The Smiley Smile Message Board

What do you think? Including beach boys work.  There are a ton of potential answers since much of his later work is ignored. I was considering Being With The One You Love or Let's Put Our Hearts Together but have to go with:

Rio Grande

Too good, too under-appreciated.

Busy Doin Nothing. Easily.

With the understanding that this is by the general public as opposed to the likes of board members, I'd say that while I can't narrow it down to one, these are strong candidates. (And there are more where they came from)

Surfs Up
Wonderful
Cabinessence
Time to Get Alone
Breakaway
This Whole World
Til I Die
The Night Was So Young
I'll Bet He's Nice
Speed Turtle (if recordings, not just compositions, count). 😀

I think That Lucky Old Sun is very underrated. Obviously people here appreciate it, but I'd say it's up there with some of the BB stuff. If you had to choose one BW album to representative of his solo output, I'd choose this one.

Most underrated?

Solar System.

Regarding its U.S. chart position, Breakaway. Shoulda been a massive hit.

A Day In The Life Of A Tree

I have to have two choices for this- Time To Get Alone and Til I Die. I can't get enough of the latter at the moment.

To be honest though, all of Brian's work is underrated. Sure GOK and GV get a lot of praise but I think the general public actually know very little about how amazing his (and the Boys') work actually is.

Excellent question. "Kiss Me, Baby" springs immediately to mind, with "The Little Girl I Once Knew" in close attendance.

Just Like Me and You.

A stone-cold classic in any era, relegated to bonus track status.

It's Like Heaven.

Shaun Cassidy version... produced by Michael Lloyd... great key change and falsetto tag at 2:20.

A Beach Boys version of this would have been a standout on MIU...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqiZQe3ufB0

Yes.

Still i Dream Of It

I agree on Busy Doin' Nothin' and A Day in the Life of a Tree. I'd add I'll Bet He's Nice to the list.

I'll happily second I'll Bet He's Nice.

 Also, It's not easy being' me resonates strongly with me but barely seems to get a mention from people. Also, Life if for the Living for the same reasons.

Another one that comes to mind is Fall Breaks and Back to Winter.

Anything Smiley Smile is certainly a contender. You could possibly say SMiLE too--not underrated among the fans obviously with the latter, but certainly with the general public.

I think 'Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long' is an under appreciated gem of song. Probably my favorite off that album. It has a  fun youthful spirit missing in much of Brian's solo work but It never seems to get much love. Terrible nasal vocals though, like the rest of that album.

Yeah, I really appreciate this song like never before since the stereo version came out. Just about the best thing on that album.

Surf's Up - just because it isn't looked at with the same reverence as Good Vibrations, Let It Be, and what have you.  WE know how great it is but that song should make every single "best songs of all time lists".  Because it doesn't, it gets my vote.

I really like "Southern California" I think Brian's voice is great on it. It's kind of like a Mike Love style nostalgia-sap song but done a lot better with more conveyed emotion, I really enjoy it

Thank you for saying Breakaway! I haven't listened to that song in a few years and completely forgot about it....it is one of my favorites!

Breakaway. Especially the Brian demo.

Smart Girls.

"When Girls Get Together"...many seem to hate or dislike this one.

Without a doubt: Sweet Mountain

Surf's Up - Brian's best

From There To Back Again/Pacific Coast Highway

Had To Phone Ya - I love this instrumental track:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BDr2jZzirw4

Soulful Old Man Sunshine, Mama Says, and Let the Wind Blow.

I must agree with Andrew; "Kiss Me, Baby" has always been one of my very favorites. TLGIOK was never that big a deal to me until I heard it on Brian's Live at the Roxy album. The power and imagination in just the INTRODUCTION of the song is simply amazing. Now it's right up at the top of my list. It's also my ringtone when my daughter calls.

Also the vocals on TLGIOK are as jazzy as BBs get. Love it.
Please Let Me Wonder has been getting more attention lately but for a long while was a forgotten beauty.

Yeah, you know? People diss Let the Wind Blow all the time and I like it!

Rio Grande   

One For The Boys

A Day In The Life of A Tree

H.E.L.P. Is On The Way

At My Window

That Same Song

TM Song  :P

People diss LTWB? It's one of the most beautiful things - musically and lyrically - that I've ever heard. The version on the live album is unreal.

I can't think of a single song that should get the title of most underrated. The crappiest BB songs are still better than the vast majority of other pop music. But in the spirit of the thread, I'll throw out this underrated gem: Our Car Club. The key changes and the harmonies that they bust out in the second verse! 

