It took me a while to get used to the short guitar solo. It seemed so out of place at first, but now I don't mind it.

Oh, I thought this was going to be another Mike Love thread.

It sounds like most of the iterations of this song had awkward lyrics. I cringe when I hear these lines in Sherry.

Sherry, don't hate her guts
Just 'cause she took me away
And maybe you'll wanna make friends
With her someday

The BW version from Imagination was a step in the right direction, but still needs some fine tuning. I love the song too.

Anybody who thinks Pet Sounds is overrated should do the following:

1. Get a good sound system or a good set of headphones;
2. Listen to the entire album from start to finish;
3. Listen to the instrumental-only versions of the songs from start to finish. Notice that things that are not instruments are used to become an integral part of the music;
4. Revel in each note of every instrument and non-instrument;
5. Listen to the vocals-only version of the album from start to finish;
6. Openly weep at the beauty of the intertwining harmonies and the vocal gymnastics. You will never hear anything like this again, other than other Beach Boys albums.
7. Now re-listen to the album and see how the instruments and vocals combine in a perfectly blended wall of emotion, intense feeling and longing.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 until you 'get it'.

Like I said, I love the album. It has some fun songs and some quirky songs. Everything that Stephen Desper does to enhance any of the Beach Boys music makes me happy. Whether you think it is 'better' or not, it is certainly a new way to hear familiar music. I always come away from these listenings with a new appreciation for the group, the engineer and the music.

It is good to see the boys in the studio together, but I cannot help but think that they did that for the benefit of the cameras and the fans who are interested in seeing them record. I would expect that there would be very few distractions while recording an studio album. Probably the best way to have the least distractions is recording individually, at a time that is most convenient for you.

I am wondering if this was an actual interview. It is three Mike quotes after questions to which anyone here could have written the answers.  Not saying that Mike did not say those things to someone, but it sounds like the type of questioning one would encounter at a book reading or reporter-filled media event. Plus, in an actual interview, I am not sure that Mike would have let the author mention "Kokomo" without gloating about how 'he wrote' a number one song without Brian.

It is not fair to compare Jan and Brian in the same timeline. Didn't Jan have a bit of a head start? I love the J&D albums - and really like 3 sides of the Jan and Dean Anthology album. Brian quickly learned the trade and then musically and lyrically and vocally surpassed Jan. Joining the Beach Boys would have done nothing for the Beach Boys. Like the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean had a surfer image - one that Brian was quickly shedding with his music.

I love the whole album. I played it all the time with my best girl in a 1978 Z28. We sang along and laughed at the KTSA "Duh duh, duh" part because I would always sing that to be a goof. Great memories about that album and that time period.  The album has odd songs, but what else do you expect from the Beach Boys? I would not have it any other way. Sunshine is catchy IMO.

Feel Flows synth. 8 notes repeated twice. Brilliant.

https://youtu.be/gh1YKIZlXWs?t=174

If a fairly popular group (by today's standards) recorded a cover of a Beach Boys song, like in the examples I gave. Not a note-for-note cover, but they put their own spin on the song.  I was thinking more in the rock/pop genre. No rap or hip/hop.

Ideally, it would be post 1965 and should not include solo stuff or anything from TWGMTR. The Beach Boys have a HUGE catalog, yet I have a very difficult time trying to imagine another group covering anything they have done, and making it a hit.

Plenty of well-known artists have covered Beach Boys songs, but never approach the originals.

 

I just heard Disturbed's version of Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence, I hate it.

But Van Halen had a hit with the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", Limp Bizkit covered The Whos "Behind Blue Eyes" and Metallica covered Bob Seger's "Turn The Page".

Which band could cover a Beach Boys song and make it a hit? Or at least get some substantial air play from it.

The Beach Boys are famous for early surfing/cars/girls songs, Good Vibrations and Kokomo. Brian is recognizable on the streets and revered, but is not comfortable with it. Mike wants to be recognizable on the streets and tries to be revered but is not, and is frustrated by it. Mike is probably more famous because people dislike him so much. Al, Bruce and David are in a famous band, are very good musicians and are probably nice guys but not famous because of their accomplishments.

Everybody knows that if Mike Love had his way, the Wilson brothers would not have been involved with drugs. Or at least not as involved as it seems like it really did not bother him that much when the creative output yielded songs like California Girls or Good Vibrations, but that is another story.

But if we took away the drugs, would the Beach Boys music been as groundbreaking, introspective and explorative? Would Brian have chosen the same lyricists for some of his music? Would Brian have taken some of the risks that he did? Would the vocals have sounded the same? Would Dennis’ music be so heartfelt, sad and personal? Or would the group have stalled during the mid-60’s?

Carl had better control over his drug use. I think his voice was amazing and he was a really nice guy who wrote some good music and took charge when the band needed him. Mike and Al have written some pretty decent lyrics but I am not sure any of this would have been enough to carry the band out of the 60s when their output was important and people were watching their every move to see what level of greatness came next.

Tom Cruise is nuts and believes in a religion I do not pretend to understand, but it is wildly different from what I believe in. I will also be one of the first in line to see his films because regardless of his personal beliefs (and maybe because of them), he excels in his profession, and I enjoy his movies.

