DON'T FUCK WITH THE (EXCEL) FORMULA: THE BEACH BOYS POLL (DEADLINE AUG-11)

http://i.imgur.com/F9uuT.jpg

this is gonna be great I swear

the top 2 songs are basically preordained (Amusement Parks USA, California Saga: The Beaks of Eagles - only question is which one will be #1) other than that, I hope the results will be interesting and weird. DO YOUR PART.

notes:

solo included. anything listed here is game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Beach_Boys_songs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_by_Brian_Wilson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_by_Dennis_Wilson

if you have some weird desire to include a carl wilson or mike love solo joint, go for it
"all I wanna do" = / = "all I want to do"

normal scoring: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12.

ranked list w/ just the song-title and your ilx sn

TOTALLY OPTIONAL BONUS ROUND:

also doing an optional top 5 album beach boys ballot which you can include w/ your other ballot. haven't figured out what the best math for that would be. suggestions? results will be posted simultaneously

ranked list, again, solo-albums allowed again

to e - e - e - t - a - i - at - g - m - a - i - l dotcom

ps u2 poll still voting til tomorrow, go vote in that. just wasn't sure when else I'd have time to post this.

I don't think so, but I'll ask anyway: would votes for Spring's "Sweet Mountain" or Glen Campbell's "Guess I'm Dumb" be allowed, like in the Prince/PSB polls?

mmm I guess if you want? but if that's the case I might go ahead and allow unreleased songs too. can't imagine either will be a big factor in the end.

Would "Caroline No" count? It's on Pet Sounds but was actually released as a Brian Wilson solo single.

oh shit i just read the guidelines up top - my bad, got it.

I'll be voting for Guess I'm Dumb, clemenza, so that's two of us at least. A perfect song.

You can count me three on Guess I'm Dumb. But I've only heard the Glen Campbell version...? Is there an official Brian/Boys version too?

psyched for this - the Beach Boys are probably my favourite all-time band, if I had to choose one.

Are we allowed to rep on this thread?

yes!

In that case, the psychedelic version of Big Sur is a cool song.

on my ballot (counting both versions as one tho)

would like to remind you all that 'can't wait too long' is the best beach boys song

"I miss you so HARD" lyric grates on me a bit, otherwise an amazing track

I haven't done one of these but I'm tempted to do this one - except I have no clue how you go about it

can't wait too long - that's a great one.

iatee - i wanted to thank you for that compilation of rarities you posted a wee while ago.

The long version of Til I Die with the instrumental lead-in is one of my favourite pieces of music. First version I heard so the regular version, which is undeniably fantastic, always feels truncated to me.

np! xp

I think I still have it somewhere if anyone else wants a copy

any ideas for album scoring?

I would love a copy of the rarities comp!

I think there might be a live dl link on the rarities thread? can someone bump it, I'm on a phone

In that case, the psychedelic version of Big Sur is a cool song.

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Thursday, August 4, 2011 6:21 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

DL knows the score!

YESSSSS

excited about this

lol misread the Guess I'm Dumb talk upthread as Guess I'm Drunk

^ the great lost Brian Wilson track

This is the thread where we talk about great Beach Boys+BW unreleased/demo/semi-released songs

(rarities dl link)

rarities comp is a goldmine, iatee is a prince among men

these poll results are going to be ridiculous aren't they? with people repping for a bunch of challopsy 70s shit

I dunno repping 70s beach boys isn't challopsy in 2011, 'sunflower' is as canon as fun, fun, fun

honestly have no idea how to approach this ballot but I'm pretty sure most of my choices will not be canonical apart from maybe the top couple spots. otoh maybe I should take it for granted that God Only Knows and Heroes and Villains will be top 10 and just go for a super-obscuro ballot

(Denny's Drums at #1)

Thanks for the link to the rarities, iatee.

Sunflower is a solid album with occasional flashes of brilliance. It's one of those formely-underrated now-overrated albums that are increasingly common as rock history cannibalizes itself. It could do with a little more Brian - the fact that it took numerous revisions and rejected by Warner Bros. to see release may be the only reason it's as good as it is.

surf's up, otoh

idk the beach boys discography is pretty unrepresentative of what they were capable of

I sorta agree that sunflower is overrated

but my dreamworld sunflower, as mentioned on the other thread, damn, so good:

Sunflower

1. Slip on Through
2. Add Some Music to Your Day
3. Lady
4. Forever
5. Celebrate the News
6. All I Wanna Do
7. Break Away
8. This Whole World
9. Cool, Cool Water
10. It's About Time
11. Soulful Old Man Sunshine

thread title 4 all time

I dunno repping 70s beach boys isn't challopsy in 2011, 'sunflower' is as canon as fun, fun, fun

Well, not challopsy in 2011 in the sense that a bunch of people got into the BBs over the past decade, started with Pet Sounds and worked forwards rather than backwards, and don't actually get what was great about the Beach Boys. But anyone who thinks they did a song post Smile that belongs anywhere near a top 10 list is insane.

I mean sure, the reputation of the '70s stuff has been revised from totally ignorable to "a few of these things are pretty good" but the sheer volume of classic early material still dwarves the later stuff by a ridiculous amount.

Bit of an overstatement, that. And the late sixties/early seventies records - Smiley Smile through Surf's Up - are as consistent if not as plainly, well, "classic" as what came before. Surf's Up, by the way, was well-received by the US music press when it came out, just as Sunflower had been hailed as a return to form by the UK critics a year before. So this isn't totally revisionist history.

But anyone who thinks they did a song post Smile that belongs anywhere near a top 10 list is insane.

― lizard tails, a self-regenerating food source for survival (wk), Friday, 5 August 2011 04:07 (20 minutes ago)

fighting challops with challops

well for the record I consider Smiley Smile to be a part of Smile.

It's not a question of album format consistency, though. It's a question of how you compare things to "Surfer Girl" and "In My Room" and "Help Me Rhonda" and "The Warmth of the Sun" and on and on.

yeah, this is a song poll, not an album poll, right?

"sail on sailor" will be in my top 10

There's "'Til I Die," for one. I fuck with that.

But anyone who thinks they did a song post Smile that belongs anywhere near a top 10 list is insane

I don't understand this at all, sorry

it's not like from Smiley Smile on they just re-trod the same erritory with ever diminishing results - their sound and style changed radically (several times) and to say that everything pre-Smiley Smile is better is just priveleging one particular style over another in a rather arbitrary manner, the implication being that, say, surf-rock and psychedelia are inherently superior to country-rock or synthpop. which I just can't get with.

I don't think anyone can seriously argue that their compositional or performing skills seriously diminished until the late 70s, there is plenty of stuff in their later catalog that's as complex and arresting as their earlier stuff.

plus this,

"a bunch of people got into the BBs over the past decade, started with Pet Sounds and worked forwards rather than backwards, and don't actually get what was great about the Beach Boys"

is a bit of a strawman really when you consider how canonised today!, summer days (and summer nights!) and all sumer long have become

summer

I know what you mean Shakey. My current, honest #1 is God Only Knows but that feels painfully obvious.

wk talking nonsense about post-Smile fans who "don't actually get what was great about the Beach Boys". If you only rate the early stuff then good for you but you're dismissing a ton of great songs 1967-73.

there's amazing songs all the way up to 79 man. "love surrounds me" on la (light album) for one

Ah well I haven't gone past Holland. You may be right.

I fully intend on voting in this poll and hopefully will consolidate my list tonight or tomorrow.

Question: will "I Know There's An Answer" and "Hang On To Your Ego" be counted as separate songs or the same song or what? I'm sure there are other examples of possible vote-splitting between working drafts and finished products, but that's the one that comes to mind.

i think the key to appreciating late period beach boys is dennis wilson

"love surrounds me" features backing vocals from christine mcvie!

"good timin'" is another amazing song from l.a. that stays true to "what was great about the beach boys" and doesn't really fuck with the formula whatsoever

I don't think so, but I'll ask anyway: would votes for Spring's "Sweet Mountain" or Glen Campbell's "Guess I'm Dumb" be allowed, like in the Prince/PSB polls?

― clemenza, Thursday, August 4, 2011 10:52 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

mmm I guess if you want? but if that's the case I might go ahead and allow unreleased songs too. can't imagine either will be a big factor in the end.

― iatee, Thursday, August 4, 2011 11:20 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so is Jan & Dean's "Surf City" ok then?

(LA) Light Album is the cutoff point for me, and yeah its major redeeming value is Dennis. after that there's pretty much nothing of interest imho.

otoh I am one of those guys who will steadfastly rep for "Love You", especially "The Night Was So Young"

sadly, I think the three year gap between Holland 15 Big Ones is definitely indicative of some kind of drop-off in overall quality tho.

Holland AND 15 Big Ones

I sometimes forget early Beach Boys exists... I mean, it's like a protracted version of the Beatles' career - those early albums are fun but would you dispense with the White Album and Abbey Road?

DL - post Holland stuff is sketchy at best. I love some of it for novelty value, but most people agree the quite literally bonkers fairground synth comedownarama of Love You is essential to the well-stocked Beach Boys briefcase.

