Getting One's Friends Into The Beach Boys

[TdHabib]

I played DW's "Time" for a college music professor, totally serious classical guy and he was FLOORED by it. "It's so dynamic" I remember him saying. He insisted on hearing another track from the POB reiusse and all I could think to play was "Love Remember Me." He wasn't as impressed.

[Wirestone]

TLOS demos did it for me recently.

[hypehat]

Isn't it nice when you discover that people are into The Beach Boys? Was chatting about music to some dude I'm moving in with in a couple of weeks and casually mentioned Brian, and it turns out he's a massive Pet Sounds fan 

[Menace Wilson]

I made a BBs comp for a friend of mine who is into everything from Bad Brains to Ravi Shankar.  Wanted the comp to surprise him...show that there was more to the BBs than the standard tunes about surfin and cars.  Here's the tracklist I put together:

1. Passing By
2. Friends
3. With Me Tonight
4. Til I Die
5. Let Him Run Wild
6. Heroes And Villains (sections)
7. Time To Get Alone
8. Wind Chimes
9. Meant For You
10. Be Here In The Morning
11. Fall Breaks And Back To Winter
12. Wonderful
13. Busy Doin’ Nothin’
14. Please Let Me Wonder
15. Little Pad
16. Darlin’
17. Let The Wind Blow
18. Cabinessence
19. Can’t Wait Too Long
20. I Went To Sleep
21. Surf’s Up
22. Old Man River
23. Cool, Cool Water

He seemed to dig it, or at least I heard him make a reference to "Let Him Run Wild" later on. 

[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.

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!

Probably a combination of the wackiness of the song and a very abbreviated bio I gave them about the band is what it was. Now they want more. What can I say? Most of my friends back home are in fact musicians (being one myself) but these guys are not really. They seem okay but there are a lot of people in this town to meet first before I start really making "best" friends around here.

I remember a guy I used to work with doing tech support who loved Tool most of all and I made him a copy of BWPS just as soon as it came out and he quickly converted. I can think of other people in the past who didn't care for the BB's and all it took was a SMiLE mix to expand their minds. It's all perception and about how to change the way people view the band. They made a lot of major errors in their 50 year careers after all. But I don't preach about them to people who resist yet I am always up to hearing something new I have never heard before if somebody convinces me in a proper manner.

One last quick story. 12 years ago I met this beautiful redhead at a bar sitting down quietly reading a book. I offered her a drink and some conversation which led to a very quick romance and within a few days she moved herself and her possessions (including a cat) into my apartment. Everything was going extremely well for a couple of days. I was actually starting to fall in love with her. Then IT happened. I casually put on my copy of Abbey Road on the cd player and she asked me who it was. Dumbfounded, I told her it was the Beatles and she replied that she hated the Beatles especially their song "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter". I broke up with her on the spot and moved her out by the next morning. Now I have been with this other redhead for almost 11 years and we've seen Paul McCartney in concert together and listened obsessively to Beach Boys and all of that great stuff. Sometimes you have to hold out for the right one. 

[rab2591]

Isn't it nice when you discover that people are into The Beach Boys? Was chatting about music to some dude I'm moving in with in a couple of weeks and casually mentioned Brian, and it turns out he's a massive Pet Sounds fan 

A couple weeks ago I was in town hanging out with some friends; I had my headphones on, listening to a Doors song, when a friend came up and asked if she could listen too....she started going through the music on my blackberry and was like "awesome! The Beach Boys!" - she started playing some really obscure Beach Boys song (I think it was 'Then i Kissed Her') and she started singing along with it! She knew most of the Beach Boys tunes I had on there. We had a great time listening to them.

So yeah, it's great when you finally meet someone with the same tastes!

[summerinparadise.flac]

The theme to Dragonball Z with those voices? I'm shaking . . .

[mtaber]

Back in the '70's i tried repeatedly to convert friends, always without success.  Maybe it was my breath...

Anyway, I think "Sail On, Sailor" is a good starting point.  If people don't already know the song, they will NEVER guess its the Boys.  Then you break them in slowly, once you've convinced them there may be more to the group than surf and sun...

Man, if "Love Is A Woman" can work, anything is possible!

[buddhahat]

Everything was going extremely well for a couple of days. I was actually starting to fall in love with her. Then IT happened. I casually put on my copy of Abbey Road on the cd player and she asked me who it was. Dumbfounded, I told her it was the Beatles and she replied that she hated the Beatles especially their song "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter".

Priceless.

[Ron]

Everything was going extremely well for a couple of days. I was actually starting to fall in love with her. Then IT happened. I casually put on my copy of Abbey Road on the cd player and she asked me who it was. Dumbfounded, I told her it was the Beatles and she replied that she hated the Beatles especially their song "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter".

Priceless.

Bit off topic, but a few years ago there was this great kind of 'outsider' country song about that.  It's called "My Kind of Music" by Ray Scott... download it.  He has a kind of Waylon Jennings sound.

