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Smiley Smile Stuff => 1960's Beach Boys Albums => Topic started by: Charles LePage @ ComicList on December 26, 2005, 01:44:29 PM



Title: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Charles LePage @ ComicList on December 26, 2005, 01:44:29 PM
Discuss, review and rate The Beach Boys Today!, released March 1965.

(http://www.smileysmile.net/images/albums/today.gif)


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Jason on December 26, 2005, 01:45:44 PM
A wonderful release. Two halves of absolute perfection. "In The Back Of My Mind" is my favorite song of all time.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on December 26, 2005, 01:45:57 PM
A 5. A much-lauded second half, but the first half is one rock and roll classic after another, great vocals, great arrangements. One of the band's best. Brilliant. A confident, talented Brian Wilson making absolute magic.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JRauch on December 27, 2005, 04:19:47 AM
A great album. The second side is simply incredible and in some way the little brother of "Pet Sounds". But we also shouldn´t forget the first side of the record. "Dance Dance Dance" is one of the greatest uptempo-songs ever.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on December 27, 2005, 04:44:00 AM
5 stars.

Their best release ever.

Kicks anything they, or anyone else would do in the 60's.

This wouldn't be beaten.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: SurferGirl7 on December 27, 2005, 12:31:43 PM
This album was not only a great sign of what was to come from Brian but it should've had people shaking in they're boots. It's kind of fasinating to hear the one side Brian still touring and driving himself to the edge and side two is the other Brian who quit touring, started smoking pot and could actually spend more time on songs then usual. What a contrast! The first side is flawless besides that version of Help Me Rhonda. He had the idea going, he just needed to develop on it (and DANN he did!!!!). The second side. I have to say some of the best backing tracks I have ever heard have come from that album. I hold very highly Kiss Me Baby. I love what he's doing in that song because he's bringing out the best in the band the harmony, his production skills and even the non fan can be blown away. The bass on I'm So Young is genius. What really made me want to play this album over and over is She Knows Me Too Well. I use to think the song was sexist and I didn't really pay attention into how good it was until I made a BB ballad mix and put that on it. Brian's falsetto at the end can break your heart. I love the fact he just was so honest about himself in a way in it. That is always the problem you run into with men. A lot of them can't open up about how they really feel about a girl at all. Brian did and the way he sings it is completly undiscribable. I wish they left off Bull Session and put Guess I'm Dumb on it instead.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on December 27, 2005, 12:37:37 PM
Great review, except not one of the BB's could have sang dumb with the soul of Glen.
I wish they would have moved When I Grow Up to the top of the 2nd side, put All Dressed Up For School in it's place, ditched Bull Session and waited for the rerecord of Help Me Rhonda.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: monkee knutz on December 27, 2005, 02:40:54 PM
YEAH! What SHE said & then, what HE said! Guess I'm dumb, too.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Emdeeh on December 31, 2005, 10:40:13 PM
IMHO, *Today* is Brian's masterpiece album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: artie on January 05, 2006, 08:01:38 AM
This is a 5. Of course, it was a pre-cursor to Pet Sounds. Summer Days was actually a bit of a step backward. Today has very little filler (Bull Session is about it). Kiss Me Baby is one of the greatest songs in the Beach Boys' catalogue.  There is very little to not like about this one.



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Chris D. on January 05, 2006, 09:54:51 AM
5 stars.

Their best release ever.

Kicks anything they, or anyone else would do in the 60's.

This wouldn't be beaten.

What about the Sherbert Underground?

I really like "Help Me Ronda."  It's like a Smiley version.  He ain't got to flash you to show you the goods.



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 05, 2006, 03:25:30 PM
Funny how the albums generally considered the band's best can have boring threads.

"Love it."

"Yep."

"Me too."

"5."

Doesn't anyone hate Today!?  Oh...didn't think so. Me neither.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 05, 2006, 03:26:53 PM
I dislike Ronda greatly. It bores me to tears, and the up-down volume on the ending makes me want to turn off the album completely. How's that?  ;D


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 05, 2006, 03:27:37 PM
I dislike Ronda greatly. It bores me to tears, and the up-down volume on the ending makes me want to turn off the album completely. How's that?  ;D

I agree with it, actually. Therefore, terrible.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mitchell on January 06, 2006, 06:11:47 AM
The volume thing is annoying, but I love the harmonica.

And while Guess I'm Dumb would make Today! better, I actually like Bull Session!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Jeff Mason on January 06, 2006, 06:21:22 AM
Guess I'm Dumb is the best thing Brian Wilson released in 1965. And yes, I get the implication of what that means.  It should not have been a BB number.  It should have been a huge hit as is.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on January 07, 2006, 01:55:31 AM
I dislike Ronda greatly. It bores me to tears, and the up-down volume on the ending makes me want to turn off the album completely. How's that?  ;D

'n Sloop John B makes me want to bash my head into a wall...

How something like that can do well, and "Guess I'm Dumb", a fucking masterpiece, fail, is beyond me.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 07, 2006, 02:34:22 AM
Nah, Sloop rules, man.
It's the mind-trip on the album, the place that Bri goes away for a while. You see, he thought it was gonna be a good trip, but it just ended up being the ultimate bummer. That's why his elation is so great when he wakes up and his girl is right there beside him, in God Only Knows.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on January 07, 2006, 03:55:07 AM
Bri gets in late at night, and plans on staying in his bed 'til late morning... He's had a quiet night of reflection, alone by the ocean... Thoughts of what the future will hold (When I Grow Up), his father, friends, and band members are getting him down (it's kinda sad)...  As he lies in bed, unable to sleep, he thinks back to a time before Marilyn, when he met a girl he was sure was going to be 'the one', but another guy came between them and shattered his plans.  He remembers the one girl that's always been there, as long as he can remember, 'Ronda'... the imaginary girl who meets him in his dreams... who holds him, tells him everything will be alright... His perfect girl, if only he could meet her.  Her walk... makes Brian think of a bouncy acoustic guitar line... a vision, spectacular in its grace.

The ghostly, echoed harmonies in her chorus clutch him tightly to her breast...  Brians breathing becomes shallow... he slowly, ever so slowly removes his pants, as Ronda reaches down and squeezes hard on the bulge on his passion...  Bri erupts with joy... caressing her, riding her... faster... faster... faster...

Suddenly, as Bri slips in and out of consciousness (the sliding volume in the fade) his room begins to shake!  He finds himself naked... alone, Ronda has disappeared.  He dons his dressing gown and rushes down the stairs, on reaching the lounge room he sees the rest of the boys dancing to the latest Fab Four record!

Mike sees Brian, "Hey Bri!  C'mon!  Dance Dance Dance!" (Mike realises this is a good name for a song, and threatens to sue Bri if it's used without his permission)

"You f#(*!," screams Brian! "You interrupted my sex!"

Everyone stops dead, the music dies away.

"Erm... but, Bri...," says Dennis, "You're home alone..."

"Haha!  I love you guys!"  exclaims Bri.

Carl looks down, as the front of Brians dressing gown opens in the breeze,

"Damn, you sure do... thanks Brother!"

Carl, now naked, whips out his acoustic, and composes the riff for "Dance, Dance, Dance"... Mike, also naked, jams some lyrics, and Bri, still naked leaps on the piano and works out some harmonies.

Meanwhile Denny is having sex with Al.



And that my friends, is how the song sequencing on the first side of "Today!" came about.

The end.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JRauch on January 07, 2006, 04:29:49 AM
 :'( Beautiful. Your post moved me to tears.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on January 07, 2006, 05:40:04 AM
:'( Beautiful. Your post moved me to tears.

'ey thanks man,

As I was typing I just knew that it was something special.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 07, 2006, 12:31:37 PM
:'( Beautiful. Your post moved me to tears.

'ey thanks man,

As I was typing I just knew that it was something special.

You can be as sarcastic as you want. I still know the score.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on January 07, 2006, 03:25:12 PM
Heh, just a bit of fun mate... It started out quite serious, but I realised I couldn't make any connections like you when I reached Dance, Dance, Dance... so just wrote strange sexual fantasies.  No offence.  I liked what you wrote, and wanted to show something similar (which the first paragraph hopefully does)...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Joshilyn Hoisington on January 07, 2006, 04:28:27 PM
Quote
so just wrote strange sexual fantasies.

Oh...well not really that stange.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Daniel S. on January 07, 2006, 07:48:54 PM
5.  Genius


Yeah, it woulda been pretty cool if Guess I'm Dumb had been on the album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 08, 2006, 11:00:45 AM
5.  Genius


Yeah, it woulda been pretty cool if Guess I'm Dumb had been on the album.

