The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi, I found this thread in PSF and think it's a fun idea. Surely already done, but people come, go and change opinions. Anyway, I like it more than the more usual "Songs which are considered great but you can't stand".
Feel free to choose from the BB solo output, too.
My first choices is are "Wind Chimes" and "Wonderful" from Smiley Smile, and "A Thing or Two" from Wild Honey.

I wouldn't think most Beach Boys fans dislike Wind Chimes or Wonderful. A Thing or Two is a good one that doesn't get much praise. I would have to say Hey Little Tomboy, Bells of Paris and Male Ego

Winds of Change

Kokomo

Daybreak Over the Ocean

Beaches in Mind

California Calling

A couple that seem to catch flak generally:

"I Was Made To Love Her"----that tambourine is to die for!

"Barbara Ann", the 45----up there with The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" for sheer atmosphere...

I really like Matchpoint Of Our Love

Where I Belong
Cuddle Up
Living with  heartache
In My Car
Solar System
Hey Little Tomboy

'Be Still', 'I'm So Lonely' and 'It's Just a Matter of Time'

"Shortnin' Bread"

All the exotic locations -songs. Belles of Paris, Sumahama, Kokomo, Diamond Head...

Seconded!

I probably like at least 96% of Beach Boys tunes, including Summer of Love (in a sort of ironic way ofc) :lol

I think Stars and Stripes contains most of my least favourite recordings, mostly because I hate The Beach Boys being back up singers on their own tunes.

Salt Lake City.

Mona

I Wanna Pick You Up
Mona
Lazy Lizzie
Take a Load Off Your Feet
Little Pad
She's Goin' Bald
Roller Skating Child
Johnny Carson (you're getting the idea I love the Love You album, right?)
She's Got Rhythm
Kona Coast (and the Christmas version, Melekalikimaka)
Child of Winter

I like Hey Little Tomboy but don't love it.

Oh, and one more that I just thought of - Life is for the Living!  Usually makes me laugh out loud when I hear it, pure genius.

In the Parking Lot

Stoked

Love Surrounds Me

Seconded! I sing the little falsetto responses in the chorus pretty regularly around the house. Looking forward to hearing a stereo version.

Me too. I actually like most of the MIU album.

Lahaina Aloha.
So Tough is one of my favorite albums, as is Smiley Smile.
Most of Looking back with Love.
Wipeout.

Yes! That song is great, finally nice to see others appreciate it. 'In the Parkin' Lot' tends to be dismissed with the filler on Shut Down vol. 2.

If I start singing "Mona" I can't stop for days.

Didn’t know other people looked past it. One of my faves too!

Wind Chimes and Wonderful, Smiley versions
Transcendental Meditation
A Day in the Life of a Tree
He Come Down
That Same Song
TM Song
A Casual Look
I Wanna Pick You Up
Mona... really any of the Love You songs that aren't liked universally
Oh Darlin' - though I much prefer the demo version
I'm So Lonely
Lahaina Aloha

Oh and yes, Salt Lake City. I tink I could listen to the instrumental version for hours on end, literally.

Thought of another one.

'Mt. Vernon & Fairway (A Fairy Tale)' is, to me, just about essential Brian Wilson. Magic, offbeat sure, but still magic pure and simple. A wonderful journey into the mind and heart of my favorite Beach Boy. This was, in a weird way, Brian's original Autobiography. If you love the childlike nature of Love You and the uniqueness of something like 'A Day in the Life of a Tree', then I can't see why you wouldn't love this one.

I agree. And the music is just so good! Like a 70s version of Smile in some ways.

I came to say Matchpoint of our Love, but it seems thats already one of the most popular in this thread. Most of MIU and The Beach Boys 85.

You want a list? I'll give you a list!!

Still Cruisin'
Still Surfing
Looking Back with Love (the song, not the album)
A Thing or Two
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Take a Load Off Your Feet
Carnival
Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
When Girls Get Together
Hey Little Tomboy
Bluebirds Over the Mountain
Too Much Sugar
Heavenly Bodies
First Love
Oh Darlin'
Endless Harmony
I'm So Lonely
TM Song
The Beaks of Eagles
Full Sail
Sumahama
Santa Ana Winds
Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale)/Fairy Tale Music
Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony)
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Amusement Parks USA
I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man
South Bay Surfers
Luau
Mother May I
She's Got Rhythm
Match Point of Our Love
Winds of Change
On Broadway

On Broadway is possibly the best cover they did in 1970s. I love your list!

