Beach Boys Appreciation Thread

brianlux

Any fans here?  If so, your favorites?

A tough thread to title, really, because there are several incarnations of The Beach Boys going clear back to when these kids started out:


The early hits, especially those great Brian Wilson ballads, were what I always loved the most but, post-sixties, every now and then they created magic like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeainNE22LE

"Trader"

Hi
Trader

Trader sailed a jeweled crown
Humanity rowed the way
Exploring to command more land
Scheming how to rule the waves.
Trader spied a virgin plain
And named it for velvet robes
Wrote home declaring,
"There's a place
Where totally folks are free
(Happily completely)
Nourishment fills the prairies and the hillsides
And animals stalk the mountains and the seaside
And fish abound the lakes and birds the skies
Signed sincerely."

Trader found the jeweled land
Was occupied before he came
By humans of a second look
Who couldn't even write their names shame
Trader said they're not as good
As folks who wear velvet robes
Wrote home again and asked, "Please help
Their breasts I see; they're not like me
Banish them from our prairies and our hillsides
Clear them from our mountains and our seaside
I want them off our lakes so please reply
Signed sincerely."

Trader he got the crown okay
Cleared humanity from his way
He civilized all he saw
Making changes every single day say
Shops sprang over the prairies and the hillsides
Then roads cut through the mountains to the seaside
The other kind fled to hide, by and by,
And so sincerely
Cried.

Making it softly
Like the evening sea, trying to be
Making it go
Creating it gently
Like a morning breeze, a life of ease
Eyes that see
Beyond tomorrow, through to the time without hours
Passing the Eden of Flowers
Reason to live.

Embracing together
Like the merging streams, crying dreams
Making it full
Begging intently
For a slight reprieve, a night of ease
Hands to touch
Beyond the sorrow, on to the force without power
Piercing the crust of the tower
Reason to live.

Hoping
Like a budding rose, humbling shows
Making it.
Struggling lonely
Like a desert field, break the seal, make it real
Ears to hear
Beyond the showers, on to the suns of tomorrows
Burning the flesh of all sorrows
Reason to live.
Reason to continue
Reason to go on
Reason to live
Reason to live
Reason to live

HesCalledDyer

Being a fan of summer and the ocean, I've always enjoyed The Beach Boys. I, too, was more of a fan of the Brian Wilson era but appreciate the incarnations and songs thereafter.

Surfer Girl will always be one of my favorites. And The Beach Boys have one of the few Christmas albums I can actually stand to listen to.

My cousin, who died of throat cancer a few years ago, The Beach Boys were his favorite band. We played "When I Grow Up to Be A Man" at his funeral.

brianlux

HesCalledDyer said:

Being a fan of summer and the ocean, I've always enjoyed The Beach Boys. I, too, was more of a fan of the Brian Wilson era but appreciate the incarnations and songs thereafter.

Surfer Girl will always be one of my favorites. And The Beach Boys have one of the few Christmas albums I can actually stand to listen to.

My cousin, who died of throat cancer a few years ago, The Beach Boys were his favorite band. We played "When I Grow Up to Be A Man" at his funeral.

"Surfer Girl" the song and record are great.  Not to long ago, I upgraded my copy of that LP to an Analogue Productions re-issue vinyl copy and, oh man, pure joy!

I'm sorry to hear about your cousin.  "When I Grow Up to Be a Man"  is one of my favorites too.  Nice choice.

Bentleyspop

To put it simply......"God Only Knows"

https://youtu.be/zNOHyGP7thk

Zod

Growing up there wasn't alot of money.  My mom had maybe a dozen records.   There was John Lennon Shaved Fish, about 5 john denver records, a lionel ritchie album, but the ones that always stuck out to me were the beach boys records.

I love the old Brian Wilson stuff.  I still have a soft spot for it.  I completely regret not going to see a show when he was touring with them a few years ago :(

nittanysurfer

Huge fan of their work-they sound like summer to me. A few years ago I was lucky enough to see some of them live.  A really nice memory. 

brianlux

Cool to hear from other Beach Boys fans, thanks for chiming in all!

benjs

Bentleyspop said:

To put it simply......"God Only Knows"

https://youtu.be/zNOHyGP7thk

Agreed. I saw Brian Wilson perform Pet Sounds last year and it was horribly sad to see the state that he's in, but sent shivers down my spine seeing him and his band play that epic album, including of course God Only Knows - one of the best songs ever in my opinion. 

brianlux

I saw the Beach Boys in the early sixties.  It was right at the beginning of the time when Brian Wilson stopped touring with the band.  When Mike Love stepped up to the mic and told us Brian wasn't going to be there that night I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.  It was a good show, to be sure, but something HUGE was missing for me.

brianlux

And yes, "God Only Knows" is an amazing song.  That and Carl's "Trader" are couple of major favorites!

