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album reviews

The Beach Boys

Apart from Dennis who originally had the idea of writing a song about the sport of surfing, none of the beach boys were actually surfers. Brian was almost afraid of surfing, it was no good to him as a way of meeting girls. He preferred to get on more on a conversation level. Mike Love didn't surf much either although he did however develop into a dynamic front man at the national and local concerts the boys would perform. 'Surfin Safari' was their first long playing album and nearly all of the songs were written or co-composed by Brian Wilson, Mike Love contributed the majority of the lyrics.

'Surfin Safari' opens the record and is pretty well developed for a song that was only their second single and recorded in 1962. The music is simplistic of course, but the harmonies are present and correct. A great little surf guitar instrumental break, too! 'Country Fair' is a little corny and I don't much care for Mike's lead vocal either. 'Ten Little Indians' was a poor choice for a single - Brian's choice had been 'Chug A Lug' - the record company picked this instead but it charted no higher than #49 on Billboard. It's very childlike, charming in a way but not as developed a sound as they would display on future productions. 'Chug A Lug' has lyrics introducing elements of the characters of each member of the group. Actually, I'm not sure this would have made a great single either, come to think of it. Mike's mention of 'Root Beer' in a deep voice during the chorus is just plain ridiculous. A little carnival keyboard solo, surf guitar, repeat to fade. It does make me smile though, which obviously is a good thing.

Dennis gets a lead on 'Little Miss America', a quaint doo-wop styled cover and does a fine job with the vocals. You can just imagine the girls swooning over this. Dennis was the heart-throb of the group and earned a fair amount of adulation from their female fans. '409' is the first in a long line of car songs the group performed. Again, the lead vocals could be better, but then again, the group were still almost all in their teens. Carl and Dennis were still in high school! 'Surfin' is a re-recording of their very first single which originally came out on 'Candix' records. This version benefits production wise but loses much of its early charm - the vocal sound very raw here. The record is filled out with the lyrically simplistic 'Heads You Win, Tails I Lose', the faintly ludicrous 'Cuckoo Clock' and a couple of covers. They'd yet to fully assert themselves in the studio, this was a quickly recorded album as was the norm of the times. It's a short record, easy to listen to, but certainly no masterpiece.

Whilst the first album had served a purpose and little more, it sold well enough to convince Capitol Records there was money and sense in recording a follow up set. Whilst the label credits for this record read 'Produced by Nik Venet' it was actually produced by Brian, engineer Chuck Britz, with the Wilson's father Murry, also in the control room. The Beach Boys won the right to control their own recorded output prior to the recording of this set, and moved operation to 'Western Studios'. Up until this act of rebellion, all groups signed to the label had recorded in Capitols own studio's with musicians and songs chosen by an appointed record company representative. Thanks to the success of the title song here, nobody at Capitol complained too much.

Ah, take a Chuck Berry melody. Add Brian's unique Piano style. Add surfing lyrics and vocal harmonies over the top.... hey presto, a hit single! This song more than any other put the group on the commercial map. Charting at number 3 on the Billboard singles charts, it also put surf music on the map. This album is the most fully rounded surf album they ever made, actually. After which, they'd perform songs about surfing, but not actual surf music songs. Around half of this record is true surf music - i.e. guitar led instrumentals with 'Farmers Daughter' being one of the few vocal cuts that truly rewards repeated listening. A simple chugging rhythm, but wonderful falsetto vocals from Brian. The other vocal cuts include the title song, the car song 'Shut Down' and the beautifully sophisticated 'Lonely Sea'. 'Lonely Sea' is one of the first Beach Boys songs to really give out emotion to the listener. A heartbreaking vocal and feel, a wonderful song. 'Finders Keepers', 'Noble Surfer' and 'Lana' were the other vocal cuts. None of these are essential, but do add variety to the record.

The surf tunes? 'Miserlou' was a surprisingly effective version of the Dick Dale classic. 'Stoked' was an original surf composition by the group. 'Honky Tonk' is a little clumsily performed, taken too slowly for my liking. 'Surf Jam' was a Carl Wilson original! A generic surf instrumental perhaps, but the guitar breaks are actually pretty damn good. One aspect missing from The Beach Boys surf tunes was Saxophone, by the way. Mike Love had tried to master Saxophone, but failed to do so to a high enough standard. This track cries out for Saxophone, dammit! Anyways, 'Let's Go Trippin' is another well performed Dick Dale tune. The vocal tune 'Finders Keepers' ends the album opening with good rock n roll piano, good 'Four Seasons' styled vocals on this one, too. They'd already grown a lot as performers in just the short time between this and the previous album. A good album then?. Yeah, it's a bit of a period piece now, but it's always charming and always an entertaining listen.

