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i really dig this song. Together with California 1972 and It's OK 1976 i think these are the classical tunes that makes the beach boys such a great vocal group.

I just finised listening to the long version. Just great. I hear Al, Mike, Carl and i even hear Bruce in the chorus if i am correct.

Why was this never a hit. The lyrics, melody and harmony are just great.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“It's a Beautiful Day”
 
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Ten Years of Harmony
Released September, 1979
Format Vinyl
Recorded Unknown
Genre Pop
Length 3 min 15 sec
Label Caribou Records
Producer Bruce Johnston
 
"It's a Beautiful Day" is a song written by Mike Love and Al Jardine for the American pop band The Beach Boys. The song was never released on an original Beach Boys album, however it was released on the soundtrack to the film Americathon and as a single during September, 1979 with the B-side of the single being "Sumahama". The single charted at #45 in the United States but never charted in the United Kingdom. The song has also been released on the Ten Years of Harmony Beach Boys compilation album.

What are yore thougts about this song. I give it a 10+ ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ::) ::) ::) ::) :lol :lol :lol :lol 8) :)

Beach Boys lyrics - It's A Beautiful Day
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artist: Beach Boys lyrics
title: It's A Beautiful Day


(Mike Love/Alan Jardine)

OOOOOOOOOW
Livin' down in L.A.
Such A Beautiful day

Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa

The skies are clear
It's a beautiful day in l.a.

People in motion
Our wheels movin all kind a ways

Indoors, outdoors, in the sun
There are people everywhere havin' fun, fun, fun

And when the moon and stars come out at night
We'll know what to do when we turn out the lights (turn out the lights, out the lights)

The freeways there are jammed with all kind of folks on their bikes
With fastball surfers, their all doin' their lefts and their rights

Roller skating, joggin', or a fancy bike
You can get around most anyway you really like

And when the sun is down and the stars are bright
I can hardly wait to get to hold you tight (hold you tight, hold you tight)

OOOOOOOOOOOh
Living down in L.A.
Such a Beautiful Day

Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa

Riding the fastlanes, and ballet in leisurely flight
People in motion the streets there a beautiful sight

In goodtimes, sunshine, you'll feel alright
We'll maybe even do an afternoon delight

You're sure to get as high as the clouds above
Participatin' in this little dance of love (dance of love, dance of love)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOW
Living down in L.A.
Such a Beautiful Day

The freeways are jammed now
The cars have disappeared from the scene

Cause' gone to work or to play
They use a whole 'nother kind of machine

OOOOOOOOOOW
Living down in L.A.
Such a beautiful day

"Americathon"  was a horrible film.  I remember going to see it at release because of "It's a Beautiful Day"....that was a mistake.

i never seen the movie but got to know about it when i bought 10 years of harmony on cd in 1992

I bought the soundtrack LP and still play it occasionally. My feeling at the time (1979) was that it was better than several tracks on LA Light Album and would have made that a better album. I agree, it seems bizarre that, at a time when they were desperate for success, they threw away a very good commercial single. 

A good one by Mike & Al.

It's one of the better "retro BB" tracks.

I agree, it seems like they threw away a great chance to have a hit single when they needed one badly.  Why not push the single, put it on an album, for god sakes play it live!  Carl and Al sound great..Mike good (just a little too nasally) . They did the same thing with Almost Summer, giving that one to Mike and Celebration....for God Sakes they couldn't buy a hit in 78

You're absolutely right! Bizarre.

The group went from 15 songs on 15 Big Ones, to 14 songs on Love You, to 12 songs on MIU, to 10 songs on L.A. Light Album. Why not just ADD "It's A Beautiful Day" to the album? Think how much stronger it would've been to open L.A. with "It's A Beautiful Day" and THEN "Good Timin".

I agree with RobMac that "It's A Beautiful Day" has a "retro" feel to it, and L.A. was supposed to be their mature, "adult" album, but 30 years later, I'm still looking for a good reason why they closed that album with "Shortenin' Bread"....

EDIT: There is a chance "It's A Beautiful Day" was recorded AFTER the release of L.A. which would make most of my post a mute point, except for the "Shortenin' Bread" part.... :police:

ive got this on the Americathon soundtrack on vinyl.... ;D   only redeeming factor to owning it

June 1979, apparently - so including it on an album released three months earlier would indeed be a neat trick.  ;D

Like I was saying, think how great it would've been to open Side B of Keeping The Summer Alive with "It's A Beautiful Day"...  :-D

I think it's an OK song. A little generic sounding but a decent slice of the times. I certainly think it would have been a nice inclusion for KTSA, but it wasn't essential . I give it a 7 out of 10.

