Start with Endless Summer. Go to the Beach with this playing. If you get to the Beach too fast, turn around and drive aimlessly until the albums over. There are other, more comprehensive hits packages out there but this one's an old standard and focuses on their pre-Pet Sounds, Summer-themed songs.

Buy and listen to Pet Sounds several times.

Listen to Smiley Smile before The Smile Sessions to get an impression of the want that used to exist.

Like many people said here, the biopics are to varying extents inaccurate but An American Family had alot to do with my first deep dive into the band, so maybe you'll just find them interesting/motivating.

Do not form preconceived notions about their albums based on "critical consensus" before listening to them yourself (especially with the post-Holland stuff).

The Beach Boys In Concert (the book) is a really thorough and interesting reference for their live career if you are particularly enthusiastic about them on stage or like reading about minutia.

Eh, I think it's just that simple but by all means do what works for you. Maybe I'm just not cut out for engaging in that kind of scholarship.

Pop and rock always seemed to be able to be characterized as music for laypeople to enjoy at face value. In my view, over-intellectualizing pop culture overwrites the care free appeal and joy of it.

.
I think striving for sophistication and a higher intellectual plane in music is a great pursuit, but not if it basically takes the enjoyment of the music out of the sphere of the general public you're trying to connect with, and it requires a lecture from a professor to explain why someone should like the music they're just not feeling.

I find the idea of academizing pop and rock music fundamentally objectionable.

The current discussions about tracklist and contents differences between the CD and vinyl configurations of the Feel Flows box got me thinking about how The Beach Boys themselves felt about the new music formats that appeared throughout their days. Sure there were all kinds of formats that came and went without people besides Techmoan noticing, but I'll narrow this down to the big ones that either succeeded or at least received retail releases of Beach Boys music (compact cassette, eight track, CD, digital).

Has anyone seen or heard and comments from the band members on what they saw in the new technologies or how it would impact them? All I (think I) know is:

-Dennis lived long enough to be around for the first CD releases but passed away before The Beach Boys appeared on any.

- Mike expressed indifference toward (or rather a lack of familiarity with) the first twofer campaign in a roughly contemporary interview.

-Carl expressed amazement with the then-new recording technology during the Problem Child interview, which I guess could be extrapolated to his view of listening technology at the time.

Any quotes, opinions, or corrections are welcome here. I'm also interested in hearing about record buying experiences of any fans here who experienced the dominant format changes in real time. Was anyone's first purchase on a new format by The Beach Boys?

Alot of this press coverage is referring to the box set version of Big Sur as a previously unreleased song without reference to the reworked version that appeared on Holland 48 years ago. This lack of distinction keeps me up at night.

Edit: Rolling Stone made good below the fold. Brooklyn Vegan and Consequence need to improve

Does anyone know if FYE locations (or preferably the Party City location that replaced The Wall at 201 W Lincoln Highway, Exton PA 19341) honor The Wall Lifetime Music Guarantee? Most of my CDs are A-OK but one of my stickered tapes bit the dust relatively recently. I mean, yeah, Digital Empire 1 on cassette is long gone I'd assume but would they assess a value in credit or have me arrested for being hopelessly out of touch with reality? Not that serious but not really joking either. I can't imagine the business impact of assuming responsibility for that guarantee.

Lacking data, I'll settle for remember when anecdotes

[The Beach Boys, 311 Named First Acts to Play at The Ledge]

The Beach Boys, 311 Named First Acts to Play at The Ledge

The Beach Boys will be making an appearance in central Minnesota to play at The Ledge amphitheater on August 11th.


https://wjon.com/the-beach-boys-311-named-first-acts-to-play-at-the-ledge/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral&fbclid=IwAR0-7Z2D2WXQPbt3BdCFrCkD_iIMqItRaU_I89IMMmMfOLS9adL_Dohz-KY

It's pretty wild seeing these bands sharing this headline. If this was like five years ago I totally would've tried to make a trip out of seeing both of these opening shows at The Ledge. A few years back though, after 29 shows, I kinda lost interest in 311. If i take that away then its just another Mike and Bruce show, which they'd probably have to actually say they were gonna play deep Feel Flows box stuff for me to travel like that for.

Edit: looks like these shows arent as back to back as I originally understood, but for what it's worth I saw Mark McGrath do a jarring surprise guest appearance during a big 311 show in 2016. The gift no one asked for and the most awkward thing I've seen on stage at one of their shows by far. Theres not much overlap in fanbases here I'm sure, but I think we can all agree that a few more originals in a setlist would be preferred to a McGrath timeslot for either band.

