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Was looking over some O-L-D emails from 2005 when I can upon a request from Bob Hanes to name my top 5 fave tunes. I had never really thought about it before. Here was the list I gave him (after #1, the order isn't really important):


1. A Tie-Heroes And Villains (SMiLE version) / Do It Again
2. Surf's Up
3. Good Vibrations
4. God Only Knows
5. California Girls

The way I came to this conclusion back then was to think "What songs do I never skip on either the radio/CD. These were the ones. And I always liked H&V but was never crazy about it. Then the 1990 SS/WH CD came out with the cantina version and I was gone. That version kicks ass. Brian's vocal is so forceful. The release version sounds like someone being mellow and just kinda grooving on a joint.

Let's here what everyone else has on their list. All you OLD TIMERS like me jump in.

Bob

1. Let Him Run Wild
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice
3. God Only Knows
4. Don't Worry Baby
5. Surfer Girl

Next to impossible to choose, and in no particular order:

1. Let's Go Away For Awhile
2. Cabin Essence (or, Cabinessence)
3. This Whole World
4. A Day In The Life of A Tree
5. You Still Believe In Me

No order:
Surf's Up
Caroline No
Don't Worry Baby
Cool Cool Water
Baby Blue

No.1, by a long way 'God Only Knows' (the best song EVER written)

Then in no particular order

Wouldn't It Be Nice
Surfs Up
Good Vibes
Cabinessence
Mr Blue Sky Sorry wrong band  :lol
All I Wanna Do

DON'T EVER EVER ASK FOR A TOP10 PLEASE, there are so many superb songs
 

In no particular order

Surf's Up
Cabinessence
The Warmth of the Sun
Kiss me Baby
Let Him Run Wild

Ask me next week, will probably have a different list

I would have to break it up into two categories.  I have limited knowledge of the stuff from 67 on so far, but with the earlier music;

Kiss Me Baby
Let Him Run Wild
Lonely Sea
Our Prayer (is that before 67?)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (just in case Our Prayer doesn't count)
and  ... I GET AROUND!!!!!!!!!



From 67 on I like;

All I Wanna Do
Something beautiful I heard on a mix that I've never found again
Another something beautiful I heard on the same mix that I've never found again
Do It Again (if it fits in 67 or after, otherwise it doesn't rate in the list above.)
Surfs Up


There ya go.

I've never seen a more simple or straightforward list of 5 before in my life. ;D

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!!



Don't Worry Baby exceeds all else. 

7? 10? 12?  who's counting?

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. Don't Worry Baby
3. Surf's Up
4. Good Vibrations
5. God Only Knows

1.  Let Him Run Wild
2.  California Feelin
3.  Surf's Up
4.  God Only Knows
5.  That's Not Me

On November 5, 2015:

-  Roller Skating Child
-  Amusement Parks U.S.A.
-  Winter Symphony
-  Michael Row The Boat Ashore
-  Love Remember Me

1 - The Trader
2 - Surf's Up
3 - 'Till I Die
4 - All This is That
5 - Kiss Me Baby

At this present moment:

- Friends
- I'll Bet He's Nice
- Surfer Girl
- Sail On Sailor
- Don't Worry Baby

Something along these lines:

All I Wanna Do
Dance, Dance, Dance
Can't Wait Too Long (2fer version)
Feel Flows
Don't Worry, Baby

You bastard, you have the same top five as me  :lol

Except I would put it

1. God Only Knows
2. Good Vibrations
3. Don't Worry Baby
4. Wouldn't It Be Nice
5. Surfs Up

and..

6. Til' I Die
7. Please Let Me Wonder
8. You Still Believe In Me
9. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
10. Heroes & Villains

AND..

11. Break Away
12. Cabin Essence
13. I Get Around
14. Surfer Girl
15. The Warmth Of The Sun
16. Forever
17. California Girls
18. Feel Flows
19. Time To Get Alone
20. This Whole World
21. All I Wanna Do
22. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
23. Let The Wind Blow
24. Can't Wait Too Long
25. Wonderful
26. All This Is That
27. Busy Doin' Nothin'
28. In My Room
29. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
30. Caroline, No

ect ect....

This is close to impossible.

