Name One Song You'd Wish The BBs Should Have Covered

[1-1-wonderful]

3rd Stone from the Sun

[Menace Wilson]

All the talk in another thread about Rag Mama Rag got me thinking about The Band.

I think The Beach Boys could have done a killer rendition of "In A Station" (Wild Honey/Friends era).

This has to be the best cover suggestion I've ever heard! That song handled by Brian c. Time To Get Alone would be pure pop perfection. Just imagining what Brian would've done with the the "Can't we have something to feel" bit makes my head spin!

[Jason]

"f*** The Pain Away" by Peaches. Imagine she and Michael having a duet on that one. And add in some sleigh bells, bass harmonica, Coke bottles, and farting Moog synthesizers. #1 hit. I can smell it.

[Mike's Beard]

That still wouldn't be as disturbing as what Mike sings in "Hey Little Tomboy".

[Myk Luhv]

"Set Out Running" by Neko Case! Yeah, it was released in 2000 but some of y'all had anachronistic choices too, so I'm sticking with it! I could see someone like Mike singing the verses with Carl coming in to help on the chorus-type bits and Brian with Dennis doing lovely background vocals -- and obviously I'm thinking Holland-era Beach Boys here, because this song demands that.

[rab2591]

'constellations' by jack johnson....seems like a good Friends type song.

[hypehat]

Old Dirt Road by Lennon would be real nice if you had Carl singing it....



Then again, I swear most of the choices on this thread are justified by 'It'd be real nice if you had Carl singing it', so I don't know 

[GuyOnTheBeach]

Sorry to bump this thread but I was thinking the other day, a great song for 80's Beach Boys to cover would have been "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles, that bit at around 2:25 until the end made me realise this, would have been a great latter day group vocal for them. I could hear them doing this, honestly don't think it would have sounded out of place on BB85 (Even if the actual track was from 88, but humor me here  ). Would have been like "She Believes In Love Again" but better.

[PongHit]

… could have done an amazing cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

According to Napster-era MP3 files, they did the original.

[BillA]

"I Can't Find the Time To Tell You" by Orphius

"We Gotta Get You a Woman"; "Be Nice to Me"; "I Saw the Light"; "Hello It's Me" by Todd Rungreen

[OneEar/OneEye]

Moon In My Bed by Paul Kelly

[I. Spaceman]

Ramones' Beat On The Brat. Nasal wonderland.

[Alex]

Surfin` Biiiirrrrrddd uhguckccchhhglccchblggcchh with Mike doing the "bird" voice!

[doc smiley]

REM's -   Don't Go Back (To Rockville)
This is what   Stars and Stripes Vol 1  should have sounded like!

[Eric Aniversario]

Shiny Happy People by REM/Kate Pierson...I loved the song...couldn't stand the vocals!  And this is coming from a B-52s fan!

[nickdunning]

I mentioned this in another post but: This Could Be The Night by The Modern Folk Quartet. For anyone unfamiliar with it, it's basically Phil Spector's attempt to produce a Beach Boys style record and it's fabulous. Whether the boys could've topped the original is questionable as Spector's production is incredibe, but vocally I'd have loved to have heard them give it a try.

Conversely I would give my right arm to hear some of Spector's girl groups singing tracks (or the whole of) Pet Sounds, plus Spector producing it.

Lovely call. TCBTN was done by Brian Wilson (I have it on '21 Little Ones', or rather, I don't have it on that one that I don't have either); but that is too thin, soundwise. The Boys could have done it in a gorgeous way. However, Spector's steel guitar trickery can't be surpassed, IMHO. BTW, I have a cover of TCBTN on a Spector tribute album, 'Bionic Gold', produced by Jon Tiven, on some super-rare indie label. It's a great, great album, and one Vince Whirlwind, aged 17 then, does TCBTN. I fell in love with it when I was 19 myself, and it never left me since. The rhythm is changed considerably (slowed down), and all kinds of spanish guitar and mandolin sounds adorn this thing of beauty. It realizes the lyrical content of the song in full: the musings of a boy/man who's expecting his first sexual encounter with a girl he's been dating for some time. As far as I know, the LP never reached CD status.

Hmmm... imagine the Ronettes doing 'That's Not Me'.... my current fave is 'When I Saw You' by them. Stunning. Uplifting. The lot.

I've got the thought of Ronnie Spector singing 'You Still Believe In Me' here. Sexiest voice in rock and roll. Bless her.

I'm still imagining the Beach Boys doing Paul McCartney's 'Back Seat Of My Car', I can just hear Dennis on the 'But listen to her daddy's song' bit. Wonderful.

[exposedbrain]

Zombies-Care of Cell 44

[Outtasight!]

I mentioned this in another post but: This Could Be The Night by The Modern Folk Quartet. For anyone unfamiliar with it, it's basically Phil Spector's attempt to produce a Beach Boys style record and it's fabulous. Whether the boys could've topped the original is questionable as Spector's production is incredibe, but vocally I'd have loved to have heard them give it a try.

