Favorite Beach Boy Song (1 Viewer)

[saintsfan]

God Only Knows is sublime. Just a beautiful recording.

The Beatles were absolutely paying attention to what Brian was doing. People paint the Stones as the Beatles rivals, but if there was anyone that the Beatles were trying to top, it was Brian Wilson. Brian heard Rubber Soul and did Pet Sounds. The Beatles heard Pet Sounds and did Sgt Pepper.

With the Beach Boys, to me Smile was the "what if" moment. Commercially, the group never really recovered from not releasing Smile. Yeah, they had good stuff after, but Smile was the pivot point. I'm not sure Smile would have been the commercial success that Pepper was, but IMO, 1967 was absolutely the right time for an album like Smile. Smile had a buzz before it was released. It was anticipated. When it wasn't released, the results were devastating.

One of the great mysteries to me is why Mike Love, who seemingly thought Smile wasn't commercial and wouldn't sell, would then turn right around and agree to release Smiley Smile, which was, at best, a weak interpretation of many of the Smile songs and even MORE un-commercial than Smile was. Listen to the Smile version of Wonderful and tell me how the hell the Smiley version of Wonderful is more commercially viable? Smiley was an artistic and commercial failure.

I have a bootleg of the original SMiLE and while I like it very much it is a very bizarre record. While I agree that 1967 would have been a good time for it's release, I doubt very much that it would have been a commercial or critical success because it is so strange. I like it because I am a huge BB fan but outside of Heroes, Wonderful, and Good Vibrations (not initially part of SMiLE) not many people would like it.

Even my favorite BB song of all time, Surf's Up, is not appreciated by the average listener. I had a party not to long ago and had my ipad on random and when it came on I had friends saying WTF is this? They just didn't get it.

Very interesting. And there is no denying that some of that work from Brian was getting a bit "out there." I wouldn't really have a feel for how it would have been received in 1967, since that is before my time, so I appreciate your take there.

Wasn't Mike Love pretty vocal about his belief that the Beach Boys were straying too far from their sound in those days? I know many BB fans like to bash him, but maybe he did serve as a necessary counterbalance to Brian's genius at times, making it more accessible/relatable to the public? Just thinking as I type here... And by no means am I implying Love was an equal contributor, creatively (or even close).

Yes. Mike Love was upset about the direction of Pet Sounds because he felt the songs weren't commercial and would be difficult to perform live (Brian had stopped touring by then and really wasn't interested in what the band played on tour). I also think that Brian working with lyricists Tony Asher and Van Dyke Parks and not Love was also a huge factor in his dislike in the direction that Brian was taking the Beach Boys.

I know a ton of hardcore BB fans maintain that SMiLE would have made as big of an impact as Sgt. Pepper but I just don't see it.

Listen and see what you think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R013J7PJiE

I'm not sure it would have been Peppers, but I think it's a pretty genius album. 67 was a crazy time, so it's hard to say how anything would have been received. It comes across at a lot of times as an album for children, but it has some incredibly beautiful moments.

SMiLE doesn't sounds like a children's record at all to me -- it is very strange and creepy in some places while absolutely beautiful in others. Unfortunately I think the bizarre aspects of the album overshadow the beautiful moments too often.

1967 was a crazy time with a lot of psychedelic and experimental music but just being weird doesn't mean it would have been successful. Pet Sounds blows SMiLE away in terms of listen-ability and it was met with only lukewarm reviews.

We will never know how SMiLE would have been received but at the time the BB had problems shaking their beach music image. I feel pretty confident that SMiLE would not have been a commercial or critical success in 1967.

I don't know. I guess I don't see it this way.

If the album had been released in 1967, it would not have been in it's current format. It would have been probably a 12 song album. 5 of those would have been Good Vibrations, Wonderful, Heroes and Villains, Surf's Up and Cabinessence. It's hard for me to imagine how an album with those 5 songs alone wouldn't, at least, be a critical success. Surf's Up, especially, is brilliant...