Top 5 (up to and including Pet Sounds)

Warmth of the Sun
Please Let Me Wonder
Caroline No
Good Vibrations
God only Knows


Top 5 (after Pet Sounds)

Darlin
Break Away
Til I Die
Feel Flows
All This is That

Not sure why I separated them....probably just to get more songs in!    ;)

Now, that's more like it.   :wave

I Get Around
Don't Worry Baby
The Warmth of the Sun
God Only Knows
Surf's Up

It's so hard to choose just five, so I'll list my iTunes top 5.  Although it might not be completely accurate as I had to reset everything a couple years ago.

1. Good Vibrations
2. California Girls
3. Do It Again
4. I Get Around
5. From There to Back Again
5. Surf's Up  

I'll list my top 15 just for fun

7. Help Me, Rhonda
8. God Only Knows
9. Don't Fight the Sea
10. Let Him Run Wild
11. That's Why God Made the Radio
12. Kokomo
13. Don't Worry Baby
14. Breakaway (alternate version)
15. Wouldn't it Be Nice

What the heck, I'll do top 25.  :lol

16. The Little Girl I Once Knew
17. Waves of Love
18. Fun Fun Fun
19. Love and Mercy
20. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
21. In My Room
22. The Right Time
23. I Can Hear Music
24. The Like in I Love You
25. The Night Was So Young

I Get Around
Amusements Parks USA
California Girls
Santa Ana Winds
Don't Talk (Put Your Head on my Shoulder)

Five? Only five?

Surf's Up
God Only Knows
Caroline No
Heroes and Villains
Don't Worry Baby

After a couple of pages or so, someone needs to tot these up and produce top five...

The top 3 are pretty solid but have changed around in order over the years. The other rest of my top 10 changes a lot.

1. All This Is That
2. Do It Again
3. God Only Knows
4. Then I Kissed Her
5. It's OK

6. Darlin
7. From There To Back Again
8. Marcella
9. Cotton Fields / Cottonfields
10. The Trader

Oddly enough, very few songs from my favorite albums make the list above.

Favorite studio albums:

1. Friends
2. L.A. (Light Album)
3. Carl & The Passions - So Tough
4. Sunflower
5. 20/20
6. Surf's Up

Wild Honey
This Whole World
Feel Flows
Forever (Sunflower version)
Darlin'

Surfs Up, Cabinessence, Do It Again, Surfin' USA, Sail Plane Song

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. Darlin'
3. California Girls
4. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
5. Long Promised Road

little girl I once knew
all this is that
all dressed up for school
Marcella (the same only different)
she knows me too well

All I Wanna Do
Here Today
Big Sur
Fun, Fun, Fun
Lady Lynda

First way to tackle this:  Going to select out of the various BB "phases" since it's not fair to put up a '62 tune against a '66.

Car Song:
"Little Deuce Coupe" - Love rolling bass line, the shuffle tempo, the drumming, and singing.  Always energizes me.

Surf Song:
"Catch a Wave" - The backing track always gets me going and the vocals shoot to the stratosphere. 

Transition Phase Song:
"Help Me, Rhonda"  - Awesome everything. Al never sounded better.  Kick ass backing track and again I love the shuffle tempo.

Brian at his Peak Phase:
"You Still Believe in Me" - I downloaded the 40th Anniversary version of Pet Sounds on iTunes and listened to it instantly. I was pleasantly surprised but that was about it.  I put the CD on in the car later that day on the way to a movie. When "YSBIM" came on with the counterpoint vocals, the harpsichords, the bass, etc I was blown away.  My fandom began on that December 2008 night and I finally "got it." From then on the BBs became the soundtrack to my life.

Post-Brian:
"Feel Flows" - Probably Carl's best song.  I love the engineering, the background vocals, the atmosphere, etc.  Such a cerebral song.  This song I normally play for people who've never listened to the BBs and they tend to like it.

Second Way: Pay no regard to time period.  In no particular order I must add but I've tried.

1. "Don't Worry Baby" - The background vocals are soothing to me and relax me when I'm feeling tense or stressed.
2. "Help Me, Rhonda" - I love singing at the top of my lungs whether I'm in a bad mood, sad, depressed, elated.
3. "Good Vibrations" - Probably the happiest song I know. Mike's lyrics ROCK and we all know it.
4. "Please Let Me Wonder" - Words can't describe this song to me.  I love Brian's vocal in the register.  Not very often that we hear him sing in this range. 
5. "God Only Knows"/"Forever" - No need to explain. I always have considered "Forever" as the double A side to "GOK."