My list too is long:
Christmas Day
Vegetables Smiley ver.
She's Goin' Bald
With Me Tonight
Whistle In
I'd Love Just Once to See You
Passing By
Anna Lee, the Healer
Never Learn Not to Love
Loop De Loop
I Just Got My Pay
H.E.L.P
We Got Love
Everyone's in Love with You
That Same Song
In the Still of the Night
Love is a Woman
On Broadway
Shortnin' Bread early ver.
Matchpoint of Our Love
Brian's Back 
Lady Lynda
Livin' with a Heartache
Crack at Your Love
Walkin' the Line
Let It Shine
Wipe Out
Do You Have Any Regrets?
The Spirit of Rock'n'Roll
Saturday Morning in the City
I'm Broke
The Waltz...

Easily the best cut on Stack-O-Tracks!

Yes! When the sax kick in on that second chorus - absolutely perfect backing track.

Make it Big
In My Car
Heavenly Bodies
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
Goin' On
She Believes in Love Again
Kokomo - love's maybe a bit strong a word, but I undeniably dig it
Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)
Cool Head, Warm Heart

Couple more:

Still Cruisin'
Forever (Stamos version)

Gosh I don't know if I've much ever seen fans express a dislike for "Where I Belong." It's usually cited as the best song on the '85 album in my experience.

Livin' With a Heartache, Full Sail, Where I Belong, It's Gettin' Late

I really like BB85 and I don't get the hate for it. The production is similar to BW88 and people seem to look past that. People hate the album but I think it's one of the best post-Holland.

Pretty much all of MIU and BB85
Sherry She Needs Me (MiC version)
Lahaina Aloha
Strange Things Happen
Runaway Dancer 

Also gonna add Full Sail and Goin' South to that list. I've grown to really love em.

Sadly, those are my two picks for the OTHER list...the two songs that completely kill LA Light for me (so very, very boring...)

Agree with all of your choices except for Runaway Dancer. *shivers*  :lol

Great list (and a hearty thank you for the second pick ;) )

I know… I added those to this list specifically for you, Billy, because I recalled reading past posts of yours... I know that you are a fan who definitely doesn't like them! :)

I'm just coming to appreciate more of the Carl soft rock side lately, particularly his solo albums which I had dismissed very early on.  These LA Light album tracks were similar for me for a while, where I sort of wrote them off as being pretty meh.

I guess I try to get in the emotional headspace of somebody who was dealing with such chaos around them at the time, who was just really trying to chill the f*ck out in a very profound way after getting sober, and those songs are very indicative of that.  They sound like they came from a genuine place within Carl as an artist, even if they might seem somewhat lightweight on the surface.  

Learning about the artist's life and times in context helped me enjoy them more. For example, the "get my life in order" line seems like it was a very personal thing for him to say in 1979. Give them another listen with headphones, you might be surprised!

haha didn't you say they basically stole your mix?  Or am I thinking of something else?

They're very good tracks for that late night thing, when everyone else has gone to bed, and you can cool out with some soft music.

Stamos Forever is a bold admission and entry to this list!

Chug-a-lug, Amusement Parks USA, The Nearest Faraway Place, Cuddle Up, WRINKLES

Oh yes, sure! How could I forget to mention Mt. Vernon & Fairway?
Also, A Day in the Life of a Tree.
On a wholly different note, I "confess" that I dig a lot the live version of Summer in Paradise featured in Made in California.

About Wind Chimes and Wonderful, fans usually prefer (often by a lot) the Smile versions. Instead I prefer the much weirder Smiley takes.
Another song I seem to love more than most fans do is Airplane from LY.

While both of those albums have an "80s" sounds to them, I don't think the production style is that similar. While BB '85 used mostly drum machines/sequencers, BW '88 used real drums much more prevalently. I'd also say in general that while there are plenty of synths on the '88 album, there are more "analog" instruments in the mix compared to BB '85.

Also, the '85 album is more sparsely recorded and mixed; it's much more dry there are moments where it sounds almost unfinished ("Getcha Back" is perhaps one of the best examples of this; it has always sounded almost like a sparse demo to me), whereas with BW '88, the thing is almost overly-lush and wet with almost too many synths and keyboards and cavernous instruments and vocals.

Agreed on the SS version of "Wind Chimes"---it has a drowsy feel to it quite lacking in the Smile version, parts of which are almost like getting thwacked across the head with the things rather than leaving them to tinkle gently in the breeze.

"Wonderful" on SS reminds me of The Mothers' "Idiot Bastard Son", where it dissolves into raucous chat before "getting back to topic". In this case I prefer the untarnished beauty of the Smile version...   