The first album to bear the credit 'Produced By Brian Wilson'. Sonically, it's certainly an improvement over either of the first two albums. This was their second album of 1963 and showed the group progressing at an extremely fast rate. The title song was inspired by Jiminy Cricket's 'When You Wish Upon A Star' from the Disney film and comes across as a hymn with everything that came after for The Beach Boys being heard or felt in this simple ballad. Wonderful vocals, one of the finest leads Brian ever did, a classic song. Yeah, it's a song about a 'surfer girl', but the sheer emotion in the vocal performance transcends any lyrical shortcomings - that's if there are any. 'Catch A Wave' is a fantastic song and production and a Beach Boys song you believe must have been a single, but in fact this never was. It's a short song like many of the songs here, but just so much fun. Fun! That's what we want from music! 'Catch A Wave' following on from the emotion filled 'Surfer Girl' gets the record off to a fine start.

'The Surfer Moon' features Brian's first use of strings, yes, a full three years before 'Pet Sounds'. Obviously, it's like nothing from 'Pet Sounds', but it is another high quality ballad performance. 'South Bay Surfer' and 'The Rockin Surfer' display none of the quality of the first three songs here though. 'South Bay Surfer' features extremely clumsy drums that come in twice as loud as everything else and 'The Rockin Surfer' is a surf instrumental, but the guitar has been mixed very quietly. Organ led, and rather a strange this 'Rockin Surfer' piece. Still, 'Little Deuce Coupe' is better.  Due to the nature of the American singles charts this song reached number 15 even though it was a b-side. A perennial group favourite, it's corny but very happy, and the melody damn catchy. The little harmony parts, the lyrics. An ode to a deuce coupe, a must have car of the age! 'In My Room' is pretty much the most fully developed song here. Pure and simple, a timeless wonder. The lyrics suddenly improve a whole great deal once Brian is directing them. He co-wrote the with pal Gary Usher and sets down a heartbreaking melody and vocal line with  a personal, touching lyric. There's great attention to detail in the production of the backing track, and Brian always did give greater effort to those songs that he felt something about personally. This is certainly one of those times, a stunning vocal harmony performance and perfectly appropriate and haunting melodies. The little falsetto part at the very end breaks my heart every time. 'Your Summer Dream' shares a tenderness with 'In My Room',  a soft lead from Brian. Musically this displays a little Jazzy feel and is unlike anything else here. It's affecting, and another highlight of the record.

As far as the remainder of the album is concerned, apart from the wonderfully happy 'Hawaii', it rather tails off. 'Surfers Rule' is overdoing the 'Surfer' part just a little and hardly a career highlight in any case. 'Our Car Club' has nice little vocal parts, but lacks either the melody or charm of a 'Little Deuce Coupe'. 'Boogie Woodie' is a rock n roll piano instrumental. Obvious filler, but it does display Brian's love of that particular type of music well. An impressive album, if you can get over the fact that five of the twelve songs mention the word 'Surfer' or 'Surf' in their title! This isn't surf music, on the whole, however. The lyrics were about the Surfing lifestyle but the music is starting to move off in it's own direction. The first album that really sounds like a Beach Boys album, and a good album it is too. There are moments of filler, yes. But there's also songs as utterly beautiful as 'In My Room' and 'Surfer Girl'. There's 'Catch A Wave', and much else besides.

The groups third studio album of 1963 and released a mere 30 days after 'Surfer Girl', so several of the songs have already been heard on previous albums or singles. 'Little Deuce Coupe' does add in some healthy new material though, and ties it all together into a concept album  celebrating the motor car. A concept album? In 1963? Yeah, that's right! It's a fine listen too, and one of The Beach Boys more consistent LP efforts. After the title song has opened the album, we have the romantic sounding 'Ballad Of Ole Betsy'. Romantic sounding, but at the end of the day it's an ode to an ageing motor. How they manage to make it sound like someone's heart falling apart is some kind of testament to their vocal talents. 'Be True To Your School' was a concert favourite, but it's not one of mine. It's a good tune but these lyrics....maybe I just didn't like school too much! It doesn't fit the concept of the album that well, either - it's not a car song, for a start. 'Car Crazy Cutie' opens with a thrilling arrangement of vocals although the music is pretty much a re-tread of 'Little Deuce Coupe'. The vocal arrangement makes it sound like a whole new song altogether, genuinely so, and that's a special thing to be able to do. 'Cherry Cherry Coupe' is an uplifting melodic moment, not quite as good as 'Car Crazy Cutie' but it helps fill the albums concept. '409' and 'Shut Down' were heard before on the first two albums and fit the concept. Both are short songs, and besides, The Beach Boys can hardly be criticized for giving fans short shrift. This was their third studio album of 1963, after all.