I disagree about Dennis Wilson. I find his songs grating and often deeply embarrassing. I know I'm in the minority here. I think the only one I really like by him is Little Bird.

pre-pet sounds beach boys is all about the ballads imo, i don't think early beatles is remotely comparable in that regard

shit that's pretty revisionist. apols

This thread title is tripping me out because my uncle played in a band named "The Excels" in the 60s who may have been influenced by the Beach Boys. Maybe.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/suzysparkles/excelsinfo6.jpg

/I don't think so, but I'll ask anyway: would votes for Spring's "Sweet Mountain" or Glen Campbell's "Guess I'm Dumb" be allowed, like in the Prince/PSB polls?

― clemenza, Thursday, August 4, 2011 10:52 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

mmm I guess if you want? but if that's the case I might go ahead and allow unreleased songs too. can't imagine either will be a big factor in the end.

― iatee, Thursday, August 4, 2011 11:20 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink/

so is Jan & Dean's "Surf City" ok then?
--blapplebees (crüt)

hmm I didn't think about the implications but I guess that's gotta be okay too

i don't think early beatles is remotely comparable in that regard

they're comparable in a lot of ways - big difference is that the Beatles filler material >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Beach Boys filler material. I mean there's a few weak covers and tossed-off tunes on the early Beatles albums, but nothing as egregiously lazy as studio banter in-fighting tracks or Carl's Big Chance or whatever

gtfo if you don't think "I Get Around" is some of the best rock n roll ever made

What about the very discernible differences between Smile and Smiley Smile versions? What about "He Gives Speeches" vs "She's Going Bald" - will these be counted as one? I vote yes, but I can imagine people wanting to rep for one particular version of Wind Chimes (love both versions equally, but hey).

I Get Around had better place in the top 3.

wk is mike love

nah i just meant the beach boys had much better ballads than the beatles, in the early days

they had more perfectly formed 2 minute pop song ballads. they had more interesting ballads in the 70s.

I fully intend on voting in this poll and hopefully will consolidate my list tonight or tomorrow.

Question: will "I Know There's An Answer" and "Hang On To Your Ego" be counted as separate songs or the same song or what? I'm sure there are other examples of possible vote-splitting between working drafts and finished products, but that's the one that comes to mind.
--kkvgz

separate I guess

didn't mean to turn this into a boys vs beatles argument... it's whoever y'r listenign to at the time who's the best, and let's leave it at that.

nah i just meant the beach boys had much better ballads than the beatles, in the early days

yeah that seems right to me

lol xp

xpost although i personally find the production/arrangements on early boys more tolerable than early beatles. this is kind of a rock vs pop argument in a way. the first beatles record is a black and white raw as fuck minimal thing, while the first beach boys is a full colour, bouncy thing.

shakey and dog otm

I think you can argue that they had more perfectly formed songs pre-70s but they're also pretty one-dimensional when compared top

surfing, girls, cars

being a whiny lonely weirdo

my beach boys is better

I am going to go ahead and rep for 1980's "Keepin The Summer Alive" album. It's by no means essential, but it has a few charming moments which considering the band's health at the time is kind of amazing. I love 'Goin' On' - sounds a bit like Queen of all things. Then there's 'When Girls Get Together' and the Mike Love penned Wilson-pastiche 'Endless Harmony' - both I believe are earlier cuts that were thrown in to fill the fucker out, but still nice enough.

I'm gonna take you surfin' with me

shakey and dog otm

I think you can argue that they had more perfectly formed songs pre-70s but they're also pretty one-dimensional when compared top
--iatee

er got cut off, 'compared to the later stuff'

When Girls Get Together'

I only know the Landlocked version of this one but sheeeeeeit what a weird song.

I don't like Endless Harmony

"Kokomo"'s going to get lots and lots of votes, right?

well she got her daddy's car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now

it's hard to steer when I get rubber in all four gears

basically the one-dimensional early Beach Boys were existing in the greatest possible dimension for any rock and roll group to exist in so I don't see how I'm supposed to vote for "Don't Worry Baby" over "Surfin Safari"

those are both early period in the context of this discussion

lol I meant "God Only Knows" not "Don't Worry Baby"

i'm gonna check out keepin the summer alive, thanks d lat

I Get Around is definitely some kind of pinnacle of their early period rock stuff. the turnarounds/change-ups in that song are bonkers, lyrics are great, everything about it is awesome

There are as many lesser-known gems on the early albums as there are in the post-PS. The Lonely Sea, which narrowly missed my top 20, Girl Don't Tell Me, Warmth Of The Sun, Let Him Run Wild etc. And of course the big hits, as ubiquitous as they are, are pretty amazing. I Get Around is incredible for sure.

For Brian Wilson penned gems, The Honeys' He's A Doll is hard to beat. One of the most joyous songs ever recorded.

I Get Around was my first favorite Beach Boys song. It still is, sometimes, but I coulda sworn one of the reasons it sounded so great when I was younger was a certain kind of reverb they used on the record that I simply haven't heard on most compilations. Am I misremembering, or is there a different mix of "I Get Around" out there?

i'm gonna check out keepin the summer alive, thanks d lat

― missingNO, Friday, 5 August 2011 16:01 (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

Oh christ, what've I done? Don't get your hopes up mate!

I Get Around is the Beach Boys' Paperback Writer - bridging early and mid period.

I hope I have enough time to listen to all my Beach Boys' albums again before the deadline. Please don't let me forget to vote peeps.

making my longlist now. Definitely gonna include "Diamond Head" - Beach Boys go ambient!

"Endless Harmony" was by Bruce Campbell, not Mike Love, it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0BDEeEoEkM

NOBLE SURFER

xpost Johnston... not Campbell. Sorry, I'm getting all worked up...

^^ first Beach Boys song to use a celesta?

xpost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJtoQV54n_g

Best Beach Boys song that sounds nothing like the Beach Boys.

great early/obscurish song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygi4mOuuevU

another good obscurish early one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdwNKO5e8k8

lol @ Bruce Campbell btw

Carl & The Passions has some great tunes. You Need A Mess Of Help is fantastic and for some strange reason makes me think of Royal Trux.

Best Beach Boys song that sounds nothing like the Beach Boys.

does, however, bear a distinct resemblance to Fataar/Chapin's stuff with Flame tho

(anybody who hasn't heard the Carl Wilson-produced Flame LP, I highly recommend it)

Can't wait to vote for NO-GO SHOWBOAT!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu6yV8Q0YHo

Dennis looks great in those orange pants.

Don't forget to vote for this BRILLIANT non-album single. Notable for the short passage of silence between the first verse and the chorus which got the song banned from airplay in some states as radio producers thought it would confuse listeners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8O1Wpul60E

I've made my longlist - 80 tracks. This is gonna be tough.

imo let 'what needs votes' be the decision maker

ps best early period song is obv farmer's daughter

still struggling to cut this down to 20 songs. sadly beginning to accept the possibility that "The Rocking Surfer" won't make the cut.

Iatee otm about Farmer's Daughter

wk is mike love

ha. I've pretty much guaranteed that God Only Knows isn't going to win now, huh?

corny as it may be God Only Knows has a remarkable and enduring capacity to affect me emotionally, which I can't say about a lot of songs. I'll be hard pressed to avoid putting it at (or at the very least very near) the top

The version of "God Only Knows" with the a cappella ending, on the Pet Sounds box set, is astonishing.

I'll be voting in this---I don't generally participate in ILM Beach Boys discussion because you all seem to know a lot more about them & their oeuvre than I do. I had my big BB phase during the E6 years, when they were the big reference point for a lot of bands (see also The Zombies). Mostly I know them from the Good Vibrations box & the Pet Sounds box; aside from Pet Sounds & Smile I've never heard a BB album. I'll try to remedy that but with the BBs I have to get the feeling & if I don't, I won't care to relisten; in that case I'll just go with top of the head picks from the stuff I already know.

well the GV and Pet Sounds boxes give you a solid overview of the group and its most important tracks. If you have sat through Discs 3 and 4 of the GV set then you are more than qualified to vote in this survey.

I'll vote in this, but it'll be even more uninformed than my Prince ballot.

then inform yourself!

good place to start: Greatest Unhearlded Beach Boys Song

disk 4 of the GV box is pretty tough going I must confess but disk 3 is terrific; "Let The Wind Blow" is easily top 5 for me & maybe even for the top spot.

more lobbying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVZE5cFZs18

disc 3 of the good vibrations box is prob my fave beach boys ever? i think those albums are pretty spotty, but the cream of the crop makes for a pretty much perfect listening experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwE9aY5F4Jw

what a weird song/clip!

yeah I actually had never heard that version before, I was just looking for the studio version. but I love how it makes the song sound even more ominous.

yeah creepy. spreading the gospel of manson. also: what kind of band would ever stand onstage like that.

totally a song from the perspective of someone trying not to go insane

the b-side to "bluebirds over the mountain" haha ... what a pair!

'breakaway' rather, which is kinda just a more socially acceptable version of the same message

lol at the description of all i wanna do on wiki: "The song is a savage fast-paced rocker with blazing guitars and a creditable vocal from Mike Love"
SAVAGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDDqZ5KVvmI&feature=channel_page&fmt=18

yeah creepy. spreading the gospel of manson. also: what kind of band would ever stand onstage like that.

― tylerw, Friday, August 5, 2011 2:47 PM (10 minutes ago) a

every gospel quartet ever?

yeah, i guess you're right. they just look awkward.

Ooh, I could contribute to this poll.

is there a deadline for voting?

