The Beach Boys as a classic rock band

[Jason]

Has anyone ever lumped the Beach Boys in with the other "classic rock" bands? The Beach Boys don't really fit the bill, but I still consider them a classic rock band. I come to this conclusion based mostly on the first four 70s albums, with some of their hardest rocking stuff (you might add 20/20, since that has some rockers on it as well).

I'm not content reviewing the Beach Boys as merely an "oldies act". There's so much more to their material that I lump them in with the classic rockers.

Just rambling. Ignore at your own discretion.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I think they have qualities about their music, and history which justify lumping them in with all the other "oldies" station bands. Though, as we all know, there's SO much more about them that is hardly ever found out due to their stale status as an oldies band.

Though, I have heard some of the more bizarre music on college independant radio shows.

[Jonas]

I dunno, I understand that they would fit under the category of 'Classic Rock' because of the time they released their music...but other than that, not really. I still consider them a Vocal Surfer Rock band...heck, you can throw 'Experimental' in there too...

[Jason]

The reason I started this thread is because I used to run a weekly classic rock show on my college radio station. I did a few Beach Boys shows, including a four hour marathon of Smile. There were a few occasions where passers-by asked me what I was playing, and I told them it was the Beach Boys. They were all shocked, saying how much they loved the music and how they were "totally NOT an oldies act". That's justification that they're more of a classic rock band.

[Jardine Power!]

I think of them as a classic rock band. In the mid-to-late sixties and early seventies they were more experimental and versatile than most other highly-talked about (and better known) "classic rock" groups. Sadly, having the name "The Beach Boys" will cause anyone who doesn't know better to lump them in the category of a moldy-oldies act. It's a shame because no one has a clue what the Beach Boys actually did after "Barbara Ann".

[Bean Bag]

Yep...they got tagged as an oldies band.  But that's fine,...it really makes them more of a diamond in the rough.  You know pretty much everyone here on this board, for example, is keen...they're beyond--WAY beyond "trying to be hip."  I'd much rather see like that!

[Mitchell]

I dunno, none of their music is really "classic rock" so much as it is "classic pop" (which makes it oldies). I think the later stuff certainly can rock, and their sound definitely changed and all that, but it doesn't have the same vibe for me (maybe because I never hear it on classic rock radio!)... I guess their 'classic rock' songs would be from Carl and the Passions, like Marcella.

[monkee knutz]

Definite oldoes, but I don't think classic rock. Somehow the Beatles fall into classic rock, but not the BB's.
WCSX is a classic rock station in Detroit and I have NEVER heard them play one BB tune. They play the hell out of the Beatles, tho. Interesting observation Dr. J. What is the classicification or the distinction? What divides one from the other? Did the Beatles rock harder than the BB's? The Beatles are more rock than pop? So the Beatles are classic rock, pop & oldies as where the BB's are only a pop & oldies band? Interesting. I'll have to ponder that tomorrow when I consider Carl Sagan's theories on the cosmos.

[Jason Penick]

WCKG in Chicago-- the classic rock station I cut my teeth on as a young'un-- would work the occasional Beach Boys song into their playlist.  Never anything as adventurous as "Heroes & Villains" or "Sail on Sailor", mind you, but occasionally they'd throw you a "Help Me Rhonda" or "God Only Knows".

I'll never forget the first time I heard "Sailor", it was on Bob Stroud's rock 'n' roll diner program on WLUP, the Loop (Chicagoans know what I'm talkin about here).  I remember thinking, which Beach Boy is singing that lead?!  (it then segued into "Black Betty" by Ram Jam... Amazing the minutia the human mind remembers.)

[I. Spaceman]

LA classic rock station KLOS played Sail On Sailor continually when I was growing up. I once heard the entire Surf's Up album on the classic rock station KLSX here.

[Sir Rob]

Has anyone ever lumped the Beach Boys in with the other "classic rock" bands? The Beach Boys don't really fit the bill, but I still consider them a classic rock band. I come to this conclusion based mostly on the first four 70s albums, with some of their hardest rocking stuff (you might add 20/20, since that has some rockers on it as well).

I'm not content reviewing the Beach Boys as merely an "oldies act". There's so much more to their material that I lump them in with the classic rockers.

Just rambling. Ignore at your own discretion.

There's the problem for me - I'm not a fan of early 70s American rock.  To be honest, after the 1960s American music doesn't hold much interest for me (Dylan aside) until the 'new wave' of mostly New York bands.  And The Beach Boys, by and large, by CATP just seem like a different act to The Beach Boys up to Smile - which in a way they are.   I like the odd track and I like the Surf's Up album.  Overall, I'm much happier with 'Love You'.

