POB is Rolling Stone's Reissue of the Year!

Dec. 15th, 2008. Rolling Stone magazine announced that late co-founder and The Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson's first solo album from 1978, Pacific Ocean Blue, is the Rolling Stone Reissue of the Year! Also, Brian Wilson's solo album released this year, That Lucky Old Sun, made RS' Albums of the Year list.

"Everything that I am or will ever be is in the music. If you want to know me, just listen." - Dennis Wilson, drummer, The Beach Boys

Pacific Ocean Blue (POB) was reissued June 16. You've never heard "a Beach Boy" like this; you never heard Dennis sound like this. If you consider yourself a student of music you MUST get this album. First released in 1977, POB was re-released in 1991 for six months. I got a copy a couple years ago from my friend John Bell in Philly, along with a bootlegged copy of Bambu, Dennis' 2nd album that never saw the light of day.

But now this...POB - remastered. All of us Beach Boys/Dennis Wilson fans are ecstatic. I can't drag you down to the record store and make you buy it. If you know me - trust me on this one.

POB includes a Deluxe Edition, Two-CD set of 33 tracks with Limited Edition First-Run Collector's Packaging. This collection contains never officially released tracks from Dennis' Bambu (or Bamboo as it has been known) album which only existed as bootlegs for decades. Features "Holy Man", an unfinished track that never received Dennis' vocal part, with Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters laying down brand new vocals. There's also a 50 page, full color book with two brand new essays and never-before-seen photos and memorabilia. If you'd like, go to Amazon and watch the 7-minute video on POB - it'll wet your appetite.

"In all those years since Pacific Ocean Blue became a rare gem, I have been eager to make it more widely available," says James William Guercio, producer and owner of Caribou Records, who served then and now as executive producer on POB. "The music that caught the ear of critics and fans in 1977 has fallen from popular conscious­ness in the last two decades, and it has long been due this incredible treatment. The devotion that the Legacy Recordings crew has shown to both the official album and the huge number of unreleased tracks is a testa­ment to the strength of Dennis' musical genius." For the full article, click here.

Dennis passed away in 1983. I'm lucky to have met two of his ex-wives, one - former model/actress Karen Lamm - I got to know the last year of her life. I've met two of his children, as well as many people who knew him very well - including Dennis' close friend, Ed Roach, and John Stebbins, author of the book, Dennis Wilson - The Real Beach Boy. I am proud to call them my friends - as I am proud to call Dennis "a friend". Those who love him, his spirit and his music revel in this album. I hope you get a chance to listen to it. Search my blog for other stories on Dennis - there have been a few. Come on, man. How often do I ask for favors, huh?

Peace & Love, Dennis - and congrats!