something I read... about Sail On Sailor.... should've already known this, but didn't
I consider myself knowledgeable about some things... the Beach Boys being one of those things... but it always amazes me when I learn something new which I hadn't thought of before.
For instance..... today I heard the song "Sail On Sailor" and it had occurred to me that it didn't really sound like a "normal" Beach Boy singing it... but I guess I had always assumed it was Carl Wilson or maybe Al Jardine maybe and they just sounded different than usual..... I knew there were others in the group at that time (Blondie Chaplin and another guy, Rikki Fataar) but it never really occurred to me they would be allowed to sing the lead, I thought they were just musicians.
ANYWAY, I looked it up on wikipedia today... which said a few interesting things: "Vocals for "Sail On, Sailor" were recorded in late October 1972, some time after the Beach Boys had left Holland. According to Steven Gaines, Wilson initially "tinker[ed] with the song, trying to make it perfect as he had with 'Good Vibrations' and Smile"; following this bout of "procrastination," his bandmates "did not allow [him] to work on it at all."[16] This development left the basic track to be recorded by Brian's brother Carl and ex-Flame and then-Beach Boys members Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin. The lead vocal was first attempted by Dennis Wilson, who sang the vocal once before leaving to go surfing. Carl was the next to attempt a vocal, but he then suggested that Chaplin make an attempt. After two takes, Carl decided that Chaplin's vocal would feature as the lead. [17] Brian acknowledged himself being "grossly incompetent" with the song, failing to show up at its backing vocals session, but giving some instructions by phone."