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Smiley Smile Stuff => General On Topic Discussions => Topic started by: Lonely Summer on September 11, 2020, 06:19:51 PM



Title: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Lonely Summer on September 11, 2020, 06:19:51 PM
Call me a dinosaur, but I still play cassette tapes in my car. Last week, I was listening to Endless Summer on the way to and from work. Capitol put so many hits on that album, I wouldn't think there would be any left for a followup. Wrong. It's such a strong collection of their music from 62-65, I wouldn't think a second collection could compare in terms of quality. Wrong. I put Spirit of America on this week, and was surprised at how strong it was. I'm sure Capitol had no idea how big Endless Summer was gonna be; but it was a good thing they didn't put all the hits on ES. Aside from popular tracks like 409, Do You Wanna Dance, When I Grow Up (to be a man), Barbara Ann, and Dance Dance Dance, Spirit of America is a good place to be introduced to lesser known tracks like Custom Machine, Good to My Baby, Breakaway, and Graduation Day.
I see the Endless Summer cd all the time; did Spirit of America ever make it to cd?


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Steve Mayo on September 11, 2020, 08:10:26 PM
Yes it did.


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Robbie Mac on September 11, 2020, 08:12:26 PM
They are almost the BB equivalent of the Beatles’ Red and Blue albums.


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: phirnis on September 11, 2020, 09:03:27 PM
They are almost the BB equivalent of the Beatles’ Red and Blue albums.

I wish they were seen that way. I wasn't around when it first came out but Endless Summer has become a huge favorite of mine. It's no wonder it got that big; it's such a fantastic collection, not only of their hit songs from '62 to '65 (a very short period of time, come to think of it!) but with some of their finest deep cuts and b-sides on it as well. A perfect album for me!


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Lonely Summer on September 12, 2020, 12:56:49 PM
I got my copy of Endless Summer through a record club back in 77 - you know, "buy 10 albums for a penny", lol. Before that, the only BB's album I had was a Pickwick album called "Good Vibrations" - which, despite being a budget album, actually was a pretty strong collection of songs. It was quite a few years before i got a copy of Spirit of America; after Endless Summer, and reading about the group, and getting interested in their story, the next album I got was the similarly titled Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys. That is a great collection as well; it's still puzzling why Warners couldn't sell as many copies of their albums as Capitol did. I would have thought an album containing Good Vibrations, Sloop John B, God Only Knows, Darlin', Do it Again, Wouldn't it Be Nice, Heroes and Villains and Sail On Sailor would do very well; and it did...sort of. But nowhere near the numbers Capitol was moving with their albums.
Yeah, the red and blue albums - good analogy for ES and SOA. If you're just starting to get into the group, you really can't go wrong with those two albums.


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: tpesky on September 12, 2020, 06:03:02 PM
I always saw Spirit of America and Sunshine Dream being a better analogy to the red and blue Beatle albums . Endless Summer stands on its own .


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Aum Bop Diddit on September 12, 2020, 09:16:09 PM
For me Spirit of America was the first opportunity to own "Breakaway" which blew my mind then and still does.


Title: Re: Endless Summer vs. Spirit of America
Post by: Lonely Summer on September 13, 2020, 12:25:55 AM
For me Spirit of America was the first opportunity to own "Breakaway" which blew my mind then and still does.
Yeah, it feels a bit out of place there, but what an amazing track!