![]() No real place could possibly live up to the beautiful tableau painted by the song. The song says Kokomo is “off the Florida Keys.” There is no place called Kokomo off the Florida Keys. However, a closer reading of the song reveals this isn’t the case. Some Beach Boys fans believe the song is about the small community of Kokomo, Hawaii. ![]() Together Love, Melcher, and Phillips wrote “Kokomo.” The song is about vacationing in a tropical paradise called Kokomo. Because of this, Wilson had no involvement in the creation of “Kokomo.” Instead, Love decided to collaborate with producer Terrence Melcher as well as John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. Mike Love, another Beach Boy, didn’t like that proposal. Landy said Wilson could only work with the other Beach Boys if Landy got a co-writing credit on the songs Wilson wrote. Landy also had an incredible amount of control over Wilson. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys circa 1970 | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Landy charged very high fees, inspiring Wilson to sell the publishing rights to some of his song to pay him. Wilson has schizoaffective disorder and, in the 1980s, he was under the tutelage of Dr. His brother and fellow band member Dennis Wilson said as much. Mike Love, David Marks, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys posing for a 1962 photo shoot | Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Why Brian Wilson was disconnected from the other Beach Boysįirst things first: Wilson is the Beach Boys. ![]() He never even heard the song until it came on his radio. Interestingly, Wilson had nothing to do with its creation. Regardless, it introduced the band to a younger generation and remains a staple of oldies stations. Others see it as a step backwards from the band’s experimental 1960s songs and an insult to band leader Brian Wilson’s artistry. ![]() Hear all the iterations on ‘Kokomo’ here.The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” was their final big hit and it’s pretty divisive. (They had fleeting success on the rock circuit.) The Beach Boys are known for their vocal harmonies, but session musicians often played the instruments on their albums. In the 1970s there was a band named Kokomo, containing two of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band in the line-up. As well as being a place, it was a popular brand of 1920s coffee. Kokomo is also a real place, but not “off the Florida Keys.” It’s actually six places because there is a Kokomo in Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, and Texas. Louis Armstrong, Dinah Shore, John Renbourn Little Feet, and Eric Bibb all recorded songs about Kokomo. On the flip side was “Milk Cow Blues,” which would also be reworked by others, including Bob Wills and Elvis Presley.Īnd that’s far from all. He first recorded back in 1930 when the 29 years old Georgia native released a record as Gitfiddle Jim generally, Kokomo was known at this time by his given name, James Arnold.Īrnold was a left-handed slide guitarist, who was living in Chicago and working as a bootlegger, did not cut another record for four years when he cut “Old Original Kokomo Blues” from which he took his nickname Robert Johnson later reworked the song as “Sweet Home Chicago.” Arnold himself had based the song on “Kokomo Blues,” a 1928 recording by that other bootlegging guitarist Scrapper Blackwell. Kokomo, as described by the Beach Boys in 1988, is more of a state of mind than a specific place, despite efforts to capitalize on the song's popularity. Way back in February 1936 Kokomo Arnold accompanied Peetie Wheatstraw on record for the first time, but it was far from Kokomo’s first session. 1, “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” and worked with Barbara Streisand, Al Kooper, Iggy Pop, Brigitte Bardot, and played the organ on Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park.” See, you could not begin to make this up! Wisner also co-wrote the Searchers last UK No. Among the records he worked on were Len Barry’s “1-2-3,” The Cowsills, “The Rain The Park and Other Things,” as well as several by one of the quintessential harmony groups of the ‘60’s, Spanky and Our Gang. Wisner did not return to jazz, he stayed in mainstream pop, arranging and producing. There were four more singles during 1961 and the start of 1962 but none even got close to making the charts in Britain the only other single he released was his fourth US release. Wisner had adopted the Kokomo name to protect his jazz reputation, and at the time of the single’s release he never gave an interview or had a picture published. It became a local hit and soon got a national release through London subsidiary label, Felstead. He played the melody of Greig’s Piano Concerto and he did it in A minor, hence the single’s name, “Asia Minor.” Unable to get a release through an established label, big or small, Wisner decided to start his own – Future Records.
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