Rio Grande is a good choice, although I like Being With the One You Love, too - and Melt Away. Sure wish Brian's band would work up a few of these songs for the live set, but it seems the standard set list is a bunch of Beach Boys classics, with some songs from whatever his new album is worked in. And then the next album comes out and the songs from the last album are dropped.

Drive-In, Good To My Baby, Here Today. Even Brian himself underrates Here Today.

Mama Says! Yes! I can't believe the 'meh'ness around this song on the board, a beautiful arrangement of one of Brian's greatest refrains.

I'd vote for the 2 Gershwin songs that Brian finished for his Gershwin album...

I enjoy Shawn Cassidy's version but I absolutely love the Spring version. Would have been great to hear a BB version, but I really can't envision any recording of this song sounding better than that done by the Rovell sisters (all three in this case).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=othG9M3ieVc

Yes, an absolutely sublime song from Brian and Mike.

Good to My Baby - yes! That song really clicked with me as soon as I heard the instrumental version on the Hawthorne CD. Drive-In is great too, loved it when Brian's band did it in concert.

Talking about their earlier stuff, another one that comes to mind is Cherry Cherry Coupe.

From his solo years, Southern California comes to mind. 

Also, the final four songs from TWGMTR.  With the short lived nature of that BB lineup, and the fact that neither the BB or BW do those songs live, mean that they may be lost treasures over time. 

Let Him Run Wild

"The Little Girl I Once Knew".  The backing track (or what fragmented sections of it that I've heard) sounds like it belongs on Pet Sounds.  And the tag just explodes with joy.  What he does with the organ and saxes is amazing. 

That's a good one.

Another is "We'll Run Away." Has that ever made a Beach Boys comp?

<<I enjoy Shawn Cassidy's version but I absolutely love the Spring version. Would have been great to hear a BB version, but I really can't envision any recording of this song sounding better than that done by the Rovell sisters (all three in this case).>>

I have to give the Michael Lloyd/Cassidy version the edge... more developed production (the Spring version has always sounded like a demo to me, rushed and sparse ala Love You)... and the Cassidy version has a great middle 8 that gets repeated twice.  The Spring version has a completely different and very weak bridge.  Better tag on the Cassidy version as well. 

I spoke at some length with Michael Lloyd about this one.  He said he really tried hard to do Brian's sound... but studio time limitations kept him from making it as big a production as he wanted.

Yes, that, and Let Him Run Wild, definitely pave the way for Pet Sounds. 

"Smart Girls" : It has a positive feminist message and... you know... it raps!

I've always considered "The Shift" to be shamefully underrated.

On the face of it, the main tune is a 12-bar blues (I I I I IV IV I I V IV I V). However, Brian "shifts" the key up a whole tone in bar 3 and back down again in bar 12 (in Carl's solo too).

As far as I know this is unique----no-one else has ever done this.

I would also add In The Back Of My Mind

 I know that Smart Girls is a bit of a joke of a song. I know it's bad. But.... I'll tell you what, I play it a hell of a lot more than the 80's dirge output of SIP and SC.

 It's entertaining.....maybe entertainingly bad maybe? But still entertaining....

Sunshine (from Imagination)
Male Ego
Love Is a Woman
The TM Song
Back Home
Transcendental Meditation
In the Back of My Mind
Be True to Your School (album version)

Here's a Beach Boys classic that doesn't get nearly as much love as it should

When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)

The arrangement is brilliant, as are the lyrics.  One of many great tracks from Today that proved The Beach Boys were much more than a surf / car band. 

it's gotta be This Whole World imo. considering Brian's state at the time in contrast with how amazing, beautiful and joyous this song is, it's a bit of a miracle. also it rocks really hard.

How did I never hear this before?  Cool!

Winter Symphony too.

Great song.  One of the reasons Sunflower is my favorite Beach Boys album. 

 Amen.

 The problem seems to be that there are so many BW songs that fans feel are underrated....

COMMENT:

Long Tall Texan

I love the way Mike yodels the ends of the verses -- at least when they sing it live.

~swd

What Love Can Do – https://youtu.be/n8A_J4KSvRg

One of his best solo career tracks… too few (even, I suspect, among the Smiley folk here) have heard this.

Let Him Run Wild     Surf's Up     Till I Die       could listen to these nonstop for days   

In addition to the two Gershwin songs mentioned in my first post on this thread, I will second What Love Can Do, and add Rodney on the Rock, It's a Beautiful Day, Summer 's Gone,County Fair,  Farmer's Daughter, I'd Love Just Once to See You, Pamela Jean (Survivors),The Night Was So Young, Pitter Patter,  Just Once In My Life, Amusement Parks USA, Pet Sounds (title track), Had To Phone Ya, Shake Rattle and Roll, Celebrate the News, When. A Man Loves a Woman

You're not done are you?