Oh, I met this girl I swore was close to perfect.
I could see the ring, the dress, and the whole nine yards.
I had a country station on and she reached and turned it.
Said she couldnt stand the sound of a steel guitar.
We hit the town to catch an early movie.
And ol' Kris Kristofferson played the leading role.
I said "That's my man!" She said "Who's he?"
so I jumped up and said "Girl, we gotta go!"

She dont like to play my kinda music.
She's never heard a Waylon Jennings song.
She's never been a fan of Willie Nelson.
So there aint no way in hell we'll get along.

She told me she thinks country musics hokey.
She said "You can't dance to it, and all the songs are sad."
I cocked my eyebrow and said "You must be jokin!"
"Ain't no excuse for havin taste that bad."
Then I asked her if she'd heard of Alan Jackson.
And she said "Didn't he sing that song called 'Where Were You?'"
I said "Ya, but girl, that man's a livin' legend."
And she said "Really? I thought he was new."

She dont like tp play my kinda music.
She's never heard of David Allan Coe.
She can't get enough of Whitney Houston.
And I'm thinkin "Lord, that's all i need to know."

So when the night was over i walked her to her door.
And i bid that girl an overdue farewell.
And without a good night kiss i jumped back in my truck.
Turned on some Hank and cranked it loud as hell.

She don't like to play my kinda music.
She don't know Sunday morning comin down.
She can't see what's so cool about he stopped lovin' her today.
Or angel flying to close to the ground.
She told me that she sorta likes the Eagles.
She couldn't name one hit by Johnny Cash.

No, she don't like to play my kinda music.
So i had to tell that girl to kiss my ass!

[The Heartical Don]

I have told some friends that the Beach Boys are one of the most diverse bands in pop music history. I always get a funny look.

Hehe. As in: The Ramones are so, so varied in their presentation, and their albums differ intensely from one another; buy their whole catalogue unheard in one go, and you'll see what I mean.

[/suicidal mode]

[Mike's Beard]

I have told some friends that the Beach Boys are one of the most diverse bands in pop music history. I always get a funny look.

Hehe. As in: The Ramones are so, so varied in their presentation, and their albums differ intensely from one another; buy their whole catalogue unheard in one go, and you'll see what I mean.

[/suicidal mode]

They've made some of the best music of all time and also some of the worst - can't get much more diverse than that now!  

[Roger Ryan]

Obviously the Ramones have nothing on the Beach Boys/Beatles/Stones or what-have-you, but there is definitely a progression from the first two albums to the third album and another leap from the third to the fourth and fifth full-length releases. Try comparing "Beat On The Brat" from RAMONES to "Danny Says" on END OF THE CENTURY or "It's Not My Place In The 9 To 5 World" from PLEASANT DREAMS. That's the sound of the Ramones going from "Surfin' Safari" to something like the TODAY album (to use a Beach Boys progression). They would continue to branch out into more lushly-produced material while embracing hardcore punk as the same time.

The Ramones never made it to a PET SOUNDS/GOOD VIBRATIONS-style revelation, but...well, what do you expect from the Ramones?! They covered alot of ground given the bare minimalism they started out with.

[The Heartical Don]

Obviously the Ramones have nothing on the Beach Boys/Beatles/Stones or what-have-you, but there is definitely a progression from the first two albums to the third album and another leap from the third to the fourth and fifth full-length releases. Try comparing "Beat On The Brat" from RAMONES to "Danny Says" on END OF THE CENTURY or "It's Not My Place In The 9 To 5 World" from PLEASANT DREAMS. That's the sound of the Ramones going from "Surfin' Safari" to something like the TODAY album (to use a Beach Boys progression). They would continue to branch out into more lushly-produced material while embracing hardcore punk as the same time.

The Ramones never made it to a PET SOUNDS/GOOD VIBRATIONS-style revelation, but...well, what do you expect from the Ramones?! They covered alot of ground given the bare minimalism they started out with.

Fair comment. I really love End Of The Century. Some dissed that one unjustly. And Joey's version of 'Baby I Love You' is so great.

[matt-zeus]

I don't really bother trying to get my friends into the Beach Boys anymore, I did try a bit when I first got into them (in the 90s), though I think it may be easier now due to the fact that Brian has had a lot of publicity and exposure during the last decade.
I got into the BBs through the hits then PS (which took a while to grow on me) then something clicked, you have to have some perseverance to get into it though. Most people i've tried to get into them find the music too sappy or light, which in some cases is true, if you start going on about interesting chord changes and melodies etc then it seems to lose most people - unless perhaps they are musicians.

[Ron]

When I was younger, I always liked early rock and roll so I loved that stuff of the Beach Boys, but was a casual fan.  I went to a concert, and bought "Pet Sounds" afterwards, but to be honest my first thoughts on the album was that it was very dreary.  I listened to it a few times, then shelved it away.  A few years later, I got the album out, and for whatever reason really really liked it.  I think the legend about  Brian's sickness helps the die hard fans really understand and get into the music in a much deeper way than most casual or first time listeners do, so that's a bit of a hurdle too.