What if Al had joined NASA?

Then he'd have faced John Denver on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch

but it might have been funny to see Mike and Dennis get into a brawl onstage ala Dave Davies and Mick Avory.

BB shows featuring on stage brawls are on the shortlist for my time machine itinerary, though with all the theoretical red tape I can't tell if I actually hope its useful or not.

The interesting I noticed was that short clip of the BB laying down the harmonies on Passing Friend. Just the bare vocals with no processing or effects and the vocal blend sounds exactly like their 1969-70 vocal blend.

I recently picked up the 2003 remastered CD of Culture Club's 1984 album Waking Up With The House On Fire which includes a Passing Friend-sounding bonus track called Don't Go Down That Street. Seeing how the people doing the writing, production, and instrumentals on these were largely the same I wonder if Passing Friend was a rewrite of Don't Go Down That Street. Anyone here more knowledgeable about either song/album able to shed some light here? Passing Friend isn't really the highlight of BB85 for me but I think between these two it's the stronger song. As far as I can tell neither band has performed either song live.

He did that a month or so ago when people were asking him questions on Reddit and he didn't know about Adult/Child or the Feel Flows box

The forgetting a current/upcoming box set project, I'm not sure what to make of that, but for things like Adult/Child I'd easily believe he doesn't remember various episodes from his long career very quickly or vivdly. I get the impression that Adult/Child, while it has a dedicated cult following among some types of fans, never really grew its stature in the band mythology enough for journalists and fans to regularly ask him about it and cause him to ruminate over the decades like happened with Smile. Also, A/C was recorded shortly before the MIU retreat that Brian's previously claimed to have completely blacked out. These two album attempts were separated by a few months and a certain significant tarmac incident but is it understood if this "mental blackout" extended to before the trip to Iowa?

With the Surf's Up album, could that be another case of a generally unpleasant experience that he'd prefer to forget, or perhaps the 21st century events of BWPS and TSS led to Surf's Up being retconned into a Smile-only context in his mind? Ok, that last point seems like a stretch, but if it has anything to do with reality it might somehow relate to his thoughts on the Surf's Up related box.

I thought to myself a few months ago that it'd be nice to have a reprint of the '83 tour shirt but now that one's here I don't think I can actually bring myself to pull the trigger. Seems kinda dishonest to wear a dated shirt from a tour I didn't go to.

Forgive me if this has been covered, but is anyone else concerned about the language regarding rebranding focused on “the beach boys lifestyle”? Mike and at various times everyone in the band have attempted to sell the beach boys lifestyle brand since Do It Again. Isn’t that part of the image problem that you’d want a rebrand to change? Shouldn't the focus, rather than lifestyle, be on songs? So that they can be taken seriously as artists, just like their new stable mates Eagles, Steely Dan et al.

I'll echo your sentiments as far as having found that bands I like attempting to become lifestyle brands has the effect of me taking them less seriously. This is especially the case when it comes to signature beers, like of course I'm gonna buy a Punk in Drublic tallboy at a NOFX show but did that need to exist? I'd imagine whoever's on the case can find some successful way to sell useless crap to John Doe without undercutting a new generation's motivation to to hear deep cuts, but the real question is which Beach Boy's lifestyle are they gonna promote?

It looks like the official Beach Boys website has gotten a pretty big overhaul since this deal.

The photo collage with the alternate BB85 band photo is nice. The music section leads with a bunch of recent comps and archival releases and omits 15 Big Ones, Still Cruisin, Summer In Paradise, and Stars and Stripes. Not surpirsed by those last two but the inclusion of Instrumental Hits is surprising. Is that the only in print title that includes Punchline these days? Gonna also chime in and opine that the MadeWorn store seems pretty tacky. I never understood the appeal of paying premium prices for artificially distressed clothing. To each their own I guess. At least their not selling Beach Boys branded vape pens or bathwater...

Beach Boys Legacy from Twitter:


Brian Wilson ready to win a Pinball tournament in 1979!

This rules

Has the Beach Boys name ever been used to sponsor or promote pro surfing events? It might not be the most popular/mainstream sport but seems like a back to basics, low hanging fruit approach for a Beach Boys youth culture outreach effort. Not sure how much their music means to the surfers of today but maybe the surfers of tomorrow? What do I know? Not suggesting they just try this and call it a day.

No question that The Beach Boys are worthy of and have the assets to mount a serious image revitalization campaign but I do wonder what kind of turnaround time they're envisioning for attaining the everyman's "Mount Rushmore" level alluded to in the article. Does pop culture need more time to change attitudes for the better toward a legacy act than a newer one coming off a sophomore slump?

