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The Beach BoysAlbums ReviewedSurfer Girl (1963)Little Deuce Coupe (1963) Shut Down Volume 2 (1964) All Summer Long (1964) Today! (1965) Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!) (1965) Pet Sounds (1966) Smiley Smile (1967) Wild Honey (1967) Friends (1968) 20/20 (1969) Sunflower (1970) Surf's Up (1971) Greatest Hits (1998) Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) Surfin' Safari(1962)Surfin' USA(1963)I'd expect these to be fairly primitive, but I'd grab them if I saw them cheap. Surfer Girl(1963)By the time of The Beach Boys third album, Brian Wilson had taken over as the group's producer and main writer, and even at this early stage there are plenty of signs of one of rock music's most naturally talents. Before the rock album developed as an art form in the mid-sixties, most of the focus went to preparing singles, and on Surfer Girl there's a pretty obvious gap between the material that effort went into and the quick toss-offs. With The Beach Boys, there are also two clear forces within the band, which would later come to a head as the group grew into more complicated territory; the fun surf-pop as fronted by nasal voiced Mike Love, and the tender balladry of Brian Wilson. Even at this early stage, the Wilson-fronted material is already at a high level of sophistication in terms of arrangement and chord sequences, not to mention emotionally poignant. Even if Love-fronted hits here like 'Catch A Wave' and 'Little Deuce Coupe' are also strong, they're tacky and shallow next to Wilson classics like 'In My Room' and the title track. It's hard to call these early Beach Boys records great albums by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time there's enough going on beyond the big singles, that if you're interested in the group, they're worth picking up as two-fers. Surfer Girl is also fast moving enough, with 12 songs in 25 minutes, that it never outstay its welcome. I categorically love all the Wilson fronted songs here; not only the celebrated title track and the angsty 'In My Room', but also the lesser known 'Surfer's Moon', a beautiful '50s style ballad with a sweet Brian vocal and orchestration, as well as the sentimental 'Your Summer Dream' ("stop and find a pretty shell for her"). Some of the Mike-fronted material is also strong; 'Little Deuce Coupe' is deservedly a Beach Boys standard, while 'Catch A Wave', 'Our Car Club', and 'Hawaii' are all pleasant enough. So really, for a 1963-era album, there's actually a pretty good consistency rate; only a pair of pointless instrumentals and the tacky surf songs (a theme which would rarely appear on Beach Boys records after this) 'Surfers Rule' and 'South Bay Surfer' really get in the way of enjoyment. For a quickly tossed together record, there's some really good material on Surfer Girl, considering the group had to throw an album together every few months at this point and that the rock album was still in its infancy, and it's well worth picking up for more than just completism. 
 Little Deuce Coupe(1963)It says something for the lack of respect for the full length LP as an art form in 1963 that The Beach Boys (or Capitol records) could get away with such a tacky concept - recycling four songs from previous albums and adding eight new one to create a hastily constructed concept album based around car themes. If you're collecting the two-fer releases, The Beach Boys discography gets a little confusing here; although Little Deuce Coupe was released immediately after Surfer Girl, it's paired with All Summer Long on CD, as 'Our Car Club' and 'Little Deuce Coupe' appear on both Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe. Given the song recycling and the somewhat facile theme, Little Deuce Coupe is marginally better I was expecting - for starters Roger Christian's lyrics are perhaps an improvement on Mike Love's - but on the other hand, by nature the songs here tend to be more inclined towards tacky Mike Love pop hits than Brian Wilson ballads, and for that reason alone it's easily among my least favourite Beach Boys releases. Out of the new songs, the closest thing to a Beach Boys standard is 'Be True To Your School'. The only song here's that not car related, it's also possibly the shonkiest hack-job in The Beach Boys catalogue and the pinnacle of Mike Love obnoxiousness, lacking the wide eyed charm and musical spark of similar Beach Boys hits like 'Fun, Fun, Fun' and 'I Get Around'. There are some surprisingly sophisticated and agreeable material tucked away here though; 'No Go Showboat' features a great chorus hook, 'Ballad Of Ole' Betsy' is a nice sentimental Brian Wilson ballad, while 'Custom Machine' is almost schizophrenic in the way it packs so many ideas into its one hundred seconds. The a capella 'A Young Man Is Gone' turns up in much more sophisticated form as 'Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring' on the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey reissue. Of the recycled songs, 'Little Deuce Coupe' and 'Our Car Club' are two of the strongest songs here, but the inclusion of the older and more primitive '409' and 'Shut Down' only serve to demonstrate the growing sophistication of Brian Wilson's arrangements and production. Little Deuce Coupe isn't really that inferior than the albums that surround it, but something about the crassness of the concept, as well as the lack of a really essential song, do make it the worst Beach Boys album covered on this page to date. If we're being positive, it is an exceptional achievement for an album that reputedly took a day to record and was released a mere month after its predecessor.