Rounding off the record we have 'Spirit Of America', another well performed ballad and 'Our Car Club' is repeated from 'Surfer Girl'. 'No Go Showboat' is a slightly Beach Boys by numbers although 'Custom Machine' is certainly inspired. Around 90 seconds long and displaying more musical sophistication in these 90 seconds than many like to give these early Beach Boys credit for. The chords and changes are not typical changes, and more complex than they actually sound. They sound great by the way, but you should know that already. And if not, why not? Go out and get yourself some early Beach Boys! And this 'Little Deuce Coupe' set is as good a place to start as any. Due to certain repetition of previously released songs and some other Beach Boys by numbers type songs, the album isn't quite so inspired as it's immediate predecessor - but it is good listening. 

Shut Down Vol Two? Yes, well.... You see, Capitol records released a various artists album called 'Shut Down' which featured only two Beach Boys songs, both of them previously released, by the way. So, here is Vol 2, only this time it's personal! Okay, so it's not personal, just a fully fledged Beach Boys album release. The trouble is, the frantic pace these records were recorded and released - this was their fifth album in around two years - results in 'Shut Down Vol 2'  suffering slightly. 'Little Deuce Coupe' overcame this problem of finding a ton of material at short notice by including previously released songs. Here we have a number of covers, some good, some bad and some downright ugly. More of that later, the album opens with a song everybody knows, 'Fun Fun Fun'. It grates on me a little bit more than some of their other hits. There is little to surprise you in either the melody or the vocal arrangement, although Brian does his customary best with the falsetto part. Really, it's just a good time pop song, and that's all. 'Don't Worry Baby' follows and like their earlier 'In My Room' is a real timeless wonder of a ballad. This is where Brian's heart lay, not 'Fun Fun Fun'. Mike's heart lay with material like 'Fun Fun Fun' because that material was commercial. Brian saw himself against songwriters such as the Brill building guys, pop music as an artform. There is little art in material such as 'Fun Fun Fun', however entertaining it may still be. Anyway, back to 'Don't Worry Baby'. It was written as a follow-up to the classic Phil Spector song 'Be My Baby'. Production wise, Brian replaces the 'wall of sound' with a softer, romantic feel. The drum introduction and rhythm nod in a Phil Spector direction, the lyrics are obscure car lyrics actually - but with enough room given the vocal performance to imagine all sorts of other things - a truly brilliant song. Phil Spector rejected it, by the way. Silly fellow!

The center of the album includes much filler amongst one or two shining moments in particular. 'In The Parkin Lot' opens and closes with one of the best harmony arrangements they ever did. Sadly, the bulk of the tune is just repeating the type of song they'd done before only with less inspiration all around. 'Cassius Love Vs Sonny Wilson' was designed to give you an indication of what went on 'behind the scenes' during a Beach Boys recording date. Placed slap bang in the center of the record all it does it make you want to skip to the next song. The next song just happens to be 'The Warmth Of The Sun', though. One of the best early ballads they did - a song written in the wake of the John F Kennedy assassination. It's full of feeling and a wonderful piece with beautiful heartfelt vocals. 'This Car Of Mine' features a Dennis vocal full of character, as usual for him, but it's a lack-lustre composition. 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' is a cover of the Frankie Lymon song given the full Brian being Spector production treatment. This is a stupendous production that manages to better the original in almost every department. The album tails off badly towards the end - 'Pom Pom Play Girl', 'Keep An Eye On Summer', 'Shut Down Part II' and the bizarre cover of 'Louie Louie' hardly help this to be a cohesive listening experience. The pointless instrumental 'Denny's Drums' gave Dennis the spotlight once again, but it was a strange way to close an album.

The fabulous Beach Boys! In Concert!! What everybody wanted to know was could they re-produce the sound of those wonderful harmonies live in person? As the first song 'Fun Fun Fun' kicks in and sounds not just as good as the recorded version but actually a whole lot more rockin' the question is answered. The crowd screams heard on this album were in response to The Beatles invasion of the US. Suddenly crowds at rock concerts were almost expected to scream. When Dennis sings 'The Wanderer' they scream even louder! A lot of covers here, though. They make them all sound like Beach Boys songs in the event, especially 'Little Old Lady From Padadena'. I don't know the origins of the song, but there is great harmony work on display. 'Little Deuce Coupe' features an extended Mike Love introduction and allows each member to showcase themselves with a short solo spot. Instrument is added to instrument playing the opening riff and section of 'Little Deuce Coupe'. Mike gets a lot of flak, but this works. 'Long Tall Texan' doesn't quite suit them at all, but even this gets Beach Boys harmonies to back it up. When the opening notes of 'In My Room' kick in you are reminded of just how good that song really is. Again, a note-perfect live performance.