What kind of new merchandising approaches might this management try? A lot of acts have added a garnish to their prestige with career spanning vinyl boxed sets in recent years. While this wouldn't necessarily get their music into new ears, the existence of such a product might at least help position them upward in a way that a standalone copies of Pet Sounds or Sounds of Summer wouldn't. I'm sure this has been considered, but even when subtracting the what to do with SIP and S&S issue, that would be such a cost prohibitive project. How low could the wholesale price possibly be?

At the risk of validating a sterotype I'll say my last thoughts here are that we could really do without throwing around generational labels like m*******al and z*****r. These are terms of disparagement seldom used in any context outside of condescending or marketing to young people. I'm not saying any offense was meant but I'm sick of people acting like slurs are ok if they're towards age groups.

Apologies, no offense was intended. I myself am 34 so I am technically from the older of those two generations. I'm not really as offended by the term, but I understand that some may be so I'll edit the post (both here and on the subreddit, where I cross-posted).

I appreciate the gesture thr33. Honestly if i had already eaten a full breakfast I probably wouldn't have been moved to say anything about it.

To bring it back on topic, the past ten years or so have been pretty good for attracting a new, younger audience to the Beach Boys catalog, due in no small part to the Smile Sessions release and the continued championing of it by tastemakers. One thing i've noticed though is that Smile has become something of an entry point instead of a New Game Plus for alot of fans, and I've even seen at some people's houses and apartments where that's the only Beach Boys album in their collection (including hit repackages). Haven't noticed much of a resurgence elsewhere in the catalog but I'll admit that my thumb slipped from the pulse of youth culture at some point the past few years.

All I Wanna Do has gotten some mileage on the hipster hype machine and I've seen it credited as the first song in the "chillwave" genre. I see where they're coming from but it seems like a questionable assessment cause that "microgenre" supposedly came around almost 40 years after the fact. Elsewhere I heard that song (and Celebrate The News) repeatedly played over the PA between sets at the my Bloody Valentine/Le Volume Courbe/Wounded Knees show in NYC 2008, so that seemed like a pretty big endorsement from a leader in an older scene under the bigger indie umbrella.

The other day I was on the phone with my parents and it came up they decided at the last minute to miss what turned out to be Arthur Fiedler's last show with the Boston Pops. This in turn reminded me of when they said they wanted to see The Beach Boys in Atlantic City for the 1983 Fourth of July show but regrettably skipped it over anticipated heavy traffic.

What Beach Boys or BB solo shows did you miss attending by a hair?

Lost tickets?
Sudden illness?
Couldn't find a ride?

One of my friends hit me up while I was working in Delaware saying he had an extra VIP pass to Mike and Bruce's 2015 or 2016 Lancaster, PA appearance that night. What an offer but there was no way I would've been able to get there for showtime by the time I was done for the day. Probably coulda made up some excuse to bounce out early but management just seemed kinda strict at the time I guess. Not sure how much this missed chance means to me but I enjoyed seeing my friends pictures with the guys afterward.

[The Crossing]

Big Country: "In A Big Country"

album version > 7" edit.

Big Country's The Crossing (1983) is a superb album, which I bought at the time and still own. My favourite track from it is "Chance", an utterly gorgeous song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkhNV8zn-s

I hope Stuart Adamson has found peace now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Country

I bought my first copy of The Crossing used about 21 years after release. Inwards skipped on the first line and also did on at least one copy I bought as a gift for someone. I wonder if the part of the disc that passage is on is more natural for people to pick it up by and improperly handle. Bought the then-recently remastered CD soon after. It was great to finally hear all the words on Inwards but the drums didn't sound so hot. Third time's a charm with the old cassette.

Big Country: "In A Big Country"

album version > 7" edit.

Listen to the "Help Me, Rhonda" session recording to understand why the Beach Boys never would, and never could, be like the Beatles.

Fair point there. I have a hard time picturing The Beatles being talked to like that while at work.

For a long time I would've said Rival Schools with 2001's United By Fate, but then they reunited and put out a new album in 2011, followed by a previously shelved/leaked record from '03. Still like all three but I'd have settled for reunion shows without new material.



Nowadays I'd land on The Raymond Brake with 1995's Piles of Dirty Winters or Polaris with 1999's belated Music from the Adventures of Pete and Pete. The latter reunited a few times but has only otherwise put out a one-off single and some archival material.




Realising now that alot of bands I thought were one and done had other records that are either too hard to find or I just didn't stick around for.

Not counting comps/live/remix/etc.