The Specific Beach Boys Musical Moment That Is Kicking Your Ass Right Now

[RangeRoverA1]

"Barnyard" animal speech bits. The BWPS show performance is hilarious.

[mtaber]

"Dawn, bird's still gone, guess I'll go, mow the lawn". 

Possibly the greatest line of all time...

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

"Dawn, bird's still gone, guess I'll go, mow the lawn". 

Possibly the greatest line of all time...

That's one of my favorites. I've often thought this line from Cabinessence was genius. "I want to watch you windblown facing waves of wheat for your embracing". Some genuine poetry going on there and it paints an incredible scene.

[wjcrerar]

.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

...The Wind Chimes fragment from Sunshine Tomorrow. Perfection.

[RangeRoverA1]

...The Wind Chimes fragment from Sunshine Tomorrow. Perfection.

Yep, said the same in ST review thread. Smiley fans think alike.

[marcella27]

The live version of Wild Honey on MIC.  I don’t have any words to express how good this is. 

[Rob Dean]

The live version of Wild Honey on MIC.  I don’t have any words to express how good this is. 

Yep, it is rather damn good however I wish the theremin was louder in the mix.
Believe me, the version on the original proposed single 'In Concert' LP release is even better, complete with some super space age synth parts - Mind blowing stuff

[Matt H]

The live version of Wild Honey on MIC.  I don’t have any words to express how good this is. 

Yep, it is rather damn good however I wish the theremin was louder in the mix.
Believe me, the version on the original proposed single 'In Concert' LP release is even better, complete with some super space age synth parts - Mind blowing stuff

Where did you hear it at?  I would love to hear the original In Concert.

[marcella27]

The live version of Wild Honey on MIC.  I don’t have any words to express how good this is. 

Yep, it is rather damn good however I wish the theremin was louder in the mix.
Believe me, the version on the original proposed single 'In Concert' LP release is even better, complete with some super space age synth parts - Mind blowing stuff

I would LOVE to hear it!

[RONDEMON]

BW's vocals on "Love Is Here to Stay" from the Gershwin LP. It's his most emotive and playful lyric since the '70s. He definitely put a lot of effort into this one, prob because it was a big one for the Freshmen.

I hear some tuning, but it doesn't bother me much because the performance itself is so good.

[Rob Dean]

The live version of Wild Honey on MIC.  I don’t have any words to express how good this is. 

Yep, it is rather damn good however I wish the theremin was louder in the mix.
Believe me, the version on the original proposed single 'In Concert' LP release is even better, complete with some super space age synth parts - Mind blowing stuff

I would LOVE to hear it!

I really wish I owned it, as I would certainly share - I was played the whole LP by someone who shall remain nameless on a visit to the West Coast in the early 2000's

[Jukka]

Carl's guitar intro for Fun, Fun, Fun. I mean, nothing clever there but it rocks!

[RangeRoverA1]

The BBs took Chuck Berry's ideas in "Sweet Little Sixteen" to "Surfin' USA". They modified it with cool things, the end result being catchy bright ambitious smash hit. Bottom line? BBs = clever bunch.

[RangeRoverA1]

Checking songs saved to flash drive, found "Beach Boys - Won't You Tell Me". It's really charming. I hear Brian, Mike, Carl (?). But no Al. His voice is distinct when it's there & when absent. BBs is vocal band & they sang many songs like this by mood. But the voices obscured here, is there smb. else singing? Maybe it's bad mix. Regardless, good song with splendid singing.

[Rick5150]

The powerful keyboard riff in Gettin' Hungry blows me away every time I hear it.

[Rocker]

Al friggin' Jardine's lead vocal on In Concert's "You still believe in Me". Incredible 

[phirnis]

Recently:

Lonely Sea - hard to believe Brian was only 20 when they recorded this

Marcella - this has become one of my favorite 70s songs, love the "Hey Marcella" backing vocals during the tag

[sloopjohnb72]

Recently:

Lonely Sea - hard to believe Brian was only 20 when they recorded this

Marcella - this has become one of my favorite 70s songs, love the "Hey Marcella" backing vocals during the tag

He was actually only 19!

[SufferingFools]

The backing vocal during Marilyn’s second vocal part in “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together.”  Never noticed it before, but it’s very cleverly woven in.

[rab2591]

The backing vocal during Marilyn’s second vocal part in “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together.”  Never noticed it before, but it’s very cleverly woven in.

I'd never noticed that before either. Honestly this song has been growing on me lately - it was my least favorite song from Love You (besides I Wanna Pick You Up) - but lately I think the dynamic between Brian and Marilyn is great and the song's composition has a lot of Brian-isms (there is a repeating melody in a lot of the instrumentals - something Brian did a lot of in his productions (Kiss Me Baby being a prime example)). Not the best song he ever did, but it's also very creative.

[rab2591]

I've been listening to 'I Get Around' a lot lately (due to the LoCash song).

That a cappella break toward the end of the song that leads into that outro, with Brian's "Wa wa wa-oooo" - man it's just so good.

[guitarfool2002]

I've been listening to 'I Get Around' a lot lately (due to the LoCash song).

That a cappella break toward the end of the song that leads into that outro, with Brian's "Wa wa wa-oooo" - man it's just so good.

Absolutely, one of Brian's best songs and productions from the Capitol era. I think "I Get Around" is pure excitement, one of the best singles the band ever released, and perfect for AM radio and the charts as of 1964 when The Beatles were literally monopolizing American radio. The song has an overall feel - conveyed by the chords and the arrangement - that sounds very foreboding somehow, even though it's talking about a guy bragging about how good of a driver he is and how much he makes the scene to borrow that lingo. Like so many of Brian's best in that era, the sound and feel/vibe of his productions transcends the lyrical content, and puts the impact of the song far beyond the surface meaning in the lyrics. "Don't Worry Baby" is perhaps the greatest example of this, where people listening get so wrapped up in the sound and emotion that they ignore the fact it's about a guy getting mentally prepared for a drag race.

