The Beach Boys

[Paul Stanley 0]

I've noticed quite a few Beach Boys fans here recently. I too am one of them. One of my favorite songs by them has to be "Be True To Your School". Anyone else?

[Guest meanmaisch]

I'm partial to Surf's Up, anything off of Pet Sounds, Cabinessence, Warmth of the Sun, Heroes and Villains. Basically, anything featuring a lot of Brian Wilson. I hate Mike Love though; untalented hack.

[Guest David]

I listen to Kokomo, California girls, and Surfin USA

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

I like the Beach Boys. Absolutely adore Pet Sounds. "I Wasn't Made for These Times," "Caroline No" and the bonus track from the cd, "Hang Onto Your Ego" are underrated by them. Of course, the album also features "Sloop John B," "Wouldn't it be Nice" and "God Only Knows."

 

Did you know that the record company didn't want "God Only Knows" released as a single because a song with the word "God" in the title had never charted. Then it winds up being a bit hit.

[King Kamala 0]

Beach Boys from the mid 60's to early 70's were possibly the finest pop group ever. It's a shame that one original member and a bunch of scrubs is considered the Beach Boys right now. Brian Wilson's solo act is more Beach Boys than the "Beach Boys" touring right now.

[JangoFett4Hire 0]

Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever... If not for Pet Sounds, we would have never had Sgt Pepper's.

[Guest Mad the Swine]

I'm a huge fan of the group.

 

Pet Sounds is definitely the best album and I'm quite partial to Sunflower, Today, Wild Honey, Surfer Girl, and Shut Down Vol. 2. I'm liking more and more of Holland as well.

 

Mike Love had his moments. Think his absolute vocal best was All I Want to Do. He provided so much comedy to the group with his multiple marriages, relationship with the Maharishi, and the whole fiasco with Shawn Love and Dennis Wilson.

[Steviekick 0]

I don't know much about the history of the BB, but I defintely appreciate them. The production on Pet Sounds is amazing.

 

Hell, without them we wouldn't have the Ramones. Alot of pop punk music is very similar to the BB in composition.

[Red Baron 0]

The only Beach Boys album I have is Pet Sounds.

 

Its great and all, but its a guilty pleasure for me to listen too.

[Guest El Satanico]

They are good, but I'm not that much of a fan.

 

I like the song Feel Flows, which I discovered by way of the Almost Famous soundtrack. It's some trippy psychedelic shit that was obviously done during one of Brian Wilson's drug binges.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

There is the assumption that the Beach Boys were purely an upbeat, surfing type band, but a lot of Brian Wilson's stuff from 1967 onwards is very dark - Surf's Up.

 

Pet Sounds is essentially a solo effort with the Beach Boys guesting. The band didn't play on the album, but did so in later albums.

 

Mike Love was a decent lyricist in the early years - see Today/Summer's Days and Nights - but couldn't play a note musically. On the aforementioned "Be True To Your School" Mike has a very good vocal. His solo album Looking Back With Love is beyond awful and thankfully out of print.

 

Carl Wilson was a good guitarist and producer and he wrote Feel Flows and Long Promised Road on the Surf's Up album. He died in 1998 of cancer. He vocals in God Only Knows and Good Vibrations can never be matched. His two solo albums are non-descript and out of print.

 

Al Jardine was the rythmn guitarist of the band. He wasn't technically great and didn't write any stand out tracks, but he had a good voice - see Help Me Rhonda - and influenced Brian into composing Sloop John B.

 

Dennis Wilson was the drummer and whilst techinally not great, he had a lot of character. His solo album Ocean Pacific Blue is tremendous but sadly out of print. His best song is Forever, which was on Sunflower. He died from drowning in 1983. Ironically, he was the only surfer in the group.

 

Bruce Johnston is the forgotten Beach Boy. A prodigy in his younger years, Bruce joined the band in 1965 and stayed till 1972, returning in 1977 and going on till the present day. He wrote Disney Girls and released a solo album Goin' Public. He was a decent song writer, but his strengths were in playing and producing. He could play piano, bass, drums and guitar.

 

There were other short lived members of the band which include David Marks (1962/63), Glen Campbell (1964), Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar (1973-75)

 

Nowadays the band are torn apart. Bruce and Mike continue to tour as "The Beach Boys", playing with a backing band. Brian is selling out where ever he goes playing solo and with a great backing band. Al Jardine recently lost the right to the name "Beach Boys" and now tours with Brian's daughters and his sons - "Al Jardine and Friends"

 

Dennis and Carl are dead.

 

Albums to look out for are Today, Pet Sounds, Sunflower and Surf's Up. The late 70s stuff is dreadful, forget about MIU and LA Light - they have nothing to do with Brian Wilson, who was suffering mental health problems at the time. The eponymous album of 1985 is decent. Ignore later albums. Anything from the 60s is great. The band were tremendous, but struggled to play the real classics on stage.

 

Brian's voice has recovered well and he is singing now with dignity after the wailing years (late 70s to 80s). He has written some great songs after the Beach Boys ( Love and Mercy, Lay Down Burden, Spirit of Rock and Roll)

 

They are a great band and my favourites. I love them.

 

My Favourite Songs:

 

1. God Only Knows

2. Till I Die

3. Surf's Up

4. Darlin'

5. California Girls

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

Glen Campbell did a lot of session work for the Monkees too and is good friends with Mike Nesmith. He was considered "the fifth Monkee" for a brief period.

 

You failed to mention that John Stamos worked with the Beack Boys in the late '80's as a drummer, particulary around the time of their resurrgence with Kokomo.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

Yea, you are right there, but by that time the Beach Boys were finished as a contemporary act.