The Smiley Smile Message Board

Now I know this song might not be popular with quite a few around here, but I gotta ask why the song "Almost Summer" by Celebration has not really kept a level of popularity in line with it's chart placing, which I'm pretty sure was number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

I gotta say it's kinda surprising that The Beach Boys never took a quiet ownership of the track, as they have with stuff like the Dennis Wilson & Rumbo single and even Mike Love's solo version of "Brian's Back" from the late '70s. And I don't mean that legally. I just mean it as like it's kind of an "unofficial" part of their discography. I mean, it was the Brian, Al and Mike's only top 40 hit between "It's OK" and "Good Timin'" yet it seems to be forgotten.

Now if AGD or someone like him were on here they would be pedantic and say, "well it's not The Beach Boys," but let's be honest: it's written by three-fifths of the group (not to mention it's the three living founders who also make up three-quarters of BRI).

Anyways, I just think despite being a bit lightweight, it's a pretty classic late '70s Wilson/Love (and Jardine) tune and it's crazy that the only way to own it digitally is through some random compilation.

probably the fact that it wasn't recorded under the Beach Boys name.
in addition to being lightweight, Mike's lead is one of his all-time nasally worst. probably better that it be more or less forgotten.

nice that Kim Fowley chose to cover it for the excellent Caroline Now tribute, though.

Yeah, I can't put my finger on it but Mike sounds especially bad on the track. Just a very poor showing all-around, derivative composition, and they were better at nostalgia before and after. Nothing "classic" about it.

The song and Bandstand appearance that got me hooked on The Beach Boys.
I've mentioned it MANY times over the years to Brian & Mike -- and even Al (who forgot he co-wrote it).
I'm always pushing Boyd to get his hands on the tapes for a proper remix.

Classic '70s Wilson/Love -- always rated it up there with "It's O.K."
Was heartbroken it wasn't on MIC.

Linett & Boyd could bring that thing back to life.

This thread made me want to listen to it and as far as i can tell never released on anything but vinyl (cant find cd or on apple music). On youtube of course but suprising, seems like it really has been forgotten.

Agreed completely. I can't understand it either.

Side note: the Brian-sung demo rules.

I always get this song in my head at the beginning of summer. Perfect for that first warm summery day in May. It should have been a BB song.

It's a really interesting question!  And I have a vague recollection of having heard it on the radio at the time (not true of "It's OK" or "Peggy Sue").  It is kind of the lost Beach Boys hit during a period when they didn't really have any.

I think it might be as simple as none of the parties involved has any great affection for it and it never occurred to anybody.

I always thought too that that "American Bandstand" appearance was one of the last times pre-1983 that Brian still had some pep and energy in him; even though only miming, he seems to be digging this. He's got the bass strapped on and has a smile on his face:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwZFOG1J7Xk

Given how Mike has plucked from obscurity things like "Goin' to the Beach" and also has done some solo tracks at his shows, I'm pretty surprised he hasn't busted out "Almost Summer" at his live shows over the last decade-plus.

Theory: from "a casual look" at clips of Mike at recent concerts, it doesn't sound (at least to these ears) that he's singing with the same level of nasality as had been the case in the past (both on record and at live gigs). "Almost Summer" is, to my ears, at least, on the other side of self-parody in that regard, and maybe, just maybe Mike is making an effort to avoid that aspect of his, er, "persona" as it doesn't quite what he's trying to project these days--someone who can radiate positivity and a modicum of artistic awareness...all without (or at least mostly without) adenoids. "Almost Summer" strikes me as a song that would literally fall down a deep well if Mike sang it in the more modulated way that he seems to be favoring at this point.

And besides, if he's going to go in that direction, he should be singing "Johnny Carson," dammit!

MIKE LOVE IS ACTUALLY LESS NASAL THAN IN THE 70'S

I think that ALL it would take to get Mike to play or recognize this song, would be if it was mentioned by someone famous in a positive way, or if it somehow got licensed in a new film. Then he'd instantly get his band to learn it and start playing it.

I don't think it's because of any artistic reasons, just purely that he thinks people won't know it, and won't thunderously clap for it.

You're probably right, but I wish you weren't....  ::)

Oh yeah, who would want to forget this "classic"? ::)

That's classic Mike Love fashion in the American Bandstand clip.

Hey there needleinthehay (Elliott Smith fan?). I did wanna point out that "Almost Summer" actually is available in legal digital means via one CD, entitled Guilty Pleasures - Songs You Hate To Love (yep, how about that title, a-ha!). Now,  if Mike were proud of his non-Beach Boys work maybe he coulda tried to get it re-released elsewhere, but I guess for now this is the only place you'll find it on CD.

