The Smiley Smile Message Board

Do your kids like the BB as much as you do? If so, do their opinions differ from yours?

Got the idea for this when posting in another thread about how my five year old hated the Carl Surf's Up...

My dad loves the early stuff, I ignored him, and it, until I heard Pet Sounds, which opened my ears and mind.

For what it's worth, my 10 month old absolutely loves the Beach Boys.  Whenever I play them he stands up at the stand where my stereo is and dances (or what passes for his dancing - he just bounces up and down.)  He doesn't do it for anything else I listen to, and he seems to like Help Me Rhonda and I Get Around the most.  Hopefully he doesn't lose his good taste in music as he gets older. ;)

Keep playing it! My dad played my "Stairway to Heaven" everyday until I was potty trained, and look now! Haha

My daughter is 22 and having her first baby in May.. she wants to play BB's at the delivery, particulary WIBN, it's her favourite song :)

My daughter and I used to sing along to Beach Boys tunes while in the car when she was a little big younger.  She, of course, would sing Brian and Carl's higher parts, and I would sing the lower parts.  Now that she's 16 1/2 and driving herself nearly everywhere, we don't get a chance to do that much anymore.  I know that she still has a very few Beach Boys tunes on her media playing device, but I don't think she listens to 'Dad's music' much anymore, unless I'm the one playing it.  She does listen to a much wider variety of stuff than a lot of her friends, though, and I am happy to take credit for exposing her to many different styles of music as she was growing up.   

Interesting question. My 15 year old daughter swears I am an old man (at 45) for loving the Beach Boys, and makes me turn them down on my car stereo whenever it is possible someone might hear.  Nevertheless, ever the "old artistic" soul she is, she still has songs such as GOK, The Warmth of The Sun, IJWMFTT (which could be her personal theme song) and In My Room on her own ipod. Speaks to the strength of the music, I guess.

I play them all the time for my 3-year-old son!  He seems to enjoy the music and I hope the music is working its way into his developing brain so that when he gets a little older the Beach Boys will be hard-wired into his head!!!  I have also sung my 5-month-old daughter to sleep with TBB...particularily Surfer Girl!

I asked my Mum about The Beach Boys when I was about 16 and she basically told me to listen to Pet Sounds and not bother with the rest :thud

As it turned out, I couldn't not bother with the rest.  To be fair, she has now extended her BBs appreciation beyond Pet Sounds :3d

We've been to a few Brian shows.  I also took her to the BB show at Wembley this year, but when I asked her whether she preferred that or the Leonard Cohen show she saw the week before at the same venue, she said they were 'different' but went for Leonard :thud (Leonard was outstanding when I saw him in 2008 though).

When me and my partner finally have the baby the first song he/she will hear will be Wouldn't It Be Nice. :) The Beach Boys music is way too beautiful for my child to miss out on. (If he/she gets anything from me I really hope it's my great taste in music just like I got from both of my parents.)

I was watching the new concert DVD today. I had it cranked up and rockin out to Marcella when my 13 y/o son walks in and starts singing along.He's a current music scene kid but he knows his BB's,not by choice but because I play them a lot in the car on the way to school. He protests but its ingrained in his mind. Anything from early stuff to Isn't it Time. My 12y/o daughter though, a lost cause. Nothing but 1 Direction for her

Yeah it's great being able to pass on the beautiful music :)

It's a beautiful gift :) The best part about it is that I & her both enjoy the BB's. (She likes the Beatles slightly more but it's a Win/Win either way.)

Both my adult children have had a steady diet of BBs since birth.  We all hopped in  the old convertible for a cruise this unseasonalby warm December 23rd.  They brought  BB Ultimate Christmas and the spector xmas album for our listening pleasure.   Definite impact on their musical tastes. 

My two-year-old is not a big fan. He likes the ABC song, though.

1-2-3, it's as easy as do-re-mi, I wantcha back!

Both my kids are pretty much grown and they are into some fairly hard core stuff.  I don't think either one has given much thought to the BBs, although they heard quite a bit of them around the house growing up.  I imagine when they get older and mellow out a bit, they'll come back to it.

The 12/28 thread regarding Dennis reminded me of something that occurred back in the late '90s when my son was around 7 or 8.  He was watching An American Band for the first time with me, and he was glued to it from start to finish.  When we got to the part about Dennis' death near the end, my son became very sad, so afterward we talked about it.  To my surprise, he had easily made the connection between the concert clip where Dennis looked like hell and could barely get his words out, and the tv news clip of his death.  This gave me an opportunity to emphasize to my son what excesses in drinking and drugs can do to you.  I could tell that situation had a pretty strong effect on him, and I think the fact it was a real situation and not just some tv show telling you "Don't do drugs", made a difference. 

My son is almost 23 now and he's traveling a pretty straight path.  I like to think that seeing the unfortunate end result to such a loved and talented man as Dennis Wilson, somehow helped in at least a small way, to get my son where he is.     

Gonna be adding to this, but Jaymie just asked me if she could watch the BWPS Live DVD again. She said she loves his music so much she wants to name her first song Brian.

I did mention she's five, right? :lol

Adorable  :)
I really hope me and my partner have a girl it'll be the first out of my fam because all my bros have boys.

We're about to go watch Pet Sounds Live DVD.  And I meant 'first SON'...she's already written and recorded her first song with my help. Hell' she's done two!


