Getting One's Friends Into The Beach Boys

[Curtis Leon]

Pet sounds was the wrong way to start.

First, since they think they're so cool, get them to listen to Good Vibrations, and tell them that before Good Vibrations, everything was recorded in whole with a few overdubs, after Good Vibrations, everything from rap to country to classical is recorded in pieces like that song.  Then show 'em where the cuts are.  It'll blow their mind.  Then tell them you don't want to listen to anymore today, and put on the most god awful bullmerda record you can find, and go "Yeah; I guess Rob Thomas is good too"

The contrast from cut to cut, then finally to whatever bullmerda song you play next will blow their mind and they'll be begging you to play soemthing else great.  So the next time you do it, play "Wild Honey", or "Marcella", or "Friends" but only the one song, then move onto something horrible again. 

Eventually they'll associate the Beach Boys with god and whoever you play next with god awful.

I dunno... wouldn't that just convince your friends to request that you play the Beach Boys all the time?

[Ron]

...hmm.  I thought that was the intended effect.  These damn spells always backfire.  HOCUS POCUS!!!! ALLEY OOP OCUS!!!!

[Jon Stebbins]

In the '70's I used to get my high-school friends high and play a mystical Zeppelin track or a trippy Pink Floyd track, and everyone would say whoa...that's sounds so eerie when yer high...and I'd say, ya think that's trippy? Check this out, and then i'd slip on Fall Breaks and Back to Winter or Wind Chimes...and they'd get a little scared and and laugh and be blown away...and ALWAYS ask, what the fluck is this??? At the moment you say "Its the Beach Boys."...their perception is forever shattered, and then their minds are wide open...then, i'd usually transition to Holland or 20/20.  My friends NEVER again said the BB's weren't cool after one of those sessions...But that was the '70's....before Kokomo, John Stamos, tennis shorts, Baywatch and decades of lameness...it was an easier job.

[Dunderhead]

The Pet Sounds sessions are really great for this. Get your friends high and play something like the vocal track for "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times".
Then play the actual song, then listen to you friend ask "dude, didn't we just listen to this...that wasn't with music? Whoa!"

[Jay]

A friend of mine was doing a paper for school on music. She knew I was an obsessed music freak, so she asked me to help her out. She was basically doing a report on music from 1960 to 1970(an exact same project I had done for school a few years before, oddly enough). She REFUSED to mention The Beach Boys. She took one single listen to 409 and Surfin' Safari, and thought I was crazy. I politely tried to explain to her that this guy by the name of Brian WIlson literally changed the face of music history with an album called Pet Sounds, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She refused to have anything to do with "bubble gum pop music", as I believe she called it. It ended up being a big argument, and we didn't speak for about 6 months.

[Don_Zabu]

A friend of mine was doing a paper for school on music. She knew I was an obsessed music freak, so she asked me to help her out. She was basically doing a report on music from 1960 to 1970(an exact same project I had done for school a few years before, oddly enough). She REFUSED to mention The Beach Boys. She took one single listen to 409 and Surfin' Safari, and thought I was crazy. I politely tried to explain to her that this guy by the name of Brian WIlson literally changed the face of music history with an album called Pet Sounds, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She refused to have anything to do with "bubble gum pop music", as I believe she called it. It ended up being a big argument, and we didn't speak for about 6 months.

Tell me: did not mentioning one of the largest music figures of the 60's in a paper about the music of the 60's mark her down in the slightest? It'd be sort of like writing a paper about WW2 and not mentioning Germany.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I think the Beach Boys really are THAT band where each new convert just has to have his or her "personal moment".... I grew up in Hawthorne, so trust me, The Beach Boys were like Christ. Everyone's parents knew or were friends with at least one Beach Boy, but this didn't translate into really loving the band. It was more like respecting the American Flag.... Sure, I knew and loved (as did everyone) the sun and fun hits (still my favorite stuff, btw) but ya know, us kids moved onto punk and dissonance and all that crap.... But MY personal religious experience moment was when I rented the "America's Band" 1985 VHS mainly as a joke and sat back and pressed play and as the opening credits rolled (over footage of some guy surfing) the 3rd movement of Surf's Up played, and man, I dunno.... something just clicked in my brain and I was even too embarrassed to ask anyone just what the hell that song was, so I filed it away, but still I knew there was much more to The Beach Boys than I KNEW. So, a while later I picked up "Surf's Up" in a cut-out bin at a local record store and haven't looked back since. So, I guess, all one can do is play The Beach Boys for their friends in a casual situation and either these friends will have a similar moment at some point, or they won't. But you can't force it.

