The Smiley Smile Message Board

Another thread got me to thinking...

What are your 10 favorite Beach Boys officially released solo albums?  This includes solo projects like Celebration, Beckley-Lamm-Wilson, and Al Jardine Family & Friends.

Mine:

1. Pacific Ocean Blue
2. Orange Crate Art
3. Like A Brother
4. Brian Wilson Presents Smile
5. Brian Wilson
6. That Lucky Old Sun
7. Youngblood
8. Live at the Roxy
9. Bambu
10. Live in Las Vegas

This list was kind of hard to make because the material is so hard to compare and rank...ranging from 1963 to 2008.

If I would have ranked all the ones I own (I don't have any Dave Marks stuff...yet), it would have probably gone like this:

11. Imagination
12. Celebration (2nd album)
13. Looking Back With Love
14. Gettin' In Over My Head
15. Carl Wilson
16. Blondie Chaplin
17. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
18. Salute NASCAR / Catch A Wave / Summertime Cruisin'
19. Surfin' Round The World
20. Rock & Roll City / Listen To The Air
21. What I Really Want For Christmas
22. Going Public
23. Almost Summer
24. Pet Sounds Live
25. Between Us

I doubt I could pick 10 I would want to listen to that much but a top 5 might be...

1, Pacific Ocean Blue
2, Brian Wilson
3, Imagination
4, Live in Las Vegas
5, Celebration (2nd album)

Have to say I hardly ever listen to these records at all, except for a handful of obvious favourites like BW88 (despite its many shortcomings, it still ranks as my favourite BB-related record of the eighties), BWPS, Pacifc Ocean Blue (while I love the guy's music as much as anyone, to this person Dennis Wilson's songs always sounded a whole lot better as part of a Beach Boys album), That Lucky Old Sun, and probably Orange Crate Art.

Never managed to give the whole of the Beckley/Lamm/Wilson album a spin and while I certainly did enjoy "Heaven" quite a bit I found both of Carl's solo efforts entirely forgettable. - Going Public? Laughably bad. - Never managed to get my hands on a copy of Looking Back With Love, though I've heard the title tune and the Abba cover and I do own the Be My Baby/Teach Me Tonight 7".

To me, most of the individual group members' solo recordings prove that what each of them brought to the table when working with the group did not necessarily make these very same ingredients sound great when isolated from the other guys' influence.

1. POB
2 Smile
3. TLOS
4. Without Earth
5. BW 88
6.WIRWFC
7. Roxy
8. The Moon
9. Almost Summer
10. Celebration

I must say I had to struggle with this with the first fouir the only ones I like all the way through.
By the way
Spring, It's Like Heaven, The Flame, and Ricci Martin's LP would all be on here if we were counting production work.

1. Brian Wilson Presents Smile
2. That Lucky Old Sun
3. Pacific Ocean Blue
4. Live At The Roxy
5. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

1. Pacific Ocean Blue
2. BWPS
3. Youngblood
4. Imagination
5. That Lucky Old Sun
6. Brian Wilson
7. What I Really Want For Christmas
8. Looking Back With Love
9. Live At The Roxy
10. Celebration

1. Pacific Ocean Blue
2. Bambu
3. Brian Wilson
4. First Love
5. Surfin' 'Round The World
6. Surfer's Pajama Party
7. Looking Back With Love
8. Imagination
9. Youngblood
10. Unleash The Love/Mike Love, Not War

1. POB
2. BWPS
3. TLOS
4. Brian Wilson
5. Orange Crate Art
6. Live at the Roxy
7. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
8. What I Really Want for Christmas
9. Youngblood
10. Like a Brother

Yikes.

1. BWPS
2. TLOS
3. POB
4. Um ... hmm. Roxy. I guess.
5. '88

Then just kill me.

BWPS and TLOS over POB? You're a complex man, Luth.

The cover shows all of the Beach Boys, all the Beach Boys sing on the album and there are even a few small contributions from others within and outside the Beach Boys, but  this one is basically Brian's baby-Pet Sounds. The first and greatest solo attempt by a Beach Boy. :smokin

My position on POB has barely changed: I always thought it was an OK album and still think that. I don't like it anywhere near as much as most people around here do.

Luther... I, too, am not a huge fan of POB... I'd go BWPS, TLOS, BW88, POB...

1. Pacific Ocean Blue
2. That Lucky Old Sun
3. Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
4. Brian Wilson
5. Wilson/Paley
6.  Bambu
7.  Orange Crate Art
8.  The Moon
9. What I Really Want For Christmas
10. Sweet Insanity

If we're counting unreleased stuff, I'd put Wilson/Paley third or fourth.

1.  Pacific Ocean Blue
2.  Brian Wilson Presents Smile
3.  That Lucky Old Sun
4.  Brian Wilson
5.  Bambu
6.  I Think About You Often
7.  Live in Las Vegas
8.  Imagination
9.  Going Public
10. Orange Crate Art

Wilson/Paley'd be third for me too...fantastic stuff!

Well the Paley stuff wasn't a real album but it is probably better then anything Brian did except Smile and That Lucky Old Sun.  Bambu basically is out and I counted that as part of POB. Mike's First Love and Unleash The Love were also pretty good.
Ok without any restrictions here are my favorites.

1. POB/Bambu 2008 3 LP issue
2. Spring
3. Flame
4. I'ts Like Heaven
5. Smile
6. TLOS
7. Paley
8. Without Earth
9. First Love
10. BW 88

For the overall enjoyableness and tunefulness;

1. Orange Crate art
2. Brian Wilson
3. Paley sessions
4. Sweet Insanity
5. BWPS
6. TLOS
7. POB
8. Imagination

I've run out of options now...

1. Pacific Ocean Blue
2. Brian Wilson
3. Bambu
4. That Lucky Old Sun
5. Brian Wilson Presents Smile
6. Orange Crate Art
7. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
8. Imagination

Hell, I'd stop right there.

OCA was thisclose to being my #1...I definitely listen to it way more often than any other solo album by a Beach Boy.  If POB was a 100, OCA would be a 99.999.

Skipping Roxy and Live in Live in Las Vegas...
1      POB
2      BWPS
3      BW88
4      Bambu
5      TLOS
6      BW/Paley
Then a fair way below...
7      I Just Wasn't Made
8      OCA
9      Like a Brother
10    Imagination
11    First Love
12    Unleash the Love or whatever the hell it's called
13    Carl Wilson
Then a fair way below...
14    Country Love
15    GIOMH
16    Going Public
17    Sweet Insanity
18    Young Blood
The a fair way below
18    LBWL

I can only go from what I've heard - hence no David Marks or Blondie solo stuff.  From what I've herad so far, I figure Al's 'new' album to come in around about 12; I could also mess with the order of 4, 5 and 6, depending on the mood I'm in.  I've skipped the Christmas album too because it's hard to place and I don't listen to it much, though there are 2 or 3 good bits of music on there.  I'd have the Usher sessions below SI - Usher's production kills whatever qualities the songs may have had.