Brian has said "I Get Around" was one of the songs he wrote to compete with The Beatles, and the fascinating parts to hear are how he borrowed several songwriting and production ideas from Beatles hits that were on  the radio at the time.

1. The chord change in the main hook (and intro) G / E7 / Am / F  D7  - Specifically the F to D7 which resolves back to the home key of G for that section - is something Lennon/McCartney would have done, and the kind of unexpected chord change that is in their music from 63-64. An F chord normally does not resolve or naturally flow to a D7 or D, yet it's the kind of change that you hear all over the "Mersey Beat" style from that time. In the case of "She Loves You", which I think may have been either a subliminal or direct inspiration on Brian's "I Get Around", Lennon/McCartney to transition back to the"home" key and chord of G major use a C minor to lead to D, then resolve to G. C minor isn't in the key, nor is it expected...so the Beatles used a C minor, to D, back to G, and Brian used F to D, back to G, and in both cases it creates a surprise, adds tension, and delivers a punch to get listeners back to the home key of G. Great pop songwriting simply by shifting one single chord from the expected to the unnatural and making it work.

2. The dramatic stops and starts, as the record business folks used to call "stop on a dime" musical breaks. The Beatles used it brilliantly in "She Loves You", when they do a stop time followed by dead silence on the lyric "with a LOVE LIKE THAT (pause...) ". They also did similar things in "Love Me Do" (so pleease, eee-eee-ease [STOP]...love me do) and "Please Please Me" (total silence before the guitar fill sets up the main hook "c'mon, c'mon...please please me...) . It's a simple device that leaves the listeners hanging, and makes whatever they sing or play next even more dramatic. Brian takes it much, much further beyond what The Beatles did and has nearly every section of the song minus the guitar solo featuring such stop on a dime moments and stop-time hits. It creates pure excitement on every part of the record, and sounds great on the radio.

And the a capella break near the end is thrilling, there's no other word to describe it. Another great production trick Brian used explosively in later classics like Good Vibrations and Sloop John B among others...near the end of the song, hit 'em with the a capella voices, and let the excitement commence.

3. Brian starts the song immediately with a vocal hook, and an a capella one at that. First thing you hear is the hook "round round get around, I GET AROUND" and there is no question what the title and hook of the song is, and no instruments at all. Everything that follows reinforces and expands on the main idea of the song in that hook. Why or how does this singer get around? Here's the rest of the explanation to follow in the verses...BOOM. Classic songwriting 101. The Beatles did this most successfully (chart-wise at least) in "She Loves You". Right out of the gate, after a Ringo drum roll, there's the hook "She Loves You, Yeah Yeah Yeah" repeated 3 times. The listener is hooked into the music and lyrics in the first 10 seconds of the record, everything that follows supports and expands on what's already been stated from the beginning. I don't think it was accidental that both "She Loves You" and "I Get Around" start immediately with the main hook of the record.

They're both brilliant songs, terrific records and productions, great radio hits, and among the most iconic songs the Beatles and Beach Boys ever did. It's just fascinating to imagine how Brian may have been listening to his competition and thinking, "Ok, the Beatles did this and made a great record, now I'm going to do it many more times on my record and do it in different ways." It's a similar mindset he would use for "Good Vibrations" when he deliberately wanted to outdo Spector's "Wall" and throw every tic and trick and odd instrument into his own creation to build a classic track.

Great, great record that never sounds dated, that "I Get Around".

[rab2591]

Man thanks for that writeup, Guitarfool!

I had never made the connection between "She Loves You" and "I Get Around" but now that you mention it I see the similarities all over those two songs. If I had even a remote knowledge of musical theory I think I'd appreciate your overview of the chord changes a lot more haha.

Re the dramatic stops and starts: iirc Brian took this effect too far with "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and radio stations didn't want to play it because listeners were confused by the long breaks? I can't remember if that was a fan theory or if that actually happened. If it did really happen it's a shame because it's one of my favorite BB songs.

And regarding the lyrics I totally agree - they are phenomenal and fit perfectly, but the mood of the song is so overpowering that the lyrics aren't your main concern and take a backseat. You mention this being the case on 'Don't Worry Baby' as well and I'd say that a lot of the Roger Christian songs felt this way - the lyrics were poetically/beautifully put together, but Brian's production/mood for the songs became the central focus on many of them - It took my wife 2+ years until she realized that 'Spirit Of America' was about a rocket car. And for that matter it took me a long time to realize that too. Brian's melodies/harmonies are the reason I listen to that track constantly.

I think Brian absolutely knew when lyrics matters a great deal and when they didn't - The Warmth of the Sun - the background instrumentals/vocals are there to support the lyrics (much of this happens on Pet Sounds as well) so you pretty much just focus on the lyrics (though with Pet Sounds it's definitely a solid balance between lyrics and instrumentals). But then other songs he uses the lyrics as a means of getting his melody/harmonies to the forefront of the listener's attention.

Anywho, I'm just rambling - I don't pretend to know what Brian was thinking or his intentions when producing some songs. I'm just throwing out some thoughts.

[rab2591]

Not a specific moment, but:

Wouldn't It Be Nice (mono)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (stereo)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (instrumental)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (vocals only)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (single lead vocal)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (Brian's At My Piano version)

Every version of this song blows my mind. The stripped down piano chords are just beautiful, the instrumental is layered with energy and ethereal sound. The vocals-only sounds angelic. Even some of Brian's alternate leads sound amazing.