[Jay]

My "moment" was hearing the "Fire"music on the American Band program. I was probably about 12-13. It scared me to death. But it also gave me a kind of "morbid curiosity". I haven't been the same since. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. 

[rogerlancelot]

I guess I am kind of lucky. Most of my friends and family like the Beach Boys. My mom loved them before I ever heard them. My brother loves stuff like "You Need A Mess Of Help" and "Let The Wind Blow". My girlfriend likes stuff like "Tears In The Morning" and "In My Room". My friends back in Shreveport mostly are fans to some extent but unfortunately do not post here. I know of 2 that are very obsessive about them (one of them made me listen to Sunflower for the first time).

There was a drummer that I played with for years who was primarily into death-metal. I turned him on to the Beach Boys with a SMiLE mix I made back then (1999). It's easy to turn people on to their music. It's so good, even "Little Pad".

Being the comedian I can be sometimes I once spent a week asking random people (at work, at stores, etc.) what their favorite Beach Boys song was. Hands down "Surfin' USA" won but it was funny to see people stop and sing it. The music will always be loved by mostly all.

Little note: my girlfriend does hate "Vegetables" however. But she loves POB so who cares?

[rogerlancelot]

Sorry, thought of one other thing. If you want to instantly turn somebody on to the Beach Boys play them "Let The Wind Blow" from In Concert (1973). They WILL ask to hear more.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Play them Love You, then tell them it was released in 1977. Kill or cure. 

[rogerlancelot]

Play them Love You, then tell them it was released in 1977. Kill or cure. 

Now that is a tough sale, my friend. But you are correct on kill or cure. But so is Smiley Smile for instance. Either way, I have turned on a lot of people (mostly musicians) to the Beach Boys. Now I'm in Vegas and there is not a lot of Beach Boys that I can tell of on radio for instance. Time to make some new friends around here. 

[Dunderhead]

Fun mix for newbie friends:

clip-Dance, Dance, Dance intro with Brian and Chuck laughing
Dance, Dance, Dance (stereo)
Let Him Run Wild (stereo)
clip-Chuck explaining Brian's production
Let's Go Away For A While (stereo)
Don't Talk (stereo)
clip-Mike talking about Brian's harmonies
Prayer
Heroes and Villains (stereo)
clip-Brian doing a bit where he pretends not to know Carl, somebody says "brian you need to take a rest"
Surf's Up (piano only)
clip-Bruce on Wild Honey
Let the Wind Blow (live)
How She Boogalooed It
clip-Dennis hyping himself
Little Bird
Slip on Through
A Time to Live in Dreams (don't know when this is from but it's great)
clip-Dennis hyping up Carl
Long Promised Road
I Went to Sleep
clip-Mike and Al being interviewed
Big Sur (4/4 version)
California Saga / The Beaks of Eagles
Wake the World
Mt. Vernon And Fairway (Theme)
You Need a Mess of Help
Surf's Up (Surf's Up LP)
Better Get Back in Bed
Johnny Carson
clip-Brian and Al talking about Dennis
Companion
Dreamer
End of the Show
clip-Brian Wilson introducing Lay Down Burden
Lay Down Burden
Oxygen to the Brain
Love and Mercy
The Like In I Love You
clip-Brian's speech for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Surf's Up (BWPS)

I think that's actually a pretty solid history of the band in 90 minutes, tells the band's whole story thematically with a great collection of songs showing off lots of different sides. I wish I had more room on the cd, I would have loved to shove in a couple more things. I don't like the last part as much though, I feel like it's missing something.

[Mike's Beard]

I played a homemade comp at work the other day and the second track was "Vegetables". Someone asked me if I really liked this stuff or if I was just playing to piss people off.

My witty reply was "Both".   