This!
Whatever happened between demo and released record... it made the song cringe worthy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwZFOG1J7Xk

I think you answered your own question: it's a pretty lightweight song.  There are a lot of songs from that era that charted well or at least fairly well, and are rightfully forgotten if they haven't aged well. 

I think that the background vocals are really strong and catchy for Almost Summer. Cruisin' sounds like a Beach Boys song as well. Never saw the film though, so not sure how either of the songs fit into the context of a movie. I remember Almost Summer being awkwardly rewritten as a jingle to donate money or gifts or something for children around Christmas with alternate lyrics. I am surprised Mike would not remake the song with new, more relevant (and probably still awkward) commercial lyrics - and I am sure he would leave the "Little Deuce Coupe" line in there.

This song always makes my springtime playlist along with It's A Beautiful Day from Americathon. Fun to sing along with. Carl's voice makes the song and both Al and Mike sound great together - their interplay here is similar to California Calling - but some of the lyrics to It's A Beautiful Day are tough to follow if you have not seen the film. Knowing America was out of oil makes lines like 'the cars have disappeared from the scene' and 'cause going to work or to play they use a whole 'nother kind of machine' makes more sense.

Almost Summer forgotten because now is summer :lol

I've never heard the demo for this song. Is it available somewhere?

Are ya really that impressed with a number 28 chart placing?  Not exactly a whopper of a hit, you know....I listen to some of those old Casey Kasem and other countdown shows on the satellite and am often surprised by how many of those lower placed songs I have never heard of before and I was listening to top forty back then!

Yeah I do think that number 28 isn't too shabby considering it was done by an unknown group and written by three Beach Boys, who at that point weren't exactly filling the charts with hits. And remember, back in those days you actually had to sell a bit to make it, unlike today where it seems like streaming, YouTube plays and all sorts of other things are added into the mix due to the fact that music doesn't sell as well as it used to, be it physical or digital product.

I really like the song. But I don't like the lyrics "Suzy wants to be a lady director and Eddie wants to drive a hearse". Gawky.

Song is catchy enough. It's the arrangement that kills it. If Brian had been able to give it his 1964/65 production style, maybe we would have had a fun little throwback number.

Saxes should be used only as background texture in pop songs. The Dave Clark 5 knew that. So did Spector. So did Brian in his prime.

Right; why does Suzy want to be a "lady" director, as opposed to just a director? I realize this was decades ago, but it still seems awkwardly clunky and needlessly vaguely sexist for no particular reason, even for the time. Or is it just me? I didn't live through the time. It just feels a bit cringey.

I have never seen the movie, either. Is Suzy referred to as an aspiring "lady director" in the film itself?

Was never a fan of this song at all. All it is, is a mediocre song in which myKe luHv gets to showcase his awful nasality.

Mike doesn't know how to write lyrics....

Here, I evened it out:

"Susie wants to be a lady director, and Eddie wants to drive a hearse; Linda wants to be a doctor or lawyer, and Johnny wants to be a male nurse"

obviously everybody's been misinterpreting the AS lyric all these years, what Suzy wants to be is a director, of ladies

The song Sad, Sad, Summer, which is also on the soundtrack, is actually okay.   

 :lol

My dad told me he heard "Almost Summer" being played on the radio a few days ago. Props the the DJ for digging out such an obscure track!

I just now listened to this song & didn't like - tries to be fun but stays boring.

This song would be right at home on MIU.

I've often thought that too.

This song is the template for all Mike Love songs that followed. Juvenile lyrics, retro sound, the sax. Mediocre.

given the nature of this thread it would appear natural simply to retitle the song

ALMOST FORGOTTEN

If this and the other 2 Mike Love songs from that soundtrack (Crusin' and Sad Sad Summer) had been added to MIU, it would have made MIU a better (dare I say it, more successful sales wise) seller than it was... the three songs  stick to the nostalgia formula and would have been more appealing to the "Endless Summer" fans, at least those who would be willing to buy a nostalgia  recording after the not to great 15 big ones.

1.      "Almost Summer"
2.   "She's Got Rhythm"   
3.   "Come Go with Me"   
4.   "Wontcha Come Out Tonight"   
5.      "Sad Sad Summer"
6.      "Pitter Patter"
7.      "My Diane"
side 2
1.   "Peggy Sue"
2.      "Cruisin"
3.   "Sweet Sunday Kinda Love"   
4.   "Belles of Paris"
5.   "Kona Coast"   
6.   "Match Point of Our Love"   
7.   "Winds of Change"   

"Hey Little Tomboy" relegated to a B side

To ascend M.I.U., get rid of "Belles of Paris" & "My Diane". I'd replace them with maybe AC tracks.

i like 'em. Quite quirky.