Shut Down Volume 2(1964)As the real followup to Surfer Girl, this is a wildly uneven effort that features a handful of songs that are stronger and more intricately arranged than anything the group had done up to this point, but there's little of note beyond those three or four classics, which makes it perhaps the most uneven record in the Beach Boys catalogue. Presumably forced to come up with ideas quickly by an impatient record label, the group resorted to the following material: (a) a skit, with musical interludes, (b) a Dennis Wilson drum solo, (c) a hackneyed cover of 'Louie Louie', (d) a particularly rote car song, and (e) a quickie instrumental. This means that about half the album is obvious and unmitigated filler, with the last quarter of the album almost completely dispensable. On the other hand, there are three of the Beach Boys' best ever tracks here: 'Fun, Fun, Fun' is easily one of Mike Love's best lyrics and most likeable vocal performances, where his balding California hunk persona actually adds to the song. 'Don't Worry Baby' is an emotional Wilson sung ballad with a huge Phil Spector feel, while 'Warmth Of The Sun' is the overlooked song here, a devastating break-up song whose sombre mood was supposedly inspired by the Kennedy assassination. There's also a surprisingly effective cover of 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?', which at least equals the more celebrated original. Apart from the somewhat predictable, but pleasant, 'Keep An Eye On Summer', the other actual songs aren't too impressive; 'Pom Pom Girl', almost feels like an inferior rewrite of 'Be True To Your School', although it's somewhat redeemed by pushing Mike Love away from centre-stage, while 'In The Parking Lot' wastes a beautiful introduction on an otherwise bland song. You've really got to blame this record's complete lack of cohesion on record company demand for material - Little Deuce Coupe was released a mere month after Surfer Girl, which gives some idea of the stress for material Brian Wilson was under. If you took the best songs from Surfer Girl and Shut Down Volume Two and put them into a single record, there's potentially one heck of an impressive album from this era of The Beach Boys.
The CD pair of Surfer Girl and Shut Down Volume 2 have enough great songs to make it a worthwhile purchase, even if they are a bit spotty. Out of 24 songs, expect about equal parts mini-masterpieces, passable album tracks and complete filler. There's a nice little bonus track, 'I Do', thrown in, and it's better than most of what made the actual albums. All Summer Long(1964)By my reckoning, All Summer Long is the first Beach Boys album where buying it indvidually wouldn't feel like a total ripoff. It's still pretty much 25 minutes long, but there's a lot more to this record than just the hit singles. In fact, 'I Get Around', the opening track, is the only Beach Boys standard here; otherwise there are a bunch of great album tracks, and only a couple of obvious filler tracks and a couple of instances of Mike Love obnoxiousness. For the first time, there's pretty much an actual unified album here; thematically it hits most aspects of Californian youth culture ('Girls On The Beach', 'Drive In', title track) with largely better lyrics than previous, while musically the record's subtly diverse without resorting to unreachable targets like the rock cover of 'Louie Louie'. As Brian Wilson starts to hit his mid-sixties peak, the difference between a very good Beach Boys albums and a great one is basically the balance of the contributions of Love and Wilson, and without sounding unnecessarily harsh, the reason that Pet Sounds and the second side of Today! stand as the Beach Boys best moments is because they're where Love stayed out of the limelight. While the studio bloopers reel of 'Our Favourite Recording Sessions' and the guitar solo of 'Carl's Big Chance' are the obvious filler tracks, they're actually pretty likeable compared to their counterparts on the previous record, while it's the Mike-dominated 'Drive In' (the line about going broke from buying a couple of hot dogs doesn't sound too convincing from a man who was one of America's sought after entertainers at the time) and the Dick Clark references of 'Do You Remember' that are arguably the record's shakiest aspect. With those out of the way, there are a bucketload of great tracks here. 'I Get Around' may be overplayed, but it's still a brilliantly propulsive piece of youthful euphoria, while the Yo La Tengo covered 'Little Honda' hits similar territory. Wilson's romanticism hits hard with the heartfelt ode to elopement 'We'll Run Away' ("Our problems will be greater/We'll worry 'bout them later/We'll run away and get married anyhow") and the beautifully harmonized cover of 'Hushabye'. While 'Girls On The Beach' hits similar territory to 'Surfer Girl', it's a step above, with complex key changes and an effectively wobbly Dennis vocal on the bridge. All Summer Long is still flawed, but Brian Wilson's learning process is all but complete here and there's more than enough great moments to compensate for the odd lapse of judgement.