"Carl & The Passions has some great tunes."

absolutely. the closing triumvirate of "make it good"/"all this is that"/"cuddle up" is pretty devastating

"all this is that" especially. so beautiful

aug 11th caek

ok i'm on it.

i want to see a vote for Dennis Wilson's version of "It's Not Too Late"

one way to make that happen is to vote for it

o i will

lol at the description of all i wanna do on wiki: "The song is a savage fast-paced rocker with blazing guitars and a creditable vocal from Mike Love"
SAVAGE

wrong youtube clip btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af9XH9BT_Y8

"all I wanna do" = / = "all I want to do"

all I wanna do >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all I want to do

yeah probably. All I Want to Do is pretty rockin tho

Are we talking about real early period with "Farmer's Daughter," like '62 and maybe into '63 a little bit? Even so, it's better than "Surfin' Safari?"

totally

i fuck with http://www.rafa.cc/wp/imagen2/BBLostAndFound%201961-1962).jpg

Do not agree.

Or "Surfer Girl"/"Catch a Wave"/"In My Room" if we're talking later '63?

"Little Deuce Coupe?"

"Be True to Your School" - Oct. '63

in my room the only serious competition IMO

6 votes in and some interesting early results...we'll see if they'll survive democracy

I made a mono rip of No-Go Showboat a while back: http://www.mediafire.com/?1taawtqgu8ldj15

Like most Beach Boys tracks, better in mono.

There are nice harmonies in "Farmer's Daughter" but there's not much there compositionally.

to say that everything pre-Smiley Smile is better is just priveleging one particular style over another in a rather arbitrary manner, the implication being that, say, surf-rock and psychedelia are inherently superior to country-rock or synthpop. which I just can't get with.

That's not necessarily true at all. A person could certainly make the argument that the Beach Boys were better at whatever they were doing at one point than they were at another. I'm sympathetic to the argument that they appear to have been true masters in their early period, but also open to the appeal of their later catalog.

I am feeling compelled to vote for Keepin' the Summer Alive and Getcha Back.

to say that everything pre-Smiley Smile is better is just priveleging one particular style over another in a rather arbitrary manner

Totally disagree with this. Surf-rock isn't intrinsically better than whatever the Beach Boys were doing on Holland, but the music they were making in 1964 and 1965 is intrinsically better than the music they were making in 1973. Brian Wilson being out of the picture comes to mind as a possible reason.

Surfers recycle now, don't you know?

They were masters already in '63 imo.

brian wilson was never completely out of the picture xp

there's a big difference between BW being 'never completely out of the picture' and coordinating the entire recording process from start to finish.

yeah and I don't think many people would argue that 1973 is better than 1965

however

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHXGvDP8iLI

vs. anything on little deuce coupe? no contest

^ first stereolab song

my shortlist is looking very greatest hits-y.

the music they were making in 1964 and 1965 is intrinsically better than the music they were making in 1973

yeah I just don't accept this. for example, there is a bunch of garbage on this 1964 album.

Whereas there's really only one out and out bad song on this one. Granted they put out much LESS in 1973 than in 1964 but we're talking quality, not quantity.

more lobbying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKBOP86qT_g

also note that Brian Wilson's "contributions" to that album - the EP - are nigh unlistenable, so much so that the rest of the band wouldn't even consent to letting it be part of the album proper

xp

I mean, really in 1964 Brian was the only "master" in the band - Dennis was still a rudimentary drummer at best, and Carl's contributions were mostly Chuck Berry riffs. Mike Love's contribution was passable lead vocals and comedy routines. Al was sort of a non-entity.

As a group, I don't think you can really argue that they were singing better in 1964 than they were in 1973.

yeah I have mixed views on holland but I find it hard to consider anything in 1964 intrinsically better than trader/big sur/sail on sailor

(esp the aforementioned alt version of big sur, damn)

My point wasn't about individual members' skills so much as the belief that they were creating records that were fairly massive as early as "Surfin' Safari." I mean, "Don't Worry Baby" is massive.

yeah but it's pretty much just a phil spector rip

No way. Brian adapted Spector techniques onto something he had already developed.

Wilson brought a demo of "Don't Worry Baby" to Phil Spector, who rejected it in favor of his own compositions. Ronnie still remembered that day in the studio, with Wilson peeking through the window and waving at her, begging her to listen to his new song. "In those days, the producers wanted their own writers to write their own material. Brian Wilson didn't care, he wrote 'Don't Worry Baby' especially for me, after he heard 'Be My Baby.' I was very hot coming off a #1 record, 'Be My Baby,' and so Phil and Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry wrote 'Baby, I Love You,' while Brian Wilson wrote his song as if it was tailor-made for my voice and everything. In the early 60's, the writers and the publishers were the main key that determined what your next song was. But 'Don't Worry Baby' was a song that when I first heard it, I almost fell off the chair. It was such a perfect follow-up to 'Be My Baby.' You know what I mean? 'Be My Baby,' and then next, 'Don't Worry Baby,' how sexy is that? That is just so sexy."

don't get me wrong it's a great song, it might even be on my ballot

And Mike Love was much more than a passable lead singer imo, btw.

yeah Don't Worry Baby is uberclassic but iatee otm about its origins as straight homage

can totally hear Ronnie singing that lead, personally

There certainly seems to be a lot in that composition and arrangement that come straight from Brian and not from Spector so "straight homage" doesn't seem at all correct to me.

but it still just seems like a step in the direction of pet sounds - where he pretty much one ups spector

On technical grounds, but the only song on Pet Sounds that has the concision and concentration of power comparable to "Don't Worry Baby" is "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

But half the point of Pet Sounds is in the slower stuff, the instrumentals, etc., where Wilson commands a broader expressive palette, from the studio musicians if not from the vocalists, than Spector ever mustered.

imo "where did your long hair go / where is the girl I used to know" already feels like it has more depth than all of "don't worry baby" - which feels like a (superbly well done) exercise in form more than a ballad w/ real emotion in it

brian wilson was never completely out of the picture xp

Not just BW, but the Wrecking Crew, Gold Star, the competitive rivalry with the Beatles, the acid. All the stuff that made them great at their peak was gone by the early '70s.

Don't Worry Baby is the greatest drag racing song ever though

yeah but it was replaced w/ more complex themes, styles, song forms

caroline no is a bit creepy isn't it? he doesn't love her anymore because she cut her hair?

creepiness adds to it

or 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times' vs' In My Room'

Is Pet Sounds' wistfulness and melancholy truly a "broader emotional palette?"

Does "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" truly represent "more complex themes" than "In My Room" in a significant way?

Don't Worry Baby is ... not a song about complex emotions. it's a song about his car.

Does "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" truly represent "more complex themes" than "In My Room" in a significant way?

this is OTM tho

creepiness adds to it

yeah, it's a great song, I'm just not convinced that it's clearly superior to Don't Worry Baby in complexity of theme, lyrical depth, etc. Caroline No definitely evokes an aching sense of loss but I think Don't Worry Baby actually has a bit more going on. Who does he really love more, his baby or his car? I think there's a real powerful emotional undercurrent in that he's being pushed into something he doesn't really want to do and which could potentially kill him.

totally

both in the lyrics and the way the instrumentation plays w/ the song

the build-up is like a progression in his internal-logic

xp

Don't Worry Baby is ... not a song about complex emotions. it's a song about his car.

OK first off, even if it were just about his car, I think it would already be more interesting than Caroline No, since a love ballad for a car is a little more unique than a love ballad for a girl. But it's clearly not just about his car.

I mean, Don't Worry Baby is a song about a teenage boy whose big mouth has gotten him into a situation he doesn't want to be in. Anxiety has been building up inside of him about having to drag race and what could go wrong. This is a couple of years before Jan Berry's car wreck, but surely the BBs must have known some other guys who were killed or injured drag racing, and I think the implication of danger is pretty clear. He's not just worried about losing. His girlfriend gives him support which helps calm his anxiety, but in doing so she's really just participating in pushing him toward the inevitable race and egging him on to do something dangerous and stupid. It really captures a lot of conflicted adolescent feelings about peer pressure, hormones, and being driven by an irrational feeling of invincibility.

Caroline No is about a man who is lamenting the fact that the woman he used to love has changed and is no longer the same girl she was as a teenager. The biggest offense being that she cut her hair and it was like watching a "sweet thing die".

caroline no is about more than just a woman, it's about the inherent tragedy of change. her long hair is just a symbol.

I mean, he's still in love with an idea of a girl who can't even exist anymore and he knows it. it's clear that it's over between them, but he hasn't quite reasoned his way there yet. 'could we ever bring them back once they have gone?' is a rhteorical question.

more than that, there's the underlying story behind a girl who cut her hair and turned to stone. we don't know what happened in her life, but something did.

then ending w/ train sounds suggests that the beach boys were reminiscing the rail age, having realized (decades before the rest of the country) the horrible effects on society that cars and car-based-music were going to have

There is one line - one! - in "Don't Worry Baby" that actually refers to a car, and one other line that explicitly refers to the drag race. The song is about a specifically adolescent kind of dread, and there's an almost frightening pathos in it. Wk OTM.

