Your favorite BEACH BOYS LP besides PET SOUNDS

"The Beach Boys are a very special Group to me"

Me too bdp24. "Surfin Safari" was my first album, a Christmas gift from my parents. I suppose my love of vocal harmony was as much the main reason initially but it was also the Southern California culture that I was also drawn to, girls, cars and surf pretty much in that order.  The early stuff is pretty basic, much like the Beatles. I certainly remember  around 1964-1965 the competitions on the radio as to which is your favorite of the two groups seemingly was always won by the Beatles to my dismay! In any case it is interesting to observe the progression of the musical and vocal harmonies with each succeeding album. Unfortunately for the BBs, the British invasion and the advent of more progressive R&R diminished their popularity during the time of Brian Wilson's most creative period which coincided with the release of "Pet Sounds", a deviation from their earlier surf, car and girl songs. You can really hear the introspection and real progression of both the music and lyrics of Tony Asher. It is without any question my very favorite BB album and Brian's masterpiece. It is the very first album I listened to where each song spoke to me.

I personally don't think there is a better BB or for that matter rock/pop album than Pet Sounds but would recommend  many of the ones mentioned above including Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl and the Passions- So Tough and Holland. Of recent release is "Smile" with different mixes of previously released material, it is a real gem. It includes tracks of the incomplete "Smile" album that was never released when Brian went into his long term funk. Of the pre "Pet Sound" albums I would recommend "Shut Down-Volume Two"; "The Beach Boys Today". There is a lot of filler on both the last two but some really great ballads that you won't find unless you buy the albums. Long live Brian Wilson!

Hi fjn04, if it's SOUND you're after try the Telarc and other recordings of Papa doo run run, that did covers of many Beach Boy songs. Really superterrific recordings for audiophiles looking for sound quality  but I must say, lacking the "soul" of Brian Wilson's unique falsetto :)

 

Thanks Bdp24, yes we are about the same age except I grew up in South Jersey. The BB got me into surfing as a teenager even. Ironically none of the BB except Dennis actually surfed and was the one that came up with their name. While I loved the BB, like yourself up through Pet Sounds, I lost interest until Sunflower. I never warmed up to Smiley Smile or Wild Honey. I really got into some of the groups you mentioned along with Buffalo Springfield, The Doors and particularly Led Zepplin along with many of the Motown groups throughout the 60's. Early Poco was also a favorite, those great vocal harmonies! It wasn't until Sunflower that I became  reacquainted although I  enjoyed "Do it Again" from the late 60's a revisit of their earlier stuff and a great summer song. My 2nd favorite behind "Pet Sounds" is "Surf's Up". I didn't actually see the Beach Boys in concert until around 1972 when they were drawing huge crowds as a nostalgia act but without Brian, even so it was a great show and fulfilled a long held desire to see them perform.  

Fjn04 Blondie Chaplan did the lead vocal on Sail on Sailor. He originally appeared with Rickie Fataar on the "So Tough" album. These guys gave the BBs a more well rounded sound IMHO. They were in the lineup when I saw them live in 72'. That show had some really good musicians in the band and did they rock!

"As for Papa Doo Run Run---don’t bother. That Mobile Fidelity album is the most lifeless, dead, boring version of The Beach Boys you can imagine."

Amen to that!! I have an audio buddy that quite recently picked up a copy Telarc I believe and played it for me. It seems it has been in heavy rotation since he got it. He IS NOT a BB fan. I also have a couple of cuts on some early Telarc samplers. He was trying to impress to me with the sound and production values, this to a BB fan. I told him yes, your system sounds great,  but I’m also thinking, you know I'm a BB fan and SQ means little to me when I’m bored, didn’t actually say THAT but it sure was what I was thinking. Next time over his place with another buddy what does he do but play it again and asked me if I had picked up a copy yet!

Nice story about Dennis bdp. He was the BB I idolized at the beginning, he just seemed really cool and actually looked the part of a beach boy. I was always suspicious of Carl, he looked a bit too pudgy :)

Antiseptic is the perfect description, it does indeed sound so canned and as you say isolated, as in dissected, I just can’t stand it but it might be just perfect for a non fan. I’ll take the original mono recordings thank you very much.

Yeah the Dennis story is a sad one. It was years later I learned about the dynamics of the group. My sense of Dennis as the real BB was just that, he was in the total sense the image they portrayed through their early songs. Little did I know  the mastermind behind their success was Brian. The rest of the guys, in retrospect were  along for the ride most likely but being associated with such musical brilliance has to have it's effect on everyone. Dennis of course idolized Brian his older brother, his hero.  Well I’ll give Mike Love some credit for keeping things together and for some of those lyrics, but Dennis was the heart of what the group personified in those early years. His deterioration over the years was a real tragedy. I sometimes wonder how his association with Manson effected him later. I expect that regardless of that association things would probably have ended up pretty much the way they did but still, it had to have a big effect on him.