Atypical roads that lead to Beach Boys fandom

[shelter]

Eight years ago I was heavily into The Beatles. I played guitar in a hardcore punk band at the time, with a drummer called Jeroen who was a big Beach Boys fan. We sometimes had discussions about which band was better. Back then I already owned a Beach Boys greatest hits CD, but although I liked songs like 'I Get Around', 'Surfin' USA' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun' (who doesn't?) I thought it was just silly to think that this band could be better than the band that gave us 'Let It Be', 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'A Day in the Life'. So Jeroen told me to look beyond the Beach Boys' hits and check out albums like 'Pet Sounds' and 'Sunflower', which I did. I didn't really "get" 'Pet Sounds' at first, but I loved 'Sunflower' from the first time I heard it. A few weeks later I admitted to Jeroen that he'd been right, The Beach Boys were indeed better than The Beatles. I've been a fairly obsessed fan ever since. And coincidentally, tonight Jeroen, my girlfriend and me are going to see The Beach Boys live for the first time.

[Aegir]

About 9 years ago, I was about 13 or 14, and I saw an episode of the 60s Batman TV show and became obsessed with the 60s. So I downloaded Pet Sounds which was a popular album from a band I recognized from the 60s. Also downloaded Revolver. I was way more into the Beatles for a few years, but the Beach Boys were my second favorite and then I got really burned out on the Beatles.

[Catbirdman]

Not that far leftfield, but I got into the Beach Boys back in 1995 as a result of a conversation I had with some free-jazz far-out crazy-ass musicians I used to hang out with. One of the guys mentioned listening to Smiley Smile and how whacked out it was and I said "no way." The rest of us at the table started to make fun of him. Then I checked it out and here I am 17 years later.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

Bob Dylan brought me the Boys.

[oldsurferdude]

I arrived at The Beach Boys the old-fasihioned way; AM radio & 45 RPM records.

Began for me the same way. Heard 409, SS on my plug in AM radio in my bedroom between homework and staring into my aquarium. Was fond of those two tunes but then one day or night I heard Surfer Girl and it all clicked. Who were these guys and where did they come from?

[Don Malcolm]

Was grounded for getting bad grades in school, with TV privileges revoked, so turned to a heretofore unexplored medium--the radio.

Heard "Dance Dance Dance" and the rest is history...

[Pretty Funky]

Dad played in a covers band and recorded hits of the day to be picked apart then gigged the next event days later. This meant the radio was on almost 24/7 with a tape to tape on standby.

The more I think about it, I went for the music they did not cover!

[ArtVandalay]

Beach Boys 20 Good Vibrations was one of the first CDs I bought as a child (it was one of my six free for signing up through Columbia House.
Other than the best known hits, I'd never really listened to any of the BB's other music. I gave Pet Sounds a listen in high school once, and I remember not caring for it. Finally gave it another listen two years ago (I'm 28 now) and was blown away. I couldn't believe I had gone this long without appreciating the album. PS was basically all I listened to for the next 9 months. Still, I guess I believed what I had heard about the BB post-PS work being less than stellar and didn't give their later works much attention. I was actually under the impression that after Pet Sounds, most of the members left the group and it was basically Mike Love and a bunch of other guys. When I was out record shopping, I'd routinely pass over albums like Wild Honey, Sunflower, Surf's Up, etc.

So fast-forward to this past Memorial Day Weekend. Took a car trip up to Chicago and had the 60's on 6 playing the whole way there and back. I'm hearing Beach Boys songs I hadn't ever heard before. A song comes on which I don't recognize as the Beach Boys, but I'm loving it. I pull my phone out and pull up my Shazam app. It was "Long Promised Road." Surprised to find out it was Carl singing lead (wait a minute, he doesn't sound anything like he did on God Only Knows...)

So I've been spending the summer catching up on all the great music I was missing out on all these years. And while they seemed to be in abundance in the dollar bins before, it's almost impossible to find a used vinyl copy of any of their later material now! Go figure. Did find a copy of Holland the other day, which I'm enjoying. Looking forward to finding a copy of Pacific Ocean Blue as well.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I came on here ready to tell the ol' skydiving story but noticed I had already done so.

[Catbirdman]

Was grounded for getting bad grades in school, with TV privileges revoked, so turned to a heretofore unexplored medium--the radio.

Really? I thought they took it, and were usin' it in their own room. Did they let you call up your chick too?

[onkster]

Bought the SMiLE #2 vinyl boot after reading something about "Fire" in a Beatles book--I was (and am still, to a degree) a hardcore Beatleite--and got hooked from there. Cabinessence, Wonderful, and that little scrap of Surf's Up blew my mind. Then I got Pet Sounds, then expanded out into the BB catalogue like a nuclear explosion.

SMiLE is still my favorite. Prolly my favorite of anything, by anyone, of all time.

[Gertie J.]