I agree with the first two paragraphs, but don't really see how it adds much. Another dimension to the song that I think can't be ignored is the fact that Brian is a guy who met his first wife when she was 14 and he was 20.

xpost

well he didn't write the lyrics

he sang it

released it as his first solo single even

"Caroline No" is even more unsettling. It shatters the myth of the early Beach Boys' hits and reveals Wilson's idealization of innocent teenage hedonism as something like a sickness, where change and growing up become sources of real terror.

which could have been interesting if applied to the self. but it doesn't come across as a fear of one's own aging and mortality, so much as a desire for a woman to remain some unchanging, idealized object of affection.

and 'caroline' seems like a real person. they've stopped dealing w/ california archetypes and moved on to human beings. xp

and the fact that Wilson didn't write the lyrics almost makes it worse imo. it's one thing to think of that kind of weirdness sort of unconsciously oozing from his psyche (as in the "totally a song from the perspective of someone trying not to go insane" upthread) but another thing to think that this was carefully crafted by a professional songwriter.

by a professional songwriter w/ the aim of fitting the music and album

I don't see how it's any different than brian admitting that 'don't worry baby' was his attempt at writing a phil spector song - that seems even more depersonalized...

well since we're talking about lyrics, I don't see what the spector thing has to do with it. and I wasn't talking about personal vs. depersonalized so much as conscious vs. subconscious. if caroline no were just the subconscious expression of the misogyny of a mentally ill manchild I might give it more of a pass, but the fact that it was a more consciously crafted collaboration with a pro lyricist makes it more problematic to me.

jesus, wtf is up with the alliteration there?

speaking of unconscious oozings of the mentally ill

xp

There are some 1964 duds but there is more life in (justifiably) ignored deep cuts like "This Car of Mine" or the "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" cover than any track on Holland. And obviously the good stuff like "Don't Worry Baby" is light years ahead compositionally, instrumentally, vocally, lyrically, and in every other way. That song's complexity, depth and continued relevance is borne out by the recent discussion in this thread. I might vote for "Sail On Sailor" in this poll but to say that a track like that or "The Trader" (??? this is almost "Santa Ana Winds"-level schmaltzy) rivals Brian Wilson at his peak, with Chuck Britz and the Wrecking Crew and the brothers in Four Freshmen form, is hard to justify. God knows no one is digging into the psychological underpinnings of "The Trader", here or anywhere else.

did you dl the rarities comp? alt version of 'santa ana winds' is prob in my top 20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_LX-m74uw
this is me lobbying

wk's post-Smiley Smile challops makes no sense with stuff like this

iatee, I made my own edit of this song from 'big sur (alt)' on your rarities comp. I didn't know until today that it was an actual song

also your rarities comp unfortunately uses the short version of 'til I die. not the 7:23 version

oops. I got the long version right here
I must of have uploaded it in the past

7:23? that must be some internet dude's version

I dunno, listen to it

even the 5 min version I included in the comp isn't really 'official' in that a beach boy created it, it was some engineer goofing off

honestly, I can't really picture this song as the shorter version because I was introduced with the 7:23 version. but now you make me wonder if it is the beach boys playing during the instrumental part. it sound right in place with the song

sorry about the all i wanna do / all i want to do mixup. i hereby turn in my beach boys fanclub badge.
http://sonic.net/~dsktracy/bbstuff/Buttons/thumbnails/1980s%20Dutch%20Beach%20Boys%20Fan%20Club_jpg.jpg

from wikipedia:

Album and alternate releases

The song was first released on the bands album Surf's Up on August 30, 1971. However, in February of the previous year an alternate version of the song with a different backing track was played on the WPLJ FM radio station in New York.[9] The song has also appeared on several greatest hits compilations over the years including the 1981 album Ten Years of Harmony; the 1993 Good Vibrations box set and the 2002 release Classics Selected by Brian Wilson. An extended mix of the original recording, created by engineer Steve Desper, was included on the 1998 Endless Harmony Soundtrack. It is notable for having each instrumental layer come in after the other as an introduction and features more prominent vibraphone and organ throughout. The mix was reportedly done only for the engineer's self-interest with no intent for the song to see an official release. As Desper himself explains:
"[the band] went out for lunch or something like that and since the song was already mounted and a mix up, I put together what I thought was a structure that better showcased the harmonic beauty of Brian's writing. Somewhere thereafter I did play the track for Carl, but only in the interest of disclosure, not to sway him to change the structure that Brian intended."
A remake of the song was recorded - along with an accompanying video - by Brian Wilson for inclusion in the 1995 documentary I Just Wasn't Made for These Times and it would later appear on the films soundtrack. This version, produced by Brian and Don Was, is much more sparse than the original. In 2000, over a period of two days on April 7 and 8, Brian and his band recorded a live version of the song—based on Desper's extended mix—for inclusion on Brian's 2000 live album Live at the Roxy Theatre.

official version is 2:41 capt

sorry about the all i wanna do / all i want to do mixup. i hereby turn in my beach boys fanclub badge.

would have been forgivable if I didn't mention it in the first post of this thread (breaks your pin in half)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VvgRO3jPSJ0/TgCAeYkLiiI/AAAAAAAAAPA/85z9UCawFTE/s1600/crying-tears.jpg

official or unofficial, my vote for 'til I die in this poll is gonna be for that extended version I linked up there. at least every bit of it is the beach boys - it's just that a beach boys engineer did a remarkable job extending it

That 7:23 version sounds like the short version and then the long version in one track right?

wk's post-Smiley Smile challops makes no sense with stuff like this

All I Wanna Do is kind of overshadowed by Cool Cool Water on the same album, don't you think?

I think you should combine the votes for all the versions of "'Til I Die." I hadn't heard the other versions til now and the song is still way way up on my ballot.

^ we will never agree on anything xp

I'm combining all versions of all songs regardless

"Cool Cool Water" is a leftover "SMiLE" frag, not a song. Same with "Can't Wait too Long." Both work better in their proper context, imo.

can't wait too long is post-smile tho incorporates some smile frags

Really enjoying this deconstructed version of "'Til I Die". Had no idea there was that much going on in the track - all I ever heard distinctly was bass (both string and synth was my guess), drum machine, organ and vibes. But now - acoustic guitars! Two different types of organ! Real drums underneath the (very early) beat box! Still prefer the original, fwiw, but this is pretty awesome.

Yeah, I knew that - but "Cool Cool Water" was completed post-smile as well.

yeah but it's toying w/ smile frags vs. writing a new song and including a few smile bits

splitting hairs I guess

more lobbying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipyieEOjkVU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCXFLxCARRs

Hell no!

That applies to both clips above. But to each his own...

I can't understand how someone could hate busy doing nothin

I don't hate it anymore. But still, it's like, pfffft.

I really don't like bossa nova very much at all. I'm sure that's part of the problem.

I don't see anything creepy about "Caroline, No." It's pretty straightforward and the line about her hair is sweet.

they've stopped dealing w/ california archetypes and moved on to human beings.

And this is not a fair reflection on their pre-Pet Sounds lyrics in general.

I want to rep for "Time to Get Alone" but the youtube video has bad audio so i won't link to it

DEEPANDWIDE

Was just thinking last night that I might vote for that.

time to get a voting more like

250 msgs vs. 6!! ballots

cmon

admittedly like 180 of those msgs are me and 40 are shakey mo

just sent one in. listening to the unreleased comp you made, iatee. good stuff. i don't have at least half of it, maybe more... a treasure. it's like a box set of unreleased with a few "rare bb greatest hits." "holy, holy" sounds like spiritualized or something. the alt "big sur" was great, but then it just turned into "all i wanna do," which i love, but i was hoping for 5 minutes of that. meh. i love the fact that the beach boys are great as the biggest band in america and great as the family band making living room tracks with cheap drums machines and shitty sound.

yeah that version w/ the transition isn't official by any means but I actually just really dig that transition

i don't think 'caroline no' is creepy in the context of pet sounds, where it's clearly about the end of a love affair -- if it were just a random song with no context it'd definitely come off as a little odd.

this is maybe the hardest poll ever. there's at least three distinct 'periods' that are all equally great in their way and it feels like a betrayal to favor any of them. my no. 1 will probably be 'heroes and villains,' but no idea what else is going on here.

I don't even think it's a little odd! Imagine a Shangri-Las song where the gender positions were reversed.

I've been browsing around in the first five albums tonight and thinking it's going to be impossible for anything post-Pet Sounds to displace any of these gems on my ballot.

I think it just comes down to taste

but really, *nothing* post-pet sounds?

I dunno, I haven't started listening through that stuff yet!

This is going to be a tough week for me at work too, so my listening may be curtailed.

"Cool Cool Water" is a leftover "SMiLE" frag

yeah, I was just trying to bait iatee into admitting that the best track on the album is a Smile outtake

I don't see anything creepy about "Caroline, No." It's pretty straightforward and the line about her hair is sweet.

really? I have trouble taking that song anymore after I started hearing it that way. It's pretty misogynistic to expect women to remain in some kind of unchanging adolescent state isn't it? I really have trouble hearing it as anything but "I don't love you anymore now that you're not 15."

There's nothing in it that suggests a particular age range.

I mean, it is about young people, but I don't see why he couldn't be comparing the way things were when they were nineteen versus how they are not that they are twenty. Something happened, something changed, but nothing in it suggests that he's necessarily idealizing something about youth. It's mostly about the relationship going sour.

http://www.baytechlabel.com/photos/7148_small.jpg

definitely a pre-pet sounds vibe to my ballot.

There's nothing in it that suggests a particular age range.