 

[Godsbrother]

God Only Knows is sublime. Just a beautiful recording.

The Beatles were absolutely paying attention to what Brian was doing. People paint the Stones as the Beatles rivals, but if there was anyone that the Beatles were trying to top, it was Brian Wilson. Brian heard Rubber Soul and did Pet Sounds. The Beatles heard Pet Sounds and did Sgt Pepper.

With the Beach Boys, to me Smile was the "what if" moment. Commercially, the group never really recovered from not releasing Smile. Yeah, they had good stuff after, but Smile was the pivot point. I'm not sure Smile would have been the commercial success that Pepper was, but IMO, 1967 was absolutely the right time for an album like Smile. Smile had a buzz before it was released. It was anticipated. When it wasn't released, the results were devastating.

One of the great mysteries to me is why Mike Love, who seemingly thought Smile wasn't commercial and wouldn't sell, would then turn right around and agree to release Smiley Smile, which was, at best, a weak interpretation of many of the Smile songs and even MORE un-commercial than Smile was. Listen to the Smile version of Wonderful and tell me how the hell the Smiley version of Wonderful is more commercially viable? Smiley was an artistic and commercial failure.

I have a bootleg of the original SMiLE and while I like it very much it is a very bizarre record. While I agree that 1967 would have been a good time for it's release, I doubt very much that it would have been a commercial or critical success because it is so strange. I like it because I am a huge BB fan but outside of Heroes, Wonderful, and Good Vibrations (not initially part of SMiLE) not many people would like it.

Even my favorite BB song of all time, Surf's Up, is not appreciated by the average listener. I had a party not to long ago and had my ipad on random and when it came on I had friends saying WTF is this? They just didn't get it.

Very interesting. And there is no denying that some of that work from Brian was getting a bit "out there." I wouldn't really have a feel for how it would have been received in 1967, since that is before my time, so I appreciate your take there.

Wasn't Mike Love pretty vocal about his belief that the Beach Boys were straying too far from their sound in those days? I know many BB fans like to bash him, but maybe he did serve as a necessary counterbalance to Brian's genius at times, making it more accessible/relatable to the public? Just thinking as I type here... And by no means am I implying Love was an equal contributor, creatively (or even close).

Yes. Mike Love was upset about the direction of Pet Sounds because he felt the songs weren't commercial and would be difficult to perform live (Brian had stopped touring by then and really wasn't interested in what the band played on tour). I also think that Brian working with lyricists Tony Asher and Van Dyke Parks and not Love was also a huge factor in his dislike in the direction that Brian was taking the Beach Boys.

I know a ton of hardcore BB fans maintain that SMiLE would have made as big of an impact as Sgt. Pepper but I just don't see it.

Listen and see what you think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R013J7PJiE

I'm not sure it would have been Peppers, but I think it's a pretty genius album. 67 was a crazy time, so it's hard to say how anything would have been received. It comes across at a lot of times as an album for children, but it has some incredibly beautiful moments.

SMiLE doesn't sounds like a children's record at all to me -- it is very strange and creepy in some places while absolutely beautiful in others. Unfortunately I think the bizarre aspects of the album overshadow the beautiful moments too often.

1967 was a crazy time with a lot of psychedelic and experimental music but just being weird doesn't mean it would have been successful. Pet Sounds blows SMiLE away in terms of listen-ability and it was met with only lukewarm reviews.

We will never know how SMiLE would have been received but at the time the BB had problems shaking their beach music image. I feel pretty confident that SMiLE would not have been a commercial or critical success in 1967.

I don't know. I guess I don't see it this way.

If the album had been released in 1967, it would not have been in it's current format. It would have been probably a 12 song album. 5 of those would have been Good Vibrations, Wonderful, Heroes and Villains, Surf's Up and Cabinessence. It's hard for me to imagine how an album with those 5 songs alone wouldn't, at least, be a critical success. Surf's Up, especially, is brilliant...

