Favorite Beach Boys' Instrumental

[ThyRavenAscend]

(I'd be surprised if this poll hasn't been done before, but I did a simple search and did not find it, so there!  )


As far as what I qualified as an "instrumental": there could be no singing/humming/vocals whatsoever (the only exception being a handful of shouts, i.e. Surf Jam); also, I'm only counting songs from their LPs (though including Smile Sessions).

Unfortunately, this mean no Passing By, Holidays, The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow), Fall Breaks and Back to Winter, etc. (But I can't stop you from saying that one of these is your favorite in the comments ).

[bluesno1fann]

The title track to Pet Sounds for me.
Although I do have a fondness for Let's go away for a While, Shut Down Part II, and most of the instrumentals from Surfin' USA

[ThyRavenAscend]

If I could pick one of the ones that I banned, I would definitely go with Passing By--such an odd but incredible track.

[rogerlancelot]

I had no problem choosing "Let's Go Away For A While" which to me is one of the most beautiful pieces of music by anybody. Runner up for me would be "The Nearest Far Away Place" only because it's trying to sound like "Let's Go Away For A While". "Pet Sounds" is really cool but the out of tune guitar part (too sharp) still irks me. If they would have only taken 5 more minutes to tune up..... If "Fairy Tale Music" was on here I still wouldn't choose it.

"Let's Go Away For A While" stereo mix of course!

[Sheriff John Stone]

"The Nearest Faraway Place" gets my vote. I've always liked the melody, the arrangement, the dreamy, music box feel, and what I consider to be a Brian Wilson-like coda. Actually, and I've said it before in threads like this one, if "The Nearest Faraway Place" had a B. Wilson credit instead of a B. Johnston credit, this song would be considered a work of art and probably thought to have originated in the SMiLE era.

P.S. I think "Shut Down, Part. 2" is underrated.

[metal flake paint]

Although there are better Beach Boys' instrumentals, Shut Down Vol. 2 gets my vote.

[Custom Machine]

Excellent idea for a poll.  Stoked is by far my favorite BB instrumental.  Who all did the great guitar work on that track?

[Emdeeh]

I love "Carl's Big Chance," aka "Memphis Beach"!

[metal flake paint]

Excellent idea for a poll.  Stoked is by far my favorite BB instrumental.  Who all did the great guitar work on that track?

Guitar-wise, I'd say Carl, ably assisted by Dave, with Brian on bass. Jon's FAQ book is a great resource for this kind of information; highly recommended.

[pixletwin]

Diamond Head. I didn't even have to think about it.

[Gabo]

"The Nearest Faraway Place" gets my vote. I've always liked the melody, the arrangement, the dreamy, music box feel, and what I consider to be a Brian Wilson-like coda. Actually, and I've said it before in threads like this one, if "The Nearest Faraway Place" had a B. Wilson credit instead of a B. Johnston credit, this song would be considered a work of art and probably thought to have originated in the SMiLE era.

P.S. I think "Shut Down, Part. 2" is underrated.

I like The Nearest Faraway Place, but it is undeniably more maudlin sounding any Brian-penned instrumentals.

[beacharg]

Diamond Head. I didn't even have to think about it.

 

[Custom Machine]

Excellent idea for a poll.  Stoked is by far my favorite BB instrumental.  Who all did the great guitar work on that track?

Guitar-wise, I'd say Carl, ably assisted by Dave, with Brian on bass. Jon's FAQ book is a great resource for this kind of information; highly recommended.

Yes, Jon's BBs FAQ is a really great source for this kind of info, and I should have looked it up there.  Checking page 67, it states guitars as you listed, plus Dennis on drums.  Proof positive that the guys could really cook when playing their own instruments.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I love the Stoked, The Rocking Surfer and Shut Down Pt 2, and obviously the Pet Sounds tracks are great, but my vote went to Diamond Head which is such a crazy, bizarre track - the first time you listen to it you've just got no idea what's going to happen next...

[The Heartical Don]

I absolutely can't pick one and omit others, because:

Diamond Head, Pet Sounds, Let's Go Away For Awhile, and Passing By (with vocals but wordless) all function on the same, incredible level for yours truly.

[Eric Aniversario]

I voted for stoked, but honestly it was hard to choose just one. Pet sounds, summer means new love, the rocking surfer, and boogie woodie are all great choices too.

Off topic, but I've tried several times to create polls, but have always been told I'm not authorized. Any ideas?

[phirnis]

Apparently I'm the first one who voted for "Summer Means New Love". For me it's a tie between that one and "Diamond Head". The Pet Sounds instrumentals don't do much for me outside the album context (where I do appreciate both of them).

Honorary mention goes to the instrumental version of "Had to Phone ya", which is a wonderful piece of music in its own right.

[silodweller]

Apparently I'm the first one who voted for "Summer Means New Love". For me it's a tie between that one and "Diamond Head". The Pet Sounds instrumentals don't do much for me outside the album context (where I do appreciate both of them).

Honorary mention goes to the instrumental version of "Had to Phone ya", which is a wonderful piece of music in its own right.

Absolutely.  "Summer Means New Love" is beautiful. 

[Dove Nested Towers]

Apparently I'm the first one who voted for "Summer Means New Love". For me it's a tie between that one and "Diamond Head". The Pet Sounds instrumentals don't do much for me outside the album context (where I do appreciate both of them).

Honorary mention goes to the instrumental version of "Had to Phone ya", which is a wonderful piece of music in its own right.

Absolutely.  "Summer Means New Love" is beautiful. 

+1. Optimistic, evocative track.

[rogerlancelot]

Honorary mention goes to the instrumental version of "Had to Phone ya", which is a wonderful piece of music in its own right.

Yes! I had been listening to the bootleg version for a while before we got a cleaner mix on MIC. That song with and without vocals is an underrated masterpiece and certainly my favorite track on 15BO. Glad to see someone else likes it too.

[Andrew G. Doe]

No-brainer - "LGAFAW".

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Let's Go Away For Awhile [And Then We'll Have World Peace]. It's one of the few tracks my dad enjoyed on Pet Sounds when I was playing it the other night. [His favourite is Caroline, No, with WIBN and GOk to an extent in there. The rest was not hugely consumed].

But yeah, a great peace of music. So much can be drawn from it, and the reality is that what it symbolises can be so varied. Though going away [for awhile] is probably the main idea. Like the idea of Time To Get Alone... but not so Deep and Wide.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

"Let's Go Away for Awhile," which is possibly my favorite song on Pet Sounds.  I also still think of "Look!" as an instrumental since I first heard it that way, even though lyrics were added later (and there were even backing vocals on the "completed" TSS version).  If you count that one, it would probably come in second for me.

[filledeplage]

I'm picking three!

The Nearest Faraway Place

Summer Means New Love

Pet Sounds - since C50! - it went from ok to wow!  

[Dudd]

Let's Go Away For A While is my favourite. Pet Sounds, Diamond Head, and IWBA aren't far off though (plus it may have been Passing By if that were an option  ).