I like Guess I'm Dumb as is. There has been days when that would be the only song i'd listen to continuously. I love the production on it and the performance from Glenn Campbell is untouchable. I can only imagine how impressed Brian must have been with himself for writing such a absolutely amazing song.

I can't imagine who in the Beach Boys would sing the lead for the song. I suppose Brian would end up taking it, or maybe some combined effort with Carl and himself. Glenn's voice is more thick and rich and it just floats so well over the track.

Does anyone know where one would locate the performance of this song on a T.V show by Mr. Campbell? Very interested to hear if it lived up to the record at all.



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 08, 2006, 11:36:34 AM
It would have been cool if they had put it on the album with Glen singing it. Hey, if Jack Rieley can do a lead on a BB album, why not Glen?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 08, 2006, 12:34:13 PM
It would've better suited Summer Days if you consider that album to feel less cohesive than Today, which I think runs very smoothly.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 08, 2006, 12:35:04 PM
Have I been spelling Glen(n) wrong?



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 08, 2006, 12:40:52 PM
Yes.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 08, 2006, 03:21:02 PM
awesome.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Daniel S. on January 08, 2006, 04:52:29 PM

 

I can't imagine who in the Beach Boys would sing the lead for the song.




I think Dennis would have been perfect. I still love Glen Campbell's lead though.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 08, 2006, 04:53:32 PM
There's no way Dennis had the range to handle that melody. I agree that in terms of the overall feel, his voice was properly expressive. But those high notes...no way. It would have had to be shared if Dennis was going to be a part of it.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 08, 2006, 08:32:03 PM
Carl had the right timbre of voice to pull it off but i'm not 100% sure he had the right kind of delivery for it.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: analogdemon on January 13, 2006, 01:27:43 PM
I'm going to go against the grain on this one and give this a 3.  I don't know what it is, but this album just doesn't do it for me.  I love Dance Dance Dance and most of side 2, but songs like "Don't Hurt My Little Sister"...eh.  I grade all these albums on their musical merit and how the album holds together as a whole.  Today! just doesn't cut the mustard as a whole album, though I give it very high marks musically.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 14, 2006, 07:18:01 AM
I'm going to go against the grain on this one and give this a 3.  I don't know what it is, but this album just doesn't do it for me.  I love Dance Dance Dance and most of side 2, but songs like "Don't Hurt My Little Sister"...eh.  I grade all these albums on their musical merit and how the album holds together as a whole.  Today! just doesn't cut the mustard as a whole album, though I give it very high marks musically.

It isn't surprising that someone rates an album lower than others, but your reasoning is surprising to me. To rate albums on musical merit and cohesiveness makes sense--great approach. You're right to say that Today! gets high marks musically. But how does it not cut the mustard as a whole album? I assume you mean that the album doesn't fit, sequencing-wise, or that it isn't cohesive. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but that's what "how the album holds together as a whole" means to me. Today! is widely regarded as the precursor to Pet Sounds, almost a mini-concept album in its own right. I think it is possibly, outside of Pet Sounds, the band's most consistently strong and cohesive album. Song after song, a series of great, complex rockers first, then sliding into mostly ballads, the end of each seeming meant for the beginning of the next.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 14, 2006, 10:24:00 AM
On Today! with songs like "Good To My Baby" and "She Knows Me Too Well", Brian had John Lennon's style down perfectly. Imagine those two songs performed by the Beatles.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: analogdemon on January 14, 2006, 03:23:37 PM
But how does it not cut the mustard as a whole album? I assume you mean that the album doesn't fit, sequencing-wise, or that it isn't cohesive. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but that's what "how the album holds together as a whole" means to me.

Luther, I agree with everything you said about side 2, and in my original post I mentioned that I mostly loved side 2.  I think the comparisons with Pet Sounds are spot on, no doubt.

The thing with Today! holding together as a whole is this: While Today! has many great songs, I have to knock off points for "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" and "Bull Session With Big Daddy".  Those just seem to have nothing to do with the rest of the album.  I've tried to like these tracks and have tried to understand how they belong on an album like this, but I just can't do it.  Don't Hurt My Little Sister is just...eh....it's not bad musically but it just doesn't work for me. To me it really drags down side 1.  Bull Session With Big Daddy is worthless, IMO.  What a bad way to end side 2.  At least filler like "Cascius Love vs. Sonny Wilson" has singing and sort-of a musical contest thing to it.  I mean, when I'm coming down off one of the better album sides of the 1960s, I don't want it to end by listening to the Beach Boys BSing about a European tour.

I dunno man, to my ears, Today! just doesn't seem up to snuff.  We all have our opinions though.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 14, 2006, 03:26:49 PM
I think Bull Session... is idiotic. I don't even consider it part of the album, to be honest. But I LOVE "Don't Hurt..." and not in that it "fits" with the other songs on side one...at least not in terms of lyrical content. On a pop album, I don't require any sort of lyrical coherence, or we'd be listening to nothing but Tommys and Joes Garages, and things would get tedious. But musically, I think it absolutely fits in as a relatively complex rocker, interesting chord changes throughout., cool vocals.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 14, 2006, 04:49:31 PM
What's the big hu-bub with the "Bull Sessions" track?

Am I the only one who turns the album off after that final orgasmic flair of strings on "In The Back Of My Mind" ?



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 14, 2006, 05:17:10 PM
I think Bull Session... is idiotic. I don't even consider it part of the album, to be honest. But I LOVE "Don't Hurt..." and not in that it "fits" with the other songs on side one...at least not in terms of lyrical content. On a pop album, I don't require any sort of lyrical coherence, or we'd be listening to nothing but Tommys and Joes Garages, and things would get tedious. But musically, I think it absolutely fits in as a relatively complex rocker, interesting chord changes throughout., cool vocals.

Don't Hurt ABSOLUTELY fits in lyrically. It forms part of an autobiographical two-song mini-suite about Brian and Marilyn's relationship. Good To My Baby is Brian's assertion that despite how it may seem to others, he loves her and treats her well. Then, on Don't Hurt, he takes the side of Marilyn's sister Diane Rovell, and assumes a protective role, warning him to treat her well or else. The song was originally meant to be sung from a female perspective, written for the Ronettes. I think the Baby-Sister axis is one of the best and most powerful sequences on an album, just as great as the vaunted ballad suite on the second side, where he revisits the same themes.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 14, 2006, 05:59:54 PM
Fair enough. I wasn't even really thinking about the lyrics, by the way. I was saying that it fits perfectly well regardless of them.

H&V--Obviously I turn it off before Bull Sessions (or skip ahead to SD&SN). I said I don't even consider it part of the album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 14, 2006, 06:57:45 PM
Exactly. That's why I consider Today! to have no filler material. I don't see it as the bands choice to include that bit and it's also conveniatly at the end of the album. It's not like it's a bum song thrown in, it's just some stuff that someone thought would interest the fan ( that apparently doesn't).


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: analogdemon on January 14, 2006, 08:03:32 PM
As far as I'm concerned, if it was included on the album at the time of the release, it's part of the album and has to be judged along with the rest of the album.  Just because it's at the end of the album doesn't exclude it from judgement.  Just my opinion. :)


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: the captain on January 14, 2006, 08:31:00 PM
As far as I'm concerned, if it was included on the album at the time of the release, it's part of the album and has to be judged along with the rest of the album.  Just because it's at the end of the album doesn't exclude it from judgement.  Just my opinion. :)

Its position in the sequencing, and obvious intent as an amusing tack-on, lend it to being considered separately. I highly doubt anyone said, "ooh, Brian, let's top if off with that new masterpiece, "Bull Sessions...!" It's allegedly amusing filler at the end of Today!, not a song on Today!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 14, 2006, 08:43:09 PM
As far as I'm concerned, if it was included on the album at the time of the release, it's part of the album and has to be judged along with the rest of the album.  Just because it's at the end of the album doesn't exclude it from judgement.  Just my opinion. :)

I agree, and I think that it was a very intentional and perverse move on Brian's part. I'd rather listen to it than Help Me Ronda, though.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Daniel S. on January 14, 2006, 10:05:35 PM
What do you think Brian was intending?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 14, 2006, 10:23:00 PM
Playing a practical joke on the listener. Brian is not the ultra-simple fellow he turned into, post-LSD. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew exactly the effect that putting 5 ultra-serious ballads in a row would have on the listener and he knew exactly what putting the Bronx cheer following it meant. It's a joke, that's all. He even has Denny saying Dick Rising in it, fer Chrissakes!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Matinee Idyll on January 15, 2006, 12:38:49 AM
What I find interesting is that on Today! and Pet Sounds, he put the most hotly debated songs, "Ronda" and "Sloop" slap bang in the middle of the album.