Very much agree with this. I think fans, at least here, have warmed up to it some in recent years. Carl sounds like a god on it, there is solid songwriting all throughout. I think Getcha Back is one of Mike's finest post-60s moments. As for BW88 synths being looked past; I don't think they're looked past as much as they're seen more like the synths in Love You (they're like if the wrecking crew turned into a synth machine). But BB85 seems more like your stereotypical DX-7 80s shmaltz. Having said that, BB85 does it so well that it's so easy to look past. It's one of their crisper/finer sounding albums, and certainly underrated.

If you wanted a good BBs album in the 1980s, can't go wrong with BBs85.

For me it's a big stretch to call the '85 album "good". There are only 5 songs on the whole album I like, and most of what's left is either really mediocre or really awful. Still, I'd rather listen to this album than Still Cruisin' or SIP or 15 Big Ones and MIU.

Lady Lynda, Deirdre, and Hold On Dear Brother

I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man. No question. I absolutely LOVE this track, it's not highly regarded among critics or the general public/casual fans, and I find a majority of hardcore fans dismiss it (or worse). Love it. Love it. Love it.

I also like a lot of the songs mentioned in this thread that often get picked on by hardcore fans, such as, Take A Load Off Your Feet, He Come Down, A Casual Look, In The Still Of The Night, Winds of Change, Shortenin' Bread, It's Just A Matter of Time, Too Much Sugar, and of course, everyone's favorite 60s hit, Barbara Ann.

I also think In The Back Of My Mind is perfect, Dennis' vocal and all!

Lady Lynda

She's Got Rhythm

Some of Your Love

While there are many songs, songs as I'd Love Just Once To See You or Funky pretty, I REALLY have to bring the spotlight on...

Celebrate The News

It's just mindblowingly well done. As often I see people talk about, for example, Break Away, there are nobody that is praising the godlike song that is Celebrate The News!

100% with you on this.  One of the best, most underrated tracks in the catalog. Although I haven't really heard anyone say bad stuff about it, simply I think the song is just more criminally overlooked than anything else.  The long outro  with the moody vocals and killer drum propulsion is one of the most awesome things they ever did.

Tears in The Morning

All of the L.A. Light Album

The title track to Still Cruisin - I rarely ever get tired of hearing it! Should've been a hit!

I agree with the poster who mentioned Match Point Of Our Love - very underrated

roller skating child

Stoked

Agreed. Brilliant song.

Steamboat

One of the greatest post-1970 tracks imo.

I've been loving Crack At Your Love lately.

At My Window is one of the best tracks off of Sunflower IMO, I can't believe some of the hate that it gets here!

Kokomo.

Honest.

I too like it, if only because Carl is so good on the harmonies

I'm sure no one who knows me will be surprised to hear that my choice is disco HCTN.

Great choice. And of course you've recorded a great disco song yourself:

http://www.adammarsland.com/idontwannadance.html

(I keep misreading the topic title, dammit.)

I'm mad about Steamboat. Probably my favorite track off of Holland. It is so unique in so many ways.

Are there any accounts of the songwriting or arranging of this song? Because I'd love to know more about how it came to be.

I like most of the 85 album,  minus Brian's songs oddly enough

What's the general consensus on Country Air? I rarely ever hear it mentioned. I absolutely adore that song.

I also can't help but to enjoy When a Man Needs a Woman. It's cheesy as hell, but for some reason I just like it.

Those are 2 of my favorites.

I already mentioned it on my earlier list, but oh man, I've really been loving "When Girls Get Together" recently. Yeah, the lyrics could have gone through another rewrite, but something about the track really hits me.

Has anyone ever seen this before? It's an ad for Misty Tropical Liqueur featuring WGGT, it's pretty awesome how they went with a track obscure as this one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnevl2e7jbw

It sure does seem like he was holding his best stuff back for a prospective solo album. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't....but to compare "I'm So Lonely"  or "Crack at Your Love"  to "Love and Mercy" or even....shoot, something like "There's So Many," it just seems like there was a lot more effort put into his debut solo album.

That's fantastic! So are the visuals. Thanks for that, j22. 

One of my favorite Wild Honey songs.

I've seen BB fans weirdly express dislike for some pretty puzzling choice ("I love Summer in Paradise but find Smile unappealing!"), but I can't say I've ever specifically seen anyone express dislike for "Country Air." Who could possibly not like that one? It's also definitely one that benefits greatly from some space and air (no pun intended) in a stereo remix.

Carl is definitely the one that shines the most on that one. Yep, I even like "Passing Friend" more than "I'm So Lonely" or "It's Just a Matter of Time."

"Its just a matter of time" works so much better as the piano performance in "american band".