What Trump believes does not have to affect what you believe. That is up to you as an intelligent, thinking adult. He says his goal as president is to "Make America Great Again." Making America great and having the greatest American band play at the inauguration seems like a good fit. 

Make America Great Again = Do It Again, so we will probably get yet another version of this song too.

I miss having Sirius sometimes. I got it because I wanted to follow Howard Stern but that got old after a while. I only listened to Stern, RawDog comedy and the 60's, 70's and 80's channels. The 60's channel played Beach Boys music quite a bit. Mostly the hits, as you would guess, but I did catch a few odd cuts on the 70's station from time to time. Honestly, I think the band has enough music to warrant their own channel. It would be great hearing the deep cuts, alternate versions and interviews from the guys and those around them. If that happened, I would re-subscribe.

I love the Beach Boys for their music and harmonies. Never did I decide I liked them because of who they support politically. I find it asinine to think that we should push our political beliefs on others, or we will have negative feelings towards them. As grownups we should just accept that people have different opinions and respect their opinions as we would want our opinions respected.

Yeah I thought about that too, why does Mike catch a ton of heat while Chuck Berry doesn't? 

Mike never peed on anybody

That we know of... He offered to suck Lorrie Morgan's toes to relax her, which was the creepiest thing I ever read. I am sure he has pissed on a few people. He certainly pissed OFF a lot of people.

The early BB's songs are very well remembered because they created a feeling that resonated with folks when people needed to feel good. When I listen to the early Beach Boys, I hear catchy tunes that bring me to a place where daydreams are made. I don't have a hot rod, and I have never surfed, but I want to, even if only for the duration of the song. I did not dissect the lyrics until I was much older - I just enjoyed them for the way they flowed with the feel of the songs.

The California Girls intro is majestic, then it fades slightly before the cowboy bass line and the carnival organ create a new sound where Mike lyrics helped created the California Dream. All of the early stuff did. "What makes the girls there so special? I want to go there...." I wanted to go - not for the girls, but for the experience of being where the Beach Boys wrote about and seeing what the big deal was. There was no internet, so you formed your opinion by what you heard on the radio and on television. Of course, when I finally got to visit Hawthorne, the graffiti and free clinics kind of put the kibosh on my vision of what the Beach Boys sang about, but things change.
 
Brian chooses writers/co-writers that help him paint a picture so he can communicate with us.  Mike did that exceptionally well for many hits. Brian Wilson and his various writers/co-writers somehow get into my head. It feels like the songs are about my personal experiences and I know exactly what they are singing about. No other musician has done that.

I read something a while ago about some possibly risque background lyrics in Pom Pom Playgirl, but cannot remember what they were. Can someone help me out? Thanks!

The Beach Boys were a band that created amazing innovative music with catchy lyrics and untouchable harmonies. That band died a little with the loss of Dennis and should have stopped being called the Beach Boys after Carl's death unless all remaining members are aboard and we are getting some new music. With the exception of Brian, nobody is really creating music at all. Mike may be keeping the band's name alive for a new generation, but the current Beach Boys band is little more than a cover band without any of the ingredients that made them the Beach Boys.

I like "You're So Good To Me" and would have left that one. Never cared for "Guess I'm Dumb" as a Beach Boys song and would have left it off.

If "Sherry She Needs Me" had better lyrics, I could dig it. I always cringe when I hear:

Sherry, don't hate her guts
Just 'cause she took me away
And maybe you'll wanna make friends
With her someday

In what world is that going to happen, other than Brian's mind?

You know, I never liked "Bugged" but it became very interesting once I learned more about the history of the Brian/Murray relationship. I love the video of the Wilson brothers doing this song too.

I guess what I am saying is I like Summer Days (and Summer Nights!) just the way it is.

It annoys me when people take today's standards and political views and try to apply them to yesterday's art.

But do you subscribe to the view that racism, say, was invented at some point and then applied to the past or did it always exist even when there were some people who didn't realize it? And if you believe the latter, then don't we have a responsibility to apply our better understanding of things today so that we can actually have a clearer picture of the way things worked in the past?

Of course racism was not 'invented'. It is not just black and white, and it more than likely existed the first time two unlike races set eyes upon each other. My problem is when people try to shoehorn the idea of racism into a situation where it did not exist to draw attention to it. "Hey, there is something topical in the news. How can we put the racist spin on it?"

It annoys me when people take today's standards and political views and try to apply them to yesterday's art.

I was just talking to my son (he is thirty) about this when we were watching The Three Stooges and Fawlty Towers. What used to be clever or funny is now 'offensive'. And there is always someone somewhere who will be offended by something.

When I listen to a band who was clearly influenced by Chuck Berry and Stevie Wonder and covered Fats Domino song or a Frankie Lymon song, I am not seeing or hearing racism. If you want to judge today's music by today's standards, have a blast - but leave Pet Sounds alone.

Would like to know, maybe it [the accent] has diff. name?

Alcohol? He sounds drunk on that song.

+1
That is exactly what I was thinking. Some of the TWGMTR songs were written earlier than released, so I think it would be fair to say that Brian has some unreleased stuff in the cans that he can compile into an albums worth of material and polish off. Hopefully with Al's vocals as well as he can still rock.