Sortof a 'f*** you' to the listener (or the record company) perhaps?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Reverend Joshua Sloane on January 15, 2006, 02:47:05 AM
Sloop John B is essential to the flow of Pet Sounds for me.

As i've said before, it's the relief.

He probably had it where it is for that reason too.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on January 16, 2006, 02:20:31 AM
During my first listens of Pet Sounds, not knowing any of the background of it, Sloop John B did not sound to me as being out of place at all.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mitchell on January 16, 2006, 06:50:31 AM
I agree, and I think that it was a very intentional and perverse move on Brian's part. I'd rather listen to it than Help Me Ronda, though.

It's similar to the joke that Cassius vs. Sonny does with The Warmth of the Sun, and even, to a lesser extent, our Favourite Recording Sessions does with Don't Back Down, only in the opposite direction. He does it again with Wind Chimes/Gettin' Hungry. In fact, this deserves its own thread.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 16, 2006, 01:08:11 PM
Right on.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mitchell on January 16, 2006, 01:34:55 PM
Your avatar is perfect for what you just said.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on January 16, 2006, 01:50:23 PM
Haha, TCB, baby.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Old Rake on January 17, 2006, 10:26:57 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Vega-Tables" is that comic relief for Smile. All the albums gotta have one!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: NC on January 17, 2006, 11:00:28 AM
Am I hearing this right? Someone dissing "Little Sister"? I love it. Two of the songs on side one, namely "Good To My Baby" and "When I Grow Up", boast the greatest examples of chord changes in a rock song I've ever heard.

 


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Compost on January 17, 2006, 11:46:15 AM
This album makes me happy.

5

I'm glad they recorded it.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: TV Forces on February 02, 2006, 11:21:37 AM
5 stars.  Brian's first masterpiece.  If Rubber Soul made Brian think albums were the next thing and should be a unified piece of art, he must have made TODAY that way on accident.  Many brilliant songs that won't ever show up on a Greatest Hits release like..

Good to My Baby, In the Back of my Mind, Please Let Me Wonder, I'm So Young, and
Don't Hurt My Little Sister (though an obvious rip off of a song I can't recall the name of.)

Kiss Me Baby, Dance Dance Dance, She Knows Me Too Well, When I Grow Up..  My GOODNESS!!  What an album.
If only Bull Session and the early version of "Rhonda" weren't on there, it would be perfect!  But both tracks blow.

My ideal track listing:
1. Do You Wanna Dance
2. Good To My Baby
3. Don't Hurt My Little Sister
4. When I Grow Up
5. Help Me Rhonda (single version)
6. Dance Dance Dance

7. The Little Girl I Once Knew
8. Please Let Me Wonder
9. I'm So Young
10. Kiss Me Baby
11. She Knows Me Too Well
12. In The Back of My Mind


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: theeponymuseudonym on February 13, 2006, 03:01:25 PM
I BURIED DICK RISING!!!!!!!!!

no really, when i first heard "im so young" i was floored, the oooh never get married part was beutiful to hear i turn up the fade.
i was glad to hear the booted studio mix up til the final note...made me cry


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on February 13, 2006, 03:08:20 PM
Quote
I BURIED DICK RISING!!!!!!!!!


That's funny, I'm just getting ready to do that myself!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: theeponymuseudonym on February 13, 2006, 03:11:22 PM
HHold on dear brother, brother


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JRauch on February 14, 2006, 03:48:48 AM
I´d just like to add that "She Knows Me Too Well" is my new favourite song on Today. Brian's falsetto during the chorus is simply incredible. So powerful...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: TV Forces on March 06, 2006, 08:53:27 AM
What I find interesting is that on Today! and Pet Sounds, he put the most hotly debated songs, "Ronda" and "Sloop" slap bang in the middle of the album.

Sortof a 'foda you' to the listener (or the record company) perhaps?

"Ronda" is a hotly debated song?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on May 25, 2006, 01:13:10 AM
I don't think the this-track-sticks-out-like-a-sore-thumb on Today! is Help Me Ronda. Just because it's not as good as the later recording doesn't mean it's bad. And no, it's not even Bull Session with the "Big Daddy"... it's nicely placed at the end, not bothering anyone.

It's Dance, Dance, Dance. Wonderful song, yes, but it just doesn't fit in with all the love ballads and the like. It's too upbeat, too happy. I think it's pretty interesting, though, love song, love song, love song, song about aging, love song, then all the sudden, "after six hours of school I've had enough for the day, I hit the radio dial and turn it up all the way I wanna DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE RIGHT ON THE SPOT THE BEAT'S REALLY HOT DANCE DANCE YEAH!"

It's as if the narrator is dancing away all the problems of the rest of the album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on May 25, 2006, 02:17:57 AM
Quote
It's as if the narrator is dancing away all the problems of the rest of the album.

Exactly, making it perfect placement. I really don't see it being any more happy than Do You Wanna Dance. Which makes a perfect Dance bracket for Side 1, a very conscious thing by Brian.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Fantastico! on May 25, 2006, 07:40:34 AM
Do you really think he was aware that the songs showed his problems in the way we are from a historical perspective?

BTW, Ian, the more I listen, I damn like Ronda!  I really like the 'shout!' chorus and the fact that the beat is there from the beginning.  Unbelievable that they re-cut it.  Only the Beach Boys would have recut that.





Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on May 25, 2006, 05:24:09 PM
Do you really think he was aware that the songs showed his problems in the way we are from a historical perspective?

BTW, Ian, the more I listen, I damn like Ronda!  I really like the 'shout!' chorus and the fact that the beat is there from the beginning.  Unbelievable that they re-cut it.  Only the Beach Boys would have recut that.

Well, I think the tunes he was writing were certainly from an autobiographical perspective. She Knows Me Too Well and Kiss Me Baby are certainly about Brian and Marilyn's marital problems, and Good To My Baby and Don't Hurt My Little Sister are about the perspectives of those close to them. So, yeah, even if it was intuitive more than conscious, I think Brian did it without dwelling on it TOO much. Pet Sounds is certainly a personal statement, and Today pointed toward it.
But I think Brian was writing autobiographically as early as In My Room, Don't Worry Baby, I Get Around and Don't Back Down. Even Fun Fun Fun was based on real incidents.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on May 26, 2006, 09:16:30 AM
My creative writing teacher in high school once said that in order to write well it has to be something you know about.. which is why the surfing songs have such silly lyrics compared to the love songs.

My perspective on Help Me R(h)onda is different than most -- the first version I heard was a Jan & Dean recording on a surf music compilation disc, which is basically the Ronda verses with the Rhonda chorus, the only thing lacking on Ronda for me is the chorus, it sounds weird how they "shout" as Fantastico said instead of going higher.

and, the difference between Do You Wanna Dance and Dance Dance Dance is that Do You Wanna Dance uses the dancing as a background whereas the foreground is boy-girl, but the foreground for Dance Dance Dance is the dancing.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Fantastico! on May 26, 2006, 09:33:54 AM
I think they Boys would have liked to have seen Dance Dance Dance be a bigger smash.
Notice Today's general exclusion on "Endless Summer" --though it does have Ronda, IIRC.

It was kind of a continuation of I Get Around and Girl Dont Tell Me as songs that benchmark the Beatles.  That 12-string lick is pure Harrison.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on June 02, 2006, 07:57:39 PM
Is "Dick Rising" a real person? What a funny name, I laugh every time I hear it.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: I. Spaceman on June 03, 2006, 12:00:31 AM
It's a joke.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on June 03, 2006, 12:20:33 AM
I figured.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Capt.Tuttle on September 10, 2006, 10:43:53 AM
I give this album a 5.  After Pet Sounds it is my favorite.  It just rocks.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Magic Transistor Radio on October 25, 2006, 10:36:48 PM
This is the first non best of album I bought. I think that In the Back of My Mind is excellent!! I wonder if Capitol ever complained that there were no songs about surfing, cars or the beach on this one like they did Pet Sounds.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: mikeyj on March 26, 2007, 07:19:02 AM
What really made me want to play this album over and over is She Knows Me Too Well. I use to think the song was sexist and I didn't really pay attention into how good it was until I made a BB ballad mix and put that on it. Brian's falsetto at the end can break your heart. I love the fact he just was so honest about himself in a way in it. That is always the problem you run into with men. A lot of them can't open up about how they really feel about a girl at all. Brian did and the way he sings it is completly undiscribable.