Conversely I would give my right arm to hear some of Spector's girl groups singing tracks (or the whole of) Pet Sounds, plus Spector producing it.

Lovely call. TCBTN was done by Brian Wilson (I have it on '21 Little Ones', or rather, I don't have it on that one that I don't have either); but that is too thin, soundwise. The Boys could have done it in a gorgeous way. However, Spector's steel guitar trickery can't be surpassed, IMHO. BTW, I have a cover of TCBTN on a Spector tribute album, 'Bionic Gold', produced by Jon Tiven, on some super-rare indie label. It's a great, great album, and one Vince Whirlwind, aged 17 then, does TCBTN. I fell in love with it when I was 19 myself, and it never left me since. The rhythm is changed considerably (slowed down), and all kinds of spanish guitar and mandolin sounds adorn this thing of beauty. It realizes the lyrical content of the song in full: the musings of a boy/man who's expecting his first sexual encounter with a girl he's been dating for some time. As far as I know, the LP never reached CD status.

Hmmm... imagine the Ronettes doing 'That's Not Me'.... my current fave is 'When I Saw You' by them. Stunning. Uplifting. The lot.

You can download the Brian version of TCBTN from I-Tunes 80c or thereabouts!

[runnersdialzero]

Is this the thread where I mentioned a mid-60s production of "California Dreamin'" by the Beach Boys would've been Gosh darn heavenly? And then got into an argument with people because I called the 80s version lacking and cheesy? If so, sry. If not, then that'd be my pick. It was like made for them to sing in those days imo.

[Aegir]

I'm listening to volume one of The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs and my god would "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side" be an amazing Beach Boys song -- think of the end where Merritt sings in the upper register (well, for him, I guess) but as a Brian falsetto! (Obviously the lyrics would have to be changed to as to preserve the California feelin's.) I think due to the lyrics being as quirky as Brian's late-period stuff that it would fit well on something like Friends or, to cheat a bit, 20/20 but I think it could just as easily work out as a monstrous mid-'60s stomper. A lot of the songs on this collection remind me of Brian's more idiosyncratic, day-in-the-life songwriting. Has Merritt ever said he was a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan, anyway? I have no reason to think he is, but it'd be neat if he was, haha.

I missed this post until now.

It's a common misconception that all the male vocals on 69 Love Songs are sung by Stephin Merritt. About a third of the songs are by other singers, "The Luckiest Guy On the Lower East Side" being sung by Dudley Klute. Merritt has sang lead on this song live and struggles with the end, which I'd imagine is why this is one of the songs he had someone else sing.

[Myk Luhv]

I'm listening to volume one of The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs and my god would "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side" be an amazing Beach Boys song -- think of the end where Merritt sings in the upper register (well, for him, I guess) but as a Brian falsetto! (Obviously the lyrics would have to be changed to as to preserve the California feelin's.) I think due to the lyrics being as quirky as Brian's late-period stuff that it would fit well on something like Friends or, to cheat a bit, 20/20 but I think it could just as easily work out as a monstrous mid-'60s stomper. A lot of the songs on this collection remind me of Brian's more idiosyncratic, day-in-the-life songwriting. Has Merritt ever said he was a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan, anyway? I have no reason to think he is, but it'd be neat if he was, haha.

I missed this post until now.

It's a common misconception that all the male vocals on 69 Love Songs are sung by Stephin Merritt. About a third of the songs are by other singers, "The Luckiest Guy On the Lower East Side" being sung by Dudley Klute. Merritt has sang lead on this song live and struggles with the end, which I'd imagine is why this is one of the songs he had someone else sing.

Oh, that of course makes total sense, yeah. I guess I naively thought it was all Merritt despite the women, for instance, clearly not being him (or the sundry number of instrumentalists and whatnot)! I can see why he'd struggle with that last part too -- live or in the studio (honestly it sounds like it's being struggled with on the track anyway!) Must be that whole "Stephin Merritt is The Magnetic Fields" understanding that appears common enough, haha.

[rogerlancelot]

I believe that in the late 70's they should have remade one of their earlier songs like something from Wild Honey ("Here Comes The Night" for instance) and updated it with a 70's disco arrangement. It would have pleased the fans and critics and would have gone straight to #1 on the charts. I wish I could have been their manager back then.

[onkster]

Flying on the Ground is Wrong - Neil Young. This would work SO well.

But as an alternate: Dear Boy - Paul McCartney. Imagine what the boys' voices could do on that!

[SMiLE Brian]

I believe that in the late 70's they should have remade one of their earlier songs like something from Wild Honey ("Here Comes The Night" for instance) and updated it with a 70's disco arrangement. It would have pleased the fans and critics and would have gone straight to #1 on the charts. I wish I could have been their manager back then.

Or a disco freak in the crowd when The Beach Boys could have done it live on the Midnight Special.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHUCdXiGFOQ

[Mikie]

Hey, SMiLE Brian.