Where did your long hair go? Where is the girl I used to know? Really? Doesn't sound like he's talking about a teenager there? Long hair on a woman was typically a sign of youth, particularly at the time, no? Where is the girl I used to know? Maybe she grew the fuck up?

have you no heart, dear sir?

no not really. just for my car and my school

it's a song about a teenage couple growing the fuck up, yes, and changing in ways that make their relationship fall apart, and it's a sad reflection on these things - I mean, I went though the same thing w/my high school girlfriend. and she cut her hair and I missed her long hair.

anyway "caroline no" is not in my top 20

tbh, I thought this was a pretty standard reading of caroline no. I think I got it second hand.

http://logosdatabase.com/logoimages/78780516.jpg

sweet

i've been revisiting a lot of songs and for some reason disney girls is speaking to me HEAVY right now

That's a real marmite song. I love it though.

I've always read Caroline, No as more of a detached observation - he admires a girl from afar throughout pubescence, maybe they hang out but never really make it. then at some point he turns a corner and she's there, short hair, maybe hanging out with a bad crowd, leather jacket, smoking, w/ev, and he's like 'aw shit, you turned into one of those girls - what a shame! How could you?'. Kind of like Olivia Newton John in Grease, but seen through disappointed eyes.

calling "Caroline, No" mysogynist is kind of reaching, I think. Brian is terrified of the aging process in general, regardless of gender. if you want to get into creepy mysogyny there are plenty of worse offenders in the catalog ("Hey Little Tomboy" for ex)

wk has made me see Don't Worry Baby's lyrics in a new light tho, I admit it

9 ballots in and 'How She Boogalooed It' a surprise #1

will it be able to hold the lead???

The very idea of trying to trim 3/4 of my longlist is making my head hurt.

Very happy to see The Little Girl I Once Knew get a mention earlier in this thread, one of the best singles they did.

I'm hoping that Darlin' will get a few votes, it will be in my top three. It's probably my favourite vocal Carl ever did, especially the live version on the Endless Harmony soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjvHKDcp_P8

everyone vote for this one. my all time favourite song to bellow in the car.

^ good song

"Girl Don't Tell Me" is probably my favorite non-No Go Showboat deep cut. It's the Beach Boys as low-key garage rockers and the hook is awesome. Looks forward to Wild Honey, which on the right day I would take over any of the band's albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ztc_lAb5Ws

i'm not saying this is as good as or deserving of votes as "good vibrations", "god only knows", "surf's up" and whatever classic-era stuff is guaranteed to reach the top whatever but this is one of my fav beach boys tunes of all time so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faTAocd4EU0

the backing vocals are so so good

i am already regretting my ballot. so many good songs. i'm hoping "busy doin' nothing" gets some votes. the combination of inane and insane on that song ruins me.

I always used to imagine that "You're So Good To Me" was an ode to beer for some reason.

^^^ this guy gets it

12 ballots

only 3 more days to vote dudes!

i haven't voted in any of the other big things like this -- how many songs do we vote for?

20, in ranked order

+ 5 albums (if you want)

oh man... i'm still terrified of trimming my ballot

just pretend you're making a ranked top 60

then just send the first 20

ok, i sent mine. kind of hard. i probably could've picked a totally different top 20 on a different day.

put this one kind of high --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoJ-yulhF8o
anyone else love this track?

got yer ballot

yeah that's a great choice

that was one of the tracks way back when that got me going back to the earlier stuff (actually buying all the albums rather than relying on greatest hits comps).

i love today! but i've always found it hard to come up with standout tracks. such a quick and fun listen that it all just kinda rolls together for me

was waiting til I got home to do my ballot, will get to it today sometime

i just got it down to 25 but realised i've cut all the cool/quirky/interesting songs and kept all the canon-y ones like Til I Die and God Only Knows. Not that these are bad, but I wanna rep for some Love You and Wild Honey material, even if these aren't such classic statements. Such a shame.

yeah, TODAY is under a half hour (and that includes the infamous "bull session" [will that show up on anyone's uber challopsy ballot?]), but it is endlessly re-playable.

I'm not happy about this:

Surf's Up 2
Pet Sounds 3
Today! 2
Smiley Smile 4
Sunflower 2
Friends 2
Wild Honey 3
Holland 1
Party 1
Unreleased 1

I'm thinking I'm gonna go for strictly deep cuts tbh, pretty clear the canon's gonna be well represented

20 songs is so difficult!

Surfin' Safari - 1
Surfer Girl - 3
Little Deuce Coupe - 1
Shut Down Vol. 2 - 2
All Summer Long - 1
Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) - 1
Pet Sounds - 5
Smile songs - 3
Friends - 1
Brian Wilson ('88 solo album) - 1

plus one song that is on both Today and Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)

I'm so unhappy with my ballot. Picking five albums was hard enough. What I love is that I appreciate each era for different reasons. My favourite is the Smile/Smiley Smile era because it's so fried and LOL, but then I find it hard not to resist the deep instrumentation and longing on Pet Sounds, Sunflower/Surf's Up's hippie eco-stuff, the proto-genius of Today/Summer Days, and Love You has its own appeal, although my appreciation of it is similar to that of applauding a child's particularly good macaroni picture.

iatee - just checking you received my ballot as i don't knowif i got the address right.

tylerw - don't know if you're a fan, but have you heard Last Night At The Jetty from Panda Bear's Tomboy? I hear it as a deconstruction of Kiss Me Baby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66bEcmwpdT4

hadn't heard that (i've somehow avoided panda bear for the most part) -- but yeah, sounds like an homage...

lol my initial list is 80 songs long

got your ballot dog

mine was 80 too. i'm still pissed off i didn't get to vote for any early tracks or anything off of Love You.

up to 15. dunno what I should be hoping to get. 30?

think you're gonna get a lot right at the end.

i'd be annoyed if you didn't get more than the blur poll.

my ballot is ridiculous, would be different on any given day. there's really just too much.

yeah i went into it thinking i'd be very scientific but ended up kind of going off the top of my head. hopefully there's a mix of undeniable classics + hidden gems.

album breakdown of my votes:

Summer Days (And Summer Nights) - 2
Unreleased/Rarities - 2
Pet Sounds - 1
Friends - 2
20/20 - 4 (!)
All Summer Long - 1
Wild Honey - 2
Pacific Ocean Blue - 1
Love You - 1
Carl & The Passions (So Tough) - 1
Holland - 1
Smiley Smile - 1
Sunflower - 1

u2 got 40 ballots i think -- fewer than that will be a small bummer. hopefully ILM isn't getting ballot fatigue.

u2 has 20 songs?

lol jk, love you bono

And I forgot to vote for breakaway. Wtf??!

listening to the albums for the first time ever (except for The Big One which well duh) & Surfin' USA is way better than Surfin' Safari; the title song is an obv classic & "Farmer's Daughter" is great! with a nice transition into "Misirlou" -> "Stoned" (yeah I know but) & this album is kinda unexpectedly deep for 1962!

you have a lot to look forward to!

17 ballots

cmon people we gotta beat fucking u2

I read this thread with great interest. It made me realize just how much Beach Boys I don't know yet, but I won't let that get in the way of voting.

one of the great beach boys covers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhFBElhlKk&feature=related

wtf

had no idea I'd have to use the sb button in this thread

more lobbying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVuchNKFOE4

^ get this one stuck in my head literally every time someone says the word 'luau'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD_tvFPzMDM

how could anyone deny this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTZi6VSs6DU

lol at the Match Point frames in the "Match Point of Our Love" vid. youtube, never change.

pretty sweet song though. haven't listened to that album very much i will admit.

jut got this news. the "beach boys" are coming! coincidence? weird for a "memorial" concert. hopefully mike love makes some kind of speech.

DENVER (AP) - Denver will host a free concert featuring the Beach Boys and the Colorado Symphony to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia announced the event Monday as pieces of steel from the World Trade Center were temporarily displayed across from the state Capitol.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who also attended the event, said "you can't get more American" than the Beach Boys.

denver mayor otm

kind of hate this song though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc0cvsSwvs0

ugh Match Point of Our Love... MIU is definitely the low point of their pre-80s album output. so sad.

not a great album but that song is a lost classic

Shut Down V2 - 1
All Summer Long - 2
Summer Days - 4
Smile - 1
Smiley Smile - 2
Friends - 2
20/20 - 3
Sunflower - 2
Surf's Up - 2
Holland - 1

SURFIN' SAFARI- 1
SHUT DOWN VOLUME 2- 2
ALL SUMMER LONG- 1
TODAY!- 1
SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS!!)- 1
BEACH BOYS' PARTY!- 1
PET SOUNDS- 5
FRIENDS- 1
20/20- 1
SUNFLOWER- 1
15 BIG ONES- 1
LOVE YOU- 1
LA (LIGHT ALBUM)- 1

Hello. I've been reading ilx for years, but made an account especially so I could vote in this poll, because I really like the Beach Boys. I hope that's OK! My songs came from:

Shut Down Volume 2: 2
All Summer Long: 1
Today!: 2
Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!): 2
Rarities/non-album: 1
Pet Sounds: 3
Smiley Smile: 1
Wild Honey: 1
20/20: 1
Sunflower: 1
Surf's Up: 3
Carl and The Passions/So Tough: 1
Holland: 1

I don't really like Friends very much - I like the Dennis songs, but nothing there came anywhere near the top 20 for me.