Two many covers for my liking on the second side of this in particular. 'I Get Around' and surprisingly 'Hawaii' do get played however. Unfortunately, the cover of 'Monster Mash' let's the side down especially. As does the tired sounding, far too obvious selection of 'Johnny B Goode'. I imagine this was a typical Beach Boys live set of the day, it's worth a listen for fans. Especially to hear Brian performing live. Guess who sings 'Monster Mash' by the way? Mike Love of course! That man really was unafraid. He sings it in a stupid dumb voice and you've got to give him credit for the way he holds the crowd together in-between songs. Any live album recorded in the early sixties in unlikely to be essential listening though in the twenty first century. We've got to accept that. The sound quality is pretty good on the re-issued version I have, however. And, it's a whole load of fun. It may open a few eyes too. These guys really were good live performers.

It's been fourteen years since I last bought a new Beach Boys album. Why? Well, quite simple, I bought them all in 1993. Bought them all apart from 'Beach Boys Christmas Album', which ridiculously for my favourite group, i'd always resisted. I'd always been intrigued by it and listening to Brian Wilsons Christmas album last year was the final straw. I had to have this Beach Boys Christmas album that's so well regarded. You know, Brian was going head to head with Phil Spector's classic Christmas album. Phil's album was noisy and angry, Brian's is loving and happy. Simple as that, really. Reaching a peak of number 6 on Billboard in the festive season of 1964, the album went gold, selling well every year. Five originals join seven traditional tunes. Brian sings lead on four tunes, Brian and Mike share lead on other songs and Al Jardine gets his first ever Beach Boys lead vocal on 'Christmas Day'. An acapelle 'Auld Lang Syne', complete with spoken Christmas message from Dennis in the middle utterly breaks my heart, stupendously beautiful singing from the guys. Two hits open the LP, the by now Christmas standard 'Little Saint Nick', which really is 'Little Deuce Coupe' with sleighbells and the best original song here, 'The Man With All The Toys'. 'Santa's Beard' is a hilarious tale of a six year old boy discovering that the local Santa was wearing a false beard and isn't really Santa at all. 'Merry Christmas Baby' is a fun little tune with handclaps and 'Christmas Day' proves that Al could do a great Brian impersonation even as early as 1964.

As far as the traditional material is concerned, we've got a slightly old fashioned approach from the guys. Swing jazz strings, jazzy bass lines and those Beach Boys vocals. It's a delight because they didn't really do stuff like this on their regular albums. Stunning vocals are a feature of 'We Three Kings Of Orient Are' which they really transform into something soulful and serious before it goes off with this glorious and magical string section. We remember 'Blue Christmas' primarily from the Elvis version, don't we? Well, The Beach Boys turn it into a proper Disney-esque festive ballad with a very clear and lovely Brian lead vocal. 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' is good, apart from Mike's lead vocal section sounding to my ears to be terribly out of tune. Brian singing 'White Christmas'? Beautiful, of course. 'I'll Be Home For Christmas' is another Christmas by the fire heart-warmer, just leaving the glorious burst of harmony vocals that is their short version of 'Auld Lang Syne'. Look, you can get this album for about £6, so there's no excuse. Every home needs a christmas album and this has to be better than the latest 'Now That's What I Call Christmas' groaning under the weight of Slade and Wizzard.

'I Get Around' was a one number single, a massive hit and one of their all time most perfect songs. The musical backing rolls along but what really makes it is the attention to percussive detail and especially the singing and vocal arrangements. The vocals make this song what it is! Nobody else could touch singing and harmony arrangements of this complexity other than The Beach Boys. Nobody. Brian's falsetto part in the chorus, too! 'All Summer Long' the title song follows with wonderfully evocative lyrics. These lyrics really put images in your mind. The sound of summer! In many ways this is the quintessential early Beach Boys album, and the good songs just flow and flow. 'Hushabye' benefits from the peerless harmony vocals. 'We'll Run Away' is another soft romantic song that really reaches out to you. It's not a great song as such in terms of writing, but the performance is so convincing and otherworldly that it really doesn't seem to matter at all. 'Carls Big Chance' is a surf instrumental, the last one they'd ever do. 'Wendy' has a strange rhythm to it and is hard to pin down exactly, if still being extremely enjoyable. 'Little Honda' is a great underrated Beach Boys song - turn it up loud! Wonderful guitar, a short song perfectly structured and designed and structured to make you smile. I love the little 'honda honda faster faster' vocal parts, too.