Today!(1965)Rock music was still in gestation in 1965, coming of age rapidly through the ground breaking efforts of The Beatles, The Byrds and Bob Dylan. But perhaps the most startling efforts from this wave of rock music, which has shaped everything that followed, came from 22 year old Brian Wilson. Working in isolation without musical support, deaf in one ear, domineered by his father, and strait-jacketed by a bubble gum pop image and a record company that expected three or four albums a year, Wilson overcame all of these obstacles to create some of the most transcendent music of his generation. Starting with this album he quit touring with The Beach Boys (he was replaced live temporarily by Glen Campbell, then by future group member Bruce Johnston), becoming a full time arranger and writer for the group's studio recordings. While the group's image as Californian surf and party was a hindrance to Brian's ambitions, their complex harmonies were always a huge asset to his record making, especially Mike Love's bass voice and his own gospel infected tenor and gorgeous falsetto. His brothers Dennis and Carl and friend Al Jardine are also capable singers, each bringing their distinctive styles to their leads; Carl in particular had a gorgeous soulful tenor. 1965's Today! is often regarded as their first masterpiece; it's full of signs of Brian Wilson's genius, even if it a bit rough around the edges. There are too many indications that the album as an art form hadn't quite emerged at this point; they include an embryonic version of 'Help Me Ronda', a song that would be perfected on their next album, while the album ends in unsatisfying fashion with the studio chatter of 'Bull Session With Big Daddy'. The focal point of the record is the run of five ballads on the second side of the album, some of the most full realised pop music every committed to tape at the time. In terms of expressing emotions, innovative chord progressions and unusual instrumentation, these songs were ground-breaking, bringing a new degree of artistry into a genre that had previously gotten by mostly on pure adrenaline. In particular, 'Kiss Me Baby' is a brilliant piece that squeezes a complex structure and raw emotion into a concise and accessible pop song. 'I'm So Young', a cover of a fifties doo-wop standard, is less profound, but still showcases the group's unparalleled harmonies, while 'Please Let Me Wonder' and 'She Knows Me Too Well' are two more pristine ballads. The glorious sequence ends with 'In The Back Of My Mind', where Dennis contributes a slightly shaky vocal that fits perfectly into the song's ambiguously jazzy groove. The first side of the record is less startling, but still perfectly solid; 'Do You Wanna Dance' and 'Dance, Dance, Dance' are both good basic rockers. The ambitious modulation in the final chorus of 'Dance, Dance, Dance' is an example of Wilson's growing expertise in the studio. 'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)' is the first side's ace; it's absolutely startling that a 22 year old could write a piece so mature and so sonically adventurous, totally without precedent in rock music. This album isn't particularly consistent, but there's way too much outstanding musical content to ignore it. If you already love Pet Sounds and want more of the same, this record is a great place to experience Brian Wilson's unique musical genius.
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!)(1965)After the cohesive album statement of Today!, The Beach Boys lowered their artistic standards with Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!). Released just months after Today!, it's a curious mixture of inconsequential material with bizarre lyrical preoccupations (amusement parks, Salt Lake City) that compromise the emotional vision of Today!, and absolutely brilliant pieces of music that were Wilson's best yet. It's telling that it feels like Wilson had less input on this record; not so much from a production perspective, where he excels, but that there's less of his soul imparted to the songs here than there was on Today!. It's glaringly obvious that Mike Love is the person to blame for songs like 'The Girl From New York City', 'Amusement Parks U.S.A.' (doing for America's theme parks what 'Surfing Safari' did for her beaches) and 'Salt Lake City'; no matter how strong Wilson's melodies and arrangements are, these songs still feel inconsequential. 'Salt Lake City' was a deliberate sales pitch to their large fan base in Utah; it's surprisingly crass even by Love's standards. Wilson only gets a handful of lead vocals, including the uncomfortably confessional 'I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man', where he complains of his father's domination. It's delivered as comedy, but given Wilson's real life situation (his deafness in his left ear was a result of his father punching him) it's far more macabre than it should be. Still, there a fantastic core of four songs in the middle of the album that makes it worthwhile even if the rest is spotty. 'Girl Don't Tell Me' was 19 year old Carl Wilson's first lead vocal, and it was long overdue; even in this band of uniformly talented singers, he was arguably the best. The composition is rather derivative of contemporary Beatles tunes ('Ticket To Ride' in particular), but it has a simple grace and chugs along nicely. The finished version of 'Help Me Rhonda' is a huge improvement on the Today! version, dispensing with the weird gimmicks, such as the modulating volume on the fade, and providing a direct gem. Wilson himself cites the mini-symphonic intro to 'California Girls' as his favourite piece of music that he recorded, and it is absolutely gorgeous; a seemingly unrelated piece of orchestration builds perfectly into the song, providing another pop masterpiece. And finally, 'Let Him Run Wild' is a ballad that would have fitted perfectly into Today!, and would have been a highlight to boot. Other highlights towards the end of album include a beautiful orchestral piece, 'Summer Means New Love', and the a capella closer 'And Your Dreams Come True'. In some ways Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!) is the quintessential Beach Boys album; it feels summer drenched, while there's a very tangible sense of Brian Wilson's genius being dragged down by record company expectations of timely and marketable material and the crassness of Mike Love. It's no surprise that Brian Wilson took a lot longer to craft his follow up effort, retreating to the studio to make the introspective and thoroughly brilliant Pet Sounds, even releasing an album of in-studio throwaways to buy more time in the meanwhile.
