Sail On, Sailor
| "Sail On, Sailor" | ||||||||
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| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||||||
| from the album Holland | ||||||||
| B-side | "Only with You" | |||||||
| Released | January 29, 1973 March 10, 1975 |
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| Format | 7" vinyl | |||||||
| Recorded | October–November 28, 1972, Village Recorders, Santa Monica | |||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||
| Length | 3:18 | |||||||
| Label | Brother/Reprise | |||||||
| Writer(s) | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Carl Wilson | |||||||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Sail On, Sailor" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1973 album Holland. It was written by Brian Wilson, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer, Jack Rieley, and Van Dyke Parks. It was released as a single in 1973, backed with "Only with You", and peaked at number 79 on the American singles charts. A 1975 reissue (also backed with "Only with You") charted higher, at number 49. According to Jon Stebbins, "It is perhaps the only perennial Beach Boys favorite to still thrive in the classic rock and album rock FM radio formats of the present."
When the Beach Boys submitted the original version of Holland to Warner Brothers in October 1972, the album was rejected by the company for lacking a potential hit single. After discussion among Warner executives, longtime Beach Boys collaborator Van Dyke Parks (then director of audio-visual services at the label) said that he had a tape of a song that he had recently co-written with Brian Wilson entitled "Sail On, Sailor". The label then enjoined the Beach Boys to drop what the company perceived as the weakest track ("We Got Love") and replace it with the song. Band manager Jack Rieley contributed additional lyrics at this juncture.
Parks explains: "That was a tough moment for both Brian and me. I just went over to see how he was, and he wasn't good. Of course, you couldn't tell that from this song, because it represents such hope, but it came out of a very difficult time." Wilson has said of the track: "Van Dyke really inspired this one. We worked on it originally; then, the other collaborators contributed some different lyrics. By the time the Beach Boys recorded it, the lyrics were all over the place. But I love how this song rocks." Parks has claimed that he developed much of the song without Wilson's assistance:
I came up with that lyric when I was working with Brian, as well as the musical pitches those words reside on. I did nothing with that tape until I saw The Beach Boys' crisis at the company where I was working, earning $350 a week. Well, they recorded ["Sail on Sailor"], and it was a hit. And I'm glad that every one came out of their little rooms to claim co-writing credit on that song. But I never questioned it, just as I never questioned the various claims on the residuals. ... On the tape, it's clear from the contents that I authored the words and the musical intervals to "Sail on Sailor." It's also clear that I composed the bridge, played them, and taught them to Brian.
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