By the way,during Mrs O'Leary's Cow, she said 'It sounds like a fire Daddy'.

Time to start hustling her demo tapes Murry Wilson style. ;D

After Pet Sounds Live DVD:

Her favorite cut is 'You still believe in me'. She also said her favorite thing about Brian is his hair. 'It's tight, Daddy. Brian has the best hair'. '

God Only Knows - 'His brother sang that too, right? The guy who got sick and died?'
Sloop John B-  'Why did he name the boat John?' 'They fight?' 'What's Brian doing with his hands?'
I know there's an answer- 'He changed his shirt real fast! Is that his super power?'

I :lol at that last one. Brian has super powers, thanks to DVD editing. She's convinced it's on account of his hair...

I try and play the band for my two small children...but the other day...I was playing Smile and my 3-year-old son told me to turn it off because it scared him! 

You should try Smiley Smile then :p

I want him to sleep at night! ;)

How about Brian's Gershwin?  Sweet and lovely to fall asleep to.  Maybe a hand chosen list. Disney has great stuff.

One of mine never napped until he got a baby sheep skin  (about 18" by 36") - specially made in either Australia or New Zealand.  They become like Linus' blanket, (Charlie Brown series ) to sleep with. They even make them for car seats so they will be comfy ( and, sleep there, as well.) www.sheepskintown.com/baby-sheepskin-  or www.kiwi-sheepskins.com/sheepskin-baby - hope the links work - or google it.  Even for older ones.

Good luck.  ;)

I've considered putting together a CD of some of Brian's (and the band's) more sublime sounding music...just have not gotten around to it!  The Gershwin LP is a good idea.  I'll give it a spin tonight!

BTW, it was "Child Is Father of the Man" that creeped him out!  We were just hanging out in the living room when I was playing it...I really am glad I wasn't playing it before bedtime!

When my sons were babies the songs that I sang them to sleep were either Husabye or Goodnight Irene :)

When my daughter was 4 "Take A Load Off Your Feet" was, along with "Yellow Submarine" her favorite song.

Now at 12 she is a certified Beatles fanatic, however, I was driving her and a friend out for ice cream the other night and she started singing "Vegetables" (SMiLE version with the "Mama Says" refrain).  It was one of the damndist things I have ever heard.

Gotta bump this...

my daughter seems to be turning into a certified Brian-ista. She asked me today 'why didn't Brian sing every song?' Me: 'Because some songs fit the others' voices better'. Jaymie: 'But daddy, it's Briaaaaaaan'.  Can't argue with that logic.

The other day I let her listen to the 1976 demos for the first time. Looks like 'Sherry She Needs Me' has replaced 'Isn't it Time'  and 'Hawaii' as her new favorite song. She did ask me if Brian had a cold...

I didn't know how to explain that one to her...

Yes. All those cigarettes and drugs gave him a really bad cold. So that's why you can't smoke or do drugs, OK?

She's five, though, so I just kind of laughed it off!

The cool thing is that when she sees videos like PS Live or BWPS DVD, or footage from the C50 tour she doesn't think anything's 'wrong' with Brian. He's just a 'really cool old man with awesome hair'.

I wasn't impressed with the C50 DVD with it's sterile sound and overdubbing, at least from what I've seen, but hell I may get it for her.

Sounds like she's to Brian Wilson like I was to Paul Simon/S&G -- and still am.

hehe  cute!   She likes Hawaii?  I like her style :)

your daughter is awesome Billy!

my kids grew up listening to a lot of Beach Boys. like... A LOT. they're 16 & 18 now
imagine my horror when i recently discovered the only Beach Boys song in my daughter's itunes was f*cking Kokomo  >:(

i gave her my copy of Pet Sounds on the spot.
there is no worse feeling than the thought that you failed your children in some very profound way.

my son accompanied me to the C50 show in Atlanta and really seemed to enjoy it. we even had our arms around each other during God Only Knows. pretty sweet. he's a jazz saxophonist and has an ear for good music. i do believe his favorite song of the night was That's Why God...!

he got a real kick (and maybe a few pointers) out of that old Von Mertens showmanship
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/295093_10150776264388928_788661297_n.jpg)

just posted on fb... Brian and his son Dylan  :)

(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/562059_351519521575011_1089394128_n.jpg)

I have a 7 year old son with Asperger syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder).  He loves to listen to the Pet Sounds and Smile sessions to analyze the progression of the tracks.  He even know who's playing which instruments and will comment on takes-- as if speaking directly to Carol Kaye or Hal Blaine or whoever-- like he's a little Brian Wilson.  He loves anything Brian Wilson or Beach Boys, save for "Summer's Gone," which he says makes him sad: "It reminds me that they're old and makes me think they'll never record again."

The rest of my kids (ages ranging from 3 - 11) love the Boys too.  They recently sent me a recording at work of them all singing "Isn't It Time."  The younger two often mimic the Surfin' demo, complete with the dialog about laughing and popping each other in the mouth.  Aside from TWGMTR, they don't care for most of the post Wild Honey material.  

They also think it's cool that Uncle Jesse "is a Beach Boy."  Sorry, not going to shatter their dreams there.  And my 9 year old really digs Al's Postcard From CA.

I didn't mince words on why Brian's voice changed.  I told them all about the drugs, about how they were Dennis' demise, but that they all got clean again.  I feel like it's a very relatable lesson for them on the dangers of drugs.