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!) is available on a single CD along with Today! and it's practically essential; given that Wilson only had a few months to make each album, the results are startling, but if he'd been able to take a year and combine the best songs from each, the finished product could have been perfect. Bonus tracks include a great lost single 'The Little Girl I Once Knew', with a riveting organ break, and another a capella fest, 'Graduation Day'. Pet Sounds(1966)Unfortunately, a lot of people share the opinion that the Beach Boys were all beaches, girls and cars, and no substance, unaware that leader Brian Wilson was among the pioneering group of musicians who shaped pop music in its sixties renaissance. Pet Sounds, Wilson's magnum opus, mixed introspective lyrics with innovative instrumentation and Spector-inspired recording techniques, and topped them off with The Beach Boys lush harmonies or delicate solo voices of confusion. The competition between Wilson and The Beatles (particularly Paul McCartney) helped create music that was both literate and inventive; Rubber Soul inspired Pet Sounds which inspired Sgt. Peppers, each more experimental than its predecessor until Wilson supposedly lost his sanity trying to compete, writing songs on a piano in a sandpit to capture a special beach vibe. There are a couple of bright poppy songs on Pet Sounds that smell like concessions to record company demands for singles ('Wouldn't It Be Nice' and 'Sloop John B', which are among their most famous songs), but the rest of Pet Sounds is moodier and subtler. I've had this album for years, and it took a long time to sink in, but eventually everything resonates as the product of a beautiful and original genius. 'I'm Waiting For The Day' and 'Here Today' are stuffed with melodies and hooks and work perfectly as pop songs accordingly, but they're also far more layered; there is a lot of innovative orchestration and soundscaping, with Wilson employing unlikely instruments such as Coke cans (which provide percussion on the title track) and an early appearance of the Theremin. Although Wilson collaborated with lyricist Tony Asher, there's a definite sense that Asher was only helping Wilson to express his innermost emotions; although all of The Beach Boys are vocally present, Brian takes most of the leads. The notable exception is key ballad 'God Only Knows', a beautiful spotlight for Carl Wilson, but it's the resignation of 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times' that is Brian's definitive statement. The album is balanced by a pair of memorable instrumentals (particularly the superb 'Let's Go Away For Awhile'), and closes with a perfect, soaring ballad 'Caroline No'. Even though Pet Sounds is slightly dated, it has a mysterious beauty that almost places it above criticism. If you have any interest in pop music you need this album, even if it takes a few years to sink in. Surprisingly, the album within my experience that emulates Pet Sounds grand and innovative orchestral arrangements, harmonies and personal lyrics the most closely is The Flaming Lips' 1999 album The Soft Bulletin; if you like Pet Sounds, you might want to investigate that as well. The Flaming Lips couldn't afford an orchestra for The Soft Bulletin; they were forced to use synthesisers instead, so they'd probably appreciate your cash.