It's interesting too, that some of their very best songs are on their patchiest albums - I'm especially thinking of Shut Down Volume 2 and Surf's Up, which have a bunch of filler, but some of their best songs ever.

seems like everybody's voting from a pretty broad swathe of their catalog, but seems entirely possible all of us are voting for different songs lol

totally fine w/ lurkers voting, totally not fine w/ people hating on friends

not the tv show

ban mike love's sock up there!

holland - 1
sunflower - 1
surf's up - 3
surfing usa - 1
pet sounds - 3
love you - 2
friends - 2
summer days (and summer nights) - 1
all summer long - 1
wild honey - 1
rarities/b-sides/unreleased/etc. - 4

not voting for Good Vibrations or Heroes and Villains eh?

results are gonna be hilarious

voted for the secret unreleased version of good vibrations

I never listen to heroes and villains...it's kind a chore

I guess there are a few moments in it I like? but it's def near the bottom of the smile pile

either you need to hand in your beach boys fan club badge, or your challops have you made you president for life, I'm not sure.

I'm the game changing fanclub pres who calls a meeting to say 'smile is overrated'

then I'm quickly escorted out by my security team

http://westsoundmodern.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/the-angry-mob.png
and then these dudes show up at your house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKjq1_PjYII&feature=related

Agree with iatee about heroes and villains. It doesn't work as well as it should in practice and I generally skip it

Even if I love smile smile

it doesn't work so well on smiley smile because it's so overblown and ambitious yet the album that follows is kinda understated and subdued. i dunno it seems kinda incongruous to the album as a whole

i really dig it in the context of smile bootlegs tho

yeah it's more interesting as an unfinished idea than a finished idea

i have trouble with good vibrations, too, but prob b/c it's difficult to hear with fresh ears

I voted for the 2004 version of "Heroes and Villains," which I'd never thought was all that great previously. I guess some of the bootleg versions are pretty much identical, with better Brian vocals of course, but context, improved sound quality, and stereophonic sound did wonders for the song imo.

yeah i always skip "good vibrations" :/

so I actually set up my xls

some innneresting results so far

Surfer Girl - 1
Shut Down Volume 2 - 1
All Summer Long - 2
Today - 2
Summer Days - 1
Pet Sounds - 2
Smiley Smile - 2
Wild Honey - 2
Friends - 1
20/20 - 1
Sunflower - 1
Surf's Up - 2
Holland - 1
Pacific Ocean Blue - 1

I'm gonna 'shut down' the poll aug 11th at midnight CALIFORNIA time

21 votes in

actually f that. 9 pm pst is the deadline. I'd like to finish the xls that night and possibly start the thread the next day.

is "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" the first BB song with harpsichord?

relatedly: the song was recorded in mid 1964. are there earlier rock songs with harpsichord?

maybe...? I was trying to think if anything Nicky Hopkins did was earlier but it doesn't look like it

gosh Today! is a really top-shelf album

I'm not really in love with it - it's interesting but the sap flows a little too thickly on side 2 for me. I don't think it ever tops Dennis' opening.

side 2's what knocked me out! I think the side of the BBs I love the most is the wincingly beautiful stuff, like side 2 of Today!: "She Knows Me Too Well", for instance; but side 1's excellent too.

yeah, only complaints i have about Today are the inferior version of help me rhonda and bull session. Otherwise, pretty much perfect.

I'm surprised at how little filler these albums have; for some reason I was under the impression that they were just gonna be hits + covers & crap. That's totally not the case!

that help me rhonda version is so weird

I get what's great about side 2, I just find, for example, the near-hystrionic "In the Back of My Mind" kind of cloying

That's totally not the case!

well there is crap filler, but yeah it's not ALL filler. there are a lot of deep cuts, as they say

the one song that seems like it should just be filler ("so young") on Today is extremely beautiful. i think this was just Wilson hitting the point where it was hard for him to do anything wrong. even "good to my baby" has all of these inventive things going on in it.

in the back of my mind is so weird, maybe one of the weirder beach boys songs.

So Young is a Spector cover, no...?

Good to My Baby is awesome

huh goes back further than Spector I guess:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_So_Young

oh, just assumed it was a spector cover, since that's where i know it from.

Damn, I forgot to vote for "Bull Session"

uncut version, really great harmonies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2dbpnbrrSc

that track is the very definition of filler... they don't even tell a story/have an argument, they just... get some sandwiches? wtf

& fries!

it really is one of the more bizarre inclusions on any album.

(thanks, Marilyn!)

somewhere I assume there's a whole album's worth of material of Brian in his swimming pool, Dennis fixing his car, Mike getting himself some apple juice...

gearing up to listen to Party, kinda expecting / hoping for more of that

the one BB album I don't own

the cover of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away is ... interesting

RE "Bull Session" - Totally pointless, but it is sorta kinda neat to have a track that answers the question: "How do the Beach Boys eat lunch?" Also, the sound of sandwich wrapping rustling is weirdly compelling. Maybe Brian coulda used it as a percussion device on Smile?

"I Should Have Know Better" sounds like a White Album outtake (that's not exactly a compliment but nor is it a slam)

That vibe continues...I think it's the prominent tambourine. Also it sounds like bored & kinda lazy people trying to have fun but the desperation can't be masked.

Everlys cover is gorgeous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCOX0eMhmM&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xizNyCM97zA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfC2iovCzu4

better than any magnetic fields song

will you guys give me shit if I put Sloop John B in my ballot?

no sloop john b is great

will you guys give me shit if I put Kokomo in my ballot?

<3 kokomo

<3

the one song that seems like it should just be filler ("so young") on Today is extremely beautiful. i think this was just Wilson hitting the point where it was hard for him to do anything wrong. even "good to my baby" has all of these inventive things going on in it.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 9 August 2011 17:36 (Yesterday) Bookmark

I think I'm So Young is the best song on Today! So earnest and well executed.

21 votes. looking at old threads, I'm beginning to think hardcore beach boys fanclub might be smaller than imagined

bizarre to me. esp when (yuck) U2 elicited such heavy participation. all i can figure is that the bulk of the beach boys heads are deeply immersed in some vintage brian wilson-esque lifestyle, far too wrapped-up in cocaine and burgers right now to be able to deal with song evaluation criteria and internet voting protocols

I SAID I WAS GOING TO VOTE!

::finishes cocaine burger::

Process is too complicated for our acid-fried brains tbh

can i get cocaine fries with that?

I will try to come up with something but I can't promise

No, who am I kidding, it's too hard

I refuse to release the poll results unless I get a ballot from Tom d

bizarre to me. esp when (yuck) U2 elicited such heavy participation

^^^this

u2 might be easier. as many have said upthread, just narrowing it down with the beach boys seems kind of impossible.

Surely the more crap the band the easier it is to choose the best songs

yes

my best U2 tracks poll

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. One

they are so fucking horrible

should there be a poll?
Bull Session With Big Daddy vs. U2's Best Song

forget it guys, ilx is u2town

I really cannot fathom U2 fandom, the appeal of the band eludes me

there must be more than 20-30 beach boys fans on ILX? How many Beatles votes were there?

more casual fans would still be capable of putting together a ballot, not as much w/ the beach boys where a casual fan's ballot = endless summer

Too many songs and too many good songs = hard work

there must be more than 20-30 beach boys fans on ILX? How many Beatles votes were there?

Beatles seem to have a more intercontinental appeal. I know once upon a time the Boys were huge in England, but I'm willing to be the vast majority of us voting here are American...?

willing to BET

Beach Boys still pretty popular over here!

Beach Boys always more popular than the Beatles among the (arty layabout) crowd I was a part of, Beatles were a bit naff

from the ballots I've received I can say that shakey's hypothesis seems very off. I don't know where everyone is from but it's possibly 50% uk voters

this is the first one of these polls that i have voted in. in truth i was initially daunted by the thought of winnowing out so many prospective options, but once i started doing it, my ballot sort of wrote itself. i know that i skipped quite a few tracks that i should have included, but i'm glad that i took a stab at it. v. curious to see the results and any ensuing discussion

huh well what do I know

xp

Still don't understand how to participate in these polls (location/submission of ballots, etc) :(

not too complicated from a voting standpoint. i just webmailed iatee 20 beach boys songs.

rank your top 20 beach boys songs (and top 5 albums, if you want)

email them to e*e*e*t*a*i (atgmaildotcom)

xp oh yeah webmail works too

I rep for late 60's/(very) early 70's Beach Boys, but a bunch of Endless Summer wouldn't be such a terrible thing.

no I mean there isn't a bad song on there but I think casual fans are farrrr more familiar w/ beatles deep cuts

True. The Beatles are so overfamiliar I'm not even sure they even have any deep cuts, aside from maybe the Anthology series and a few early oddities.

after spending yesterday on repeated listens of Pet Sounds & various versions of Smile, I'm onto Smiley Smile...& it's not very good, alas. I'm hoping for more out of Wild Honey.

yeah smiley smile is an oddball...feels more like a b-sides collection than an album

the next 5 albums are great tho

Wild Honey is a totally fun record

ps you have like a day, get on it

Smiley Smile is really interesting to me, it's claustrophobic/oppressive in a way none of their other albums are, and apart from the two big singles, it features next to no drums. everything about is very hushed, it's having been assembled in someone's living room is very evident.

lol luckily for Euler the next few albums are all like half an hour long

yeah I have a ballot of 20 now but seeing as I've never heard these post-Smile albums before, I wanted to see if there were gems that might warrant a vote

the good thing about going chrono on the BBs is that their songs are like just over 2 minutes on average so I can listen to a bunch of songs in a short while.

