The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate The Beach Boys' Concert, released October 1964.

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I don't like it. I don't see the need for it. The worst of the Beach Boys' live albums, inferior to Live in London, In Concert and Knebworth. The covers are just silly.

The performances are bad, the covers are horrific, but this album is a LOT of fun.

Terrible track selection, a whole lot of the album isn't even live, but for Let's Go Trippin' alone, 2 and a half.

Them girls are damn annoyin'... All the originals are performed with gusto, and Dennys drumming on "Johnny B Goode" is the best I ever heard him.

2 stars.

Great album. I wish they didn't doctor it into something not really live. Would have loved to have been at both of those shows  ;D



2 1/2 stars

The two SOT Sacramento discs are incredible, the best evidence of the lameness of this LP.

My favorite SOT, Ian.

whats on the SOT?

The complete shows used as the basis for this LP.

I agree, they should have put out the concerts like SOT did, just letting off those tracks where you can't hear the voices because of technical problems (I guess).
But this is what turned out and I think it's okay. The artwork is great, so I give it a 3

were there any other songs performed?
So the boys overdubbed more after the concert to hear it better on the record...nobody has a problem.
yet when they try doing it again for Lei'd in Hawaii, it's convinced as being a fake concert

A lot of it is totally rerecorded in the studio.
They did a ton of other songs.

My second favourite 'under-rated' Beach Boys album!  Yes it's a complete cheat with the overdubs etc.  I'm not really bothered.  That's how they went about things in those days.  The album just captures the excitement of the group in their pure pop heyday.  Yes, I'm sure a better track listing could have been asembled but I sort of love the likes of 'Monster Mash' and the audience screaming 'LET'S GO TRIPPIN'!' just as the first guitar notes of that track ring out brings a tear to my eye!

any other covers performed?

Tracklistings are easily found on the net.

anyone got any info on what exactly was overdubbed in the studio. id like to know whats real and whats not...

This is a really cool album. While it may not be as good as the studio released I cannot fathom why nobody likes this. Most live albums have overdubs to some extent. Brian sounds great, the have fantastic energy the vinyl packaging is GREAT and man could Dennis and Carl wail. All in all the only problem with it is that it's too short. The blistering Aussie What'd I Say is the best live cut from the era. Brian actually had fun onstage before 76.

I agree that the track selection is odd (how could they include so many covers and no "Don't Worry Baby" for example), but this was the BB's biggest chart success to date. 4 weeks #1 in the US. BTW, is there a mono mix out there?

It's meant to be an accurate representation of their live performances at the time. Many bands in this era included tons of covers in their set. Also, get this, they didn't want people to pay for the same songs twice. Why buy another Don't Worry Baby when you can hear Papa Oom Mow Mow?

Can't get into it too much. 1/5

Same here.

Monster Mash?  Let's Go Trippin'?  Ugh.  At least the album has some charm, though.  2 stars.

While there undoubtedly are too many covers on this album, the band do a good job with the songs (albeit with the aid of overdubs) and I actually like their renditions of the likes of Monster Mash, Papa Oom Mow Mow and Little Old Lady from Pasadena. The concert certainly gives the impression of how enjoyable an experience it must have been to see the band when they were at their commercial peak even if it has been outshone by later live recordings.

2 1/2 out of five.

OK so the set list sucks and there is some studio overdubbing... But it's kind of interesting to hear the Beach Boys do so many covers before they really started composing and preforming a lot of their own stuff. I kind of like a few tracks - The Little Old Lady From Pasadena and Johnny B Goode, plus the renditions of their own songs (even if there is cheating on some of them). Otherwise, there's a lot of fluff.

2.5 stars.

I can't believe I said that. A live Don't Worry Baby circa 1964 would be AMAZING. I would replace the fake live I Get Around though with anything. It's so fake. they could've at least taken out the handclaps!

Ah, it ain't so bad. I've always had a soft spot for 'pasadena', JBG is good fun, and love the intro to LDC (and Al on rhythm guitar - deathly silence) I cannae give it nae more than a 2 though

Is it just me, or is In My Room just the studio track with live overdubs? Like with Fortune Teller and I've Been Loving You Too Long on Got Live If You Want It by the Rolling Stones?

4/5 for this one. It was the first Beach Boys live album I heard, it's full of young, raw energy, and they cover Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady", what more could you ask for?

:) Mark

Not one of the best BB's live albums, at the same time not one of the worst.
But i've got a very suspicious feeling that at least one or two tracks are actually studio versions with live overdubs.
In any case, an interesting live document of the early BB's.
3 out of 5

That suspicion would be correct.  "I Get Around" and "Fun, Fun, Fun" are both studio re-recordings.

What about "In My Room"?

Played it once. Don't remember a thing about it.

For the time period this is a FINE LP.. And the cover was awesome for a 12 yr old boy learning to play the drums + guitar.. The Beach boys fighting against the British Invasion .. At this time BB were HUGE..!

The loudness of the screaming girls just ruin it for me. I would like this album more if that screaming was Live In London level.
Some Covers are good (The Wanderer, Johnny B Goode) while others are just weird (Monster Mash, Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow).

The album is good to listen to every once in a while but 2/5 for me

The Wanderer is my favorite  ;D.  there's three different versions of him singing that and the one on this album is the best one (in the other ones he messed up the words and kind of sang off key  :lol)

I wish people would not apply today's standards of music and knowledge of the Beach Boys that was unavailable back then to judge Concert. The song selections were goofy but fun and the energy was fantastic. I love the album for what it is and the boys sounded like they were having a blast.

I've begun assembling people's stories about the Sacramento Civic Memorial Auditorium shows that were used for this (and the Live in Sacramento 1964 digital release) so if there is anyone in here who was there, or who knows someone who was there, I would love to hear about it! I'm a graduate student currently living in Sac and I'm basically just trying to capture a snapshot of one night in Sacramento in 1964.