I’m in the process of moving this week, hence the silence. In the meantime, please enjoy this recording of Canadian harmony group The Sands of Time The Tokens and Steve Sawyer paying tribute to the Beach Boys (by lyrically name-checking just about every hit they had). The label for the 45 reads: “Dedicated to the Beach Boys With Love.”
This seems to be the thing to do when you can’t pick just one song by an artist to cover, as
‘Tribute to the Beach Boys 1976’ is similar in both sentiment and execution to Harry Nilsson’s assemblage of bits of Beatles tunes: ‘You Can’t Do That,’ taken from his 1967 album ‘Pandemonium Shadow Show.’ I’ve included an MP3 of that song below, as well.
Tokens – ‘Tribute to the Beach Boys ’76’
From: 45 rpm single (1976)
[audio:Tokens – Tribute To The Beach Boys 1976.mp3]
Harry Nilsson – ‘You Can’t Do That’
From: Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
[audio:Harry Nilsson – You Cant Do That.mp3]
AMG had this to say about the Sands Of Time:
“Eric Baragar, Tim Campbell, Michael Goettler and Steve Smith organized the Sands of Time in 1966 in Ontario, Canada. The band recorded only one popular single, 1970’s “I’ve Got a Feeling,” and broke up in the early ’70s, but re-formed with vocalist Don Thompson (from Noah) as Bentwood Rocker.”
Those who are interested can find futher information on the band here, and an official site detailing their 2001 reunion here. Information on all things Harry Nilsson can be found here.
Also of interest is Rob Grayson’s assembly of bits of every Beatles song in alphabetical order [via waxy.org]. As usual, if you know of similar tribute montages, let me know in the comments.
UPDATE: I had originally credited “Tribute To The Beach Boys 1976” to the Sands of Time, but I have since been contacted by members of the band to let me know it wasn’t them. I’ve also heard fro Steve Sawyer, who sang lead on the recording:
“Hello,
my name is Steve Sawyer and I sang the lead as well as wrote the song “tribute to the beachboys 76.” The facts about the group that you have listed is incorrect, it was actually The Tokens of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” fame and myself. I did an album in the earlier 70s called “The Chespeake Jukebox Band” which is about to be reissued by Revola Records.”