A brilliant album. 5 from me. I agree with your comments on "She Knows Me Too Well". A truly brilliant song and Brian's singing is just amazing. The bit at the end, to quote you, "can break your heart". I absolutely love the emotion in Brian's falsetto.

When you say "A lot of them can't open up about how they really feel about a girl at all" I think its pretty different. I mean Brian in interviews etc.. cant really communicate all that well, but when he is able to do so through song he is an absolute master, the BEST of all time in my opinion at communicating emotions and feelings in his music. Different guys just have different ways of communicating their feelings.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mahalo on March 26, 2007, 08:49:23 AM
All of the ballads are incredible to me....I like to put them on when I am...uh...in romantic situations....I'm not a huge fan of the opening trax, except Help Me Rhonda.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: thomasogg on June 25, 2007, 05:00:44 PM
5 out of 5. There's a good argument to be had for it being better than 'Sounds'. The second side is just phenominal! 'She Knows Me Too Well' one of my all-time BB favourites! Pity about Bull Sessions, but coming at the end of the record it doesn't really spoil the flow.. Love it!!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: carl r on September 09, 2007, 01:04:08 PM
I bought this on the recommendation of people on the board. Thanks. I can't add too much to the superlatives already written in this thread, but have a couple of subjective comments.

For some reason I felt like I knew this album already when I listened to it at first. Of course I knew a couple of the songs before, but it contained so much pop DNA, the raw essence of tunes that I'd heard over the years that had spread like pollen into other songs by other people. The depth to these recordings was awesome.

Secondly, it is absolutely rooted in the mid-60s, well before when I was born. I can dream about a reel-to-reel tape player!  But there's nothing in the album that forces disengagement from the here and now. It's psychedelic - it aims to capture a range of perceptions and emotions and melt them into something else. To say "timeless" has become a cliche. But I can say it's aged brilliantly. It doesn't make me think "all the modern stuff is rubbish" - it's too positive for that. 

So, in conclusion, I liked this a lot.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: She Dont Know A Thing on March 13, 2008, 09:06:54 PM
I don't see why people dismiss Help Me, Rhonda. To me it's another great cut emphasizing Hal Blaine's picture perfect drumming.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Ana-Lu on April 07, 2008, 08:37:22 AM
...Notice Today's general exclusion on "Endless Summer" --though it does have Ronda, IIRC...


That is interesting, isn't it?   It's certainly their least summery/beachy album before Pet Sounds.  Some of my favorite BB tracks are on Today but they really wouldn't fit in with the summer mood of ES.

I always wondered if the LP version of Ronda was put on Endless Summer accidentally.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: lance on May 01, 2008, 03:16:30 AM
Their second really timeless classic. Love the ballads and most of hte first song, though Do You Want to Dance is probably the stand out weak track for me. I can't get enough of the second side.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Poprocks on June 13, 2008, 10:48:31 PM
Side A:  3.5 stars.  Side B:  4.5 stars.

Mike writes some terrific lyrics on side B and sometimes on side A, but the "BB rockers" start to sound a bit stale for me by the time we get to Today.  I'm just not a huge fan of Dance, Dance, Dance or Don't Hurt My Little Sister.

Side B is terrific, but I'm not a huge fan of I'm So Young.

Track picks:  Please Let Me Wonder (+++), When I Grow Up (+++), Help Me Ronda (++), In The Back Of My Mind (+)


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on June 14, 2008, 08:04:02 AM
How could you like When I Grow Up to Be a Man and not Don't Hurt My Little Sister? They're two sides of the same coin, man. In fact, they're the same side of the same coin.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Poprocks on June 14, 2008, 10:19:55 AM
How could you like When I Grow Up to Be a Man and not Don't Hurt My Little Sister? They're two sides of the same coin, man. In fact, they're the same side of the same coin.

I guess lyrically, and kind of musically, you're right.  But yet, I don't care for the melody and lyrics of DHMLS as much.  I do like it better than DDD though.  I think I like When I Grow Up so much because it has nostalgic value -- it's a song I heard a lot and enjoyed in my childhood, so it's kind of automatically closer to my heart.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Poprocks on August 19, 2008, 06:30:30 PM
BTW, why all the hating for Bull Session?  IMHO it's worth it if not just for the following exchange:

BRIAN:  I haven't made a mistake yet in my whole career.
MIKE:  Brian, we keep waiting for you to make a mistake.

Yikes.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: The Heartical Don on August 20, 2008, 08:29:48 AM
BTW, why all the hating for Bull Session?  IMHO it's worth it if not just for the following exchange:

BRIAN:  I haven't made a mistake yet in my whole career.
MIKE:  Brian, we keep waiting for you to make a mistake.

Yikes.

Brian should have replied: 'Now, listen, bozo, you'd be still be pumping gas if it weren't for me!'


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: SmileySam on July 17, 2009, 11:31:31 AM
yeah, Mike was a dink!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: DSamore on August 20, 2009, 04:09:06 PM
Their finest Pre "Sounds" Release and a brief preview of what was to come. Genius album!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: smile-holland on January 09, 2010, 02:49:12 AM
Uhhh...

yoyohhh the troll has been removed as are all of his not-so-worthy contributions to the board of the last few hours...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: DefMode66 on February 14, 2010, 09:34:27 AM
The Beach Boy Today hit #6 on the charts and enjoyed a 50 week run. It shows the Beach Boys growing up. Their sound is beginning to change. Brian had to go outside of the Beach Boys in '64 with Don't Worry Baby since Mike did not want to stray from the forumula even a few years before Pet Sounds.

  Side one
"Do You Wanna Dance?" (Bobby Freeman) – 2:19
Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
"Good to My Baby" – 2:16
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"Don't Hurt My Little Sister" – 2:07
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" – 2:01
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
This song is used during the opening credits of the 2009 American comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age
"Help Me, Ronda" – 3:08
Features Al Jardine on lead vocals; this is the original version. Brian Wilson re-recorded a different arrangement of "Ronda," changed the spelling of her name to "Rhonda," and released it as the Beach Boys' next single.
"Dance, Dance, Dance" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love) – 1:59
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals

Side two
"Please Let Me Wonder" – 2:45
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"I'm So Young" (William H. Tyrus Jr.) – 2:30
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"Kiss Me, Baby" – 2:35
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"She Knows Me Too Well" – 2:27
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"In the Back of My Mind" – 2:07
Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
"Bull Session with the "Big Daddy"" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love/Al Jardine) – 2:10
Group interview with Earl Leaf. Marilyn Wilson also appears briefly, but Alan Jardine is absent.

Singles
"When I Grow Up" b/w "She Knows Me Too Well" (Capitol 5245), 17 August 1964 US #9; UK #27
"Dance, Dance, Dance" b/w "The Warmth of the Sun" (from Shut Down Volume 2) (Capitol 5306), 26 October 1964 US #8; UK #24
"Do You Wanna Dance?" b/w "Please Let Me Wonder" (Capitol 5372), 8 February 1965 US #12 ("Please Let Me Wonder" US #52)
"Kiss Me, Baby" featured as the B-side to "Help Me, Rhonda"


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Nicko on February 28, 2010, 01:57:46 AM
An absolute cracker of an album.

The first half of the album is merely good as Don't Hurt my Little Sister and Good to my Baby aren't classics (although the backing track for the latter of these is impressive). Help me Ronda also doesn't do anything for me.

Side two is full of superb ballads though and includes some of the best songs the band ever recorded. Brian and Mike's writing partnership reached an absolute high at this point. Just a shame that it concludes with Bull Session but that doesn't put too much of a dampener on things.

4 1/2 out of 5.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: LetHimRun on April 02, 2010, 04:25:07 PM
I voted a while back but forgot to reply. I gave Today a 5. Tracks 1-4 and 6-11 are great. Ronda is good, but a tad bland, especially compared to Rhonda. I wish they would have put something else in place of the final track, but that is how it goes.

Even with that, it's their second best album to me behind PS and just ahead of Sunflower.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Don_Zabu on April 11, 2010, 10:56:22 AM
Bri gets in late at night, and plans on staying in his bed 'til late morning... He's had a quiet night of reflection, alone by the ocean... Thoughts of what the future will hold (When I Grow Up), his father, friends, and band members are getting him down (it's kinda sad)...  As he lies in bed, unable to sleep, he thinks back to a time before Marilyn, when he met a girl he was sure was going to be 'the one', but another guy came between them and shattered his plans.  He remembers the one girl that's always been there, as long as he can remember, 'Ronda'... the imaginary girl who meets him in his dreams... who holds him, tells him everything will be alright... His perfect girl, if only he could meet her.  Her walk... makes Brian think of a bouncy acoustic guitar line... a vision, spectacular in its grace.