This song is pretty good. I mean it would be a weaker cut if it was released during the band's peak but considering some of the crap they had just released (eg: M.I.U., Here Comes The Night disco etc..) then I think that makes it sound even better to most peoples ears. I agree it should've been on KTSA. I think sometimes various members of the band are pretty forgetful in regards to songs they have recently released/recorded. For example Dennis saying "did we release that" in regards to Susie Cincinatti and then there's Al forgetting that Honkin' Down The Highway was released and another example is Brian forgetting that he had recorded Child of Winter despite it being recorded in the past month or so and considering Brian wasn't that active at that time compared to before, you would've thought that he could remember Child of Winter!! So maby the band forgot they even recorded IABD? ;) :lol

the beach boys do have a way NOT to release a hit ! They release songs as a single they think will be doing good. For example doing for SIP hot fun in the summertime instead of Laihaina aloha  ::)

What does it for me in the song are Carl's bits in the chorus.  Being slightly late for the Light Album aside, there were many where it seems like they were short on material, had a fair amount of good stuff to give, and opted for a worse choice.  An addition of this on the two-fers would have at least been nice.  Ten Years of Harmony and the like had some good rare stuff on it but I'd rather not have to get some other tracks over again.  It's bad enough that LDC duplicates half of its content from other releases.

I like that song, it's catchy. I think they didn't put it on KTSA because it was too old then. BTW I read on this board that "It's A Beautiful Day" was a hit in LA.

But When Girls Get Together wasn't!?!?? , it was from 1970! Santa Ana Winds was from 78 (although rewritten lyrics), Endless Harmony dated back to like 73, School Days was a lame cover, and the album had what..10 songs on it?? I don't get why this couldn't have been on that album!

I was working for a radio station here in Houston when "It's A Beautiful Day" was handed to me from the CBS/Lorimar rep. It was a Saturday and the stations did a live remote from the ice skating rink at the Galleria (HUGE shopping complex). I cut the track to cassette (as they only had cassette and reel to reels at the rink) and drove over there. I got the jock to put it on and the kids loved it. They were skating like crazy and clapping. Good tune. And they didnt promote it. Hell, they didn't release the single until fall after the OST came out in June. They didn't release KTSA as a single either. Although (as even Carl said at the time), the production values on KTSA kinda sucked. It should have rocked like crazy instead of that piano begining. When IABD was released, the rumor was that it was gonna be on the new LP Cousins, Friends and Brothers in the spring of 1980.  At that time, it was rumored that the new LP would have a Brian side and a groups side. That didn't happen of course.

BTW, the reason that Celebration did Almost Summer is because the BB owed Warners one last LP and CBS a new one. So neither was too keen to let them release a single on MCA. Celebration had Brian (uncreditied). I just wish the production was better. Way too stripped down.

[koff] August.  ::)

[koff] Thank you.

Another tidbit about Almost Summer. Mike told how he, Alan and Brian went to see the rough cut of the movie at Universal so they could write the theme song to it. After the screening, they went to the commisary to eat. True to his nature, while eating, Brian pulled a napkin out of the napkin holder, borrowed a pen from Mike and wrote the song on the napkin. He was done before he finished eating.

Ha ha what an awesome story!

I'm not sure, I like the production on this, it fits in fine with the MIU album - it should have been on there for sure!

Almost Summer is pretty catchy, but the lyrics are too closely tied into the movie. In other words the chrous works but the verses are very iffy.

"Almost Summer" made my spring/summer of 1978. That song was all over the radio and to top it off, Brian appears with Mike (and Celebration) on American Bandstand wearing a creme-colored Adidas warm-up suit holding a Fender bass. Never mind that he didn't know the record well enough to lip synch it....

That was fun times to be a Beach Boys fan. An album a year, singles on the radio, Brian losing weight and touring. We were spoiled!

Yeah I envy some of you fans!! I mean I can only dream of being around when the Beach Boys were still a creative force.

Yeah, I agree... I hate the first verse, they're ridiculous. From memory: "Suzie wants to be a lady director, Eddie wants to drive a hearse". Ugh.

Disagree.  I like the words - bit camp, quite funny.  Never struck me as relevant whether they relate to the movie or not.

And of course, a classic feelgood BW choon.

Gonna play it now when I get home!