Feedback: from Trevor e.y. Smiley Smile(1967)After releasing the epochal Pet Sounds, Brian was disappointed when it sold less copies than its quickly tossed off predecessor Party!, but set off to make an even more ambitious followup entitled Smile. Collaborating with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, Wilson planned an album incorporating an Americana theme and an elements suite, with complex melodies, arrangements and orchestration. Faced with opposition from band members (especially Mike Love who wanted the group to return to their earlier surfing material), a mental fragility exacerbated by drug use, paranoia when a local building burned down on the same day that he recorded the fire element of his suite, and devastated when The Beatles released Sgt Peppers, Wilson abandoned the project, although key songs would later surface on Smiley Smile, 20/20 and Surf's Up. The subsequent Beach Boys album, Smiley Smile, was fashioned from Smile scraps, making it difficult to credit Love's argument that Smile would be too challenging for Beach Boys fans, given that Smiley Smile is less coherent, loose and drugged out in contrast to Wilson's fastidiously planned opus. Smiley Smile was famously summarised by Carl as a bunt rather than a grand slam, and it's a dead on description; there's nothing notable on Smiley Smile that wasn't originally from the Smile project, while the extra tracks are messy and unstructured. Take away the key Smile tracks, 'Good Vibrations' and 'Heroes And Villains', that open each side of Smiley Smile, and there's little of consequence remaining. The presence of 'Good Vibrations' alone, however, is enough to ensure that the album is important - taking six months to create, it might be Wilson's single greatest achievement, which is saying a lot. The theremin, the vocal breaks - it's so catchy and ubiquitous that it's easy to forget how eccentric and ambitious it really is. The short length of 'Heroes And Villains' makes it complexity deceptive - conciseness was one of Wilson's greatest virtues, even on the ambitious pieces of Smile. Of the other Smile outtakes, 'Fall Breaks and Back To Winter' is a watered version of the fire suite from Smile, while the potentially gorgeous 'Wonderful' breaks down into doowop, while it's also one of the several tracks that almost collapses into laughter - a manifestation of the stoned ambience that pervades the album. The new songs for the album are sometimes ridiculous - 'She's Going Bald' and 'Little Pad' both have their cringe worthy moments. Some fans do regard this as something of a minor masterpiece, and I guess it is possible to argue this - it's certainly different than anything else that The Beach Boys ever made, the combination of mostly sophisticated compositions and mostly loose atmosphere making it a unique statement, and a contrast to Wilson's carefully arranged studio craft. But coming from the perspective of hearing the 2004 version of Smile first, this record does come across as a waste of potential, despite how bizarrely charming it is in places. Still, coupled on a single disc with the following Wild Honey, it's hard to go too far wrong.
Feedback: from Rob Eustace The Beach Boys kind of got what they deserved when they released this sorry excuse of album on the back of Pet Sounds. I've never been over sold on the Beatles v Beach Boys saga, Wilson may have been the master of a minor key ballad but he simply didn't have enough diversity in his canon to ever be able rival the packages being put together under George Martin's watchful eye. This is a sorry excuse of an album, sorry because there are flashes of brilliance contained and the eventual release of Smile only suggests what might have been. Wonderful as the eventual Smile 2004 release is, it is no more than a taste of what might have been largely due to the aged Wilson's mushy vocals. The two big tracks don't save Smiley Smile for me, this is simply Brian holding up the white flag to Beatles and The Beach Boys and I can never comprehend what the band or Capitol were trying to achieve by releasing this sloppy collection of disjointed and incomplete material. Wild Honey(1967)After the provocative but unsatisfying Smiley Smile, The Beach Boys returned to a simpler, more direct style. Instead of Brian's painstaking studio creation, most of the instrumentation is supplied by the group themselves, although songs like the single 'Darlin'' sound more fleshed out. While this might sound like a return to the surf era, it's in fact quite different, with most of the tracks falling into hitherto unexplored acoustic pop or enthusiastically sung white soul. Some of the tracks even dispense with the signature five part harmonies, often leaving Carl as the group's lead vocalist without any backing vocals at all. While it's one of The Beach Boys' least characteristic albums, it's one of their most consistent efforts, the strongest of their late sixties records, and a favourite of influential figures like The Doors' Jim Morrison and critic Robert Christgau to boot. At a mere 25 minutes long Wild Honey does feel too short, although it stretches out to over half an hour if the two excellent bonus tracks are considered - the gorgeous a capella 'Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring' and the engaging collage of leftover scraps 'Can't Wait Too Long'. The standout song here is 'Darlin'', one of the group's best A-sides and originally written by Brian back in 1963. With its full bodied arrangement and horn section it does sit away apart from the rest of the record. The opening title track even stakes a claim for hipness, with its trippy mellotron riff and gritty vocal from Carl. The cover of Stevie Wonder's 'I Was Made To Love Her', again features Carl Wilson's enthusiastic singing, while Brian's charmingly low key 'I'd Love Just Once To See You' is another winner. In fact, this might be the most consistent Beach Boys album outside of Pet Sounds with no major clunkers, and packed with winners like the funky 'How She Boogalooed It' and the gorgeous 'Country Air' and 'Let The Wind Blow'. It does finish on a slightly weird note with 'Mama Says', an a capella segment from 'Vegetables' from Smile. Wild Honey is too insubstantial to warrant a super high rating, due to both its short length and lack of a major song apart from 'Darlin'', but it's consistently enjoyable nonetheless.