Agreed but Pet Sounds showed that most people weren't buying the Beach Boys as anything other than a singles band.

No one really knows what the final track listing of SMiLE would have been but it is pretty certain that some of the more bizarre music from the sessions like Do You Like Worms, Child is the Father of the Man and the infamous Elements would have been included.

I could be wrong but I just don't think that many critics in 1967 would have understood what Brian Wilson was doing or expected this type of album coming from the Beach Boys.

I do agree that Surf's Up is brilliant and it is my favorite BB song of all time. As great as it is I can tell you that a lot of people my age and older don't appreciate it and these people were the record-buying public in 1967.

 

[PIK95]

Surf's Up was the best Backyardigans episode ever fwiw.

 

[BlueDredSo]

I knew I Get Around wasn't going to win, but I expected it to do a little better. One of those rare songs that almost automatically puts you in a good mood when it's on.

there are like 100 beach boys songs that do this.

Ha, I actually said the same thing to myself right after I posted this and decided not to delete it.

 

[saintsfan]

God Only Knows is sublime. Just a beautiful recording.

The Beatles were absolutely paying attention to what Brian was doing. People paint the Stones as the Beatles rivals, but if there was anyone that the Beatles were trying to top, it was Brian Wilson. Brian heard Rubber Soul and did Pet Sounds. The Beatles heard Pet Sounds and did Sgt Pepper.

With the Beach Boys, to me Smile was the "what if" moment. Commercially, the group never really recovered from not releasing Smile. Yeah, they had good stuff after, but Smile was the pivot point. I'm not sure Smile would have been the commercial success that Pepper was, but IMO, 1967 was absolutely the right time for an album like Smile. Smile had a buzz before it was released. It was anticipated. When it wasn't released, the results were devastating.

One of the great mysteries to me is why Mike Love, who seemingly thought Smile wasn't commercial and wouldn't sell, would then turn right around and agree to release Smiley Smile, which was, at best, a weak interpretation of many of the Smile songs and even MORE un-commercial than Smile was. Listen to the Smile version of Wonderful and tell me how the hell the Smiley version of Wonderful is more commercially viable? Smiley was an artistic and commercial failure.

I have a bootleg of the original SMiLE and while I like it very much it is a very bizarre record. While I agree that 1967 would have been a good time for it's release, I doubt very much that it would have been a commercial or critical success because it is so strange. I like it because I am a huge BB fan but outside of Heroes, Wonderful, and Good Vibrations (not initially part of SMiLE) not many people would like it.

Even my favorite BB song of all time, Surf's Up, is not appreciated by the average listener. I had a party not to long ago and had my ipad on random and when it came on I had friends saying WTF is this? They just didn't get it.

Very interesting. And there is no denying that some of that work from Brian was getting a bit "out there." I wouldn't really have a feel for how it would have been received in 1967, since that is before my time, so I appreciate your take there.

Wasn't Mike Love pretty vocal about his belief that the Beach Boys were straying too far from their sound in those days? I know many BB fans like to bash him, but maybe he did serve as a necessary counterbalance to Brian's genius at times, making it more accessible/relatable to the public? Just thinking as I type here... And by no means am I implying Love was an equal contributor, creatively (or even close).

Yes. Mike Love was upset about the direction of Pet Sounds because he felt the songs weren't commercial and would be difficult to perform live (Brian had stopped touring by then and really wasn't interested in what the band played on tour). I also think that Brian working with lyricists Tony Asher and Van Dyke Parks and not Love was also a huge factor in his dislike in the direction that Brian was taking the Beach Boys.

I know a ton of hardcore BB fans maintain that SMiLE would have made as big of an impact as Sgt. Pepper but I just don't see it.

Listen and see what you think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R013J7PJiE

I'm not sure it would have been Peppers, but I think it's a pretty genius album. 67 was a crazy time, so it's hard to say how anything would have been received. It comes across at a lot of times as an album for children, but it has some incredibly beautiful moments.

