Al Jardine On ‘A Postcard From California’ Reissue, ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ And ‘Sloop John B’

In 1965 and ‘66, recording sessions for the legendary Beach Boys album Pet Sounds featured country singer songwriter Glen Campbell, who contributed both banjo and guitar as a member of famed session group The Wrecking Crew just prior to striking out on his own.

Taking things full circle, Campbell also appeared on A Postcard From California, the 2010 debut solo album from Beach Boys co-founding singer and guitarist Al Jardine.

Newly reissued earlier this month, A Postcard From California is now available on CD as well as on streaming services for the first time. The album features an incredible array of guests including David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Steve Miller, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and actor Alec Baldwin.

While not a Beach Boys track per se, “Don’t Fight the Sea,” comes close, vocal contributions from Jardine and son Matt featured alongside those of Brian and Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston.

Featuring Beach Boys guitarist David Marks and former touring members Ed Carter and Bobby Figueroa, the album traces the history of California, with storytelling at the heart of 15 beautifully arranged tracks. The newly expanded reissue of the album also includes a reworked rendition of “Sloop John B.”

“I have a plethora of songs. But this is the one we wanted to release at it’s 10th anniversary. But we missed the anniversary because of COVID,” explained Jardine. “Sometimes it takes a little longer than you’d like - but maybe the time has helped. Maybe it’s the right time for it, you know? It’s optimistic. It’s a very optimistic project. It’s a celebration of sorts of my life in California.”

I spoke with Al Jardine about taking lead vocal on “Help Me, Rhonda,” bringing “Sloop John B” to Brian Wilson, working with The Wrecking Crew and about the optimistic storytelling at the heart of A Postcard From California. A transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

“Help Me, Rhonda” was your second lead vocal on a Beach Boys track. How did it come about that Brian delegated lead to you on that?

AL JARDINE: Ha! My second lead part. That’s funny. You’ve done your homework! Yeah, a little tune called “Christmas Day” was my first. And I really, really had fun with that one.

But “Rhonda”... that was a task. We had two goes at it. We did an album version - or a demo version I would call it. Sometimes you just have to work it out. And if it doesn’t work completely out, then you take another angle - another shot at it. And I’d say the second one turned out pretty good - because it went to #1 for quite a while.

Brian rearranged the bassline for instance. It was just a rearrangement here and there that gave it an edge that the first one didn’t have.

I remember standing in the control room during mix down. And Brian was fooling around with the fader controls. Normally, a record fades out - it ends. Well, he thought it would be really fun to have it just about fade out… and then bring it up again! And so it kind of went in and out and in and out. I don’t think radio enjoyed that very much.

Well, you mention that bass part. Watching The Wrecking Crew work in the studio on something like that… What was it like working with them on a song like “Help Me, Rhonda” or anything else?

AJ: I wasn’t there for the tracking session. I did the vocal sessions. We did all of the vocals - the backgrounds and the leads - in the same evening. And it was a challenge. There was a lot of stuff going on in the control room, let’s put it that way, between Brian and his father. So there was a lot of tension. It took a while to get it all together. But we finally got it. I think we nailed it.

Early on, we captured the hearts and minds of America with our little quintet. But then it went to the next level. And that’s where it belongs. You should progress. But I’m proud of what we did in the early years.

I’ve read that you kind of brought “Sloop John B” to Brian. That with your folk background you knew that song…

AJ: Absolutely. Yeah. For some reason that song resonates with me - and apparently with a lot of other people over the last 100 years. It’s amazing isn’t it?

I was just reading some background on it. In 1916, the lyrics were published by an English person that happened to find the song - I don’t know how he found it - maybe I should say translated it. Who knows? No one really knows who wrote it. But Brian and I arranged it in our style. And that’s where it really… I think that’s one of the most memorable arrangements ever.

Because it also helped set the tone for Pet Sounds with the dynamic players that we had on it - The Wrecking Crew as you pointed out. And boy did they do a masterful job. All I did was improve the chord changes a little bit and lay out the architecture for it, you know? And then Brian took it a step further and produced it to an incredible point. But I’m very proud of that.

It goes back a long time. The theme of it is about going home. And everybody relates to that - going back home. You always think, “Well, I want to go back home and see where I was born or where I lived and see if it’s changed or not.” And, if you’re a sailor, you’re out there for years at a time and all you’re probably thinking about is going home. It’s continual. It’s about finding your roots I guess, huh? It’s all about finding your roots.

Glen Campbell worked as a member of The Wrecking Crew on “Help Me, Rhonda,” both takes at it. And on Pet Sounds. He’s also on a pair of tracks on A Postcard From California. What was it like having him on the solo project?

AJ: He just walked in one day on his way to a performance in Monterey and he sang the choruses with me and the second verse just beautifully without any hesitation. He’s just a total pro. We often think of him as a country bumpkin - but man that country bumpkin can sing and play. And was a great gentleman. He’s a great guy. He was just great.

A few songs on A Postcard From California have ties to the Beach Boys, right? From where did “Don’t Fight the Sea” originate?

AJ: “Don’t Fight the Sea,” that was never actually a Beach Boys song. I wanted it to be - but it never matriculated for some reason. There’s always so much other stuff going on with Brian and Mike that you very seldom get a chance to get all of your material finished. So it just languished for years - until I rediscovered it. And Brian offered to sing - finally sing a part on it, which was nice. And I got Mike on there too come to think of it. So it did end up being with the Beach Boys - but it’s not a quote unquote Beach Boys song.

But everybody’s on it - including Carl. I got Carl years ago on it. Carl sang the bridge. It’s a very haunting piece of music really. It’s pretty dramatic. I think it’s amazing.

How about “Lookin’ Down the Coast?” Where did that come from?

AJ: That’s one of my favorites! It’s such a descriptive piece of music with a little bit of California history thrown in. It’s like a history lesson in a way. It’s a concept that I came up with years ago. Originally, it was called “California Coast.” Titles change but the music stays the same.

But I like the storytelling part. I love the story about the Spanish and the Conquistadors discovering the Monterey Peninsula and stuff like that. It’s very dramatic with a beautiful flamenco guitar section embodied in it. It’s just gorgeous. We had some wonderful players on it.

Well, the expanded Beach Boys Sounds of Summer collection came out this year, the SiriusXM channel was back all summer. What’s it like to see the way the your music continually reaches new generations, whether it’s through movies, documentaries or anything else?

AJ: Jeez, yeah. It’s magical. The music is very uplifting. We have all this wonderful music that new generations haven’t even heard before. They may not know who the Beach Boys are. Millennials maybe. There’s a lot of generations who don’t know who we are now. So that’s kind of cool. It’s a breath of fresh air.