This being an early Beach Boys record, not all the songs are of such high standards, of course. 'Drive In' and 'Our Favourite Recording Sessions' are obvious pieces of filler, although really only the latter of those two is forgettable. 'Do You Remember' could be seen as filler but it's so well played and performed, you really don't mind too much if the composition is relatively straightforward. The song still raises a smile and keeps you entertained. In addition to all of this, in addition to 'I Get Around', 'Little Honda' and the rest, we have the closing 'Don' Back Down'. Like 'Little Honda' this is one of those Beach Boys songs sometimes overlooked - it was never a single and rarely played on the radio. But, it's 90 seconds of perfection for me. It's so hard to explain, the track builds up in on itself, the singing is as wonderful as usual. It's just so happy and guaranteed to cure anybodies depression. A good end to a fantastic album that should be in everybody’s collection, Beach Boys fan or not.

With Brian now full time in the studio having quit touring due to a nervous breakdown, he went to work on some of the best produced backing tracks The Beach Boys ever had the pleasure to sing over in their lives. 'Do You Wanna Dance' and 'Dance Dance Dance' for example, are not great songs. But they are SO WELL produced that they sound like great songs anyway! 'Good To My Baby' and 'Don't Hurt My Little Sister' are hugely underrated up-tempo Beach Boys songs and very very catchy. Although this album has secured it's real reputation due to the ballads on the second side, the first half contains some of the best Beach Boys recordings they ever did. 'When I Grow Up' was a two minute perfect pop masterpiece, the vocals improved even beyond the great singing displayed on previous Beach Boys albums. These improved vocals are especially noticeable on the second side of the album, by the way.  Kicking off with 'Please Let Me Wonder' - the bass playing echoes the sound of hearts beating. Supremely melodic, rising and rising before falling, only to rise again. The lead vocals are tender and sweet. 'I'm So Young' is a doo-wop influenced number, the echo on the instruments and the bass in particular make this more than it might have been otherwise. It really does sound otherworldly, helped of course by yet more great singing. 'Kiss Me Baby' is quite simply one of the most romantic sounding songs ever written by anyone. The vocals are again heartbreaking and the backing harmonies extremely sophisticated. It really does reward repeated listening too, in order to pick out all the beautiful musical parts underneath a supreme vocal display.

'She Knows Me Too Well' and the Dennis sung 'In The Back Of My Mind' end the record and these songs are not so far behind the much more appreciated 'Pet Sounds' as legend would have us believe. This album pointed the way towards 'Pet Sounds' and showed The Beach Boys musical progression continuing apace. A wonderful listen all round, and recommended to those who know 'Pet Sounds' or maybe just the hits, and don't know where else to turn. Turn here. Any fears the rest of the group had that Brian's decision to quit touring would interrupt their momentum were quelled by the sheer quality of these recordings.

Here we have a rather mixed album containing moments that are a throwback in terms of subject matter to The Beach Boys earlier material and a few other numbers that continue to point the way towards 'Pet Sounds' and 'Good Vibrations'. Opening the set is  'Amusement Parks U.S.A.' which production detail aside, echoes 'Country Fair' from way back when in terms of concept, if not melodically. 'The Girl From New York City' sounds great, but it's very short and doesn't amount to a whole great deal. 'Then I Kissed Her' performed by Al is a Phil Spector cover - great little percussive effects sprinkled over this but it's not an all time Beach Boys moment. At this point you are wondering if you should bother at all listening to the rest of the album. Thankfully, it gets better. 'Salt Lake City' is dubious lyrically but musically is simply a brilliant Rock n Roll song. The production is out of this world, a huge wall of noise in the middle section managing to outshine a Spector. 'Girl Don't Tell Me', Carl's first ever vocal on a Beach Boys record unbelievably,  is structured in a similar way to The Beatles 'Ticket To Ride'. It may not be original, but it's a very good song still and Carl certainly doesn't let himself down with his first ever lead.  Another British sounding song is 'You're So Good To Me', a straight 4-4 beat which was unusual for a Beach Boys record of the time. What makes it for me is the 'la la la' vocal parts, so uplifting and happy sounding! 'California Girls' may annoy some people for it's lyrical content but musically it's simply stupendous, pure gold. The orchestral introduction really is beautiful. 'Help Me Rhonda' is immeasurably improved over it's 'Today' version, this is the performance that went to number one - shorter, louder, catchier, and harder hitting.  Great 'bow bow bow' vocals! As a song, it goes round and round, that's all it does. The production and vocals make it what it is, unbelievable production and vocals. Brian was growing and growing in the studio. 'Let Him Run Wild' is further evidence of this growth. It sounds very 'Pet Sounds' to me which is a good thing, obviously! Brian's falsetto part is unbelievably high.