SMiLE doesn't sounds like a children's record at all to me -- it is very strange and creepy in some places while absolutely beautiful in others. Unfortunately I think the bizarre aspects of the album overshadow the beautiful moments too often.

1967 was a crazy time with a lot of psychedelic and experimental music but just being weird doesn't mean it would have been successful. Pet Sounds blows SMiLE away in terms of listen-ability and it was met with only lukewarm reviews.

We will never know how SMiLE would have been received but at the time the BB had problems shaking their beach music image. I feel pretty confident that SMiLE would not have been a commercial or critical success in 1967.

I don't know. I guess I don't see it this way.

If the album had been released in 1967, it would not have been in it's current format. It would have been probably a 12 song album. 5 of those would have been Good Vibrations, Wonderful, Heroes and Villains, Surf's Up and Cabinessence. It's hard for me to imagine how an album with those 5 songs alone wouldn't, at least, be a critical success. Surf's Up, especially, is brilliant...

Agreed but Pet Sounds showed that most people weren't buying the Beach Boys as anything other than a singles band.

No one really knows what the final track listing of SMiLE would have been but it is pretty certain that some of the more bizarre music from the sessions like Do You Like Worms, Child is the Father of the Man and the infamous Elements would have been included.

I could be wrong but I just don't think that many critics in 1967 would have understood what Brian Wilson was doing or expected this type of album coming from the Beach Boys.

I do agree that Surf's Up is brilliant and it is my favorite BB song of all time. As great as it is I can tell you that a lot of people my age and older don't appreciate it and these people were the record-buying public in 1967.

I agree with you on the record buying public. Probably would have sold no better than Pet Sounds.

I think the critics would have loved the album, though. As I said, those 5 songs, even with some of the stranger stuff, would have been loved by the critics. Surf's Up is exactly the kind of song critics usually like. Especially in acid drenched 1967.

I don't think it would have impacted Pepper or anything. Pepper would have still been Pepper regardless. The Beatles had that kind of cache at the time.

 

[Ilov80s]

and yeah, the childlike thing with SMiLE, that sounds more like a touch of madness to me than something for children. borderline disturbing at times.

If song titles like "Do You Like Worms?", "Look (Song for Children)", "Love to Say Dada" and "Vega-Table" don't scream kids, I don't know what does. Also, I don't mean childlike as an insult Brian wanted to create something fun and happy. Hence the name Smile.

 

[Apple Jack]

and yeah, the childlike thing with SMiLE, that sounds more like a touch of madness to me than something for children. borderline disturbing at times.

If song titles like "Do You Like Worms?", "Look (Song for Children)", "Love to Say Dada" and "Vega-Table" don't scream kids, I don't know what does. Also, I don't mean childlike as an insult Brian wanted to create something fun and happy. Hence the name Smile.

I get what youre saying and I know that's what Brian was after. That's just not how I hear it.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Off topic, my understanding is that Charlie Manson collaborated with them on one of their hits songs. Brian W Olson has never denied the claim, but has never revealed which song. Maybe that would be a good thread?

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Off topic, my understanding is that Charlie Manson collaborated with them on one of their hits songs. Brian W Olson has never denied the claim, but has never revealed which song. Maybe that would be a good thread?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Learn_Not_to_Love

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wilson#Manson_episode

http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/short-bits-2-charles-manson-and-the-beach-boys

 

[Aerial Assault]

Anybody who is a beach boys/brian fan and hasn't heard Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, you really should. Its fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT6Yy7pemPg

Ah, thank you. Terrific stuff and I only listened to the first two cuts. The melodic piano and soaring choral harmony vocals had me right away.

In the YT comments, one of the posters refers to that as a classic lost album (sure sounds like it) and then says, in sum and substance, that it took a Foo Fighter to resurrect and rerelease it. What's that in reference to?