Friends(1968)After the bright energetic soul tendencies of Wild Honey, Friends captures a completely different sound for the group, a gentleness that evidently originated from Brian, making it one of the last Beach Boys albums dominated by his vision. Friends also marks the first indications of Dennis Wilson as a creative force in the band, with his first two songs on a Beach Boys record. There are two different schools of thought about this album - either it's one of the most coherent and unified albums in The Beach Boys catalogue, full of charm and melody, or it's relatively lightweight and insubstantial. I'm part of the second camp - while it does work as a sustained mood piece, it's not one of The Beach Boys' most satisfying albums and is distinctly second tier in comparison with records like Pet Sounds and Sunflower. While Beach Boys' strengths like warm vocals and strong melodies are present here, so are weaknesses like ridiculous lyrics ('Anna Lee, The Healer'), and no single song individually measures up among the groups' best. As such, it's hard to pick out the key tracks here; the Carl-sung title track was chosen as the single, but it stalled at #47, the worst charting Beach Boys single since 1962, perhaps due to its unconventional waltz feel. Brian and Carl share lead vocals on 'Wake The World' and 'Be Here In The Morning', two of the most mature tracks on the record; along with the short opener 'Meant For You' the record gets off to a strong start, but suffers due to lesser material like the overly sentimental 'When A Man Needs A Woman' and ridiculous Mike Love dominated efforts like 'Anna, Lee The Healer' and 'Transcendental Meditation'. The emergence of Dennis as a writer is easily the most interesting aspect of this record; while his material isn't particularly ambitious, his emotional voice makes 'Be Still' and 'Little Bird' the most meaningful and resonant songs on the album, admittedly not a difficult feat when Brian is busy writing about his uncrowded personal schedule ('Busy Doin' Nothin') and Mike about his masseuse ('Anna Lee, The Healer'). Friends does have continuity and a quaint charm to recommend it, but it's largely unsatisfying; the product of one of pop music's most talented figures unwilling or unable to challenge himself any further and settling down into a predictable routine.
20/20(1969)Album is possibly too generous a term to apply to this relatively haphazard collection of leftovers that comprised The Beach Boys' last record of the 1960s. With Brian no longer dominating the group, and only contributing a handful of songs, the other members start contributing, and the results are accordingly varied. In fact, 20/20 is what I would have expected from a typical Beach Boys album both in my first phase as a Beach Boys fan (when all I thought they were good for was a few cute surf songs) and in my second phase (when I thought Pet Sounds was light years ahead of anything else they'd ever done), except that I would have been blown away by the two stunning Smile outtakes that close the album. It's all but impossible to make generalisations about this record, as it's extremely eclectic and extremely inconsistent, ranging from tacky hard rock and lounge music to surf-era throwbacks and ambitious mini-epics. The worst offenders include Bruce Johnston's contributions - a middle of the road cover 'Bluebirds Over The Mountain', with completely inappropriate hard rock guitar, and his easy listening instrumental 'The Nearest Faraway Place' which isn't necessarily out of place on a Beach Boys record, but is more simplistic and hokier than anything Brian would contribute. Other substandard efforts include a raunchy Dennis Wilson rocker 'All I Want To Do', which features noises of its creator copulating at the end, a boring Friends outtake 'I Went To Sleep', and 'Cotton Fields', a hack job at recreating the magic of 'Sloop John B' by covering another folk song, although the album version's less annoying than the more bombastic single. Countering this is really strong material like the surfing themed single 'Do It Again', which recaptures the magic of their early singles, while infusing the group's improved sophistication and studio skill with touches like the self-referential lyrics and the complex vocals on the chorus. Carl contributes the Phil Spector cover 'I Can Hear Music', producing for the first time and doing a good job of highlighting his gorgeous lead vocal. Dennis shows increasing sophistication with his ballad 'Be With Me', while he's also given credit for the controversial Charles Manson song 'Never Learn Not To Love' (originally titled 'Cease To Exist'). There's a fantastic new Brian song, 'Time To Get Alone', but the album's largely overshadowed by the stunning closers, the wordless a capella 'Our Prayer' and the mini-epic 'Cabinessence', a key song from Smile. It's hard to know what to rate this mess, but there's certainly enough interesting music to make it worth an examination.