The record closes in disappointing fashion unfortunately preventing this collection from reaching the heights of the 'Today' album. 'Summer Means New Love' is a semi-interesting instrumental, little more. It does show signs of Brian's continuing studio experimentation, but ultimately isn't substantial enough.  'And Your Dreams Come True' is a vocal workout, with 'I'm Bugged At My Ol Man' being embarrassing listening with lyrics far too close to Brian's home life. Brian's relationship with his father Murry is 'explained' by the lyrics but i'm not sure we should really be hearing this. Can't even begin to imagine what Murry thought of it all! Still, 'Summer Days And Summer Nights' despite its unfortunate title, is certainly a good album overall. The middle section of the record is simply so very good, it drags the rest up a notch or two. Another quality Beach Boys album and another hit record!

The record company as usual, wanted a new Beach Boys album. Brian was unwilling to produce another album, all his attentions were turned towards the writing process of the 'Pet Sounds' album. A solution was to fake a real Beach Boys 'party' and record the results. The music is semi-acoustic in nature and unlike anything else they ever did. That doesn't mean it's always good, byt you know.... The songs are all covers apart from their own 'I Get Around' and 'Little Deuce Coupe', both recorded in very throwaway fashion, basically torn apart amid laughter and bad playing. It certainly shows they didn't hold their own material as sacred, I suppose. After the energetic 'Hully Gully' has opened proceedings we have a couple of Beatles songs. 'I Should Have Known Better' is always a good song and the bongos are especially charming on this version of it. Pretty straight versions actually, and strangely effective. Of course, it's all acoustic guitars and strummed bass and yet more bongos! 'Tell Me Why' replicates The Beatles harmonies rather than insert Beach Boys styles over the top, 'Pap-Oom-Mow-Mow' allows for some ridiculous vocals and Beach Boys 'di di dit' parts. 'Mountain Of Love' sports effective harmonica and there is good harmonies and singing all over 'Devoted To You' and the Phil Spector song 'There's No Other...'

'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', another Beatles song is a highlight here with a tender and effective Dennis lead vocal. Shouted out 'Hey' parts, which bring a smile to my face. I wonder what The Beatles made of it all? The album continues much in the same acoustic guitar / bass / bongo fashion throughout. The sound of laughter etc in the background is less intrusive that you might think, although this record is obviously no work of high pop-art. Funnily enough, it is a good listen all the same. It has it's own peculiar character and charm. American audiences especially loved this album, it coincided with the wide-spread arrival of home-taping and sounded very real and lacking in pretence. It was very easy to imagine it really was recorded at Mike Love's house and a real Beach Boys party! The illusion was perfect. The version of Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A Changin' performed by Folk fan Al Jardine shows just how unafraid they were of tackling any kind of song. 

( 1966, UK pos 2 )
Wouldn't It Be Nice / You Still Believe In Me / That's Not Me / Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) / I'm Waiting For The Day / Let's Go Away For Awhile / Sloop John B / God Only Knows / I Know There's An Answer / Here Today / I Just Wasn't Made For These Times / Pet Sounds / Caroline No

This is a record that embraces adult themes of love and spirit. It embraces you the listener – inviting you into its world of love, beating hearts, lost relationships and resting a head upon the shoulder of a loved one. Its an album with impeccable state of the art production. Well, by twenty first century standards the production is no longer state of the art, but given the studios in which Brian, Mike, Al, Carl, Bruce and Dennis worked with – this is the state of the art, unsurpassed even today. Brian didn’t use studio trickery in so much as he simply knew how to use the studio. He knew where to place a microphone and which microphone to use. Well, all good record engineers do know these things of course. Brian wasn’t unusual in that respect. What was unusual is how all of his choices were just ‘right’. And, bear in mind, Brian wasn’t really a producer or an engineer. He’d not taken any college courses in sound re-production or record production. Everything was learnt cutting those simple early Beach Boys records, watching trusted lieutenant Chuck Britz in the control room and beating off the overbearing advances and attempted domineering of his father.

