A World of Peace Must Come
In 1969, Brian Wilson produced A World of Peace Must Come, an album of poetry by Stephen John Kalinich. Kalinich was part of the Beach Boys circle in 1966 during the recording of Friends, and he collaborated with Dennis Wilson on “Rainbows” for Pacific Ocean Blue. Light in the Attic recently reissued Kalinich’s album on CD, and while it would be nice to make some great claim for it, the album’s another appendix in the Beach Boys story, much like Murry Wilson’s The Many Moods of Murry Wilson. A World of Peace Must Come documents another part of the world that surrounded the Beach Boys, in this case, a psychedelic, self-help pastoral poetry read with a sad earnestness. As a poet, Kalinich tends toward sing-songy lines, but when the thought requires more syllables than the line will allow, he jams them all in anyway.
Wilson treats Kalinich’s work with equal seriousness–a sign of his own dubious taste where words are concerned–and records him in a large room, letting its natural echo thicken his voice. Periodically, pieces are supported by a lightly strummed acoustic guitars or an unobtrusive organ, touches that add levels of cliche to the work and pin the album to its moment.
At that level, A World of Peace Must Come is interesting. It’s a snapshot of what was considered poetry by people who didn’t read poetry, and evidence of what was considered by art who didn’t recognize art when they were making it.
