Spring - 1972 Brian Wilson / David Sandler production

Biography by Bruce Eder



Spring ? not to be confused with the progressive rock outfit of the same name who came along about a year later ? was an offshoot of Brian Wilson's extra-curricular activities during the post-Smile era, when he was writing and producing, but mostly not working with the band. They started out as a sister act long before they ever thought of performing: Marilyn Rovell and her sister Diane Rovell were two of three sisters ? the other was Barbara ? born into a musical family, to a mother who'd been a jazz pianist. They learned to harmonize and had worked as the Rovell Sisters, winning talent awards and competitions on a television show called Rocket to Stardom, and soon found themselves featured in local commercials for Oldsmobile. That lasted until they were all in their teens and then they drifted away from professional performing.In the meantime, rock & roll had come along, elevating the exposure of harmony vocal music with a distinct youth twist. One day in late 1962 or early 1963 ? none of the participants can remember now ? Marilyn and Diane joined a cousin, Ginger Blake, at a Los Angeles club called the Pandora's Box, on a night when a new L.A.-based group called the Beach Boys were performing. In the course of the night, the group's bassist, one Brian Wilson, managed to spill chocolate sauce on Marilyn. That led to more contact, personal and professional, between Wilson and Marilyn, and Wilson and the two sisters-plus-a-cousin. They regrouped as the Honeys and were duly signed to Capitol Records, where Brian Wilson produced a series of singles that were mostly near-misses commercially and led them to eventually disband. Marilyn Rovell, following stints as a model and some crisscrossing with the band professionally, also married Wilson and became part of the extended family that constituted the Beach Boys operation during those years, from the mid-'60s onward. It was Diane Rovell who got her and her sister back into the singing business, while hanging around the Wilson kitchen with Marilyn and her brother-in-law. And the result was Spring, a harmony duo of the Wilson/Rovell siblings, produced by Brian and every bit as contemporary as any act working in 1970, doing lost treasures from the Carole King songbook and rewrites and rearrangements of Brian Wilson (and Mike Love) tunes (most magnificently, "This Whole World"), plus renditions of Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell repertoire and standards like "Tennessee Waltz." They didn't last past the one album and the sessions that went into it ? the group wasn't a full-time or even an ongoing commitment, just something to have fun with and to see where it took them, which may be why it took them so far. The record, like the group, became one of the great lost chapters of the Beach Boys' post-psychedelic history, and a stunning musical document in its own right. Released by United Artists at just about the same time as the first ELO album, it died on the vine and became a choice collectable within just a few years. Various CD reissues have enhanced its exposure and raised the demand for the recordings. (AMG)



Trivia note:

Drummer/Percussionist Hal Blane performed on

Superstar" for The Carpenters, and again on the Spring version within a few months.



TRACKS:



1 Tennessee Waltz King, Stewart

2 Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby Love, Wilson

3 Mama Said Denson, Dixon

4 Superstar Bramlett, Russell

5 Awake Tucker

6 Sweet Mountain Sandler, Wilson

7 Everybody Roe

8 This Whole World Wilson

9 Forever Jakobsen, Wilson

10 Good Time Jardine, Wilson

11 Now That Everything's Been Said King, Stern

12 Down Home Goffin, King



Keith Allison Bass

Allan Beutler Horn

Larry Carlton Guitar

David Bennett Cohen Guitar

Stephen W. Desper Producer

John Guerin Drums

Richard Henn Arranger

Billy Hinsche Vocals

Igor Horoshevsky Cello

Alan Jardine Vocals

Mike Love Vocals

Lincoln Mayorga Piano

Ray Pohlman Bass

Diane Rovell Vocals

David Sandler Piano, Arranger, Vocals, Producer

Brian Wilson Arranger, Vocals, Producer, Vocal Arrangement

Carl Wilson Guitar

Marilyn Wilson Vocals

Marilyn Wilson-Rovell Vocals

Pique Withers Drums, Glockenspiel, Group Member





*Stay tuned more from "the Honeys" are on the way*