I should talk about the actual record.... I’ll get round to it in a second. The impact of ‘Pet Sounds’ deserves some discussion first. Upon release, people within the music industry – the actual musicians, producers etc recognized Brian had put his heart and soul into ‘Pet Sounds’ and that it was indeed something special. They fell in love with the record and people such as Glen Campbell, producer Terry Melcher even John Cale of The Velvet Underground are responsible partly for ‘Pet Sounds’ never being forgotten. The fans of ‘Pet Sounds’ spread the word, spread the message. Capitol Records famously were lukewarm about the whole thing and quickly released the first of many greatest hits packages and generally treated ‘Pet Sounds’ without any respect whatsoever. Hence it ‘only’ charted top ten in the US, ‘only’ spawned two top ten singles – although it was a huge hit in England where Brian and The Beach Boys still have a very loyal and loving fan-base right through to today.

Personally, I’ve had troubled relationships ( haven’t we all? ), I’ve had doubts about religion and also periods of discovery concerning spirit and religion. This isn’t a religious record as such but Brian and Carl reputedly held prayer sessions concerning the success of the album and one song, 'God Only Knows' in particular. Before all of that however we have 'Wouldn’t It Be Nice'. Two and a half minutes in length, the lyrics written by advertising man Tony Asher and directed by Brian are a step away from previous Beach Boys material. Basically ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ if we were older, if we were in love, if we were married. It’s a fantasy and the fantasy is supported by those wonderful Beach Boys harmonies of course. Musically the most notable aspect of the song is the section where it slows down, the track is stripped back and the singing just soars upwards to the heavens. After that, the song pretty much just ends. It hardly matters as you are still awestruck by what’s just happened. Everything in the right place – an up-tempo, impossibly sophisticated pop song. The next three songs are something of a sandwich. We have 'That’s Not Me' a simple song on the face of it that is transformed purely by the playing and production, the sound of the bass guitar like a heart beat. Together with the drums it’s a sound used especially well on 'Don’t Talk…' Its actually used to follow a particular lyric and reinforces the idea of ‘Pet Sounds’ as a loving emotional album able to present the emotion of love out to the listener, rather than just stories and songs about love. 'You Still Believe In Me' was reworked from an earlier song called 'In My Childhood'. Its all double lead vocals from Brian ( on the mono version of the album at least ) and he showcases his heartbreaking falsetto very well.

You may be thinking at this point, ‘this Pet Sounds’ doesn’t sound very, um, Rock n Roll!’. You’d be right. This is hardly Rock and Roll, this isn’t early Beach Boys influence Chuck Berry. Brian’s Idol Phil Spector, now, you can hear his influence. The same musicians that Phil recorded with were used during the ‘Pet Sounds’ sessions after all. The nearest we do get to rock music as such is 'I’m Waiting For The Day' and 'Sloop John B'. Sloop features exciting piano, rock rhythms and impossibly simple sounding yet complicated melodies that send me giddy. 'I’m Waiting For The Day' again is a fairly simply song, but simple isn’t bad. Its only actually simple in sound. The melody and chord changes, the production and mixing are far from simple. Every effort was made to get the right sounds, Brian’s ‘Pet Sounds’ – hence the albums title.

'God Only Knows' is of course one of the most beautiful records ever made. Oh, but of course! Well, I say that myself and I believe that myself. Many other people believe it to be true and Brian has been playing the entire ‘Pet Sounds’ album during recent solo concerts. 'God Only Knows' was sung by Carl, chosen by Brian after he rejected himself for the lead and deciding something wasn’t quite perfect. Remarkably, it was only brother Carls second ever lead on a Beach Boys record. He’d provide many important and great lead vocals the years after 1966, but never really would match that first ( well, second ) love of his 'God Only Knows' vocal work. 'I Know There’s An Answer' has lyrics that were re-written by Mike after he expressed doubts concerning Brian’s original ‘Ego’ lyrics. The importance of the musical tracks on ‘Pet Sounds’ – the fact that they turn a great record into a masterpiece genius record is emphasised by 'I Know There’s An Answer'. The new lyrics are slightly clumsy, slightly corny. Fortunately the musical backing is one of the most exotic on the entire record, full of strange noises and held together by wonderfully melodic bass-playing.

I’m going to finish this review now. I haven’t even mentioned 'I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times', the two instrumentals and the beautiful solo Brian 'Caroline No'. The instrumentals provide variety. The title track is ridiculously joyously silly and really should raise a smile – 'Let’s Go Away For Awhile' matches its title in its musical description of places to achieve a state of joy and relaxation. 'Caroline No' fades out with the sounds of a train going past behind dogs barking. Pet Sounds, indeed. We are all fortunate Brian shared these sounds with us all. One of the greatest albums ever made, as simple as that. No, it’s not rock and roll….not really. It renders categorization difficult, actually. Just forget everything I’ve said. As the song goes, ‘listen, listen, listen….’