I'm a big fan of 'little pad' xp

"Gettin' Hungry" is pretty great actually btw!

from wikipedia:

"In Fort Worth, Texas there is a drug clinic which takes people off the streets and helps them get over bad LSD trips. They don't use any traditional medical treatment whatsoever. All they do is play the patient our Smiley Smile album and apparently this acts as a soothing remedy which relaxes them and helps them to recover completely from their trip." - Carl Wilson, (1970) [6]

lol 1970

this album sounds really wasted, I can sorta see that

oh I listened to the Lei'd in Hawaii rehearsal this morning & who is it that's making fun of "Heroes & Villains"? I'm sorta with him! Those are great takes on the songs, though; the "Surfer Girl" is really deep.

it's Mike Love, of course

that track is hilarious

that whole bootleg is gold

Mike Love for president

make sure to listen to the mike love solo albums too

uh

oh man i would *not* want to listen to Smiley Smile while having a bad acid trip. Terrible idea.

dude i can't even listen to the smiley smile version of windchimes straight w/o getting freaked out. not something i would want to listen to ON DRUGS

yeah i always think that version sounds like it's sung by someone who is about to die.

I think it calms down people on bad trips cause they just start arguing about what's wrong with the album / start arguing about what's the best smile bootleg

"dude have you heard the purple chick versi --- ahhhh SPIDERS!"

ballot sent

onto Friends now, this album seems kinda...distracted?

@ what time are the ballots due tomorrow? I'd like to get through the rest of the albums but time's always tight

feel like Friends kinda breezes by, but it's really rewarding on repeat listens. maybe my fave post pet sounds album?

I love Friends, so mellow

yeah I just can't latch onto anything here...& now it's already over & 20/20 is on.

Spotify availability in the US came along at just the right time for these artist polls. (Led Zeppelin unavailable, hope that doesn't hurt the turnout for the next one.)

Friends is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDksmHtklqY

I play this one on the organ all the time for my daughter

just FYI

"The Nearest Faraway Place" is gorgeous! these albums are so...disconnected. I'll need to go back & relisten, because I'm starting to get the vibe toward which they're straining.

yeah they're all over the place

well that, but I also meant: they seem so distracted as songs, like the music is kinda eerie funhouse-of-doom, but also the narrators aren't really there, like they're playing at feeling things. Some of this is because there are so many different songwriters, & Brian's input is sporadic (& I'm sure hard to deal with), but I think some of it is the lifestyle of the band. The tunes have the gorgeous smell of decay.

euler, I said 9 pm pst but I'm flexible

Friends is the best.

― jaymc, Wednesday, August 10, 2011 3:54 PM (49 minutes ago)

otm ps where is your ballot

133 songs have received votes as of now

cool! onto Sunflower now.

guessing I can skip MIU & LA?

imo yes

don't skip beach boys love you tho

I'll send a ballot tomorrow. I spent today listening to all the Beach Boys stuff in my collection and coming up with a shortlist. I'll need at least another day to properly rank it.

thought about voting for this tbrr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZtTUeR6WS0

sounds good xp

beach boys love you def. on my list, on the twofer with the ridic titled "15 big ones"

MIU is pretty much a shit sandwich from start to finish. there is some good stuff on LA but not really anything super-critical (imho - others may disagree). there is definitely good stuff on both 15 Big Ones and especially Love You

I like matchpoint of our love more than anything on 15 big ones

love "baby blue" from LA ... but that's all

I don't get yr love for Match Point, apart from comedy value ... listened to it earlier today and it's just ridiculous, and melodically it's kind of a mess, throws in all these half-step changes from nowhere, there's no real hook, etc.

good timin is a total classic song but that version is lame

it's a disco song about tennis. by the beach boys. how could it not be amazing?

I will rep for the disco version of Here Comes the Night altho it is pretty goddamned silly

odd factoid: disco hitmeister Van McCoy (of "Do the Hustle" fame) got his start scoring strings for the Beach Boys ("Be With Me", for ex)

"Tears In The Morning"! kinda thinking Bruce Johnston is a secret weapon.

that's interesting! xp

I dunno what disco yardstick yr using there iatee...

xp

"Tears In The Morning"! kinda thinking Bruce Johnston is a secret weapon.

man why do people like this song!?

huh re-listening I guess that Match Point shuffle is sorta disco-ey, altho I never made that connection before

accordion!

btw I have never heard it, nor heard of it, before just now; is it a popular song?

haha yeah I am not a big bruce johnston fan, despite the fact that my mom knew him / I met him a few times as a kid

no it's not a popular song

Johnston's "Deirdre" on Sunflower (co-written with Brian) is really good.

people seem to like 'disney girls'

deirdre is johnston's high point imo. can't think of another one i really like. hate "disney girls".

I actually like the SOUND of 15 Big Ones a fair amount, a very unusual synth-n-strings-driven version of 50s r'n'r. first three tracks are all solid imho.

there are Bruce Johnston stans around here, usually one of those three is cited. Disney Girls seems to work the best for me, it's a strange little character sketch. whereas the others are just too syrupy.

and man ugh listened to Endless Harmony again yesterday and that is just straight garbage, sentimental, clunky self-mythologizing, and with no melody/tune to save it

haha yeah I don't like that song either, tho there is a free design cover that is listenable

Love Johnston's songs, Tears is kind of ridiculous though, especially the 'so you've moved to Europe' > here's an accordion, that's what Europe sounds like bit. But I love it.

― Stryder's on the Orme (j.o.n.a), Friday, May 15, 2009 7:27 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

"The Nearest Faraway Place" is gorgeous!

― Euler, Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:06 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

also arranged by Van McCoy btw

okay wmc and crut makes 23

euler and jmc are confirmed

tom d needs to be guilt tripped some more

2 more and that's 30, which is pretty good for a band that isn't u2

wait 4 more

Tom D I pronounce you guilty

sentenced to eat his veje-tables

the surf nazis will get him

Sunflower is great!

I don't think I'll ever be a BB head like you guys, but this is a much deeper catalog than I'd thought. I think during my last BB phase, in the late 90s, I bought into the Brian Wilson cult, & so figured anything post-Smile would be trash. Now I Mike Love not war.

You got my ballot, right?

possibly, there are some where I don't know who the person's irl name refers to. did you include your ilx name?

http://sonic.net/~dsktracy/bbstuff/Buttons/thumbnails/1980s%20Dutch%20Beach%20Boys%20Fan%20Club_jpg.jpg

this is for you euler

it used to be tyler's

all i wanna do is be back in the fan club :'(

ps euler have you hit surf's up yet?

I love whoever's idea it was to open an album with a song with such a foreboding/dread-filled title as Don't Go Near the Water

Mike Love not war

http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/images/GifGuide/clapping/citizen_cane.gif

he has a solo album named that

just hitting "Student Demonstration Time"

xp I stole the Mike Love joke from Oranger

Ohhh ok, jokes on me!

iatee I promise you my ballot will be in tomorrow!

that's 27, tho potentially have not received dl's ballot

ok Surf's Up is pretty heavy; "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" isn't too far from If I Could Only Remember My Name.

day in the life of a tree is such an underrated song

I shoulda voted for it

yeah it's fantastic. why they let their manager sing it is beyond me.

yeah side 2 of Surf's Up is just killer

according to trustworthy source 'dude in MGMT':

"In a 2010 interview with Rolling Stone MagazineAndrew VanWyngarden, member of MGMT stated "It came out of a period when they were doing a lot of drugs. I got to meet Al Jardine, and he told me that no one would sing it because it was too depressing, so the manager guy, Jack Rieley, sang it."

xp

I have a book (can't remember which) that says they tricked the manager into singing it, like he did it as a tracking vocal & then the band said "haha no that's the cut".

weird how all these indie guys are into meeting Al these days. otoh I guess everyone else is dead, Brian is crazy, and Mike is an asshole

I'm sure they'd still rather meet brian and come out w/ a weird anecdote

la is a great album you all have terrible taste

it saddens me that even after everyone jumping on the tusk/steely dan/70s studio pop bandwagon people still won't fuck with la (the light album)

I like some of the songs, not the versions/production

'good timin' is a total classic song but pretty flat on the album

I don't hate sumahama for some reason

'good timin' is a total classic song but pretty flat on the album

agree with this, assumed I'd be voting for it but it pales even next to Keepin the Summer Alive, Getcha Back etc.

poll side effect: now I'm listening to Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle

Maybe they got it right with Endless Summer.

this playlist is just the best pop music ever created. Give me a copy of the Goldberg Variations and this and I'd be set for life.

Just voted. If you're not familiar, I urge you to listen to Girl Don't Tell Me.

California Girls is plummeting down the charts.

I'm gonna try to have my vote in by midnight PST. I've had to listen to lots of stuff I never got around to before

OK, just to make my life easier, I ignored the solo albums, though I doubt there's anything on them that could get in a Top 50, never mind a Top 20. Also ignoted all unreleased material, which obv. rules out a lot of great stuff... and yet, I'm not happy with my list, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm depressed about it but... It is pretty canonical because, well, you can't really argue against something that is genius because everyone else happens to think it's genius too! Except I squeezed "Little Pad" in there, despite the fact that objectively it shouldn't be anywhere near a Top 20 Beach Boys poll. Didn't do the album poll, my head was hurting enough.