Surfin' USA brought me to the BB fandom. Simple as that.

[Aegir]

About 9 years ago, I was about 13 or 14, and I saw an episode of the 60s Batman TV show and became obsessed with the 60s. So I downloaded Pet Sounds which was a popular album from a band I recognized from the 60s. Also downloaded Revolver. I was way more into the Beatles for a few years, but the Beach Boys were my second favorite and then I got really burned out on the Beatles.

I'm sorry for saying this but weren't you about 16-15 9 years ago according to your nowadays age?
Anyway, thanks for the stories! I jolly enjoyed them reading!

yes, my math is off. I was 15, almost 16.

[TimeToGetAlone]

At the time I had heard some select songs from their catalogue either through custom CDs I was given (Sloop John B, Kokomo, Little Deuce Coupe, Fun Fun Fun), choir in elementary school (Surfin' Safari, Surfin' USA), or general pop culture exposure (Wouldn't It Be Nice, All Summer Long).  I had also listened to Pet Sounds and while I appreciated it I wasn't particularly affected, probably due to a combination of the songs not being instantly catchy like I was  expecting and not giving a fully attentive listen.  I liked other bands of the time like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, but the classic rock that played those songs never ventured into the Beach Boys up here.

It's ironic then that one of their more backwards moments in their career at a not-so-special time for the band was what did it for me and led me to see a new side to the band.  I was young and caught the end of a Full House episode where a live rendition of Barbara Ann was playing.  Since my exposure had been very limited, I didn't even know this song.  The recording was muddled and for some reason I thought it to be a later song in their catalogue.  I opted to look up on Amazon the latest greatest hits compilation (Sounds of Summer).  Funny enough I still thought of it as a later song given where I found it on the tracklisting.  At any rate since I didn't know the title I was running through samples of the songs in the back half of the compilation.  I came upon Wild Honey and, more importantly, Darlin' which I thought sounded kind of cool and had a different sound.  It doesn't hurt that I was always interested in what bands sounded like beyond their most well-known years.

So the sample of Darlin' became an earworm for me and I checked it out the full version of the song, which was of all things an early 80's live version.  The hooks of the verses got me and I really liked Carl's voice.  I thought maybe the singer of this song might have been part of a different sound for the band, so I looked up songs sung by Carl.  Next was I Can Hear Music, in which the vocals also really impressed.  Then came This Whole World, Long Promised Road, Friends, and Girl Don't Tell Me.  At some point I just started checking out song after song from their late 60's and early 70's in particular, and somewhere down the line I was hooked.

So there you go.  Full House and Barbara Ann first led me to discover the Beach Boys as a different band than I first thought.

[The Demon]

My brother bought me a BB greatest hits comp as a joke for my birthday. At the time I wouldn't listen to anything without distorted guitars and screaming, so I thought it was funny but a waste of money. Later I discovered Faith No More, which lead me to Ween, and then to Mr. Bungle. I loved Air-Conditioned Nightmare and that inspired me to give that BB album a spin. It was pretty cool but still seemed like a novelty to me, the only exception being Heroes and Villains. I wondered if they had more songs like that, and that's when I discovered Smiley Smile and they became my favorite band.

I'm curious how FNM lead you to Ween. Please, do tell. Also, i never have the chance to talk to people about this because, for some weird reason, not a lot of people are into both Ween and the Beach Boys, but i've always been so intrigued by some of the stylistic similarities. Once the boys moved into the home studio and started making the smaller production records (SS, WH, Friends, as well as some stuff on Sunflower and Surf's Up) there was a certain sound that has a total Ween quality. Aren't You Glad, Be Here In The Morning, Wake The World, Our Sweet Love, At My Window, Take A Load Off Your Feet and much more. And even though i knew that the Gene Ween Band has covered Girl Don't Tell Me, it was really great to have recently read in the 33 1/3 Chocolate and Cheese book, Gener citing the Beach Boys as an influence!

Also was a big Ween and Bungle fan before liking the Beach Boys, though I was more interested in trying them because they were a band I hadn't investigated, not for any influence or connections.  I'd already gone through enough punk and indie stuff, so was dipping more into 60s rock and some hip hop at that point.

Most people do not care about (creative) melodies or clever music--they want to be part of what is fashionable, and thus already moving into the past.  Hence the lack of interest you see others having for a band like Ween.  Unfortunately, a super creative band like the High Llamas who still get decent praise without having the "comedy" stigma of Ween still have to suffer with endless Brian Wilson comparisons (Which says what?  You've heard some of their albums once?).  That would be like saying the Beatles only liked Chuck Berry.  Beach Boys comparisons end up being more misguided than when other bands are in their place, though it's cool to see musicians who acknowledge the influence.