[Rocker]

I had this problem, too. I couldn't really put the Beach Boys into "Classic Rock", since their sound was/is so different. I then just began to put it into "Beach Boys Music" and that fits very good I think....

[Evenreven]

Surely classic rock and oldies rock are oxymora, as rock 'n' roll aimed to be an alternative and even destroy musical classicism. "Classic rock" and "oldies" aren't musical properties/qualities, but rather frames of mind of listeners and radio programmers with an overreliance on nostalgia. I'm not sure what classic rock is even supposed to be. A lot of the music labelled as such deserves better, and our beloved Beach Men is a case in point.

[donald]

I first heard In Concert on an all "rock" fm station played in its entirety.  This was just after the release of the album.  We were dumbfounded, just blown away that the Beachboys could ROCK like that.

They fit right in with the formula at the time.   The next thing I knew, Endless Summer had been released.  Back to the oldies.

[job]

Certainly Surf's up, Holland, CATP, In Concert, and LA fit that classic rock "mold".

[The Shift]

Certainly Surf's up, Holland, CATP, In Concert, and LA fit that classic rock "mold".

Not so sure about LA… reverting to MOR pop by then, enjoyable as it was.

CATP/In Concert are probably their "classic rock" peak but they don't quite fit that mould. Similarly, PS, Smiley, Sunflower, SU, Holland, CATP have elements of prog about them but again they don't quite fit that mould either, yet they're all some evolutionary distance ahead of pop.

And therein lies on of the reasons why the BBs' later stuff doesn't often get the airplay that the early stuff does… they slip down the cracks between categories and genre definitions. They're not easily defined for the convenience of all those specialist fm stations.

[Steve Latshaw]

In the 80s I was a DJ at WTAO-FM, Murphysburo-Carbondale, IL... our stated format was AOR. or Album Oriented Rock.  Our playlist was identical to what is now called "Classic Rock."  Same artists, same songs. etc.  Surf's Up, Trader, Marcella, Long Promised Road, Til I Die, Feel Flows all got airplay, along with, as I recall, Sloop John B and God Only Knows.  But Sail On Sailor got the most airplay. 

[Eric Aniversario]

Certainly Surf's up, Holland, CATP, In Concert, and LA fit that classic rock "mold".

I definitely wouldn't consider LA classic rock. And of the other albums mentioned, I'd say that just a handful of tracks qualify. Sail on Sailor, Marcella, Lookin at tomorrow, the trader, hold on dear brother, long promised road. Maybe steamboat, funky pretty, student demo time, feel flows.

I'd say the closest fit to classic rock would be In Concert.

[lostbeachboy]

The Beach Boys are a garage surf baroque psychedelic classic soft rock band.

[bluesno1fann]

If The Beatles fit the Classic Rock label, then so should The Beach Boys.

[adamghost]

I think "Sail On Sailor" is the one Beach Boys tune that's a pretty universally accepted "classic rock" cut.

[phirnis]

When I read the term classic rock, what comes to mind are images of Led Zeppelin, staring at me from the front cover of Mojo magazine. I noticed some fans of classic rock seem to have a real problem with the BB - I guess if your favourite lyricist is Bob Dylan it's somewhat unlikely your 2nd-favourite lyricist is Mike Love. Others, however, seem to accept the "Brian Wilson is a genius" narrative and are very much into the 65-67 period while repeating a neverending mantra of "Pet Sounds had a huge influence on Sgt. Pepper". I think the BB did really well when they let some contemporary influences shine through in the early 70s, especially on Holland. Clearly still not an all-out rock band by that point, however, and all for the better as far as I'm concerned.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

You don't have to be all out rock to be considered classic rock. Consider Hey Jude, Imagine,  Tom Petty and the Eagles.  It just has to sound mature, as opposed to oldies that sound young and fun. Also, there isn't much room for over the top high falsetto and doo wop bass vocals in classic rock. I think the Beach Boys could pass with several songs,  enough to make a classic rock rotation.  Here is a list:

Caroline,  No
Surfs Up
Wild Honey
Darlin
Never Learn Not to Love
Celebrate the News
Sound of Free
Lady
It's About Time
Forever
Long Promised Road
Feel Flows
Student Demonstration Time
Disney Girls
Marcella
All This is That
Sail On Sailor
California Saga

[kookadams]

If The Beatles fit the Classic Rock label, then so should The Beach Boys.

yeah why would the beatles be classic rock and the BBs not??? The beach boys  were and are: rockNroll, rock, pop/rock, oldies I guess...but yeah they were and are THE epitome of classic rock; they aint country or rap, thats for sure,,,

[Emdeeh]

Just yesterday morning, I heard David Lee Roth's version of "California Girls" played on the Atlanta classic rock station, The River. I know that's a cover, but it's a cover of a BB song with Carl Wilson prominently singing backing vox.