the meter of the song properly. Nice to have a different version.

4/5

 

When a Man Needs a Woman

Sweet, melodic, and quietly profound. Sure, sex is the biological imperative, but it's also a heck of a lot of fun--just like this song. And it's not just about creating more life, but experiencing more life (achieving oneness, sharing goodies, gliding through the world to a roller rink soundtrack, etc.). Joyful and giddy. And so uncool, it's cool.

5/5

 

When A Man Needs A Woman

Always liked this song, and Brian's vocal.
Hearing the roller rink organ, back then was unique sounding, from a Rock group, but it fits in with the gentle vibes.
Yes, the lyric is crude, maybe change "needs" to "loves".
That way it is less sexual, and more sweet.

4/5

 

When A Man Needs A Woman: I used to be embarrassed by this song, but thought it was lovely anyway. Now, I just think it's lovely. The arrangement, Brian's vocal, the organ, the guitar etc. are all great. Brian was very clever to use session guys to augment the band here. They've got the chops to throw off the casual sound. The way the backing vocals ascend over the title phrase is terrific as well. 5/5

 

When a Man Needs a Woman

Ha ha yeah, got news for ya Brian… it’s a girl! It’s interesting the way music like this interacts with time, we know more about what the future holds for Brian than he does. I don’t read too much into Brian’s gender swap, it’s fairly natural for most people I think, to get an inkling and sort of expect, or even hope for one or the other. In fact my wife seems to possess the uncanny ability to predict these things (something I’ve heard of before, but maybe more common in women?). In her case, not only was she able to predict the sex of our own two children, but also about 4-5 of our friends’ kids with 100% accuracy. In many cases she just shrugged and said she didn’t know but if she got a “feeling” she was sure about it and always right. Brian, on the other hand is 0/0. I don’t at all mean to downplay the male-centrism of the time, which could easily have been a factor, that’s just not what I personally hear in this song. Also, if you were to re-write the lyrics to be feminine or gender-neutral (which they are in places) I think it would be a lot harder to make it work. So it may have been a musical decision too (boy rhymes with bundle of joy, etc.).

Even though it seems Brian was not fully able to take care of himself, much less any children, I hope (and from what little I’ve seen in the media, it appears to be true) that he and Carnie ended up with a good relationship.

This song is very meaningful to me, as I was listening to this album (and all the BB albums from Surfer Girl to 20/20) during a time when I had little kids, and despite the stress and “busy-ness” of those years, it’s easily the time of my life I look back on with the most fondness. It’s a special time, and Brian has really nailed that excited, slightly nervous feeling of anticipation here. I’m sure at some point I sang this song with or to my son, during a time when his little sister was “on the way”.

I guess from a biological perspective the notion that sex leads to procreation is nothing remarkable, it’s just a fact of life, but our personal experiences as part of that process are a different thing altogether. It really feels miraculous that we can participate in bringing new life into the world, and all that time spent with my wife talking and planning, painting bedrooms, going to appointments, but mostly just waiting, wondering what this new little person would be like, and then finally getting to meet them had a musical counterpart for me in this song. Hey, Brian had gone through this too!

If I were really being objective about it musically I’d say it was somewhere in the 4 to 4.5 range, but it’s just far too personal for me to be objective about, and who cares, ‘tis a fool’s errand anyhow!

5/5

 

When a Man Needs a Woman

I like how laid back and relaxing the music is in this song. It definitely has that “Happy to be lazing around the house with my family” vibe. It’s a little difficult for me to relate to the lyrics, though, because I’ve never had children, and I’ve never had to explain to anyone where babies come from. Back when I was a kid, my mom handed me a book. We never, ever talked about it.

I like the extra lyrics, but they don’t change my rating of the song. I hope Brian wasn’t too disappointed when he and Marilyn had two girls and no boys!

3.5/5 for both versions

 

I think every man hopes to have a son. To teach him boy things and relive their own childhood.
To have a male buddy.
Having no children if my own, I am merely projecting my own feelings.
They always say, " I don't care, as long as it's healthy".
But I wonder...

 

I wanted a girl because i already had two stepsons. But I got a boy. Believe me though, none of that matters as soon as they draw their first breath.