The ghostly, echoed harmonies in her chorus clutch him tightly to her breast...  Brians breathing becomes shallow... he slowly, ever so slowly removes his pants, as Ronda reaches down and squeezes hard on the bulge on his passion...  Bri erupts with joy... caressing her, riding her... faster... faster... faster...

Suddenly, as Bri slips in and out of consciousness (the sliding volume in the fade) his room begins to shake!  He finds himself naked... alone, Ronda has disappeared.  He dons his dressing gown and rushes down the stairs, on reaching the lounge room he sees the rest of the boys dancing to the latest Fab Four record!

Mike sees Brian, "Hey Bri!  C'mon!  Dance Dance Dance!" (Mike realises this is a good name for a song, and threatens to sue Bri if it's used without his permission)

"You f#(*!," screams Brian! "You interrupted my sex!"

Everyone stops dead, the music dies away.

"Erm... but, Bri...," says Dennis, "You're home alone..."

"Haha!  I love you guys!"  exclaims Bri.

Carl looks down, as the front of Brians dressing gown opens in the breeze,

"Damn, you sure do... thanks Brother!"

Carl, now naked, whips out his acoustic, and composes the riff for "Dance, Dance, Dance"... Mike, also naked, jams some lyrics, and Bri, still naked leaps on the piano and works out some harmonies.

Meanwhile Denny is having sex with Al.



And that my friends, is how the song sequencing on the first side of "Today!" came about.

The end.
What in God's name did I just read?
And why am I so sexually aroused?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Daniel S. on April 11, 2010, 06:31:56 PM

I am glad that freak, Mantinee Idyll, doesn't post here anymore.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Don_Zabu on April 11, 2010, 07:33:43 PM
I am glad that freak, Mantinee Idyll, doesn't post here anymore.
I miss him already. :'(


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: slothrop on April 16, 2010, 10:03:29 AM
That horn line behind "tossed and I turned my head was so heavy" is killer


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Alex on April 17, 2010, 10:19:48 AM
The Beach Boy Today hit #6 on the charts and enjoyed a 50 week run. It shows the Beach Boys growing up. Their sound is beginning to change. Brian had to go outside of the Beach Boys in '64 with Don't Worry Baby since Mike did not want to stray from the forumula even a few years before Pet Sounds.

  Side one
"Do You Wanna Dance?" (Bobby Freeman) – 2:19
Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
"Good to My Baby" – 2:16
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"Don't Hurt My Little Sister" – 2:07
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" – 2:01
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
This song is used during the opening credits of the 2009 American comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age
"Help Me, Ronda" – 3:08
Features Al Jardine on lead vocals; this is the original version. Brian Wilson re-recorded a different arrangement of "Ronda," changed the spelling of her name to "Rhonda," and released it as the Beach Boys' next single.
"Dance, Dance, Dance" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love) – 1:59
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals

Side two
"Please Let Me Wonder" – 2:45
Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"I'm So Young" (William H. Tyrus Jr.) – 2:30
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"Kiss Me, Baby" – 2:35
Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"She Knows Me Too Well" – 2:27
Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"In the Back of My Mind" – 2:07
Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
"Bull Session with the "Big Daddy"" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love/Al Jardine) – 2:10
Group interview with Earl Leaf. Marilyn Wilson also appears briefly, but Alan Jardine is absent.

Singles
"When I Grow Up" b/w "She Knows Me Too Well" (Capitol 5245), 17 August 1964 US #9; UK #27
"Dance, Dance, Dance" b/w "The Warmth of the Sun" (from Shut Down Volume 2) (Capitol 5306), 26 October 1964 US #8; UK #24
"Do You Wanna Dance?" b/w "Please Let Me Wonder" (Capitol 5372), 8 February 1965 US #12 ("Please Let Me Wonder" US #52)
"Kiss Me, Baby" featured as the B-side to "Help Me, Rhonda"


Yes, thank you for the Wikipedia lesson. :deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mr. Cohen on April 18, 2010, 07:27:52 PM
Your senseless violence towards animals shocks me!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: elchriso on April 22, 2010, 10:29:39 PM
It's more a 4.5 but I still voted it a five because, lets face it this album feels like pure magic. "Do You Wanna Dance?", "She Knows Me Too Well," "Please Let Me Wonder," pretty much every track on the album hits me in the same spot the Disney films I saw when I was four years old do.

The Bull Session is a pretty awful way to end an album (why did every album from the early to mid 60s absolutely HAVE TO have 12 tracks, no exceptions?) but there's a 20 minute version of it I've heard that's absolutely hilarious. Here you've got the Beach Boys, a band that's seen by most as a pretty inoffensive act, nowhere near badasses like the Stones at any rate, and 1965 still has a lot of that squeaky clean corniness from the 50s as far as I can tell. But golly gee whiz can these guys swear like sailors, theres a whole bit talking about how much p*ssy Mike gets on the tours (it's the receding hairline,) and some of the jokes they crack even today might raise a few eyebrows. It is awesome. The 2 minute album closer is pretty boring though.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Don_Zabu on June 17, 2010, 09:48:38 PM
There's hardly a negative thing I can say about this album. Some thoughts:

-Anyone who's ever tried to write a dance song ever can kiss "Dance, Dance, Dance"'s ass. I flail around like a raving lunatic whenever I hear it.
-"Help Me Ronda" as it appears on this album sucks the big one. They really could've done better to put in a studio rendition of "Guess I'm Dumb" in its place.
-Maybe if they'd included both of them, they wouldn't have had to use "Bull Session" as filler. So, so stupid.
-The first three songs sound very similar, but seem to form a sort of evolution upward from song to song, if that makes any sense.
-If they'd never made any albums after this (scary thought, I know), "Kiss Me Baby" would be their greatest production feat.
-"She Knows Me Too Well" is a real lyrical milestone in its portrayal of dysfunctional relationships.
-I like that the lead vocal of "Please Let Me Wonder" isn't doubletracked. They should've done that more often.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Alex on June 19, 2010, 09:01:45 AM
It's more a 4.5 but I still voted it a five because, lets face it this album feels like pure magic. "Do You Wanna Dance?", "She Knows Me Too Well," "Please Let Me Wonder," pretty much every track on the album hits me in the same spot the Disney films I saw when I was four years old do.

The Bull Session is a pretty awful way to end an album (why did every album from the early to mid 60s absolutely HAVE TO have 12 tracks, no exceptions?) but there's a 20 minute version of it I've heard that's absolutely hilarious. Here you've got the Beach Boys, a band that's seen by most as a pretty inoffensive act, nowhere near badasses like the Stones at any rate, and 1965 still has a lot of that squeaky clean corniness from the 50s as far as I can tell. But golly gee whiz can these guys swear like sailors, theres a whole bit talking about how much kitty Mike gets on the tours (it's the receding hairline,) and some of the jokes they crack even today might raise a few eyebrows. It is awesome. The 2 minute album closer is pretty boring though.

"Dick Reising" was boring?


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Alex on June 19, 2010, 09:04:39 AM
Your senseless violence towards animals shocks me!
:deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse :deadhorse :ohyeah :hat


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Surfing Moose on August 04, 2010, 11:11:18 AM
5 Points

It's the best pre-Pet Sounds Album, actually everything is already said to this masterpiece. I remember the first time I heard it, it blew me away...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: TimeToGetAlone on August 21, 2010, 09:56:18 AM
As if All Summer Long hadn't already made some nice progress, Today! is significant step forward for the Beach Boys in terms of production and songwriting.  It's an interesting setup as well with the upbeat rockers largely on end and a delicious ballads found on the other.  A filler track remains but thankfully it's at least at the end so it can be pretty much ignored entirely.  You've got a ton of classics on this album and it stands as one of the best they ever put out.  I'd definitely put it top five if not top three.

Do You Wanna Dance? - 4.5/5
Good to My Baby - 5/5
Don't Hurt My Little Sister - 4.5/5
When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) - 5/5
Help Me, Ronda - 4/5
Dance, Dance, Dance - 5/5
Please Let Me Wonder - 5/5
I'm So Young - 5/5
Kiss Me, Baby - 5/5
She Knows Me Too Well - 5/5
In the Back of My Mind - 4.5/5
Bull Session with the "Big Daddy" - 3/5

Once again, I gave Bull Sessions a three because it's completely inoffensive and doesn't interrupt anything on the album.  in any case, this is an easy 5/5.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Don_Zabu on October 28, 2010, 10:53:31 PM
Mike Love's lines on "Please Let Me Wonder" make me think he should've sung more ballads.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: SMiLE Brian on June 05, 2011, 06:07:14 PM
A great album that showcases the Beach Boys musical strengths, catchy pop songs along with ballads. This album is a good album to sum up the band's career overall.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Firemellow on June 05, 2011, 08:24:48 PM
The first time I heard this album was in 1982, I was in 8th grade.  It really resonated with me then, and it still does now.  In fact, "Bull Session" wasn't on that cassette release.   >:D

My observations:

Do Ya Wanna Dance - Just heard the Bobby Freeman version yesterday for the first time ever in a local hardware store, and I have to say that Dennis' performance and Brian's arrangement blows it out of the water.