I learned about Carl dying while watching Conan O'Brien.  O'Brien made a few sad comments about his passing and then the Max Weinberg Seven played a heart wrenching instrumental version of "God Only Knows" and I sat there and just bawled.

brianlux

Here are a couple of cuts from Pet Sounds  with vocals only that illustrate how insanely good Brian Wilson's vocal arrangements are.  Stunning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YB_ALnkHj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pO1xeRh0Ro


Edit: I had posted a vocals only "Good Vibrations" only to shortly thereafter discover, well done as it is, it's a cover, not the real thing.  These two above though are Beach Boys vocals.

dudeman

I was never a big fan of the Beach Boys. Recently though, I was gifted Pet Sounds on vinyl. It must be a reissue or remaster since it was sealed and is on 180 gram vinyl. (I'm not terribly familiar with their catalog or releases).

Anyway,  it sounds fucking good. Not just good.....fucking good. 

More exploration into the band will be in my future. 

brianlux

dudeman said:

I was never a big fan of the Beach Boys. Recently though, I was gifted Pet Sounds on vinyl. It must be a reissue or remaster since it was sealed and is on 180 gram vinyl. (I'm not terribly familiar with their catalog or releases).

Anyway,  it sounds fucking good. Not just good.....fucking good. 

More exploration into the band will be in my future. 

With Pet Sounds, you've really started at the top of the Beach Boys mountain.  It's a masterpiece! 

Working back, the songs get progressively more surfing/girl friend/car themed stuff and less help from studio musicians (although I really like Surfin' USA a lot for the fact that it is all Beach Boys on vocals and instruments).  Working forward the albums (in my opinion anyway) get  to be more of a mixed bag.  Surf's Up and Holland both have some essential, great Beach Boys music but also some pretty mediocre stuff.  The good out weighs the not-so-good though.  The rest of the 70's stuff and beyond is either dicier or appeals mostly to a smaller crowd. 

JOEJOEJOE

Beach Boys are an iconic American band.......IMHO, they have no peers in terms of their harmonies.   Too bad there was so much strife involved in their history.  

brianlux

JOEJOEJOE said:

Beach Boys are an iconic American band.......IMHO, they have no peers in terms of their harmonies.   Too bad there was so much strife involved in their history.  

For sure, Joe.  Part of that was due to the their dad, Murry Wilson being so abusive.  As boys/young men, the three Wilson brothers were traumatized by Murry.  And then there were all the drug and alcohol abuse issues and of course the ego issues as well.

I've read some great books about the Beach Boys but my favorite is this  excellent book, Catch a Wave by Peter Ames Carlin:

cp3iverson

Brian Wilson to me is the greatest musician of the last 100 years.  His mind at one time was cliffs above everyone else composing music. 

The damn Beatles openly worshiped the guy.  

brianlux

cp3iverson said:

Brian Wilson to me is the greatest musician of the last 100 years.  His mind at one time was cliffs above everyone else composing music. 

The damn Beatles openly worshiped the guy.  

And visa versa!  Wouldn't it have been nice (where have I heard that before?) if they had done some collaborating!

Attaway77

https://youtu.be/F_Rspu3Xoi4?si=H3Pugp_M367YTjxF

GlowGirl

Attaway77 said:

https://youtu.be/F_Rspu3Xoi4?si=H3Pugp_M367YTjxF

This looks really good. Brian Wilson is such a musical genius. This reminds me that I have been meaning to get Pet Sounds on vinyl. 

brianlux

Attaway77 said:

https://youtu.be/F_Rspu3Xoi4?si=H3Pugp_M367YTjxF

Nice!  A must see.
Oh man, The Beach Boys.  The early sixties were a terrible time for me.  My first girl friend had to move to the far north when her dad got a new job, and I was totally heart broken.  To make matters worse, next came the summer between elementary and middle school and I was dreading the change.  I felt like everything was falling apart.  But then I got my first 7" 45, "In My Room", and a while later my sister bought me my first album, the just released Shut Down Volume 2.  Those records were light and sound and salvation-- harmonies and words I could totally relate to.  The Beach Boys practically saved my life!