Album breakdown:

Shut Down Volume 2 - 1
Summer Days - 2
Pet Sounds - 2
Smiley Smile - 3
Wild Honey - 2
20/20 - 3
Sunflower - 3
Surf's Up - 2
Holland - 1
non-album - 1

... skewed overly towards post-Pet Sounds material, oh balls to it.

putting this together was very fun. Unfortunately there was no room for "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" or any of the big 1965 singles.

Surfin' USA - 1
Surfer Girl - 1
Little Deuce Coupe - 1
Shut Down Vol. 2 - 2
All Summer Long - 1
Today - 2
Summer Days - 1
Pet Sounds - 2
Smile - 3
Wild Honey - 1
Sunflower - 1
20/20 (non-Smile) - 1
Surf's Up (non-Smile) - 1
Keepin' the Summer Alive - 1
Still Cruisin' - 1

got tom's and buzza's. w/ lorax, jaymc and Euler i think that's 30.

anyone else interested should get on it asap

Sent!

OK, just to make my life easier, I ignored the solo albums, though I doubt there's anything on them that could get in a Top 50, never mind a Top 20.

dude...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKImbTWSG-w

^^
could sit comfortably on songs in the key of life imo

otm

It's a big double gatefold album, everyone could sit comfortably on "Songs in the key of life".

not all at the same time, obv.

and not while i'm manicuring my weed

listening to the sunflower / surf's up two-fer. probably should've voted for more of these. got to know the womannnnnn!
also cool that spotify has that big singles box set thing. wanted to hear some of that, did not want to spend the ridic $$$

the thing about constant companion is that even though it's a fantastic song, it also feels like a stretch to consider it a 'beach boys song' when it was so much munoz's work.

it doesn't have the typical dennis wilson vibe.

Except I squeezed "Little Pad" in there

I have a feeling this is gonna place tbh

dude...

Double whammy, unreleased + solo

the thing about constant companion is that even though it's a fantastic song, it also feels like a stretch to consider it a 'beach boys song' when it was so much munoz's work.

it doesn't have the typical dennis wilson vibe.

yeah, you guys are right...

btw i came very close to voting for little pad

lol, little pad takes the #1 spot

it's not near my top 20 but I woulda voted for it if I had to vote for a smiley smile track

5.5 hours left!!

Did you get my ballot, iatee? Just making sure/

you were the one w/ student demonstration time as #1 right? no I got your ballot

I didn't submit an album poll, but if I did it would be "Student Demonstration Time" and a couple of the other ham-fisted social-conscience moves on Surf's Up that kept it from my top 5. Wonderful to have it paired with Sunflower on CD, however - between those two albums there's a classic LP. One of the reasons that I didn't submit an albums ballot is that it's hard for me to separate records that are paired on the great Capitol two-fers. Hell, I'd love to submit one now anyway if it's not too much trouble, though.

go for it

still not sure how I'm scoring that...

xxxxxp iatee, you did vote for a Smile track though, right?

technically yes

hey have any of you read this? somehow i didn't even know it existed. priore's insane smile scrapbook thing is fun. wish i had bought a copy, since it's expensive now.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KTN2V9E1L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

I'm still listening to a bunch of stuff but I have a feeling I'm going to be heavy handed with Smiley Smile/Smile and Wild Honey

also, isn't there a documentary about the making of Smile?

I heard it was disappointing. And it's only $12 shipped on Amazon.

the book, I mean. Look/Listen/Vibrate is probably all you need.

OK, just voted.

^^^Look! Listen! Smile! Vibrate! is so great, wish I had a copy

i know! i remember not wanting to pay $20 for it at some point in the late 90s. selling for crazy prices now.

I have the insane smile scrapbook thing! I still haven't read it, though. I should probably bring it into the bathroom...a Wilsoneque thing to do, no?

I'm not going to get through all the albums. I'm about to start Carl & The Passions, & probably have 2 to 2.5 hours more listening total, so I might get through Love You + 15 Big Ones, gonna try. Or else I might just put "Getcha Back" on repeat...

love you is more important than carl & the passions imo

anyway the deadline is flexible, just email me if you need more time

you guys heard this? pretty nice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhyP4J4accU

is there a thread for beach boys covers?

yes S/D: Beach Boys Covers

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Caroline-Now-The-Songs-Of-Brian-Wilson-And-The-Beach-Boys/release/2115466

this has good stuff on it

I hadn't heard the faces version but I think I prefer it!

yeah it's pretty tight. guess it's just a rehearsal, but the arrangement is good.

so w/ euler and capt we're at 31

it's not u2 but it's almost respectable

anyone else should get crackin

I'll try to get through it tonight---this album is short, & I'll have time for Big Ones + Love You tonight. I won't get to MIU or LA but no prob, I'll listen to them tomorrow (doesn't sound like "Shortenin' Bread" is gonna push e.g. "Transcendental Meditation" off my ballot anyway).

always liked this story about brian wilson meeting iggy pop

"I positioned everyone around the piano and began playing Shortnin' Bread. With me singing lead, I instructed Alice to repeat, "Mama, mama, mama" and Iggy to chant "Shortnin', shortnin', shortnin." At first, this was big fun but after chanting for fifteen minutes, the song lost its charm. Brian however, pressed on and continued to play the tune accompanied by Alice and Iggy, who were becoming disillusioned by their meeting with the southern California musical legend. It wasn't long before the pair stopped singing and the whole process broke down. Suspicious that Brian was putting them on, they prepared to leave. Wilson continued, "after about an hour of singing "Shortnin' Bread, they realized that either I really was as off the deep end as rumor had it or I was having fun at their expense. In truth it was a combination of both."

As they left, Iggy told Brian, "This is too much for us. Too damn weird."

if anyone wants a copy of look listen vibrate smile, i will send it to you for free via love for ilx, beach boys. webmail me, happy to send it to first person i hear from

Re Euler - The only song I included post-1971 is from "Love You". Personally, I would suggest skipping straight to that album, because it'll take at least two or three plays to make sense, and it's well worth the effort. But who knows, maybe between 72 and 76 you'll find something other than "Sail On Sailor."

for a moment I thought "Here She Comes" sounded like Pink Floyd & thus for a moment I thought it ruled! then the moment passed.

iatee did you get mine?

...webmail me...

aaaaaand, tylerw's gettin' it

scoooooore. thanks, dude!
Euler, really don't think beach boys fan art rules as much as pink floyd fan art tbh
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v271/15/51/684077814/n684077814_618537_1865.jpg

fuck, too slow

there's a bunch of good songs on Carl & The Passions imho, but it's not as good as the albums immediately preceeding it

I'm guessing the cult of Brian is gonna make BB art...twee?

exactly
http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs/10/e4/33,3,album,andrew,kolb,beach,boys,goat,illustration,kolbisneat,kolbisneat,com,pet,sounds-10e406b72d48ca11eb355db5454d0a70_m.jpg
it's like a damn etsy shop all up in my google search

the first one i posted came the closest to ruling, but it doesn't really rule that much.

sorry, shakey. fwiw i got my copy yrs ago at green apple for 13 bucks. so maybe its twin will turn up there one day or is already living there

ah shit, yeah, Pet Sounds is gonna push this in a particular direction

I did a little gis though & things got weird quick. ended up in albums of wedding pictures. beach I guess?

i think this is the best beach boys rule thread Can we be shown weirdos + Mike Love?

btw when I was a high school senior I got about 20 tons of college recruitment brochures sent to me, but the best one was from the Maharishi International University in Iowa, which featured classes on how to learn to fly! some kind of meditation hopping. it had a picture on the cover of a bearded guy doing it! & now I'm learning from these 70s BB albums that the Boys were kinda involved with that place? like that's what M.I.U. stands for? weird

Mike Love is STILL into that shit

him and Donovan and Paul McCartney and David Lynch

maybe I should try to get a job there!

first question at the job interview is going to be:
"who rules more, the beach boys or pink floyd."

if I want the job I'm gonna have to say Beach Boys but maybe I can at least squeeze a BB laser show out of it

(a gis should go here but let me just say: uh...)

Shine on you crazy diamondhead

Be Careful With That Axe, Jardine

wish I had friends like Brian. I would totally hang out and jam on Shortnin' Bread for an hour.

isn't Marcella on Carl & The Passions? that song is great

got yers lbi

there's a bunch of good songs on Carl & The Passions imho, but it's not as good as the albums immediately preceeding it

I feel like the album has a great *sound* to it but sorta weak songs

by weak I don't mean horrible...it's a very listenable album, but nothing really grabs me

ok fuck it, just sent my ballot despite only being halfway through Love You (I got through 15 Big Ones, lol at title as always though). I'm doubting I'm gonna get much more time to listen today. "Ten Little Indians" #1 btw

aw man I hope you got to "The Night Was So Young"

Love You is basically "Brian's art therapy" as an album. It shouldn't work - and for most people it probably won't the first few times through, which is why I recommend repeated listens - but boy does it ever hit you if you stick with it. Probably shoulda put it on my album ballot, though it's such a different beast from their classic records that it's hard to know where it would fit.

The top 12 songs that didn't make my top-20 cut would still make a more awesome album than many band's best-of comps.

"Love You" worked fine for me the first time - most of it anyway....

The only wilderness period album I like less than Love You is 15 Big Ones. It's one thing for Brian's quirks to seep into his music - but Love You is just one giant quirk in album form. I enjoy listening to genius-level Brian Wilson, not post-meltdown art therapy Brian Wilson.