Sixties' BB's b-sides-- pretty good in their own right.

[Jason Penick]

I was just taking a glance at the Beach Boys singles discography, checking out which songs were selected as b-sides and trying to guess as to why they were chosen. Overall it seems a good deal of thought was put into this, as most of the songs are quite good and would have certainly been singles contenders in the hands of lesser artists. Looking at their sixties' output, I see four distinct groups of b-sides emerging:

Luau
409
County Fair
Shut Down
Little Deuce Coupe

Emphasis on cars and other non-surfing specific things that attempt to cater to landlocked consumers who wouldn't be interested in surfing per se.

In My Room
The Lord's Prayer
Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
Don't Worry Baby
She Knows Me Too Well
The Warmth of the Sun
Please Let Me Wonder
Kiss Me Baby
Let Him Run Wild
There's No Other (Like My Baby)
Girl Don't Tell Me
You're So Good to Me
God Only Knows

The "Golden Age" of Beach Boys b-sides. Several of Brian's most personal statements ("The Lord's Prayer"), biggest productions ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love?") and flat-out great songs ("Don't Worry Baby", "In My Room", "God Only Knows" and several others).

Let's Go Away for a While
You're Welcome
Devoted to You
Wind Chimes
Here Today

A strange trend develops where songs appear to be almost chosen at random off of non-contemporary albums (or in the case of "You're Welcome", written specifically as a throwaway). Was the intent here to promote the back catalog?

Little Bird
Wake the World
Never Learn Not to Love
All I Want to Do
Celebrate the News

Songs become more contemporaneous and heavily feature Dennis, perhaps to provide him with some more royalty checks or to feature him as the group's new songwriter of note.


So, what do you think? Were these songs well-chosen for the most part? Were they worthy of their a-side counterparts? Better? Post any thoughts related to Beach Boys b-sides here. (I stuck with the sixties because that era is of the most interest to me when it comes to singles, but feel free to go beyond that if you see fit).

[Hank Briarstem]

Ah the golden era of the 45, before or perhaps during my first marriage and bleeding into my second, not unlike the blood Nadine skillfully extracted from this hapless turnip!

The joy of discovery! Not of Nadine, I must say, for discovering an asp in my bed might have been more pleasant. No, the joy of flipping the cherished black platter to discover "Don't Worry Baby," "God Only Knows," "The Warmth of the Sun," "Kiss Me Baby," "Please Let Me Wonder," "She Knows Me Too Well," "Little Deuce Coupe (whose shape Nadine eventually claimed as her own)," "Let Him Run Wild," "You're So Good to Me,"Girl Don't Tell Me (which might have been my last words to Nadine)," "Shut Down" and on and on...

The power of the Beach Boys' "B" sides might be their strongest claim to rock 'n' roll majesty. What other band could match these astonishing "flip sides"? The Beatles? Perhaps? Creedence Clearwater Revival? Not quite.

One could point to these recordings alone and claim for the Boys a position in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame! Thank you deeply for this tremendous reminder!

I am a million years in my past, carefully laying the needle on the record, and I hear the opening drumbeat, the vast melodies, the soaring falsetto... My favorite record, "Don't Worry Baby."

Favorites number two and three? "God Only Knows" and "Kiss Me Baby."

"B" sides? Yes. But as close as we might come on this earth to touching Heaven.

As I recall, her name might not have been Nadine. I believe that was her horrendous cousin from Boise. I will check my records for her name. We we married but briefly - 3 years tops.

[Lee Marshall]

There was a time...THANKS, in part, TO THE BEACH BOYS...when albums contained more than 3 good to great songs and a bunch of filler.  That's what it was in both ancient and in MODERN times.  For about 25 years albums were KING back when talent was allowed to rule the roost.  45s were like mini advertisements for ALBUMS.  They sold for less than a buck so that you would be enticed to lay out 4 bucks for the whole package.  'They' weren't about to put a piece of sh*t out on side B.  BOTH sides sold the album.  Sometimes side B was BETTER than side A.  The Beach Boys...well before the advent of the concept groups who all aspired to find and push a single 'sound'...were versatile.  So were the Beatles.  Variety worked.  The Rascals had Gene AND Eddie.  The Monkees had Mickey and Davy [and occasionally Mike and Peter too.]  The Association had Terry, Jim and the guy who sang Windy.

The more talent the better.

Then there was 1995 to 2010.  15 years of almost nothing but Top 40 waste...and Amy Winehouse.  [the only shining light who basically abused herself to death]

Imagine a double-sided hit in THIS day and age.

No wonder the industry DIED.  Idiots ran the music business into oblivion and radio decided that it would play ONLY TV [video] music.  Misery loved company.  They died together.  And we?  We got American Idol.  Now THAT'S 'music'.

Friggin' assholes. 

[Sheriff John Stone]

Little Bird
Wake the World
Never Learn Not to Love
All I Want to Do
Celebrate the News

Songs become more contemporaneous and heavily feature Dennis, perhaps to provide him with some more royalty checks or to feature him as the group's new songwriter of note.

