The Smiley Smile Message Board

Brian Wilson re-used one formula for a bunch of his ballads. Some were simple and beautiful, others were so complex that they sounded like mini- Bohemian Rhaposody's. Now it is time to choose your favorite.

After The Game
Surfer Girl
The Surfer Moon
In My Room
Your Summer Dream
Ballad Of Ole' Betsy
The Warmth Of The Sun
Keep An Eye On Summer
We'll Run Away
Girls On The Beach

........

I stopped before the Today album which is when things became more difficult to identify.

Easily Girls On The Beach.
Good to remember that that whole series of tunes was a reinterpretation of the classic 50's doo-wop ballad style, such as Earth Angel etc.

Of course.

I was thinking about something the other day; Were all of Brian's innovations needed in his songs? I remember a post a short while back where someone said they had NEVER noticed the key change in Dance, Dance, Dance. That part, I imagine, was Brian's favorite part of the song. It probably took the guys a few takes to get it right, but if it isn't noticable to the buying public, is it needed?

If a key change falls in a forest, does it make a sound?

What's the deal with After The Game anyway?

It's sloppily done, the acoustic guitar is slightly out of tune, and it sounds like the player has hardly played those chords before.

Even after listening to "In My Room" a million times, there's something about it that still gets to me...

I'd pick In My Room, even though Warmth of the Sun is a very close second.  Both are classic examples of Brian finding new ways to use those traditional doo-wop chords and transforming them into something beautiful.  In My Room is just brilliant, as is Warmth of the Sun.  That E flat chord gets me every time. 

I'd go with "The Warmth Of The Sun" as well. I like the imagery in the lyrics, and of course, the music is astonishing.

A close runner up would be the lonely "In My Room". Simple because it is a song about nobody else but the narrator. It's stiking for a Beach Boys song, not to mention an other, but only oneself and one's own dwellings. For that reason it makes the song stand out in a list all to itself in my mind.

Warmth of the Sun, followed by Girls On The Beach

I would have to vote for "Surfer Girl". Maybe it impresses me more because it was about the first song he wrote. Some kind of wunderkind-bonus, you know?

Anyway ... that bridge ...  :'(

Yeah, I gotta go with Surfer Girl too, because it was sooooo good, sooooo early.  True Classic.  I love how the bridge still sounds exactly the same today as it did then, too (In concert). 

In My Room, just because it seems so advanced for the time. Just listen to the Concert album, they're playing Fun Fun Fun and Monster Mash and Papa Oom Mow Mow and all that nonsense, then they sing In My Room and the audience starts freaking out! They love it! It's unlike anything they'd ever heard before.

Man, excellent post. It's almost as if we (our few generations who weren't around in the BBoys heyday) have been almost de-sensitized to their music. The average person these days hears 'In My Room" on the radio and thinks that it's just the Beach Boys. I imagine that songs like "In My Room" caused quite an emotional stir in people when it came out. Now, whether they spoke of that publically is unkown to me, but it's a very touching song.

Brian plays some guitar on 'After The Game', if that explains anything.

Total agreement. The ease with which Brian moves from key to key is a marvel in itself. Denny's heartfelt bridge, and it's sloppy double-tracking, are an integral part of the song and one of his single best moments.

This song is such a triumph.

Electric or Acoustic?

Interesting.

Pretty sure - going by memory - he's playing the electric guitar lines, which are played with equal amateurishness (but heart, too) as the rhythm. Don't think that's him strumming in back, but I could be mistaken.
Anyone else have a fresher memory on this?

Thanks for that bit of info. That proves wrong a lot of theories about Brian's guitar and bass playing. People have said that he simply picked up bass playing rather than learnt it somewhat properly. But obviously, being around Carl and Al, and all the studio musicians he had plenty of exposure to both the guitar and bass.

I find that comment kind of strange. Brian was a fine bass player before he ever worked with any studio musicians. Sure he was around Carl and Dave's guitars a lot, and Al played some early standup bass, but by all accounts Brian did just pick it up and learn by ear. Both Al and David will tell you that today, and there are plenty of old quotes from Carl to that effect as well. No one taught him. Brian was clever with bass notes on the piano and he just adapted that knowledge to the electric bass when Al split.

I think that I may have worded my post incorrectly.