An American Family got me hooked on LTWB. The version with just the vocals, a piano, and the backing harmonies from the film are astounding.

Underrated by who?  People who don't know Moon Dawg from Half Moon Bay?  People who don't know Brian didn't even compose Moon Dawg or perhaps those who thought Barbara Ann was one of his tunes?

This thread is just a disguise for discussing Brian's non-hit *gems*.  They're not underrated.  Not by well-versed fans.  Who cares what the ignorant think?  The thing is...in order to be ignorant they DON'T think.  [maybe only because they never had the chance to in this particular regard.]

There have been MANY outstanding songs 'dropped' here as being underrated.  Most of us would rate them very HIGHLY.  Why?  Because they are deserving of that kind of recognition and accolade.  They are truly essential and terrific songs.  [and arrangements]

Even the best ball players in the world don't strike out every batter, make every tackle, score on every shot, catch every ball, always kick it through the uprights or into the net.  So maybe some of Brian's gems don't quite shine as brightly as the others.  They're still appreciated by some and they round out a truly impressive, substantial and successful body of work.

For the great unwashed???  They're ALL underrated. :hat  [poor bastards]

Let's Go to Heaven in My Car, Make a Wish, etc.

Haha, yeah !

Are you not going to propose a song?

Errr... Peter, a word, please...

Yeah, I know...but It's a Beautiful day is attack that shines when other tracks of the time didn't

Well...er...no.  I think I explained why.  Given the sentiments of some here I would say that his latest lp...No Pier Pressure...is badly underrated by a few who can't seem to hear it when it's plainly there.  Seems they've gotten caught up in meaningless distractions.  Perhaps the concept of the next "rock 'n' roll" lp is being underrated by even more?  It takes SOME people longer to 'get' it /hear it.

Pet Sounds was one of those at the time.  [for some]

Someone selected This Whole World.  Why?  It's an outstanding song from a fabulous album.  Underrated?  By fools and those who have no clue.  THEY don't count.  THAT's the point.

That Same Song, I Wanna Pick You Up and Goin' On.

The Little Girl I Once Knew - not on an album - I'll never figure that one out.  An afterthought on SDSN...

The First Time (can't find this on any album - another great one)

Lay Down Burden - from Imagination (with Joe Thomas)

Happy Days (from Imagination) - so hopeful, seeing the light in the tunnel, after the nightmare of 1998.  ;)

Imagination - as a work, felt as though Brian was somehow "turning a corner" in terms of his own personal survival. 

And, I love "The Waltz" (with Parks) really captures the ambiance of the early 60's high school dance, with boys on one side of the hall and girls on the other, both terrified of each other... ;)
 

I know it was probably more of an Al Jardine effort, but I think Crack At Your Love is a great song.

Lonely Sea - surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. Also Eric Matthews cover on the Caroline Now! tribute album is very good.

This Isn't Love - would love for this to get the fully arranged Pet Sounds-esque treatment

Melt Away - just a classic

My Diane - awesome

Some Sweet Day - very nice song from the Wilson/ Paley sessions.

Sweet Mountain, imagine how much better of an album CaTP would've been if the Beach Boys recorded it instead!

Wake the World is one.  I Want to Pick You Up - some characterize the lyrics as icky but I think it's a gem.  You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone.  Good to My Baby.

Guess I'm Dumb. I knew the Wondermints version of Guess I'm Dumb before the original. As soon as I heard it I thought it was a Brian track not knowing he wrote it (with Russ Titelman). The Wondermints version is actually pretty good. I also love the instrumental version on MIC.

Solar System. Loving Astronomy  I 've always liked the farty base, the nursery rhyme style and lyrics about the planets. Its funny, simple but very clever. The chorus of wall to wall Brian's(?) harmonies are great. Definitely not Brian's best song but one I think is underrated. I can't stop playing it.

I can get down with this.  By "Underrated" we're going for stuff that doesn't usually get mentioned as good, and some of the stuff on "Love you" while it's quirky and weird, if you listen those are some really genius songs.  Solar System is one, also I'll bet he's nice, or Airplane.  Airplane is brilliant, it's just all so out of the box that people poo poo it.  

