The Smiley Smile Message Board

What are your personal underrated Beach Boys (or related) songs? Songs that maybe weren't singles, didn't appear on "best of" compilations, are always a good listen, and make you want to share them with others because maybe they never heard 'em. Here's my Top 3:

1. Cuddle Up - always touches me, can't believe it hasn't been covered by more, epitomizes Dennis's tender, romantic side; I paticularly like this phase of Dennis' vocals

2. Heaven (either by Carl or Brian) - possibly the best song Carl ever wrote, while it's perfect the way it is I often wondered what it would've sounded like with a Beach Boys' harmony; Brian's version contains his best vocal since 1970.

3. Falling In Love (by Spring) - this is a great, great song that should be heard by everyone, I love this particular arrangement, hauntingingly beautiful, simple but touching lyrics

Everything on Friends

Speed Turtle. Lines. Good Time. It's Trying To Say (Baseball). I'll Bet He's Nice.

Didn't know you were a fan....My 4th choice was "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", obviously not for the performance, but for the songwriting.

You could say I am. http://www.sendspace.com/file/l70jtp

Wow, I'm impressed, Luther. A mostly acoustic arrangement, with a doubled lead vocal in places, and layered harmonies, including a Mike Love-like bass vocal. Cool! Did you do that yourself?

Yeah, six or seven years ago. You can tell it's all me by the very, very bad drumming!

Where I Belong  from The Beach Boys 1985.

Male Ego
Sunshine
Kona Koast
Good Time
Big Sur (original version)

Welcome, Ann. Too bad your first post had to be about a song from the dreadful BB85 album! (Really, welcome to the board.)

Welcome to the board, Ann!

Even though the Beach Boys released three singles from The Beach Boys (1985), and "Where I Belong" wasn't one of them, it's still the strongest song on the album, or my favorite at least.

Lonely Sea
Ballad Of Ole' Betsy
Cherry, Cherry Coupe
We'll Run Away
Drive-In
Good To My Baby
Wind Chimes (Smiley version)
Anna Lee, The Healer
We're Together Again
At My Window
A Day In The Life Of A Tree
Cuddle Up
Mt. Vernon And Fairway
Had To Phone Ya
Roller Skating Child
Rock'n'Roll To The Rescue
Lahaina Aloha

Actually Where I Belong is a GREAT song, I remember always ignoring TBB88 but when I finally went through it, I listened to that song like 10 times in a row.

Whenever I make compilations (which is quite frequently), I always find a place for these three in their respective eras, among the heavy hitters. "Cherry, Cherry Coupe" is so catchy and cool; Brian could do so much in 1:40. "Roller Skating Child" rocks, and only Brian's rough tag keeps it from being perfect. And, when people talk about the last great BB song, don't forget about "Lahaina Aloha". 

"Wake The World"

"Make It Good"

"Country Air"

Trombone Dixie
Celebrate the News
Fallin' in Love (Lady) - Totally agree Sheriff, one of my ALL TIME favorites as well!!
Sweet Mountain

"All I Wanna Do"

"All This Is That"

Man, so many, it's hard to know where to begin.  I agree; the entire FRIENDS album for sure...  Also TIME TO GET ALONE, WAY TOO LONG, I WENT TO SLEEP, ....  From an earlier period: JUDY, LAND AHOY, SURFERS RULE, CUSTOM MACHINE, ... so many more...!  :o

Does anybody think "Little Saint Nick" is underrated? I think it's one of their most covered songs. Does it deserve to be up there with "Surfin' USA", "Fun, Fun, Fun", and "I Get Around"(ducks for cover)?

Why not? it's more famous than the Beatles' Christmas Time is Here Again.....  ;D

I've never even heard of Speed Turtle before. What era was that from?

It was released last year by Brian on an album called Blue Moo... The song wasn't written by him of course as he was invited to sing the song for the album:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Moo-Sandra-Boynton/dp/B001APM46C/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1226197718&sr=8-2

EDIT: Here's a link with samples http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Moo/dp/B001CKHGBI

-Cuddle Up (my absolute favorite song ever, by anyone)
-Time to Get Alone
-This Whole World
-She Knows Me Too Well
-Steamboat
-Fallin' In Love (Lady)
-Good Time (damn thing gets stuck in my head every time I hear it)
-The Night Was So Young

Winter Symphony, Cuddle Up, Aren't You Glad, Lookin' at Tomorrow...

All of the above. But if we're looking at songs that should have been hits, and widely remembered, then Breakaway comes to my mind, and then a whole bunch of the Friends tracks.

Underrated by whom?

If by the general public, I would say most of them.

Good one! While I like "Winter Symphony" in its existing form, it's one of the Christmas songs that I wish Brian would've given the "makeover" for WIRWFC, instead of "Little St. Nick" or "Auld Lang Syne". "Winter Symphony" ended up on Ultimate Christmas, so a lot people (non diehards) have now heard it over the years, and I wonder what they think of it....

