The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi!  I'm probably considered a casual long time Beach Boys fan who suddenly had some sort of epiphany last week when I heard the song, "Surf's Up" for the first time.  Oh, my I love this song!  It is so surprising to me that it came from the Beach Boys.
I grew up hearing the Beach Boys during the 60s and have memories of watching them on t.v. back then, playing the 8 Track we owned...two of my special favorite songs being "In my Room" and "All summer long", but I never delved into more (besides playing the Endless Summer CD in the car every summer).  So, I have a lot to catch up on.
What started it was probably a month ago while watching my favorite t.v. show, "Mad Men" and hearing the Beach Boys singing...I didn't recognize the song but it captured me as well as the remarkable episode so I got online and found out it was "I just wasn't made for these times"...I made a note to self to check out the album, Pet Sounds, it came from.  But, naturally other things take over and then one night while sick I was flipping channels and saw some movie about the Beach Boys and watched it...which then intrigued me to find out more about this band since I really never knew.  Started with checking out from the library the Brian Wilson autobio.  Um, wow...I vaguely knew a bit about him but had no idea...I'm not sure what is what but all I can say is that I have deep compassion for anyone who was so lost and suffered childhood abuse and great admiration for them climbing out of the depths to survive...that takes a lot of strength!
So,
I get to the part in the book near his severe breakdown and reading about some song with very strange lyrics...I figured this might've been some bomb of a song, but later I go on youtube to listen to some BB songs and I see this one, "Surf's Up" (thinking it was one of the beach romp types) and click on it....I was not expecting to be so moved and tears welling up behind my eyes.  This song touched me deeply...it's just beautiful...I keep playing it over & over.  Then a few days later I was in Barnes & Noble and saw a magazine at the checkout with the Beach Boys from the 60s on the cover (Mojo) and as I browsed it I saw it had the 50 best BB songs...and guess what #1 was?  Yep, Surf's Up.  Guess a lot of people like it. :)
So, here I be.  I'm bummed that I missed them in concert recently...I even remember saying to myself a few months ago that I should try to go see them when they were on the Grammys and chatting on a radio show...rats!  lol.  
Well, I look forward to discovering this great music that has many more layers than I thought... there always was  an undercurrent of sadness even among all the beachy fun but I see it wasn't just about summer ending.

Welcome to the board (and the world of Brian and the Beach Boys!)

Here's some common knowledge among Beach Boys fans. That Brian Wilson "autobiography" was NOT written by Brian, rather a project controlled by his "psychatrist" Eugene Landy (who has since passed on). Furthermore, Brian has even said that he never read the book.  You're in for a lot of surprises - the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys saga is filled with lots of messed up stories, twists and turns, but most importantly, some of the best music ever made.

Welcome.  Surf's Up has moved me to tears more than a few times also.

Surf's Up was the first song I heard where I consciously knew the song was by the Beach Boys. It's a truely fantastic song and I love that I heard it way before all the surf&fun songs of their early days.

If you like Surf's Up and Pet Sounds I would recommend you take a listen to the albums Smile, Sunflower, Surf's Up (the album), Holland and Love You. Those are are great top notch albums!

welcome!

Welcome from me too. This is a pretty good forum..much to learn..lots to ignore.  :lol
My recommendation would be to bypass the Smile stuff (it doesn't swing) and get with some of the actual Beach Boy material.
Of course that's MY recommendation only.
Many good albums you probably missed, like FRIENDS and 20-20. Brush up on the early stuff too. It's the kernal of Beach Boy goodness.

Where books about the Beach Boys go, I would recommend Peter Ames Carlin's Catch A Wave. Was reading it earlier this month before I saw the band. It does focus on Brian for the most part but it covers the band's story in a careful and pretty even handed way.

Thanks, and for the recommendations, too.  I was kinda aware that the "autobio" was questionable but had to check it out anyway...lots of strange drama involved with this band it seems.  Well, I'll just be focusing on the music anyway...I did buy the new CD, and find track #1 and #10 very nice.  It's good that they were able to make some more music again and still perform especially in their 70s! :)

It's gratifying to hear these sort of soundtrack appearances can make new (or remake old) fans. Sometimes I wonder.


"Surf's Up" is certainly amazing. Depending on the day, it's often my favorite BB song. Thanks for sharing your story of being so moved.