Sail On, Sailor

Van Dyke Parks, who was then director of audio-visual services at Warner Bros. Records, explained the impetus for the song: "I called [Brian] up out of the clear blue sky and at some point he said, 'Let's write a tune.' It was better than having him stare at the angels on his headboard and write tunes about them."[3] On another occasion, he shared further context,

The entire group [had been] working on a record for delivery to the Warner Brothers label. Mo Ostin held great expectations for that record and suggested that my working with Brian again might goad him to similar creative heights we had reached in Smile. Mo was astonished that Brian wasn't participating in the album, and feeling somewhat deceived, thought I should step forward, as I was in large part the reason for their commitment to the group.[4]

Parks credited himself as the primary composer of "Sail On, Sailor", saying, "I went over to Brian's with my new [tape recorder] and told him the name of the tune and sang those intervals, and he pumped out the rest of that song."[5] In 2002, Wilson said of the song: "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."[6]

There exists a fifteen-minute cassette recording of Parks and Wilson writing the song on Wilson's piano.[7] According to Parks, "it's clear from the contents [of the tape] 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."[8] Biographer Timothy White quoted an anonymous source's description of the tape's contents, "Brian was playing that song on the piano. It was completely different words. He's singing different words; much better words."[7] One of the discarded lyrical passages in the song was "Fill your sails with fortitude / and ride her stormy waves / You've got to sail on, sail on, sailor".[9]

The tape, according to one report, begins with the following exchange:

Parks: Brian, there's something you gotta do for me, man. I want you to sit down at the piano, and I want you to write a song for me. Lyrics, melody, everything. I want you to do it right on the spot.

Wilson: I'd do anything for you, man, but would you do something for me?

Parks: I'd do anything for you, Brian.

Wilson: Hey, you gotta convince me, Van Dyke, that I'm not insane. Hypnotize me into thinking that I'm not insane. Convince me that I'm not insane.

Parks: Cut the shit, Brian. I want you to write this tune right here.[7]

Another report of the tape's contents details a slightly different exchange:

Wilson: Hypnotize me, Van Dyke.

Parks: Cut the shit, Brian. You're a songwriter, that's what you do, and I want you to sit down and write a song for me.

Wilson: Hypnotize me, Van Dyke and make me believe I'm not crazy. Convince me I'm not crazy.

Parks: Cut the shit, Brian, and play the tune.

Wilson: What's the name of the tune?

Parks: Sail on Sailor.[10]

Parks later said, "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."[5] He remembered, "It was a rare visit. In a five-day rush at that house, I came out with one song."[3] Asked in 1976 about his remarks from the tape, Wilson responded, "I was serious. I used to think I was insane. I'm a lot saner since I've had my doctor."[11]

Parks said that he subsequently "put the tape away, and lay low", as he had "wanted to avoid getting involved with the internecine group dilemmas once again."[4] As of 2006, Parks did not know the whereabouts of the tape, having given it to Warner Bros. in 1972.[9] A four-minute edit of the tape was later released on Sail On Sailor - 1972 (2022).

Biographer Peter Ames Carlin stated that the song was essentially co-written by Wilson and Parks in 1971, with Kennedy and Almer's lyrical contributions dating from impromptu sessions at Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton's house during the period.[9][nb 1] Wilson said in a 2007 interview:

I was at Danny Hutton's one time. Tandyn Almer and I wrote a song, “Sail On Sailor” [...] on a Wurlitzer electric piano and Ray Kennedy was there and started writing some lyrics. “Ray, I didn’t know you could write lyrics.” “Keep playing! Keep playing!” We wrote the thing in about an hour and a half or two hours. Later, Van Dyke Parks tweaked it a little bit.[14]

Kennedy recalled that "Sail On, Sailor" had originally been intended by Wilson for Three Dog Night, and that he had written the song with Wilson over the course of three days in 1970:

We went in and cut the basic tracks with Three Dog Night; we hadn't slept in about a week. Then Brian got up with a razor blade and cut the tapes and said, "Only Ray Kennedy or Van Dyke Parks can do this song." And he left. We all stood there looking at each other going, "What?" He called me every day after that, and I wouldn't talk to him. Three or four years later, I heard it on the radio and went, "Who's that?"[15]

Manager Jack Rieley stated that when he was informed by Warner Bros. executives of the song's existence, he took a flight from Holland to Los Angeles and, while staying at a Holiday Inn, devised new lyrics that "reflected how I felt 'lost like a sewer rat alone but I sail…' about having to fly out to LA. Van Dyke contributed additional lyrics."[16] Kennedy later sued to be recognized as the song's co-author. According to Parks, after the lawsuit, "my name and participation diminished, and in some ensuing cases I've been given no royalties or credit at all."[17] Wilson, Almer, and Parks are officially listed as composers, while Rieley and Kennedy are officially listed as lyricists.[18]