That song is great.

All This Is That (although it has been getting more recognition lately)
Sunshine from KTSA
Sunshine from Imagination
Keepin The Summer Alive
It's OK (yeah, it went top 40, but still remains largely unappreciated)
Your Summer Dream
It's About Time
You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
Lady Lynda
Full Sail
Winds Of Change
Island Fever
She's Goin Bald
This Town Goes Down At Sunset
My Hobo Heart
Do It Again (from IJWMFTT)

Your Summer Dream
Wendy
Girl Don't Tell Me (some backing vocals would help alot...see Alan's Vegas album)
Aren't You Glad
Be Here In The Morning
Breakaway
This Whole World ( 1 more verse and its gotta be a hit)
Long Promised Road
All This Is That
Just Once In My Life
Everyone's In Love With You
Winds of Change
Lady Lynda (alternates and live are way better)
Goin On
Where I Belong
Somewhere Near Japan
Lahaina Aloha

Yeah, I even heard it at Kroger! That's got to count for something.

A few of mine...
"Breakaway"
"Here Today" *was at one time my favorite PS tune*
"All I Wanna Do" (my favorite Mike Love tune--where he sings lead)
"Kiss Me Baby"
"Let Him Run Wild"
"Just Once in my Life"
"I'll Bet He's Nice"
"My Diane"
"Be With Me"-my God, the string arrangement on this one! Fantastic.

Had to Phone Ya........

A very happy nice little song....at least the 1st two thirds

"when I phone ya, Californias not so far away".....but the come on come on part at the end abruptly changes the tone

TPESKY-  I know what you mean about Girl Dont Tell Me, I love that version from Al!

btw Donald, you like Spring's version of had to phone ya? it sounds more quirky, i love both. Had to phone ya is prolly Brian's best backing track on 15 Big Ones, possibly one of his best in the 70s as a whole.

We'll Run Away
And Your Dream Comes True
It's OK - should have been a bigger hit
Matchpoint of Our Love - One of the first Beach Boys songs I ever heard, strangely enough. I heard a genius mashup mix of Matchpoint vs. The Chemical Brothers' "Star Guitar" by The Avalanches.
Keepin' the Summer Alive -- why wasn't this a single?!
Passing Friend
Summer of Love

I think the backing vocals on Al's live version completely ruin the song. Awful.

Yes! I'm not saying this because Mike probably wrote the lyrics - I really don't care - but the lyrics never bothered me. Actually, I think they're clever.

Winds of Change

I would say all but most the american spring material, I enjoy.

I think Marilyn Wilson is underrated as a singer. She did some really good work; she could sound emotional like her husband.

Slip on Through *
Let Him Run Wild
We'll Run Away
Here Comes the Night (original)
Angel Come Home (should have been a single, might have been a hit)
The Night Was So Young

and, of course, Sound of Free

* If only Slip on Through, Dennis' only A-side BBs single, had been a hit (like it should have been), I think the whole Beach Boys history would have been vastly different. People would have given Sunflower a listen, Warners would have issued more singles, probably Forever and/or It's About Time, and Dennis would have been recognized as the Beach Boys new leader. The next album would have lead off with Sound of Free as a single and also included Lady, Fourth of July and Wouldn't it Be Nice To Live Again. (End alternate reality scenario)

Are you by chance thomasogg under a new name?

No, just someone who has lurked for a while. But this thomasogg sounds like a smart guy.   ;)

I also love the original version of Lookin' Down the Coast...

I actually kinda miss him around these parts. What's wrong with a pro-Dennis voice? Even a crazy pro-Dennis voice that views Dennis the way blueboarders view Brian!

I like how you think, Sound of Free.  :)

The other day, I heard I Sleep Alone; I hadn't heard it in a long while, I enjoy it a lot

When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)

This was a single, of course, but still I feel it belongs here. People (including myself) have criticized the Beach Boys for relying on past glories a tad too heavily, yet very few seem to understand what a powerful emotional experience it must be for someone like Brian Wilson to sing a song like this in concert considering the nature of the lyrics. It was a minor hit some 44 years ago, so you might think it's an oldie when in truth it has taken a life of its own being performed by the man who wrote it, now well into his sixties. 16, 17, 18... won't last forever.

You call #9 on Billboard minor ??  :o

Ah, must've mixed it up with The Little Girl I Once Knew. Always quite stunning how many hits they really had during this period.

And still this song doesn't  get much attention, it's so beautiful.

BTW I think "He Come Down" is really underrated, one of my favourite songs.

Let The Wind Blow (Live)
Steamboat
At My Window
Our Sweet Love
A Day In The Life Of A Tree
We Got Love  (Live)
Funky Pretty (live and studio)
Leaving This Town (Live)

All very underated and Favs of mine.

Big Bri

I loathe Passing Friend enough to disrupt this entire thread just to say how much I loathe it.

Winter Symphony. I love this one.