 

[Apple Jack]

Anybody who is a beach boys/brian fan and hasn't heard Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, you really should. Its fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT6Yy7pemPg

Ah, thank you. Terrific stuff and I only listened to the first two cuts. The melodic piano and soaring choral harmony vocals had me right away.

In the YT comments, one of the posters refers to that as a classic lost album (sure sounds like it) and then says, in sum and substance, that it took a Foo Fighter to resurrect and rerelease it. What's that in reference to?

Dont know. A friend gave me a tape copy of it in the mid 90s. Same guy I got SMiLE from. He's a writer who in addition to being acquainted with Brian, has at least one copy of every sound ever made by man. It was out of print for awhile, so it was inevitable somebody would do another pressing at some point.

 

[Aerial Assault]

Anybody who is a beach boys/brian fan and hasn't heard Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, you really should. Its fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT6Yy7pemPg

Ah, thank you. Terrific stuff and I only listened to the first two cuts. The melodic piano and soaring choral harmony vocals had me right away.

In the YT comments, one of the posters refers to that as a classic lost album (sure sounds like it) and then says, in sum and substance, that it took a Foo Fighter to resurrect and rerelease it. What's that in reference to?

Dont know. A friend gave me a tape copy of it in the mid 90s. Same guy I got SMiLE from. He's a writer who in addition to being acquainted with Brian, has at least one copy of every sound ever made by man. It was out of print for awhile, so it was inevitable somebody would do another pressing at some point.

Nice. Thanks again.

 

[PIK95]

Spinning Pet Sounds and Smile again now. Good stuff. I love That's Not Me. I forgot about that one.

 

[Godsbrother]

Off topic, my understanding is that Charlie Manson collaborated with them on one of their hits songs. Brian W Olson has never denied the claim, but has never revealed which song. Maybe that would be a good thread?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Learn_Not_to_Love

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wilson#Manson_episode

http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/short-bits-2-charles-manson-and-the-beach-boys

I've never heard that Manson had ever written anything with the Beach Boys on anything aside from "Never Learn Not to Love" which wasn't really a collaboration. It is Manson's song which the Beach Boys polished up, changed the title and a word or two and called it their own. Aside from the oddity of being written (though not credited) by Manson, it is a pretty forgettable BB song,

I have both Manson's version and the BB version. Manson sounds like a beatnik. It isn't very good I hate to admit that I kind of like it.

 

[rockaction]

So stoned for this one back in the day. Pot for beginners:

Heads You Win, Tails I Lose

 

[FairWarning]

Do it again

This

 

[Binky The Doormat]

How does Kokomo only have 1 vote?

FFA never fails to disappoint

Because compared to the other songs on this list, Kokomo is a pile of crap

Geezus Dan - Kokomo is like taking Vernon Davis in the 3rd rd!!

 

[Leroy Hoard]

How does Kokomo only have 1 vote?

FFA never fails to disappoint

Because compared to the other songs on this list, Kokomo is a pile of crap

Geezus Dan - Kokomo is like taking Vernon Davis in the 3rd rd!!

Even worse. More like taking Trent Richardson in the 4th.

 

[rockaction]

Carl Wilson is kind of the George Harrison of the Beach Boys. Carl didn't sing lead on that many of their tunes, but the ones he did were mostly gems. The notable ones:

Girl Don't Tell Me (Summer Days & Summer Nights) 1965

God Only Knows (Pet Sounds) 1966

Good Vibrations (Smiley Smile) 1967

Wild Honey (Wild Honey) 1967

I Was Made To Love Her (Wild Honey) 1967

Darlin' (Wild Honey) 1967

I Can Hear Music (20/20) 1969

Long Promised Road (Surf's Up) 1972

Feel Flows (Surf's Up)1972

The Trader (Holland) 1973)

Carl soars vocally. It's unbelievable. Could be my three favorite Beach Boys songs within the first three.

 

[Sebowski]

So just me and Brian Wilson have Friends as their favorite album?