"Over the city in an airplane
I can see everything below
The houses they look so tiny
The cars look like dots
We've only got fifteen minutes to go

The clouds in the sky caress my mind so tenderly
The sun shines down on the great big beautiful scene

The sound of the engine fills my ears up
I'm hopin' this rainy weather clears up
My lover is waiting at the airport
Soon she'll be kissing me hello

The woman sitting next to me tells me 'bout her guy
And I tell her all about you and I"

It's brilliant.  Most songwriters would kill to be able to write like that.

Rio Grande is a good one. I think he went to Smile levels on that one. One that I have recently discovered that blows my mind is Chain Reaction of Love from the Payley sessions.

What is meant by "most underrated"?  Almost an oxymoron the way it is being used in this thread.     What makes a song under rated?    That it should be rated higher?    How about something like unappreciated gems or best low charting songs?    Underrated could be any thing from TLGIOK to Still a Mystery.    Most of LOS would qualify as largely undiscovered  gems to the general public.     I say take out the spoken word pieces and get it on the PA at the department stores and grocery chains.     Do a creative rerelease and some PR.   America needs to hear the best solo effort of it's greatest pop composer of the 2nd half of the 20 th century

"Lines" is brilliant imo.  I play it a lot on piano.  Also "This Isn't Love" needs a full on studio recording and release.

Yes indeed. Love the organ on that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZsw8XHxnvY

When oh when are these thrilling tracks going to see the official light of day?

Farmers Daughter
Back Home
Lonely Sea
Please Let me Wonder
Ballad of Ole Betsy

Sorry for the revival -
I know that "Don't Talk" is highly rated, but even so I think it might be underrated.

Sometimes I just put all my music on shuffle and listen to whatever pops up. It's many thousands of songs so there are some songs I've never run into on shuffle. I've got classical, jazz and 'popular' music, so I've grown accustomed to hearing very different sounds juxtaposed.

But, today for the first time "Don't Talk" popped up. I don't think I've ever heard it out of context before and it was like listening to something recorded by an extraterrestrial who's been listening to earthling music for a few years. You can hear the earthling influence, but it's so other-worldly and weirdly beautiful and beautifully weird. Where did it come from?

Ok, I'm gonna chime in with one....and before anyone responds with "What??  How is that underrated?", I'm not citing a song that's ignored...just one that seems like it should have been huge, at least from my own perspective.

She Says That She Needs Me (Imagination)

I know there has been quite a bit of discussion about Sandy and Sherry, etc.  There's no doubt a finished 1965 cut would have been a mind blower, but the 70's frankenstein mix makes me cringe.  Brian's vocal was a mess on that one.

But the cut from Imagination demonstrates what an excellent this song is in a finished form with a decent vocal.  Brian sounds really good on this one, and the instrumental arrangement sounds great, although I do miss the prominent bassline from the '65 track.

I had pretty much forgotten about the songs on Imagination until recently when I revisited it, and I found She Says...to be a real standout.  That one remained stuck in my head for quite awhile.

Agreed - it bugs me that it is largely unheard by the masses. Would be nice if the general public was aware of Brian or the BB's for more than just the early hits and PS. It seems like every notable rock musician of the last 40 or 50 years praises PS and has it in their collection; but have they explored any of the other music Brian or the group created (well, other than Smile)? Imagine a world in which the only Beatles album people know is Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; other than that, they stick with the 1 collection. Yeah, right. Everybody knows the Beatles catalog, from beginning to end.

Mount Vernon & Fairway.

I wish Brian had been given free rein. I don't particularly care for how it was presented when it came out with Holland, but I am always entranced by the sections on their own, as presented on the GV box set.

"The Little Girl I Once Knew".

Melt Away...had it been produced differently, say, in the style of Pet Sounds it would be much loved. Great chords & melody.

I'm told the mix was different, richer, back in '88. Still nowhere online, unfortunately... 

All I Wanna do is fantastic in every way.

I think most of the non-45 tracks from PET SOUNDS tend to get "underrated" in the sense that they are not, pardon the pun, frequently "singled out" for praise.

Of that group, I'd rank the songs (with lyrics) as follows:

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (6.48)
Don't Talk (5.44)
Here Today (4.65)
You Still Believe in Me (6.14)
I Know There's An Answer (3.07)
That's Not Me (3.99)
I'm Waiting for the Day (4.34)

Now we get wonky...the values in parens are the weighted averages from a long-ago "rate the songs" poll conducted here. They shouldn't be taken as anything like gospel (and I know many/most won't!!) because they rank the songs only in the context of the PET SOUNDS album. There was a great deal of individual variation with respect to this song group, which was higher than the average difference of opinion amongst voters on most of the other LPs. That explains the low rankings here, and why few of these tracks have been mentioned here as being "underrated."

