Holy Man - RSD

Off to Newcastle?

It's a real good song. Taylor Hawkins did a great job on it. Too bad Dennis didn't finish it and park it on POB. 'Course I feel the same way about 'Tug Of Love' and the later version of 'Only With You'.

This version?  I like it. I don't think they butchered it. Brian May's solo and the vocals are just fine. 

Hmmmm... first thought...if I'd wanted to hear a guitar solo like that I'd have purchased an Aerosmith album. Just didn't... feel... right 

If anyone has this, feel free to whip it through. Been waiting for this bugger a while, but don't have a turntable 'n that.

I found one copy left today at a local record shop. (I was out of town and nowhere near any record stores on Saturday.) Now I have to find some way to play this thing, since the turntable is buried under other stuff. But at least I have it!

He wrote the dit-dit-dits...

Unfortunately it doesn’t play for me saying I have to be a member of YouTube premium. BUT, more importantly, is that awful Print Shop Deluxe-looking cover the ACTUAL cover? 

I initially hated it. I still don't like it much, but not quite as much as I did. Brian May is a good guitar player(and underrated), but he overplays here. As for the backing vocals, they are pretty, but if they(whoever they are) were going for a Beach Boys sound, it might as well have been done by the real deal on TWGMTR.

Try this one (You must be able to listen to the full thing on the browser by clicking the Spotify logo on the upper right corner, without any subscription):

Thanks! Can't say I think they improved it (guitar noodling like that rarely helps a song, but that's just my preference...) but if some folks like it, cool. I can still listen to the other two non-Queen versions happily enough.

Personally, after years of hearing about how awful it was, I was prepared to dislike it intensely. But upon actually hearing it, I kinda like it. Remember, Dennis had intended for the Double Rock Baptist Choir to sing on it, so Taylor's version - simple and beautiful as it is - always felt to me like it was still missing its full potential. Yeah, I know - with Dennis gone, we can't say it could ever be exactly as he intended, but I gotta say, the addition of the "Queen choir" has filled it out and made it closer, I believe, to what he intended. And it doesn't sound "too Queen-like" to me...maybe because Freddy's trademark, distinctive voice is not on it. The guitar solos, however? I could live without them. I think Carl's original solo fits better.

Lastly, I thought folks might enjoy re-reading what Brian May posted on his website back in '08 about the creative process he went through in realizing this version:


"Well, since many people have been asking, and the word seems to be out there ....

I got inspired when Taylor sent me the track in its raw state, with a really soulful vocal from Taylor. It was a song which Dennis Wilson had begun, shortly before he died, but never finished. Beautiful piano playing, wonderful spiritual feel. The producers of the new Dennis Wilson release had asked Taylor Hawkins to sing on the track, and, by instinctive 'feel', finish the song. He had done an amazing job. Taylor had a feeling we could contribute, so he sent me a ProTools session of it. If you were a fan of the Beach Boys, you'll remember Dennis was not known as the principal songwriter, and was regarded by many as just a band member who was carried along. But, of all of the band, it was only Dennis who actually led the life of a surfer, and as time went on, it became obvious that he had a lot to say. He came into his own as a writer, and is now regarded by many as truly at the heart of what the Beach Boys were, and are, in the history of Rock.

So the track arrived, and I was moved ... so much so, that it hadn't even got to the end of the first playing before I was down in the studio, playing along ... inspired. I plunged in, and did a kind of resculpting, about three days work, as perhaps you'll eventually hear - and sent back a rough mix of what I'd done. It involved mapping and singing some backing vocals for the lead vocal to bounce off, building the rhythm track with guitars, and playing a solo. I then extended the song a little, to try to make the point a little stronger, and made an ending which resolved to something very much like the opening of the track - just subtly changed. The whole track spoke to me like a poem, and seemed to be steeped in the spirit of this mysterious man, the Beach Boy Who Surfed. And I wanted to do my bit to realise it to the full. Taylor was hugely enthusiastic, and we then asked Roger to add his magic. Roger loved it too, added his voice to the harmonies, and did some nice percussion, so the whole thing now had a subtle Queen overtone. We all loved the track - and hoped that we would see it on the Dennis album.

Sadly, we then found out that the producers of the album had gone ahead and compiled the album without waiting for us. I think there is some plan to issue it as a download, but obviously, having put so much love into it, we were a little disappointed, Taylor and Roger and me.

But such is life. It was still a nice experience doing it. Those moments are precious, and it's a fact of life that they don't always lead to something commercially successful, or even get heard. It's the moments of creative joy which matter ... and, in a way, this brought us closer to Taylor. And maybe there will yet be a good outcome."