Other Favorites that are a mixed bag:

1. "Make it Good" - When I first heard this I almost cried. This song is like the meaning of life/love.  The violin swells and Dennis's vocals are all it take. 
2. "You Need a Mess..." - I love Carl's vocal and how hard it rocks
3. "Marcella" - I love the fade out. I love hearing Brian's scratchy voice repeating "Hey Marcella" in the left channel.
4.  "Surfer Girl" - Makes me want to cry sometimes too. Especially the first time I heard it.
5. "In My Room" - This song hits close to home to me. I remember hearing it in high school and it really spoke to me.
6. "Keep an Eye on Summer" - Great bridge
7. "And Your Dream Comes True" - Makes me think of my ex and how much I miss her.  I would listen to it for the months that we wouldn't see each other and it created a bittersweet feeling.

I could go on and on but I think this is a representative list.

Yay!  Another Let Him Run Wild fan!

In no particular order:

I Get Around
California Girls
Heroes and Villains
God Only Knows
The Warmth of the Sun

Good Vibrations
Surf's Up
Slip On Through
Time to Get Alone
Vegetables (Smile stereo assembly on TSS)

Favorite Covers:

Never Learn Not to Love
Hushabye
Cotton Fields (album version)
Surfin USA
I Can Hear Music

1. At My Window
2. You Still Believe in Me (been listening to this lately & it's still my favorite after 5 yrs. beautiful backing track; unlike others I don't find the coda impressive; it's all about verses)
3. Sloop John B
4. Wind Chimes (Smiley Smile)
5. Surfin' USA

Just impossible to pick just 5 cause after 1 and 2 the list is huge:

1. Surf's Up (greatest song ever)
2. Busy Doing Nothing
3. Pet Sounds
4. Steamboat
5. The Trader tied with California Saga: California

Surf's Up

The Warmth of the Sun

Kiss Me Baby

All I Wanna Do

Surfer Girl

....but if you ask me tomorrow, it might be a different list.  However, the top 2 are always there. 

My top five songs on 11/6/15 (changes every day every for the #1 spot)

1). Surf's Up
2). Big Sur 4/4
3). In My Room
4). Do You Like Worms?
5). My Solution

1. God Only Knows
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice
3. Surf's Up
4. The Warmth of the Sun --> good to see a few picking this one
5. Good Vibrations

Wonderful to see this joyous instrumental in a top five. It gets a lot of flak at times. I've never understood why...  

Agree.

Great to see that obscure track in a top 5.  :hat

Hushabye
Surf's up
I get around
Surfer girl
God only knows

Mine would be something like this:

1. Good Vibrations
2. Caroline, No
3. Surf's Up
4. I Get Around
5. Airplane  

1.  Add Some Music To Your Day
2.  Cabinessence
3.  God Only Knows
4.  Time To Get Alone
5.  Ballad Of Ole' Betsy

Honourable Mention to Good Vibrations which was my ALL TIME favourite song for decades...but I've just heard it too many times now and I need to put it up on the shelf for awhile.  BUT at THAT time [fall '66] there had NEVER/EVER been anything released anywhere near as GREAT as that song.

You Still Believe in Me just missed my top 5!  I love that song - definitely a Pet Sounds underrated track (if there can be such a thing) - God Only Knows gets all the acclaim as a great love song, but Still Believe in Me tugs at my heartstrings every time I hear it - and that beautiful falsetto!

1. God Only Knows
2. Surf's Up
3. Time To Get Alone
4. This Whole World
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice

Wouldn't it be nice
Surf's Up
Sail On Sailor
Disney Girls
All Summer Long

Girls on the Beach
Cuddle Up
Good Vibrations
Don't Worry, Baby
Kiss Me, Baby

1. Good Vibrations
2. All I Wanna Do
3. Warmth of the Sun
4. God Only Knows
5. Time to Get Alone

Nearly all mellow stuff!

1. Still Cruisin
2. Kona Coast
3. Wipe Out
4. TM Song
5. Summer in Paradise

Just kidding! My real top 5...