[hypehat]

The problem with The High Llamas is that Sean O'Hagan is a fantastic arranger and has a great understanding for music, but he's a boring songwriter. Gideon Gaye is a good album, but  he makes so much more sense when he arranges Stereolab or Super Furry Animals albums rather than his own stuff. His arrangements on his own records aren't so hot, because there's that something missing in the songs.

Just to take this off topic....

[NHC]

I arrived at The Beach Boys the old-fasihioned way; AM radio & 45 RPM records.

Yep.

[The Demon]

The problem with The High Llamas is that Sean O'Hagan is a fantastic arranger and has a great understanding for music, but he's a boring songwriter. Gideon Gaye is a good album, but  he makes so much more sense when he arranges Stereolab or Super Furry Animals albums rather than his own stuff. His arrangements on his own records aren't so hot, because there's that something missing in the songs.

Just to take this off topic....

I disagree there.  I love all their albums and think that his method of songwriting is just currently out of style.  The melodies are gorgeous and they are there, just spread across instruments, instead of having one main instrumental focus (guitar or piano) with counterpoints and accents on other instruments, like most bands do.  People have been trained to listen to one instrument with some accompaniment, which he doesn't really do.  They also use repetition in a way many bands don't.  They are influenced by pop music, but this is not pop as defined by radio--that is one many difference between what they do and what Brian Wilson does.  You should not listen to this like you might the Beatles, Beach Boys, etc.

Many songs from their later albums, such as "New Broadway," "Winters Day," "Bach Ze," "Leaf and Lime," and "High on the Chalk" are at least as gorgeous as the Beach Boys' best, if not more so.  Their music just asks you to get rid of your radio and 45-based expectations/preconceptions.  Their biggest connection to the Beach Boys, after all, is structure their music like Smile bootlegs, as opposed to copying Brian's writing style.

[Youre Under Arrest]

It all begun in 2009. I was 15 and I had been obsessed by Roy Orbison's You Got It (my iTunes states I have played it a whopping 7,823 times), so naturally I wanted to know about Roy and his life, searching his Wikipedia was the first step. This lead me (from Roy Orbison's time in the Travelling Wilbury's) to George Harrison. Now, I had like The Beatles, but I was a casual and knew about Yesterday, Yellow Submarine, She Loves You and other various popular songs which are overplayed, everywhere. But I didn't know George. I found my father's orignal 1967-1970 compilation album and played a song Wikipedia suggested. Something. Needless to say I was blown away. This love spilled unto the rest of the Beatles catalog and I bought every single shred of music on their discography which was readily available (from iTunes, or CD shops). I became a Beatles fanatic, an obnoxious one. Always stating how the "BEATLES WERE THE BEST EVER, EVERYTHING ELSE IS UTTER CRAP!".

One day, I was reading Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 albums of all time (as RangeRoverA1 had stated she had). I saw Sgt. Peppers at number #1 and smirked with confident grin, nodding in delight. Revolver at number #3 and I was licking my lips in pretentious joy. But at number #2... "THE BEACH BOYS?! HOW CAN THIS BE?!" I laughed it off.

A few weeks later, I was out with friends (this is mid-2010) and we were browsing in a CD store and on one of the shelves stood that number #2, Pet Sounds. I bought it out of curiosity. I still remember taking it up to the counter and the guy asking me if this was "for fathers day?". I shamefully said "no". I got home and ripped it to my iPod. Stuck in some headphones and bam. The harmonies, the arrangements, the brilliance was woven into each and every sense. I was given the feeling that, all along, I had known this music. Pet Sounds, an album I had never heard before seemed oh so familiar, as if the sounds Brian created were always in the recesses of my mind, familiar, he had just unlocked them for me and allowed them to run wild within myself.

Apart for that pretentiousness, I bought the Today/Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) twofer, followed by Smiley Smile/Wild Honey and Sunflower/Surf's Up... followed by their entire discography. I was hooked. Non-stop. Still can't stop at 18. It's funny to see people's reactions when they get in the car with me and I have A Day In The Life Of A Tree playing.

And that's my long-winded story to fandom. Can't wait to see them this August 30th, should be geriatric!

[EgoHanger1966]

The problem with The High Llamas is that Sean O'Hagan is a fantastic arranger and has a great understanding for music, but he's a boring songwriter. Gideon Gaye is a good album, but  he makes so much more sense when he arranges Stereolab or Super Furry Animals albums rather than his own stuff. His arrangements on his own records aren't so hot, because there's that something missing in the songs.

Just to take this off topic....

To make it somewhat relevant, my Beach Boys fandom lead me to checking out The High Llamas - found Gideon Gaye in a thrift store for less than two bucks - also bought Hawaii. These are really nice albums, but I agree that his songwriting style lacks focus. He finds really nice grooves, and throws in a couple of cool, (often meaningless, but good sounding) lyrics, but his songs have the longest-ass fades I've ever heard and they meander. And then there's all the little, short gappy tracks that don't do much. There are some gems to be found, Nomads and The Dutchman amongst others.....