Aw, no love for Boy George? You know....

there's nothing worse than a passing friend,
who'll dine on you to the bitter end...  :lol :lol :lol

I actually like that song.

"Passing Friend" sounded awesome on CD back in 1985, which was the first CD I ever bought. Didn't care for the song that much after about the first two minutes....

Another underrated two, from the unreleased vaults, "Michael, Row The Boat" and "Christmas Day". I think it's called "Christmas Day"; it goes, "If you find for some sad reason, you're alone this Christmas season...."

Me too. Totally blew my mind when I first heard it. Should've been a Christmas single back in the day.
Love BW's lead vocal, it's his voice at its late seventies best.

Oh, yes. I've been listening to "Winter Symphony" a lot lately. There's something wonderfully unique about Brian's lead vocal on this track. He never sounded quite like this - before or after. It's almost like he WOULD"VE sounded after Holland, without the cocaine and cigarettes. There was something going on, something good going on, with Brian's vocals during those MIU sessons. I wish they could've quarantined him or taken him away to an island for a couple of years after MIU, because a lot of bad things happened right after that. He never sounded like that again, including his solo years....     

I'll agree with Slip On Through. Not enough love for it.

Also:

Surfers Rule - glorious pop punk.
Your Summer Dream.
Car Crazy Cutie, Cherry Cherry Coupe, No-Go Showboat.
In The Parkin' Lot, definitely.
Keep An Eye On Summer
Johnny B. Goode
In the Back Of My Mind
The Times They Are-A Changin'
All I Want To Do
Big Sur, Beaks Of Eagles
Winds Of Change (for the end)
Angel Come Home, Love Surrounds Me
Island Girl.

Feel the exact same way about it. In fact it's what made me really appreciate the M.I.U. Album lately, a record which I had thought of as the group's absolute nadir only two or three years ago. To me, this is beyond cocaine and smoking, it's the way his vocals could suddenly sound that heartfelt again (and especially so on Winter Symphony). Come to think of it, he even brought a song like Matchpoint of Our Love to life. (Now imagine that one being sung the way he used to sound just a few years later... or earlier, for that matter.) So warm and relaxed, it's almost like the ultimate antipode of his BW88 singing voice.

Winter Symphony is a great xmas BB song from Brian.. I agree excellent vocals on that one.. The production is so much more creative and interesting than almost anything else done at MIU sessions (same with Dennis's Morning Christmas, which is also highly underrated).

I also think Child Of Winter is very underrated. It has that quirky synth based arrangement that would develop even more on Love You. The way Brian was doing arrangements at that time with synths was amazing.

Other songs I find very very underrated:

A few on Carl & The Passions (Cuddle Up, Make It Good, Mess Of Help, even Marcella)

The Palisades Park cover on 15 Big Ones

Definitely Wind Chimes on Smiley like someone else mentioned (and Fall Breaks as well)

Funky Pretty (in fact the whole Fairy Tale.. I think it is very charming and beautiful in spots)

I also really like some of those cheesy Caribbean type songs "Island Girl" and "Sunshine". Very catchy and good harmonies.

Also after hearing the backing track to "Don't Go Near The Water" I appreciate that one a lot too. I still wonder if Brian had more of a hand in the production than we think.

.

It's About Time
All I Wanna Do
All This Is That
Somewhere Near Japan
Cabin Essence

Child of winter, easily. Hearing Kayla Williams's version made me realize that the song was incredibly commercial and actually sounds like it'd be a hit NOW.

Edit... whoops...not Kayla. I had a bald moment...its like a blonde moment for guys :lol

Is that on her YouTube channel? If so, I can't find it.

Stephen Kalinich posted it on his Facebook page.


Edit

Not Kayla.... Rachel & the Reindeerz. Was listening to some of Kayla's stuff and got mixed up : lol

All the songs from Carl And The Passions
Lady Lynda, Dennis's Contributions, and the disco remake of Here Comes The Night "dodges bricks" from L.A. Light Album
California Calling (which is sh*t) and Getcha Back (Which is popular anyway) aside, The 85 album.

Agreed on the first and third ones, big time.

Um... "Funky Pretty" isn't part of the Fairytale, y'know.

I don't know if I posted this before but I think "Stevie" is a monstrous song. Those drums (and horns?) are huge! I wish it had been officially released, then or now.

Of course not. Just mentioned the Fairytale as an afterthought.

Darn, I don't have "Winter Symphony". >:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0BVypgYrxo

Agreed. It's definitely my favourite of the still unreleased catalogue!

Thank You Pedro! Seems like there was a chance to save Brian's voice in the MIU era...

Being a younger fan who had the Hollans cd twofer first and the LP album/EP second, I always felt that Funky Pretty was a great prelude to Mt Vernon, now if it was meant that way, probably not, but I feel the backing track is closely related to the same sound of the Mt Vernon instrumental tracks...whatever instruments they may be...some type of synths?

 Almost Summer should have been a Beach Boys song I bet it would have went top twenty when they realy needed a hit single