 

Thread guide.

I've provided a list of "chapters" for our discussion below. Clicking on an entry should bring you to my introductory essay for each album, which typically starts a day before the song-by-song discussion starts. So readers will want want to skip a few pages to get to the first song in most cases.

On rare occasions I've held up songs from the upcoming album ahead of the album: "Surfin' Safari", for example, and some of the Today! singles. or "Good Vibrations", more recently.

If you are searching for discussion of a particular song, just simply search the thread for "Today's song 409", for example, write my name (Lance LaSalle) in the Posted by Member field and it should help you find it.

I'll try to keep this updated, perhaps at weekends. I wish I had done this for my other threads! I've left out the many archival releases that we've taken a day out for (The Big Beat, Live in Sacramento 1964; Keep an Eye On Summer: The Beach Boys Sessions 1964; Live in Chicago 1965), but they can be found after the album they follow chronologically (i.e., not release-order.)

I've decided to go through The Flame album from 1971, which was produced by Carl Wilson and of course includes future Beach Boys Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin. I know there will be some resistance to this, so I will go through it two songs at at time.

• Surfin' Safari discussion.
• Surfin' U.S.A.
• Surfer Girl
• Little Deuce Coupe + The Big Beat
• Shut Down, Vol. 2
• All Summer Long +Live In Sacramento 1964
• The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
• Beach Boys Concert + Keep An Eye on Summer: The Beach Boys Sessions 1964
• The Beach Boys Today! + Live In Chicago 1965
• Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)
• Beach Boys' Party! +Beach Boys' Party Uncovered & Unplugged
• Pet Sounds + Graduation Day: Live at the University of Michigan 1966
• The SMiLE Sessions
• Smiley Smile
• Wild Honey
• Friends + Wake the World: the Friends Sessions 1968+Live In London+The Beach Boys On Tour 1968

Upcoming:

• 1968 - Friends (+Wake the World + Live In London +The Beach Boys On Tour 1968)
• 1969 - 20/20 (+I Can Hear Music)
• 1970 - Sunflower
• 1971 -The Flame
• 1971 - Surf’s Up (+Feel Flows)
• 1972 - Carl and the Passions – “So Tough”
• 1972 - Spring [American Spring]
• 1973 - Holland (+Live at Carnegie Hall+ Sail On Sailor)
• 1973 In Concert
• 1976 - 15 Big Ones
• 1977 - The Beach Boys Love You (+Goin' Public)
• 1977 (Adult Child)
• 1977 - Pacific Ocean Blue [Dennis Wilson]
• 1978 - Merry Christmas from The Beach Boys (at Christmas-time)
• 1978 - M.I.U. Album (+Almost Summer Soundtrack)
• 1979 - L.A. (Light Album) (First Love+Country Love+Celebration+Disco Celebration)
• 1980 - Keepin’ the Summer Alive (+Bambu)+Good Timin : Live at Knebworth England 1980
• 1981 - Carl Wilson (+Lookin' Back With Love)+Rock 'n'Roll City
• 1983 - Youngblood
• 1985 - The Beach Boys
• 1988 - Brian Wilson
• 1989 - Still Cruisin’
• 1990- Sweet Insanity
• 1992 - Summer in Paradise
• 1995 - I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
• 1995 - Orange Crate Art
• 1996 - Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
• (Paley Sessions) (+Catch A Wave)
• 1998 - Imagination (+ Mike Love, Bruce Johnston & David Marks of The Beach Boys Salute NASCAR)+Symphonic Sounds: Music of The Beach Boys
• 2000 - Like a Brother (Carl-sung or written songs only) +Live at the Roxy Theatre+Pet Sounds Live
• 2004 - Gettin’ In over My Head
• 2004 - Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
• 2005 - What I Really Want for Christmas (At Christmas time) (+Reason for the Season)
• 2005 Songs from Here & Back
• 2008 - That Lucky Old Sun
• 2009 - Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
• 2011 - In the Key of Disney
• 2012 - That’s Why God Made the Radio
• 2015 - No Pier Pressure (+Unleash The Love)+Brian Wilson & Friends
• 2021 - At My Piano +(12 Sides of Summer)
• 2021 - Long Promised Road Soundtrack