I can take or leave DHMLS and GTMB.

When I Grow Up has some fantastic harmonies, especially on the tag.  And that crazy harpsichord!  I just dig it.  I think that Brian's lyrics are starting to foreshadow some of the introspection that we'll see in Pet Sounds.

Ronda just is empty compared to the re-make single version.  And the fade-outs....  :x  Agree with Don Zabu....they should have put "Guess I'm Dumb" in for this one.

The second side of the album, however, has to be some of their finest moments on vinyl.

Dance, Dance, Dance- Brian's line on the chorus just cuts through, making for a sizzling track.  I can't help but roll down the windows and turn the volume up when this one comes on!  Glenn Campbell's guitar riff really makes the track.

I'm So Young - Brian returns to the thought started in "We'll Run Away" from All Summer Long.  It really captures the group at their finest.

Kiss Me, Baby - Easily my favorite pre-Sounds track.  The oboe and french horn lines are just masterfully pulled off.  The stereo version from Endless Harmony really separates things and helps to hear the fantastic arrangement that gets hidden in the mono version.

She Knows Me too Well - Brian really captures his emotions on this cut, baring his soul to us.

In the Back of my Mind - Dennis at his best!  And the string arrangement is fantastic!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: MyGlove on January 02, 2012, 07:25:58 PM
"When I Grow Up" was the first song i ever heard by the Beach Boys around 2006 or so. I had JUST gotten into music, and my friend used to listen to this all the time. Before I ever knew about Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Surf's Up or Sunflower, I heard that song. I remember thinking how different it was (i had no clue it was forty years old). It didn't sound like Nickelback, and that was good enough for me. Although Pet Sounds was the first Beach Boys album I ever got, this records songs were the first i heard. So this is pretty special to me. The first side is gold. The second side is diamonds.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on January 18, 2012, 01:40:49 AM
Dance, Dance, Dance- Brian's line on the chorus just cuts through, making for a sizzling track.  I can't help but roll down the windows and turn the volume up when this one comes on!  Glenn Campbell's guitar riff really makes the track.

What makes you think Glen Campbell played the riff? I thought it was Carl.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: MaxL on January 18, 2012, 07:12:59 AM
Dance, Dance, Dance- Brian's line on the chorus just cuts through, making for a sizzling track.  I can't help but roll down the windows and turn the volume up when this one comes on!  Glenn Campbell's guitar riff really makes the track.

What makes you think Glen Campbell played the riff? I thought it was Carl.

This is weird since I just came on here now to find out about that after reading the Hawthorne, CA liner notes, it says "Carl Wilson came up with the infectious guitar riff, session guitarist Glen Campbell picked it on his 12-string".


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Aegir on January 21, 2012, 01:26:28 AM
I guess I figured Carl played it because he wrote the part and plays on the track and it's not a terribly difficult part. I wonder what the thought process was with session musicians in terms of whether or not to use them.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mac the Hat on January 29, 2012, 04:29:29 AM
I've blown the dust off the the summer days / today twofer in the past couple of weeks, first time I've listened to it for years and years. I can't believe what I have been missing. I'd forgot how good both of these albums are. Today gets a 4 because of bull sessions and ronda, if 'dumb' was on there instead, it would be full marks.

Do you wanna dance just blows me away, especially the final falsetto that's cranked up on the last chorus. I'd have this for a contender for my 'songs that could easily have been singles' list, should I ever make one.

An album that's still good to listen to, today. Hee, do you see what I did there? Nice.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: MaxL on January 29, 2012, 04:33:43 AM
I've blown the dust off the the summer days / today twofer in the past couple of weeks, first time I've listened to it for years and years. I can't believe what I have been missing. I'd forgot how good both of these albums are. Today gets a 4 because of bull sessions and ronda, if 'dumb' was on there instead, it would be full marks.

Do you wanna dance just blows me away, especially the final falsetto that's cranked up on the last chorus. I'd have this for a contender for my 'songs that could easily have been singles' list, should I ever make one.

An album that's still good to listen to, today. Hee, do you see what I did there? Nice.

DYWD was released as a single.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: clinikillz on February 02, 2012, 07:18:16 AM
Some timeless gems (When I Grow Up to Be a Man, Help Me Rhonda) coupled with a bunch of good-to-very-good songs. Today! is a very good album. 4/5


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Ovi on February 06, 2012, 09:31:54 AM
Wonderful. Really really perfect and irresistible from beggining to end. My favourite album from our boys besides 'Pet Sounds' and 'SMiLE'; and that says a lot, I think. Side Two is absolutely mind-blowing. Sincere, heart-melting, introspective and just very very beautiful overall. 'Kiss Me Baby' is my favourite song off of it, with 'Please Let Me Wonder' and 'In The Back Of My Mind' tied for a close second place. But the "I love you" part from 'PLMW' 's ending is probably one of my favourite moments here. Sounds great. 5/5.

One question though : the "three more great new songs written by Brian Wilson" are...'In The Back Of My Mind'...uhm....'I'm So Young' and 'Bull Sessions with Big Daddy' ? :-\


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: drbeachboy on February 06, 2012, 11:20:04 AM
Yea, they are definitely incorrect, as I'm So Young is a cover and not a new song by Brian Wilson. I guess they would also be stretching it with Bull Session... too.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: KokoNO on February 09, 2012, 02:31:55 AM
Was "I'm So Young" brought to Brian's attention by the Ronettes' version? That's what I imagine, but I'm probably wrong.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Disney Boy (1985) on February 20, 2012, 09:56:50 PM
5.

In my top 3 or 4 BB albums, without a doubt. I even love 'Bull Sessions...', if only for when Dennis refers to Dick Rising. Pity they couldn't have made it into a running joke in fact: he could've namechecked Hugh G. Rection on Summer Days, Phillipa Crack on Pet Sounds, I.P. Freely on Smile, etc. Mike Hunt would've been two jokes in one.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: musicismylife101 on June 27, 2012, 03:59:12 PM
Side two is just beautiful. Please Let Me Wonder (one of my absolute favorites), Kiss Me, Baby (great vocals from Brian and Mike), and So Young (another great Brian lead) are the best tracks here. On the upbeat side Dennis's Do You Wanna Dance is full of energy. Great album, classic tracks, and superb vocals.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Dudd on March 14, 2013, 01:46:45 PM
Maybe this album just needs time to grow on me, but as is right now it isn't one of my personal faves. Sounds crazy but I do prefer Summer Days & Summer Nights.


Title:
Post by: zachrwolfe on March 14, 2013, 03:51:37 PM


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: rab2591 on March 14, 2013, 04:36:00 PM
I've been listening a lot to this recently, only song I don't really like is the soft version of Help Me Ronda, I'm too used to the other (and superior IMO) version on Summer Days.

That ending, where the volume goes up and down for a solid minute, ruins it for me.


Title:
Post by: zachrwolfe on March 14, 2013, 05:34:02 PM


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Gabo on June 14, 2013, 11:47:13 PM
I'd give this a strong 4.

At first I couldn't get into this. It just felt so retro and 1950s-ish. This was true especially of the first side, which contains several rock songs with slight, teeny-bopper lyrics (Little Sister, Dance Dance Dance), but even the transcendent second side had the doo-wop throwback"I'm So Young," complete with the malt shop lyrics conventional for that genre.

Anyway, those days are gone and this is certainly one of my favorite Beach Boys records. It's fantastic...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: scooby1970 on June 25, 2013, 02:16:56 AM
The first side is strong enough by itself, with it's fast paced tracks and soaring Beach Boys harmonies and inventive song writing. However, flip the album and side two takes the album into a whole new dimension. From the sublime "Please Let Me Wonder", right through to the ethereal "In The Back Of My Mind", this album is a five-star album and one which has become even greater since it's stereo re-release, allowing the songs to breathe in a way they had not done in the past.