5. The Night Was So Young
4. Celebrate the News
3. Let the Wind Blow
2. Wind Chimes (Smile Sessions)
1. Til I Die (Desper mix)

This list could be different next week

Changes frequently, blah blah blah. But roughly speaking:

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice?
2. Surf's Up
3. Heroes & Villains
4. Time to Get Alone
5. I Get Around

With these hanging right in there:

This Whole World
Don't Worry, Baby
Breakaway
Good Vibrations
Cabinessence
Wonderful
Sloop John B
I'll Bet He's Nice
The Night Was So Young
From There to Back Again

Great to see this song getting the love that it deserves!

This  is silliness.   We all know Don't Worry Baby is at the top.    The rest is just conjecture.

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Dance Dance Dance
She Knows Me Too Well
Warmth Of the Sun
Wouldn't It Be Nice

Agree.

The two songs I heard and loved and could not find again ... I found them!

Both were from TBB album - Time To Get Alone, and We're Together Again.  :)

I'd have to say, right now at least, it's probably this:

1. California Girls
2. This Whole World
3. Don't Worry Baby
4. All Summer Long
5. I Get Around

It changes a lot, but I find myself singing all these songs, all the time.  I'm not making the case that these are their best, just that these are my favorite.  Either I really like the way the melodies go, or how the Beach Boys sound singing these, or I relate to them.  "All Summer Long", for instance just reminds me of how life was when I was 17 or 18, what a wonderful time and what a wonderful song summing that up. 

Or "This Whole World" really kind of sums up the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson to me, Brian sounds half-insane on it but the beauty of the song is almost overwhelming.  the end part where they sing Acapella is probably what heaven sounds like.

"I Get Around" is just a perfect summation of the Beach Boys, it's one of their huge hits and I love the melody and the back and forth between Mike and Brian.  Mike sounds great on the verses, and Brian sounds like God on the chorus. 

"Don't Worry Baby" has always been one of my favorite songs, even when I was a kid and didn't know what it was about, I always liked how Brian's voice sounded... I even recorded my own (horrible) version of this years ago, figured out the guitar part, overdubbed tons of vocals, etc. even made a little clap drum track for it, this was back before any of that was easy... I recorded it all in my bedroom over the course of a couple months.  Fantastic song, and I always loved how Brian changed the chorus around to subliminally make it almost as if Ronnie Spector was singing it to him... think about how that works, he wanted the Ronettes to sing it; when they wouldn't, he just added the "When She says.... " part, and sang the chorus the way he imagined the Ronettes would.  Brilliant. 

"California Girls" in my mind still stands as probably Brian's greatest pop achievement, it's a perfect song.  The drums are frankly amazing on this too, and the famous story behind the recording of the song really sums up Brian's genius.  I love how the lyrics are so simple and basic, but yet it's the highest of art. 

Wouldn't It Be Nice
God Only Knows
You Still Believe In Me
Time To Get Alone
Don't Worry Baby


Honorable Mention - Wonderful (SMiLE version)

1. Surf's Up
2. Busy Doing Nothin'
3. We'll Run Away
4. Kiss Me Baby
5. When Girls Get Together

Cuckoo Clock
Cassius Love vs. Sonny Wilson
Winds of Change
Shutdown Volume II
Ding Dang

Bonus selection:  Ten Little Indians

Because these lists are so lame.  In other words, who cares what anybody's five favorite BB's songs are?   Personally, could not name a top five if I had to and why would I want to.  What is it with some American's obsession with lists and rating things?  I basically like almost everything they ever did....pretty sure that is the stance of most folks on this here site.  My top 100 wouldn't vary much in quality compared to my second "top hundred".  Such is the breadth of quality in the catalog.  No real need to attempt to quantify the unquantifiable.

Ya ya.  Sure sure.  That really IS your top 5 + 1.  Admit it. ;)

[I agree with the rest of your post by the way.   :hat]

Can't spend ALL my waking hours sticking pins in this Mike Love doll.  So?  There's this. :lol

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Cabinessence
Let Him Run Wild
The Little Girl I Once Knew
Little Pad

God Only Knows
Til I Die
Wouldn't It Be Nice
You Still Believe In Me
Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder

We'll Run Away
Breakaway
He Gives Speeches
Busy Doin' Nothing
It's Over Now

at the moment

Yes! A sorely neglected gem. That penultimate "anyhow" is worth more than most artists' entire careers. ::)

Kudos for this!