Not to be too contrary here, but I found this period a bit depressing. For me, the band was quickly slipping away from the more adventurous material they were doing five or six years earlier. LOVE YOU left me underwhelmed at the time it was released (still does!); given the quality material Brian had contributed over the first six years of the decade ("Add Some Music", "This Whole World", "'Til I Die", "Marcella", "Sail On Sailor", "Funky Pretty", even "It's O.K." and "Had To Phone Ya"), his "full" return on LOVE YOU in '77 seemed really undercooked. Of course, POB was a real knock-out, but from '77 through '85 the good stuff just got thinner and thinner. However, it was great to see all five original members on stage during this period!

I'll propose that the true second golden age for the band (the first being 1962 - 1973 naturally) has been the last 15 years! Starting with the GV box set (previously unreleased SMiLE material!) and continuing through the PET SOUNDS box (and stereo mix), the ENDLESS HARMONY & HAWTHORNE, CA collections, the return of Brian Wilson as a live performer, the completion of SMiLE, THAT LUCKY OLD SUN and the soon-to-be-released Dennis Wilson treasure trove, these are great days to be a fan. We have access to more wonderful stuff than ever before.

Point taken, Roger. I guess I was referring more to quantity than quality! 8)

Seriously, it was an interesting period. Look at how diverse those albums - 15 Big Ones, Love You, MIU, L.A., and KTSA - were. You didn't know what to expect. You had Pacific Ocean Blue and Celebration thrown in there from out of nowhere. There was American Bandstand(s), The Midnight Special, and various P.M. Magazine shows. Brian went from some live piano to full time piano to piano and bass. He (Brian) was losing weight, dressing in those warm-up suits, and the voice was coming back. Jan & Dean were back. Bruce re-entered the picture. Stan & Rocky. Change in record companies. Soundtracks. Disco music. Karen Lamm-Wilson to Christine McVie. More divorces. More drugs. Never a dull moment. What a strange period. 

Roger I agree completely with your first paragraph and your statement on how bizarre the whole period was is also spot on Sherrif. It must of been really odd to see Brian and Dennis decline right on stage. At least with Carl it was temporary.  I would say the worst time to be a fan was the mid 80's when I first started. The Full House era.

I think they did that because it was kind of reminiscent of the start of 'Mess of Help'. But that was another single that flopped (I liked that one too).

The person who mentioned IABD being a hit in LA - we don't get that kind of regionality here, being such a small island. Had it been a single at the time of the LA album, with all the publicity, it would have been a big hit in the UK. But as has been pointed out - it hadn't been recorded then.

Another interesting story about this song. When the BB came to Houston that year (1978), after playing Surfin USA and taking their usual break, Mike came back out and introduced Didi Conn and several other cast members of Almost Summer who were visiting Houston promoting the movie. Turned out that they were sitting right in front of me. they went up on stage and said hi to everyone and then the movie trailer was shown on the jumbotron over the stage. Then the rest of the group came back out and did Almost Summer, using the words written for KRBE FM 104 in Houston.

Fun times indeed. Except that later, I found out that the group had just come back from Austrialia. And we know what happened down under.

Yes, Mike Love recorded a couple of promo versions of "Almost Summer", personalizing them, using the call letters of radio stations around the country, and also mentioning the city.

Couple ?  Try about 20 or so (allegedly).  ;D  The confirmed ones are:

KRTH 101 Los Angeles (pressed up on a promo 45)
WMMS Cleveland
KFRC San Francisco
KBRE Houston
Detroit

I have the 45 of KRTH. I wonder if these got played more then the real record.

Very much doubt it - "Almost Summer" hit #28 on Billboard.

True but I would guess that say WMMS played their version (if it all it they never played the Beach Boys).

The 7" and the "Ten Years of Harmony" version are 3:15 edits. The O.S.T. version runs 4:31

I wish I was alive during the CATP/Holland-era. I'd kill to be able to go back in time and see the BBs live with Blondie and Ricky and Dennis in the front line.

Any show from 1961-74 would have been pretty amazing. The 1975 shows (except Wembly and the Beacago shows) already seem to have been weighed down by oldies. They were still performed well at the time though.

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I agree with RobMac that "It's A Beautiful Day" has a "retro" feel to it, and L.A. was supposed to be their mature, "adult" album, but 30 years later, I'm still looking for a good reason why they closed that album with "Shortenin' Bread"....


Hmmmm, good question. But I do love Carl's vocal on that track and that's about enough for me.


Damm, he was the greatest!!!!!!