Discuss Every Beach Boys Song Day By Day

[Wata]

Today's song is Little Honda.

[JK]

One of the Boys' finest rockers. (It must also be one of their fastest songs.)

This version is the one----the vocal backups on the alternative version, while eminently listenable, tend to take away the momentum.

5.   

[rab2591]

To each their own. I think the alternate version makes the original seem weak in comparison. That higher register "go little Honda, faster little Honda" gives the song a cool dynamic that seems to be missing from the original chorus.

The guitar sound on this is spectacular...I have always wondered how they got that sound.

4/5

[NOLA BB Fan]

5
Don't know just what was done to produce the guitar sound. Read that Brian told Carl to do something to produce the sound. Carl protested and said it sounded horrible. But Brian said will you just blankety blank do it? Carl said he was amazed by the sound of it on the record.

[JK]

Found this:
"We had an amp in the studio just so I could listen to it. This was before people started using the cue system so much. The cue system allowed everything to come back through the earphones. Anyway, I would use an amp and a direct box. Almost all the guitar sounds were done through the direct box to the mixing console except for 'Little Honda' or one of those tunes where Brian [Wilson] wanted a buzzy, distorted guitar sound----then we'd use an amp and just crank it. That was before they had pre-amp and the master volume."

Source: http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-29/1778733-

And c-man on "Do You Wanna Dance":
 
"Carl is playing through an amp here, as opposed to the direct-to-console method he had begun to employ at Western around this time; his amp was overdriven to produce a distorted tone similar to the one he achieved on 'Little Honda'."

Source: http://www.beachboysarchives.com/page3

Need I look any further? 

[NOLA BB Fan]

Need I look any further? 

looks good to me! 

[Michael Edward Osbourne]

Five for Little Honda. The energy and the fuzz-tone just rocks! Punky!

[Wata]

Your ratings for Little Honda:
1...0 vote
2...0 vote
3...1 vote
4...1 vote
5...6 votes

[Wata]

Today's song is We'll Run Away.

[JK]

Brian's penultimate "anyhow" is worth at least five points in itself. One of the defining moments on All Summer Long.

[NOLA BB Fan]

Brian's penultimate "anyhow" is worth at least five points in itself. One of the defining moments on All Summer Long.

Absolutely.
Another beautiful ballad by Brian.
5

[Wata]

Love Brian's kinda shouty vocals here. I gave this a 5.

[rab2591]

JK, thank you for researching that guitar sound! And NOLA BB Fan, thanks for that anecdote about Carl. I have to agree with him!

We'll Run Away is a definite favorite BB song of mine. This song has a sweetness stemming from Brian's voice, but it has a depth that seems to hit when that organ kicks in (it goes from a sweet little love ballad to a song that commands your attention)...perhaps this was a song written not only to kids but to parents of those in love, a sonic way of describing just how powerful love can be, and that emotions sometimes should overrule logic.

5/5

[RangeRoverA1]

Nice to see people just say 5 etc. Not "A 5", "A great song", "A real highlight" etc. Seriously, some poster at PS starts every sentence with "a". Extremely obsessed with "a" it's hilarious to read, haha. Dumb habit? Yep.

4 to "We'll Run Away" - good but I usually prefer fast songs. Btw, happy about "I Get Around" being "5" to Smilers. As it must! Agree with the poster below re: "Little Honda" - ASL cut isn't THAT cool like the alt. take. Exactly "go little Honda" etc. is great bit which lacks in album's LH.

[Michael Edward Osbourne]

We'll Run Away

FOUR. Nice song. I dig the Hammond organ and the perfectly double-tracked vocals by Brian.

[Wata]

Your ratings for We'll Run Away:
1...0 vote
2...0 vote
3...0 vote
4...3 votes
5...3 votes

[Wata]

Today's song is Carl's Big Chance.

[JK]

Carl's making the most of his big chance but it's those droning saxes that really lift this track. What a fabulous sound!

I'll give this one a 5.

[Michael Edward Osbourne]

Carl's Big Chance

FOUR. I like the plunky sound of the guitar and bass. It's probably my least favorite song on All Summer Long but it's still a cool tune. Rockin'.

[JK]

I hear more than one sax on that pedal note. It sounds too smooth and round for a single instrument.

The best place to check is where they begin, here at 1:12:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc6aarP60cw

[Wata]

Your ratings for Carl's Big Chance:
1...0 vote
2...0 vote
3...1 vote
4...2 votes
5...1 vote

[Wata]

Today's song is Wendy.

[NOLA BB Fan]

5
REALLY cool intro, great driving beat, and (in the mono version) a cough thrown in to boot.
Classic.

[JK]

One of the great pop intros! Followed by a fantastic song I can never get enough of. Definitely a 5.

[rab2591]

5/5 - so if the harmonies weren’t incredible enough that organ solo in the middle eight hits the spot every time. Was that Brian trying to emulate the Beatles a little? I think he succeeds with flying colors on that one.