Even though Friends and 20/20 are arguably the two weakest Beach Boys albums reviewed on this page, by the time you put both on the same disc and throw in some strong bonus tracks like the non-album single 'Breakaway' and its strong Dennis penned b-side 'Celebrate The News', there's plenty of interesting music to be found. Sunflower(1970)While Pet Sounds is a regular feature on best album of all time lists and their early singles are staples of oldies radio, much of The Beach Boys later output is virtually ignored by posterity. Sunflower was an attempt to relaunch the band to commercial success on a new record label, after falling into semi-obscurity after 1966's 'Good Vibrations'. The attempt failed as the album failed to even crack the top 150, but it's difficult to see why, as Sunflower has plenty of commercial appeal. The group is more democratic than ever; all of The Beach Boys contributing material and taking lead vocals. It's no secret that there's an imbalance of talent in the group; Al Jardine and Mike Love are the weakest links, although it doesn't show too much here since they often collaborate with Brian, who's still the lynch-pin with gorgeous arrangements and production. Dennis Wilson is the revelation here, demonstrating an affinity for soul that complements Brian's ornate tendencies, while Carl Wilson is strangely quieted. Bruce Johnston's compositions are somewhat sappy, but his melodies are gorgeous and his two tracks are highlights of the disc. Don't go in expecting the same depth of emotion as Pet Sounds - perhaps Sunflower's greatest flaw is a lightweight aura - but it's consistently well crafted pop music. With Brian Wilson at the helm and the distinctive six part harmonies at his disposable, it's no surprise that the delicate and pretty material is the most effective. 'Forever' is a gorgeous Dennis Wilson contribution, a dramatic contrast with the gritty and insincere seduction of 'Gotta Know The Woman', laden with those trademark harmonies. 'All I Wanna Do' is another beautiful piece, with vocals floating amidst a dense bed of organ. Bruce Johnston turns up the melodrama a notch too far with 'Tears In The Morning', but it's redeemed by the unconventional arrangement and all round prettiness, while his collaboration with Brian on 'Deidre' might be the best song on the entire album, a fifties throwback that effortlessly flows into a lilting chorus. Dennis provides the counterpoint with more soulful, less profound efforts; 'Slip On Through', 'Gotta Know The Woman' and 'It's About Time' all provide energy and even occasional humour. The only significant misstep is 'At My Window', with sappy lyrics and a Spanish spoken interlude. Brian's material doesn't rank with his very best, but it's still worthwhile; the multi-part 'This Whole World' and the soothing closer 'Cool, Cool Water' are both intriguing. It might not be the Beach Boys' most profound statement, and you need to leave your cynicism at the door, but Sunflower is always heart warming and pleasurable.
Surf's Up(1971)After the collaborative optimism of Sunflower bombed commercially, The Beach Boys created Surf's Up; a more disjointed and darker effort. Dennis contributes no songs to the record, instead releasing a solo single and, while Brian contributes material, he has less impact on the record as a whole. Without Brian to make everything sound charming, the gulf of talent between the various members is blatantly obvious. This makes Surf's Up markedly uneven; the often sublime writing of Brian, Carl and Johnston is diluted by the hack work of Jardine and Love. Jardine and Love's work does set the thematic agenda and tone for the album, with an emphasis on environmental and political concerns not usually associated with The Beach Boys, but they don't have the musical faculty to translate their conscience to record. On the other hand, Brian and Carl's songs share similar concerns but they approach them from a more spiritual perspective; emphasising the beauty that is generally The Beach Boys' strength. The absolute low point is 'Student Demonstration Time', a politically aware Mike Love composition that cops its music from Leiber and Stoller. Featuring the most hackneyed and obvious sequence of chords available, it would have been acceptable during the formative years of rock and roll, but its simplicity coupled with its lack of energy is laughable in 1971. The attempt to identify with youth in the lyrics is also dubious, despite Carl's draft-dodging credentials: even the title of song implies an detached perspective, while lines like "The violence spread down south where Jackson State brothers/Learned not to say nasty things about Southern policemen's mothers" are often straight out embarrassing. 'Take A Load Off Your Feet' is only a faint step above in quality; the music is unconvincing, while the opening line "I do them when I'm down in the tub/With avacado cream they'll take a rub" is enough to sabotage any pretence at seriousness on an otherwise weighty album. 'Don't Go Near The Water' is also a little forced, but 'Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)' is at least humble and inoffensive. These lesser compositions, which are mostly clustered on the first half, aside, the rest of the material is often phenomenal. Johnston's nostalgic 'Disney Girls (1957)' could have come straight off Sunflower, but it would have been a highlight of the record. Carl's 'Long Promised Road' and 'Feel Flows' are both absolutely gorgeous; the former with a beautiful bridge, the latter with stream of consciousness lyrics and an ambient atmosphere. Most stunning of all are Brian's two closing compositions; ''Til I Die' is a simple and brutally effective reflection on mortality ("I'm a rock in a landslide/Rolling over the mountainside/How deep is the valley/It kills my soul"). 'Surf's Up', a leftover from 1966's legendary Smile sessions, features one of the most amazing melodies penned by mortal man, the initial section ascending to heaven delivering Van Dyke Park's impressionist lyrics, before falling into delicate introspection. Surf's Up may be frustratingly inconsistent, but the best songs are so amazing that anyone interested in Brian Wilson's work will need to hear it.