The album that replaced 'Smile'. 'Smile' was to have been an impossibly brilliant triumph, the album that would have been the perfect pop/rock album and also the record that would have ended the career of the likes of The Beatles. Of course, it was never completed or released. The reasons are numerous and too complex to go into in the space of this review. Much of it was probably hype but now we'll never know in any case. 'Heroes And Villains' opens things, and even in this imperfect form is still very very special. The lyrics are fast paced, beautiful and meaningless fun. 'Vegetables' is a little silly thing but does contain wonderful vocal parts. 'She's Goin Bald' is just downright stupid. At this point you are probably wondering what the hell is going on. Perseverance reaps it's own rewards. 'Little Pad' features possibly the most beautiful harmonic humming you are ever likely to hear. 'Good Vibrations' is, well, it's 'Good Vibrations'! Little needs to be said about this particular perfect masterpiece that hasn't already been said. 'With Me Tonight' is the best of the songs not originally scheduled to appear on 'Smile'. It sounds like it was recorded in a church and Carl sings so well it will make you shiver and cry. That's a promise, by the way. 'Wind Chimes' is a spooky different version of a 'Smile' song, 'Gettin' Hungry' a bit too simplistic -  very raw production wise. In fact, it's a bit out of place here altogether. 'Wonderful' is a superb heartbreaking ballad and 'Whistle In' a short little coda to what's gone before.

'Smiley Smile' is in-fact a highly regarded and influential album in it's own right. Some of the vocal parts sound truly otherworldly and are unlikely to ever be surpassed. This otherworldliness may in part be due to all the strange things the guys were smoking at the time, but still! No, this isn't 'Smile', but we should be thankful the group continued and gave us music as good as this to remember them by.

And, so begins the second great era of Beach Boys music. This is unlike any album they've recorded before or since. It's a special album in it's own right, however. The production of 'Pet Sounds' and 'Smile' has gone completely, these are mostly live performances, rhythm and blues songs and going back to the roots of what excited Brian Wilson about music in the first place. He plays wonderful boogie piano all over this record -. the piano and the melodies in general are so inventive and strong, they go way beyond what is normally required for a rock album. No less an authority than Jim Morrison of The Doors expressed a love of this 'Wild Honey' album, a strange thing given their previous un-hip striped shirt image. These guys were hip! Okay?! Anyway, 'Wild Honey' with it's creaking Theremin sound opens the album and it's surely no 'Good Vibrations'. Very raw musically, and long term Beach Boys fans must have been scratching their heads over the song. 'Aren't You Glad' is simply wonderful though. Brian leads from the back with the piano melodies. The vocals are both soft, expressive, raw and brilliant, all at the same time. Carl's vocals on the record as a whole are a thing to behold, he sounds like he's enjoying himself. They all do actually. 'I Was Made To Love Her' is a Stevie Wonder song, doesn't sound like one here, though. Again, the piano holds it together. Bass, little shuffling percussion.... great vocals! All this, and 'Country Air' too. Now this really is special. The singing just soars through the air the listener is inhabiting. Little whistle parts that make you smile, Brian's melodies again. None of these songs are 'productions', none are ambitious works of art. All are simple, enjoyable and really just rather wonderful. None more so than 'Country Air', actually. 'A Thing Or Two' is a less enjoyable, a faster number, it loses it's beauty as it goes along.

The second half of the album opens with 'Darlin' - a top twenty hit when they'd all but stopped having hits. A Carl vocal tour de force, the best group vocals of the entire record and a very good song too. 'I'd Love Just Once To See You' doesn't work and seems a left over from the 'Smiley Smile' sessions. Done in 'Wild Honey' style it really sounds, well, odd. 'Here Comes The Night' is funky! It would later be re-done as an attempted disco classic, this is the original recording and it's rather fine. 'Let The Wind Blow' contains one of the finest melodies Brian ever wrote, again his Piano is everywhere. It's hard to credit that this one song contains more melody in fact than some entire groups albums do. No, really, it does! Very subtle and soft sounding melodies with great echoed vocal effects. 'How She Boogalooed It' was a group composition minus Brian, the first like that they ever did and 'Mama Says' closes the album displaying good group harmony parts. It's a very short vocal work-out, nothing more. It works well as album closer, though. If none of the songs here are all time Beach Boys classics, the album as a whole is much more than the sum of its parts. Always rewarding, always entertaining.