Which Beach Boys "Classics" are.. 'Not to your taste?'

[Rocky Raccoon]

Be True To Your School

It was not cool to be proud of your high school where I came from - even the jocks hated the school. I really dig the chord changes and harmonies, but I can't get with those lyrics.

I always thought the lyrics were supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek.

[rab2591]

Be True To Your School

It was not cool to be proud of your high school where I came from - even the jocks hated the school. I really dig the chord changes and harmonies, but I can't get with those lyrics.

I always thought the lyrics were supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek.

Given that Brian had been somewhat of a jock himself I find that somewhat unlikely. But I know too little about the song to make any conjecture.

[SMiLE Brian]

Be True To Your School

It was not cool to be proud of your high school where I came from - even the jocks hated the school. I really dig the chord changes and harmonies, but I can't get with those lyrics.

I always thought the lyrics were supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek.

Tell Mike Love that.

[Lowbacca]

Be True To Your School

It was not cool to be proud of your high school where I came from - even the jocks hated the school. I really dig the chord changes and harmonies, but I can't get with those lyrics.

Never really dug it until I heard the live version on CD #5 of the Good Vibrations box set. To this day I like any live rendition of BTTYS whilst still not being wild about the tamer studio version. But it's definitely a situation I can live with. 

[Exemery]

I really never liked Fun, Fun, Fun. I like a lot of their early stuff but FFF has always sounded so cheesy. Also, I like I Get Around but off the bat you can definitely tell it's not a Brian Wilson song and it never fit in with a lot of their music.

[Paulos]

I really never liked Fun, Fun, Fun. I like a lot of their early stuff but FFF has always sounded so cheesy. Also, I like I Get Around but off the bat you can definitely tell it's not a Brian Wilson song and it never fit in with a lot of their music.

Please explain why one of Brian's greatest songs is not his? And how does it not fit with their music? I've read a lot of strange comments on this message board and this is right up there.

[Exemery]

I really never liked Fun, Fun, Fun. I like a lot of their early stuff but FFF has always sounded so cheesy. Also, I like I Get Around but off the bat you can definitely tell it's not a Brian Wilson song and it never fit in with a lot of their music.

Please explain why one of Brian's greatest songs is not his? And how does it not fit with their music? I've read a lot of strange comments on this message board and this is right up there.

Sorry, I should rephrase my statement as it sounded incredibly vague and misleading.

I've always felt that I Get Around didn't fit in with their other 1964-era music and didn't sound like a song composed by BW. To me, it always sounded like the song haphazardly found its way into All Summer Long.  However I don't think I can elaborate any further as to why I feel this way exactly.  


Actually I know why, up until know I've been viewing I Get Around as apart of All Summer Long as opposed to just a single. Derp!

[Quzi]

Hawaii. I don't mind Break Away, but the drums are way too shallow for my tastes, each time I hear that intro I wish they had got some big ass timpani to bash on. Not too keen on the word "vibrations" being used in the coda either, it kind of gives off a "REMEMBER US?!!!! WE ARE THE GUYS WHO DID GOOD VIBRATIONS!!! IT GOT TO NUMBER ONE SO LOVE US FOR THIS SONG TOO THANKS!!!" vibe which I'm not too partial towards.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Hawaii. I don't mind Break Away, but the drums are way too shallow for my tastes, each time I hear that intro I wish they had got some big ass timpani to bash on. Not too keen on the word "vibrations" being used in the coda either, it kind of gives off a "REMEMBER US?!!!! WE ARE THE GUYS WHO DID GOOD VIBRATIONS!!! IT GOT TO NUMBER ONE SO LOVE US FOR THIS SONG TOO THANKS!!!" vibe which I'm not too partial towards.

And they're no different 43 years later...

[rab2591]

I really never liked Fun, Fun, Fun. I like a lot of their early stuff but FFF has always sounded so cheesy. Also, I like I Get Around but off the bat you can definitely tell it's not a Brian Wilson song and it never fit in with a lot of their music.

Please explain why one of Brian's greatest songs is not his? And how does it not fit with their music? I've read a lot of strange comments on this message board and this is right up there.

Sorry, I should rephrase my statement as it sounded incredibly vague and misleading.

I've always felt that I Get Around didn't fit in with their other 1964-era music and didn't sound like a song composed by BW. To me, it always sounded like the song haphazardly found its way into All Summer Long.  However I don't think I can elaborate any further as to why I feel this way exactly.  


Actually I know why, up until know I've been viewing I Get Around as apart of All Summer Long as opposed to just a single. Derp!

'I Get Around' is a perfect followup to a hard-rocking song like 'Fun Fun Fun' - the vocal melodies aren't unlike those heard in 'Hawaii' and the rhythm guitar mirrors that of 'Surfin' USA'. Also, the a cappella intro is trademark Brian Wilson.

[rab2591]

Be True To Your School

It was not cool to be proud of your high school where I came from - even the jocks hated the school. I really dig the chord changes and harmonies, but I can't get with those lyrics.

Never really dug it until I heard the live version on CD #5 of the Good Vibrations box set. To this day I like any live rendition of BTTYS whilst still not being wild about the tamer studio version. But it's definitely a situation I can live with. 