:) Mark


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Dudd on August 15, 2013, 08:23:26 AM
Hate to say it but I'm not a massive fan of the first side. It's alright but I've never been all too fond of stuff like When I Grow Up for some reason.
The second side, however, is sooo good. Perfect bliss!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: drbeachboy on August 19, 2013, 06:34:06 AM
Hate to say it but I'm not a massive fan of the first side. It's alright but I've never been all too fond of stuff like When I Grow Up for some reason.
The second side, however, is sooo good. Perfect bliss!
I'm vice versa, i.e. I'm more into upbeat stuff. Sure, Side 2 is good, but the thing is it's got inferior version of I'm So Young (too saccharine to my taste), one of group's most overrated songs (PLMW), dull slowster (sorry, I've no idea how yet describe the song) aka Kiss Me Baby & the worst skit track (what the Boys talked about there is still beyond me, very nonsensical & uninteresting conversation).

Now, Judd, what is your favorite cut from the 1st side? Maybe Don't Hurt My Little Sister (I mentioned this one because I remembered your unusual fondness of Tears In the Morning)?
I'm with you on Side 1, as I tend to like the faster stuff, too. Though, I disagree about I'm So Young. I love that song and love Brian's arrangement. The bass line is fantastic and so is the updated doo-wop background vocals. Today is my favorite Beach Boys album, so overall I have no complaints.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Dudd on August 19, 2013, 06:40:20 AM
Hate to say it but I'm not a massive fan of the first side. It's alright but I've never been all too fond of stuff like When I Grow Up for some reason.
The second side, however, is sooo good. Perfect bliss!
I'm vice versa, i.e. I'm more into upbeat stuff. Sure, Side 2 is good, but the thing is it's got inferior version of I'm So Young (too saccharine to my taste), one of group's most overrated songs (PLMW), dull slowster (sorry, I've no idea how yet describe the song) aka Kiss Me Baby & the worst skit track (what the Boys talked about there is still beyond me, very nonsensical & uninteresting conversation).

Now, Judd, what is your favorite cut from the 1st side? Maybe Don't Hurt My Little Sister (I mentioned this one because I remembered your unusual fondness of Tears In the Morning)?
Is DHMLS a widely despised track too? Because I do like it... :P

I'd probably go with Dance Dance Dance. I don't hate Side A or anything but I don't think there are any masterpieces on it (and I always skip Ronda).


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Niko on August 19, 2013, 07:22:20 AM
Is DHMLS a widely despised track too? Because I do like it... :P

I'd probably go with Dance Dance Dance. I don't hate Side A or anything but I don't think there are any masterpieces on it (and I always skip Ronda).
1) Yes, it is. There are maybe only 5-4 people who like DHMLS. You're in the league of "strange" people;

2) Dx3 is rollicking, but Summer Days' v-n is way better. Toss the castanets away from Today's v-n & now we're talking. Ronda, I see why it would switch you off with all its imbalances & so on - I myself don't mind any of this. After all, Ronda features my favorite harmonica! Very clever of Brian to add it in the mix among the other instruments.

I like every track on Today. The songs are varied, but similar in tone. DHMLS has some cheesy lyrics, but when I first heard it I kept it on repeat for a few days. luv

I also love "She Knows Me Too." That repeating "ooooh, she knows me" from the begginning is beautiful. Great guitar solo too.

Aside from the terrible banter track, this an incredibly good BB LP. 5/5



Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Summer_Days on August 19, 2013, 01:13:29 PM
Is DHMLS a widely despised track too? Because I do like it... :P
1) Yes, it is. There are maybe only 5-4 people who like DHMLS. You're in the league of "strange" people;

Then I'd be happy to be in that league of strange people along with Woodstock and Judd. It's a pretty solid tune, I'd say. I always thought the chorus melody or progression or whatever was a bit off kilter, which is fascinating to me.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: bluesno1fann on September 21, 2013, 05:21:07 PM
What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? lol
I love "Do You Wanna Dance", it is by far the best version of the song. As much as I love it, it still does not justify being Dennis Wilson's most successful single.
As for the rest of side 1, I don't care for it too much. "Help Me Ronda" was destroyed by Murry Wilson. Lucky they re-recorded it after the album was completed, and it went on to become a classic with the renamed "Rhonda". "Dance, Dance, Dance" is another overrated single which I never got into, as is "When I Grow Up" although that isn't as bad.
Side 2 is much better, and it's not just my opinion. It's pretty much the general consensus. "Please Let Me Wonder" and the highly underrated "In The Back Of My Mind" are some of the best songs of the early Beach Boys. The other songs are great as well, but the two I already mentioned easily top them!
And WHY did they choose to end the album with the obvious filler "Bull Session with the 'Big Daddy'"?! By some distance, the worst track on this album.
4 out of 5.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: RiC on October 17, 2013, 04:00:00 AM
My absolute favorite of the pre-smiley smile albums. I dig this even more than Pet Sounds. It tells a great story as a whole if you think it as a concept album. B-side is one of the best things anyone ever did in terms of music. Well there's that Bull Session with the "Big Daddy"... Let's not talk about that one... This version of Help Me, Rhonda is hundred times better than the number one single version. This rocks much harder. Dance, Dance, Dance has grew on me. I hated it first, now I love it. Please Let Me Wonder, Kiss Me, Baby and In the Back of My Mind are up there with the best songs Brian has ever composed. And I love that Dennis' vocals opens and ends the record, it's really cool idea even though it may be just coincidence. Anyway, Today! is one of my personal favorites, it's really touching, funny, rocking and sweet the same time. Not many albums out there can do the same.

Do You Wanna Dance? - 4/5
Good to My Baby - 4/5
Don't Hurt My Little Sister - 4/5
When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) - 4/5
Help Me, Ronda - 4.5/5
Dance, Dance, Dance - 4.5/5
Please Let Me Wonder - 5/5
I'm So Young - 4/5
Kiss Me, Baby - 5/5
She Knows Me Too Well - 4/5
In the Back of My Mind - 5/5
Bull Session with the "Big Daddy" - 3/5

So 5/5.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mr. Wilson on December 10, 2013, 08:52:43 PM
5/5 A great lp with a Funky cover.. Not a bad song on the album.. JEEZ it was only 3 yrs ago ftom the release of Surfin.. The progress is STAGGERING.!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: slippingonthrough on February 21, 2014, 04:15:12 PM
Great Songs, Great Instrumentation, Great Vocals. Ronda is a bit weird though at the end and there is really no need for Bull Session.
That background color on the cover is ugly as well.

Nevertheless, Classic Album 5/5


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: retrokid67 on February 27, 2014, 08:54:56 PM
I love this album!  this and Sunflower are my favorite BB albums of all time  ;D 5/5


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JK on May 03, 2014, 05:36:19 AM
No problem with the "banter track". I've said this before and had to duck a barrage of ripe fruit because of it but I think the idea of ending the album with a non-muslcal track is a stroke of genius. In my view, you can't close an album with "ITBOMM" but you can't follow it with another song either. 

There's not a single track on Today! I don't like. My favourites are the utterly joyous "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "I'm So Young"----both are in my all-time BB top ten. 


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: NickandthePassions on November 19, 2014, 07:02:06 PM
Hate to bring up a dead topic, but I think of my favorite Smiley Smilers when I listen to Beach Boys albums during my long drives.  I currently am on a Today/Summer Days twofer obsession. I think the Today album flows very well, and I think it is one of the greats, but I often find myself skipping to number 6...and then enjoying musical elation from that point on.  As I've matured as a BB fan, I've grown more and more appreciation for this fine pre-Pet Sounds work.

It's certainly awesome to see such a musical transition in just one album.  I love seeing Pet Sounds come into fruition on side B. 

I consider Summer Days to be an album with some greats on it (Let Him Run Wild, You're So Good to Me, Summer Means New Love, Then I Kissed Her) but I also feel it to be an album that purposefully concludes an era for the Beach Boys.  It seems like all remaining songs were thrown onto this album that doesn't have much flow to it.  I think this is the last "singles album" the Beach Boys intended to release for a while.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: alf wiedersehen on November 19, 2014, 10:49:20 PM
Tell us who your favorite Smiley Smilers are. And then, when you're done, tell us who your least favorites ones are.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mr. Wilson on December 05, 2014, 05:57:10 PM
 :lol  ;D


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard on February 18, 2015, 09:59:01 PM
Far and away the best pre-Pet Sounds album. A true masterpiece on-par with anything the over-hyped Beatles ever did.

Not much to say except each track is really good to great, they sound very cohesive and unified together and the album flows spectacularly. You can really feel the Pet Sounds mold being formulated here, and it actually blows my mind that Brian cites Rubber Soul as the catharsis for PS. He basically made PS almost a year before the Beatles did RS...just not quite as musically advanced. But he had an album with all good stuff that fit together here for sure.