P.S. Have witnessed someone turning off "Cuddle Up" in disgust!!!

[SG7]

It takes time and patience. Don't push the stuff on them either. It took my friend John six years for the music to really get to him. Now he's hooked! I just let him borrow most of my BW/BB DVDs for him to watch.

[willy]

I've always found it incredibly easy to turn musicians onto the BBs.

[SloopJohnB]

P.S. Have witnessed someone turning off "Cuddle Up" in disgust!!!

I'm not surprised by this - although I like the song, I know some people think Dennis' ballads are "pretentious", and I can totally see what they mean by that.

I've always found it incredibly easy to turn musicians onto the BBs.

I've only got two of my friends into the Beach Boys: both are musicians and have eclectic tastes. I didn't really "push" them, because I hate being pushed; I offered BWPS to one of them, and Pet Sounds to the other. They listened to the albums and searched for more by themselves, only asking me for "guidance" in order to find the stuff they were likely to enjoy the most.

[the captain]

P.S. Have witnessed someone turning off "Cuddle Up" in disgust!!!

I'm not surprised by this - although I like the song, I know some people think Dennis' ballads are "pretentious", and I can totally see what they mean by that.

I'm almost in that camp, for example. I don't think Dennis was pretentious, but his ballads are a bit...ah, much for me. I prefer his funkier stuff.

[Ron]

I haven't been able to really get into Dennis yet.  I bought the album that came out about a year or two ago, but to be honest I only listened to it a few times.

It's not that I don't think he was talented, I just haven't gotten it yet, lol.  I love a lot of his vocals in the BB's, though.  Forever of course is great, Little Bird is great, but I haven't gotten heavy into his solo stuff yet. 

[rogerlancelot]

I met a couple of guys here in Vegas tonight. They live around the corner and don't really know any Beach Boys other then the hits. So I showed them "Love Is A Woman" to see what reaction I could get. It was surprisingly positive. Don't ever give up.

I burned them a copy of my SS/WH (they are brothers) to blow their minds with. 

Viva Las Acid  indeed!

[The Madcap]

I haven't tried to convert any of my friends yet. I just became a fan within the past year. My advice is to show, don't tell. Instead of trying to tell them about how great the Beach Boys are and how they are more than the surfer image most people associate with the band, play some of the more obscure songs for people, but don't tell them who it's by. If they like the song, they will probably ask about it. If they do, that's when you should tell them it's by the Beach Boys. At first they will probably be surprised, due to the aforementioned surfer image, but they also might be intrigued and it could lead to them checking out more music by the Beach Boys, since you will have shown them first-hand that they are more than the surfer image. Of course, I haven't actually tried this so I could be wrong.

Also, don't start with Pet Sounds. That was the first album by them I heard, and although I absolutely love it now, I couldn't really get into it at first. The first Beach Boys songs that really blew me away were Surf's Up and Good Vibrations. The first album I really got into was Sunflower.

[Mike's Beard]

I'd say Sunflower is the best album to try to turn someone on to them, it's very varied, at times experimental, but at the same time accessible enough to appeal to people that like the hits. If Sunflower don't grab then then nothing else will.

[Ron]

More advice I would give is don't accept the premise that their Surf or early songs aren't good or are corny. 

"The Beach Boys, you mean like 'Little Deuce Coupe' ?"

"Yeah! Isn't that great!"

[Susan]

Pacific Ocean Blue has worked for me.

I was thinking the same thing - it has worked more than once.

One friend recently asked that i "educate" him about the BBs.  We don't get to spend a lot of time together, so i will be gifting him tonight with the 30th Anniversary box set.  He's huge into bluegrass, so i'm not sure how well it's going to work.  I think he is someone for whom POB would NOT be the right road.

Kinda depends on the new listener, i guess.

[buddhahat]

I met a couple of guys here in Vegas tonight. They live around the corner and don't really know any Beach Boys other then the hits. So I showed them "Love Is A Woman" to see what reaction I could get. It was surprisingly positive. Don't ever give up.

Do you mean to say you picked the worst track off the Beach Boys' most wacked album to convert somebody, and it worked?! Viva Las Acid sounds about right!