Same here. I enjoy the 'Live At Knebworth' version tenfold over the studio recording.

[Eric Aniversario]

No one has mentioned "The Little Girl I Once Knew" yet...I like it, but I'm not nearly as into it as most hard-core BB fans are.  It seemed to fall flat on the reunion tour, did not sound as good as when Brian first started playing it on his solo tours.  This song has not aged as well as its same-era counterparts.

[filledeplage]

No one has mentioned "The Little Girl I Once Knew" yet...I like it, but I'm not nearly as into it as most hard-core BB fans are.  It seemed to fall flat on the reunion tour, did not sound as good as when Brian first started playing it on his solo tours.  This song has not aged as well as its same-era counterparts.

Eric - odd you mention that song, as it was my real coup de foudre for this music, which was played among The Beatles, The Stones and Motown. And, it might be a function of being omitted from the Summer Days and Summer Nights, though now, appears on the remaster version.  It was almost always in Brian's set list, and was a thrill to hear it on a sound check of the Reunion Tour.  Yahoo!  I sort of find it almost in the same genre as Rhonda (not Ronda from Today, which had less "punch".)

Had it been on the LP, the recognition factor might have resulted in more enthusiasm during the tour...

It's always been music to my ears! 

[Eric Aniversario]

I definitely enjoyed it more in my earlier years of fanhood (early 90s)...still like it, but not nearly as much as before.  I definitely champion the idea of having lesser known gems in the tour setlists, it just sounded like it was a bit overplayed and the guys were tired of playing it (not saying that's accurate...just a feeling I got)...I think Breakaway or Wild Honey or It's About Time or Keepin The Summer Alive would've made cooler additions to the setlist.

[TimmyC]

There are ZERO classics that are "not to my taste". But I will say that I just don't love Surf's Up and Sail On Sailor the way other folks on this board seem to....

[Mark Howell]

Hmm...not a lot of songs I dislike, but it would probably be the car, girl pre 1965 stuff.  Not that I don't necessarily dislike them, but I've heard them a million times.

[Don Malcolm]

Y'know, I just can't see what you folks hear in "Good Vibrations." SO over-rated and weird for weird's sake...how did the public hoodwink itself into thinking this was the "new sound at last"? Was everyone passing around the pipe and rolling their eyes back up into their heads? Falling for herbified Mike Love lyrics like "I don't where but she sends me there"?? I mean, give me a BREAK! 

[halblaineisgood]

Y'know, I just can't see what you folks hear in "Good Vibrations." SO over-rated and weird for weird's sake...how did the public hoodwink itself into thinking this was the "new sound at last"? Was everyone passing around the pipe and rolling their eyes back up into their heads? Falling for herbified Mike Love lyrics like "I don't where but she sends me there"?? I mean, give me a BREAK! 

Dude I know why it really actually sucks...not because of the stupid lyrics(which is what you thnk), but beacuse its that mike love actually helped out and wrote  alot of the melody, trhats why even the version on Brians 2004 Smile with the AWESOME shes already working on my brain, mike didnt obviously , yeah, do the lyrics on that particular version but, then why did it still suck donkey balls?? it was because mike did music!!! "Mike love is a f888cking tool,

[halblaineisgood]

 Help.     
 I've
lost   
  my
making
sense
mojo!!
 

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I don't really hate anything pre-15 Big Ones, however Our Car Club - which lots of fans seem to rave about - i don't find particuarly good, and Breakaway is ok, but again not a favourite and i'm always slightly perplexed when critics and fans bang on about how tremendous it is. For my money Celebrate The News is infinitely better - it's got way more punch and a much stronger melody. Breakaway just sort of peters out, Celebrate The News goes down screaming!

[Micha]

California Girls, Marcella, Sail On Sailor, finished versions of Surf's Up (thus excluding the "demo").

[I. Spaceman]

You people are on crack. Square crack.

Some of you need to relax and stop being such fan boys.  Who gives a sh@t if someone doesn't like what you like?

An echo chamber seems to be what most of you want, but it's a very confining place.  Branch out.  Listen to other opinions.

I'm not a fanboy, tho I have noticed that you think I am in the past. I think Funky Pretty, for one, bites the bag. All This Is That too. But those aren't classics to anyone who isn't a BB nerd. So it has to be Rock And Roll Music, one of the worst dad-rock hits of all time. Showaddywaddy is better than that.

[SunBurn]

i had already formulated my opinion before I read this thread, but it seems many share my feeling, which is that "Be True to your School" sounds a lot better without the cheerleading and faux marching band arrangement. This may be due to the fact that I first heard the stripped down version as a nine year-old on Endless Summer.

I always liked the song, however. At first, I bought into the lyrical sentiment whole-heartedly, but in later years I remember singing "bah bah bah be true to your school" in the hallway of my high school and getting a hearty laugh out of our senior class president.

i do agree that "girl or guy" is, although almost proto-feminist, a highly awkward moment.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

Love You, for the most part, still hasn't grabbed me.

[runnersdialzero]

Branch out.  Listen to other opinions.

But what if those opinions are that they prefer stereo to mono?