If you take this into the 1970's, there's even more Dennis B-sides:

Forever
Cuddle Up
Only With You
Baby Blue
Love Surrounds Me

...and, "Slip On Through" was released as a A-side. That's a lot of Dennis Wilson compositions. I'm not sure what that means, but, with all of the talk about the group not allowing Dennis to shine...I know we're talking B-sides here, but that's a very high percentage of Dennis' songs that were at least chosen.

[Jason Penick]

The power of the Beach Boys' "B" sides might be their strongest claim to rock 'n' roll majesty. What other band could match these astonishing "flip sides"? The Beatles? Perhaps? Creedence Clearwater Revival? Not quite.

One could point to these recordings alone and claim for the Boys a position in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame! Thank you deeply for this tremendous reminder!

Sure thing! Quite an incredible run of amazing songs gracing these singles. Sorry Nadine didn't provide as much lasting value for you. Chuck Berry was still out looking for her last I heard...

[Jason Penick]

There was a time...THANKS, in part, TO THE BEACH BOYS...when albums contained more than 3 good to great songs and a bunch of filler.  That's what it was in both ancient and in MODERN times.  For about 25 years albums were KING back when talent was allowed to rule the roost.  45s were like mini advertisements for ALBUMS.  They sold for less than a buck so that you would be enticed to lay out 4 bucks for the whole package. 'They' weren't about to put a piece of sh*t out on side B.  BOTH sides sold the album.  Sometimes side B was BETTER than side A.  The Beach Boys...well before the advent of the concept groups who all aspired to find and push a single 'sound'...were versatile.  So were the Beatles.  Variety worked.

This was what I was mainly thinking when I posted this thread. It seems like one distinction between the top acts of the era and the also-rans was that the big guys always had killer (or at least interesting and unique) b-sides. The Beatles might take the prize just because so many of their singles came out independent of the albums, but whomever was picking the flips for the Beach Boys was doing a superb job. It may have simply been because they wanted DJs to play both sides of the record, which is ultimately what happened, at least up through God Only Knows, after which the b-side selections became more questionable for a while. It's interesting that Brian's idol Phil Spector took the opposite approach, routinely creating flipsides that posed no threat to the featured singles by his artists.

The Association had Terry, Jim and the guy who sang Windy.

The more talent the better.

Russ Gigure and Larry Ramos, both amazing singers who could write too. Don't forget Jules Alexander either. Talent to burn in that group.

[Jason Penick]

If you take this into the 1970's, there's even more Dennis B-sides:

Forever
Cuddle Up
Only With You
Baby Blue
Love Surrounds Me

...and, "Slip On Through" was released as a A-side. That's a lot of Dennis Wilson compositions. I'm not sure what that means, but, with all of the talk about the group not allowing Dennis to shine...I know we're talking B-sides here, but that's a very high percentage of Dennis' songs that were at least chosen.

Yep, great point. Could be they were placating him, or maybe doing him a favor by acknowledging his strong songwriting. Either way the Beach Boys or Warner Brothers picked some pretty odd songs to promote in the early seventies. I'm sure Sunflower would have sold better had "This Whole World" and "Forever" been the lead singles.

[Mike's Beard]

What's odd for the 60s BBs is that they very rarely put out non album a and b sides, most groups of this era did and it's proved to be a treasure trove for box sets and deluxe editions in recent years.

[drbeachboy]

Many of those B-sides from 1963 to 1966 became hits themselves. The Beach Boys had many double-sided hit 45's. I know Al when asked about it said that they were their own worst enemy or something like that. Meaning had they been released separately, they would have had more sales than they did.

[Jason Penick]

What's odd for the 60s BBs is that they very rarely put out non album a and b sides, most groups of this era did and it's proved to be a treasure trove for box sets and deluxe editions in recent years.

True, I wish there were more b-side only goodies like "The Lord's Prayer" and "You're Welcome" that were out there for us hardcores to discover and cherish. I always was under the impression that it was the British bands that released their singles as separate entities from their LPs, while in America the 45 was used as a promotional tool to get fans to buy the album. Obviously there's some exceptions to this rule (Spector, etc.).

[Jason Penick]

Many of those B-sides from 1963 to 1966 became hits themselves. The Beach Boys had many double-sided hit 45's. I know Al when asked about it said that they were their own worst enemy or something like that. Meaning had they been released separately, they would have had more sales than they did.

That surely must be true. It's hard to imagine that songs like "In My Room", "Don't Worry Baby" or "Little Deuce Coupe" were never a-sides. Sure they charted anyway, but they must have divided the momentum somewhat with the featured side of their respective singles. Not that it was unusual back then for djs to spin both sides of a big hit record, but how much higher would any of these songs have charted if their b-sides were Beach Boy equivalents of "Harry (From W. Va.) & Milt" or "Irving (Jaggered Sixteenths)"-- stuff no sane dj would ever play?