Surf's Up can be found on a twofer with Sunflower, and they complement each other well; the optimism of Sunflower contrasts with the pessimism of Surf's Up, Surf's Up supplies the high points to the disc that Sunflower lacks and Sunflower supplies the consistency that Surf's Up lacks. The resulting CD is almost indispensable for Beach Boys fans. Greatest Hits(1998)I purchased this cheaply back when I was under the misapprehension that The Beach Boys were only good for Pet Sounds and a few classic singles. Because The Beach Boys catalogue is so extensive, however, a compilation isn't a bad idea for a career overview. There are many different Beach Boys compilations available - it was 1974's Endless Summer that established the group permanently as cultural icons, their youthful innocence appealing in a Vietnam and Nixon embroiled America - and Greatest Hits is probably far from the best, but packing 29 tracks onto a single disc it's still a good option. While it covers most of the group's best known songs, and it's certainly difficult to argue with amazing tracks like 'Don't Worry Baby', 'In My Room' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun', it also includes some irrational selections and the sequencing is haphazard. Some of the more esoteric and complex tracks like 'Heroes And Villains' and 'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)' are less effective than in their original contexts, while some of the late sixties material seems a little rough and loose next to the succinct and more familiar early singles. There are strange inclusions ('You're So Good To Me', 'Friends') and exclusions ('The Little Girl I Once Knew'). The only two post sixties representatives are both strange choices; Johnston's 'Disney Girls' is far from the best early seventies Beach Boys song, while Jardine's horrific Bach hatchet job on 'Lady Lynda' is only redeemed by some beautiful vocals. At least there's no place for 'Kokomo', but classic tracks like 'Surf's Up', ''Til I Die' and 'Sail On Sailor' are omitted and there's nothing penned by Dennis or Carl. The sequencing is also a drawback - most awkwardly the best known tracks are frontloaded, meaning the rest of the album struggles to match the near flawless run of ten tracks that open the record. Based on this album, the optimum Beach Boys compilation would span two discs - the first charting Brian's growing skills as an arranger and a producer through to Pet Sounds, and the second disc collecting the best moments from their later career. This particular compilation doesn't do the group full justice; while there's a plethora of great songs, the group possess more depth than this record would indicate.
Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue(1977)Pacific Ocean Blue is the first and reportedly one of the best solo albums to come out of the original Beach Boys line-up, although I'm certainly not planning to sit through Mike Love's solo career to verify this claim. Unfortunately it's out of print, so if you want a copy you'll need to pay exorbitant prices on E-Bay or download it illegally (like I did). It's well worth the effort; while Dennis showed plenty of glimpses of song writing talent on The Beach Boys' late sixties and early seventies record, the songs here are more fleshed out, and more consistent in terms of mood. The sexuality of Dennis-penned Beach Boys songs like 'Gotta Know The Woman' and 'All I Want To Do' is absent here, and it's his gentle and spiritual side that's represented, more akin to songs like 'Forever' or 'Be With Me'. That means it's mostly stacked with ballads, although there's the odd rock and roller like 'What's Wrong' and 'Friday Night' to break things up. The album is given a lush late seventies production job, which works fine; Dennis' gritty and vulnerable voice is alone enough to ensure that the album retains a vital air of intimacy and resonance, while he's also credited with all the keyboards and some of the drum parts on the record. The record opens with the lush 'River Song', with a cowrite and backing vocals from Carl, a Tom Sawyer themed piece that should have been a hit, more alive and vibrant than contemporary Beach Boys records. None of these songs are particularly innovative, but Wilson is playing around with modest multi-part structures, and it's more complex than you'd perhaps expect, with pretty songs like 'Time'. He's more on an emotional and intuitive writer than his brother - it seems like these songs are based on feeling more than musical genius. He also captures a range of emotions, from the starry-eyed 'Moonshine' and aggressive 'Friday Night' to the eulogy 'Farewell My Friend' and the kiss off 'End Of The Show'. There aren't too many examples in rock history of a drummer producing a vital solo album, but Pacific Ocean Blue bucks the trend. It's easily on a par with fine Beach Boys albums like Sunflower and Wild Honey, and if you're a fan it's worth making the effort to track it down. Wilson also had a second album, Bamboo, planned, before his early death, and there are tracks circulating the net from it.
Brian Wilson, live in Wellington, December 18 2004, can be found on the Concerts page. |
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