Here's one that I listened to a lot last month when I finally heard Ultimate Christmas for the first time.

Winter Symphony

Not strictly a Christmas song.  But I love the arrangement and Brian sang pretty well for that time period. 

Also, with a blizzard threatening the Mid Atlantic this weekend, it's pretty timely right now. 

Matchpoint of Our Love.

Agreed! To me, those initial chords are like opening a door into another world only to be found there. "Feel Flows" and "Can't Wait Too Long" are similarly unique----nothing like them anywhere. The Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes For You" is another. I'm sure everyone can name a few.

i agree

LIFE IS FOR THE LIVING!!!!!!!!!!!

And All I Wanna Do

I think they felt that style of production was for the 80's what PS was for the 60's. It doesn't bother me, but maybe that's because I was growing up in the 80's, hearing all the pop music on CHR.

First tune that popped into my head was "Our Sweet Love," and since nobody on this thread has mentioned it, but I'm sure nearly everyone is fond of it, I'm stickin' with this as my choice for most underrated.  :)

BTW, thanks to the person who mentioned "Just Like Me And You," which I am now listening to for the first time and enjoying it immensely (though I can see why all those delightful rough edges caused it to not to make the final cut).

Every Beach Boys song is underrated by the general public! As we all know by now, they seriously don't get enough respect and love as they deserve.

Without wanting to get everyone on my back, I'd say they should have been more influential than The Beatles and in my opinion, were much, much, much better than them. I grew up listening to The Beatles so I do like them, but compared to the complexity of the BB stuff, their music is just more 'tune' like than masterpiece!

I will agree that most BB songs are underrated. Unfortunately I think it would be impossible to underrate a few.  >:D
In terms of technical development and shifting from the 2.5 minute pop song, the Beatle-BB link seems valid. But musically, they are apples and oranges; I can't compare them. Lennon was envelope pushing with a raw rock sound and, with Ono, avant grade (with a brief Strawberry Fields foray), McCartney with bringing a Vaudeville sensibility into pop; Wilson with a completely new melange drawing heavily from jazz and pop standards.  

The Beatles also had much better people guiding them, so they didn't run into the image issues that plagued TBB.

Example, The Boys were still wearing the blue and white shirts when they were promoting Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations. 

Could you imagine The Beatles still wearing the gray suits to promote Sgt Pepper (not counting the tongue and cheek wearing of the suit jackets in the Hello Goodbye promo)? 

The Beatles also disbanded in 1970, so they didn't realize a bunch of uneven albums, deal with bandmember deaths while the band was active, or have fragmented lineups touring as The Beatles. 

Musically, like Emily says, while they were competing in the 1960s, The Beach Boys and Beatles are very very different bands. 

If anyone needs a tiebreaker, The Beatles did a much better version of Rock and Roll Music IMO.  :)

Solar System. Beautiful catchy tune

Yes! I too absolutely love that song. Like so many other Brian songs, it has so much simple truth and tenderness to it. What I also like about it is that the music feels like you're in an airplane, going up and down. Brian has a way of making the music "be" the song. I just can't explain it, but I'm sure a lot of you know what I mean (kind of).

I loved that song from the first time I heard it. So far I had only read bad comments about it, mostly along the lines of it being silly. I think it's just beautiful with a touch of Brian humor. And that voice...

I totally agree. For 25 years I though there was nothing better than the Beatles. Last year, because of the L&M movie, I "discovered" the Beach Boys and it has litterally changed my life. I just can't get over how beautiful the music is. This doesn't mean that the Beatles aren't great - they are. But the Beach Boys - The Wilson brothers - Brian... otherworldly.

I love just about everything in the catalogue.. but if I had to go with one it would be "That's not me".  I think it gets lost a bit amongst the other great tracks on Pet Sounds, and maybe some don't like it because it has a Mike lead, but I think it is absolutely perfect.

This song just kills me!  Especially the stereo version from the box set.. the guitar and bass really come to life.  It's just the boys playing on this one which makes it even better.  I also personally think it was one of the most heartfelt leads that Mike ever did.

And.. my favorite part..  the INSANE Brian falsetto whine bit that gets stuck in there.. oh my god that part just slays me every time.  How does he do that? 

This is the worst thread ever. There is no objective (or subjective) way to decide what is the most underrated Brian Wilson song.

The answer to the OP's question is obviously Wouldn't It Be Nice.