It seems this is the first album made after Brian quit touring to focus on songwriting, as well as the first made with the use of cannabis. Good god, does that extra time and creative inspiration show! I love Please Let Me Wonder, She Knows Me Too Well and When I Grow Up especially.

Even the filler track can be seen as a nice cool down "epilogue" after the album proper has ended. It's easy to ignore or skip if you don't like it since it's on the end, unlike the filler track in Summer Days.

5/5, one of the best albums they EVER did. In fact, aside from Pet Sounds it just might be their best completed album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JK on February 19, 2015, 03:52:41 AM
Even the filler track can be seen as a nice cool down "epilogue" after the album proper has ended.
Sir, you have made my day. :=)


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: KDS on April 09, 2015, 11:54:59 AM
And now the Beach Boys are starting to break away from being a surf / car band.  Look at the brown cover with the Boys decked out in yellow sweaters.  That doesn't look very "summer" to me. 

Musically, much of this album still sounds like the same band that did Surfer Girl and All Summer Long, but they take a leap lyrically, especially on the ballad heavy side two. 

A great Dennis vocal on a wonderful cover of Do You Wanna Dance opens the album in great fashion. 

When I Grow Up to Be a Man with it's harpsichord and harmonica, Brian starts to use the studio a little more.  Sign of things to come. 

The original version of Help Me Ronda is still pretty good, but not the definitive version.

After the upbeat Dance, Dance, Dance, The Beach Boys show a new level of maturity of the second side. 

Starting with the beautiful Please Let Me Wonder, The Beach Boys tackle new themes beyond teenage love, dancing, surfing, or cars.  I love the interplay between organ and guitar during the instrumental break.

Kiss Me Baby is one of the most gorgeous songs that The Beach Boys ever recorded.  I think it's a crime that both Please Let Me Wonder and Kiss Me Baby were left off both official C50 live releases. 

The real album closer is In the Back of My Mind. 

Once again, this album is almost perfect.  The third, and luckily final, studio chatter filler track Bull Session with Big Daddy closes the album with a thud.  Still a five star effort.  If not for Bull Session, this would probably be my favorite Beach Boys album.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Bean Bag on April 09, 2015, 07:24:23 PM
The Beach Boys Today! is my favorite Beach Boys album.  And if I was to be completely honest -- it's not even close.  I love so many of their albums, but this one just puts me in my place.

It doesn't exert itself in any way.  Unlike the mighty Pet Sounds -- it doesn't attempt to bend, reshape, or melt anyone's expectations.  Mujan is right on the money -- it's essentially the same Beach Boys that did All Summer Long, Surfer Girl -- Little Deuce Coupe; all the great, classic Beach Boys stuff.  And yes, the influence of dropping out and "tuning in" (though it's more dropping out than tuning in) is certainly felt.  It's a cool-out, relax and explore album -- but still operating within the gifted formula of the band's great inventions.

And that's its magic.  It doesn't sound any different than what came before it -- though it pulls you in more.  Hurts more.  It's sweeter.  It aches more.  It loves more.  It feels more.  It smiles more.  It's comfortable.  It's totally comfortable in itself.  So comfortable, that it freely invites you to the after party.  There's nothing like a Kosher pickle!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Rentatris on June 19, 2015, 02:47:12 PM
Oh man. That timpani in Do You Wana Dance!!

 Overal probably my favourite pre-sounds release. SDASN follows it closely.

I've given it a 4 based on a kind of, great but not indispensable feeling.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mike's Beard on September 26, 2015, 03:37:40 AM
Do You Wanna Dance? - 5/5
Good to My Baby - 5/5
Don't Hurt My Little Sister - 5/5
When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) - 5/5
Help Me, Ronda - 3/5
Dance, Dance, Dance - 4/5
Please Let Me Wonder - 5/5
I'm So Young - 4/5
Kiss Me, Baby - 5/5
She Knows Me Too Well - 5/5
In the Back of My Mind - 5/5

No need to rank Bull Session with the Big Daddy as it's not a song and as it ends the album it can easily be ignored.

The early version of R(h)onda suffers by comparison to the hit version, but other than that Today! is pure gold and easily my favourite of the 'Brian' era.
5/5.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Lonely Summer on April 28, 2016, 10:46:46 PM
I actually like this version of Ronda; not saying it's better than the hit version, just a different take on the song. In fact, this was the first version I heard on the radio, mid 70's - they probably were playing it off the Endless Summer album. Later, I heard the single version, and expected the fade in/fade out, and when it didn't happen, I was kind of WTF? There's so much talk about side two of Today and those great ballads, but side one is pretty darn good, too. 3 of their biggest hits and an alternate version of another one. I don't even mind Bull Daddy, but hearing them munching on those burgers and fries makes me hungry!


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: KDS on April 29, 2016, 05:14:13 AM
Agreed totally re: Ronda. It's very unusual you heard it 1st before Rhonda. I don't think anyone said the same.

That's probably more common for the long time fans who were lucky enough to be around when these great records were new. 


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Mendota Heights on April 29, 2016, 05:43:10 AM
I heard Help Me, Ronda years before I heard Help Me, Rhonda.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: drbeachboy on April 29, 2016, 07:40:25 AM
I heard Help Me, Ronda years before I heard Help Me, Rhonda.
Yeah, I think a lot of people became exposed to Ronda through Endless Summer. For years Capitol always used Ronda on hits packages, instead of the hit Rhonda.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Lonely Summer on May 02, 2016, 12:35:01 AM
Agreed totally re: Ronda. It's very unusual you heard it 1st before Rhonda. I don't think anyone said the same.

That's probably more common for the long time fans who were lucky enough to be around when these great records were new. 
It wasn't new when I heard it, though - it was 10 years old. Wasn't until I got seriously into the band circa 1981 that I started to learn about all the different versions of songs.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Please delete my account on May 02, 2016, 04:04:51 AM
Re: Endless Summer

Britisher here. My friend had two Beach Boys compilations - 20 Golden Greats and Endless Summer. For us in the UK, the former of these (with all those great late sixties hits) felt more like a true greatest hits. Because Endless Summer focused so much on the earlier stuff that didn't chart here in the UK, and the inclusion on non-singles like "Catch A Wave" and "Girl Don't Tell Me", it felt more like a random collection of songs. Therefore, I assumed at the time that the inclusion on the non-hit versions of "Ronda" and "Be True To Your School" was intentional and not a c*ck-up. Like, "you've heard those other versions to death, try these ones!"


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: Lonely Summer on May 02, 2016, 12:59:02 PM
Re: Endless Summer

Britisher here. My friend had two Beach Boys compilations - 20 Golden Greats and Endless Summer. For us in the UK, the former of these (with all those great late sixties hits) felt more like a true greatest hits. Because Endless Summer focused so much on the earlier stuff that didn't chart here in the UK, and the inclusion on non-singles like "Catch A Wave" and "Girl Don't Tell Me", it felt more like a random collection of songs. Therefore, I assumed at the time that the inclusion on the non-hit versions of "Ronda" and "Be True To Your School" was intentional and not a c*ck-up. Like, "you've heard those other versions to death, try these ones!"

I can see that, especially if you're a Brit. That album was the go-to album in the 70's; was on the Billboard charts for years; went to #1 in 74, was back in the top 20 summer 75; Spirit of America shot up the charts and right back down comparatively quickly. I'm sure when Capitol put together ES, they had no thoughts about a sequal; fortunately for them, there were a few legit hits to use for SOA.


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: petsoundsnola on May 02, 2016, 02:33:55 PM

What a great album!

but...

If only Bull Session would have been left off and replaced with a BB version of Guess I'm Dumb or a finished Sandy...


Title: Re: The Beach Boys Today!
Post by: JL on August 01, 2017, 10:56:46 AM
Superb album, and one of the best albums to come out in the 60's. I really like the first side, Dance, Dance, Dance, When I Grow Up to Be a Man, Do You Wanna Dance and even the album version of Help Me Ronda are all classic. Some of the songs I don't care for as much, but they're still really well done. The production was taking a big step forward and it's apparent even with these songs. The second half of the album is absolutely amazing, obviously, and it's hard for me to pick my favorite. She Knows Me Too Well, might be it though, those vocals from Brian, especially on the fade are heartbreakingly beautiful, but then, so is Please Let Me Wonder and Kiss Me Baby. I'm So Young you could say is a bit on the corny side, but I still love it anyway, and Dennis does well on In the Back of My Mind. If only Bull Sessions was replaced with something else, or Help Me Ronda with the later, better version, this would've been even better. Still hard to complain about anything though.

5/5