Gimme Five: Song where the Beach Boys Sucked

[Danimalist]

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/07/20/gimme-five-songs-where-the-beach-boys-well-sucked/

A few of these have been much discussed here recently. I mostly agree, with the exception of "Busy Doin' Nothin'," which is proof that Brian could put the phone book to a melody and make it worth listening to.

[Ian]

Those are very lazy choices...(and yes I disagree about Busy Doin' Nothing)- now personally I might choose "When Girls Get Together", " Transcendental Meditation" "Summer of Love", "Wipe Out" or the god-awful version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

[EgoHanger1966]

Busy Doin' Nothing is something of a masterpiece, but I guess you really have to be a Brian Wilson fan (or at least have the knowledge of where his head was at during that time)......

The others I agree with.

[Danimalist]

Busy Doin' Nothing is something of a masterpiece......

Held myself back from using the same word, as it's easy to throw around when it comes to Brian's oeuvre, but, it kind of is, isn't it?

[AndrewHickey]

Two of those -- Busy Doin' Nothin' and A Day In The Life Of A Tree -- are among the band's very best work, and while I dislike the disco Here Comes The Night, I know a few people who will defend it.
The other two are terrible, of course, but that writer has nothing new to say about them.

Given how much appalingly bad music this band has managed to produce, it's quite astonishing that someone could come up with such a poor list.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I don't count songs that haven't been released. That might be why they didn't release it! Yeah, I'm going to have to totally disagree with Busy and Tree. Love those songs. Summer of Love I can agree with. HCTN may not be good, but I think its kind of fun that they took there wack at a disco song.

My Five:
-California Calling
-That Same Song
-Still Cruisin
-Kona Coast
-I'm So Lonely

Notice, I didn't include any cover songs. These are my least favorite songs written and released by the Beach Boys.

[EgoHanger1966]

I don't count songs that haven't been released. That might be why they didn't release it! Yeah, I'm going to have to totally disagree with Busy and Tree. Love those songs. Summer of Love I can agree with. HCTN may not be good, but I think its kind of fun that they took there wack at a disco song.

My Five:
-California Calling
-That Same Song
-Still Cruisin
-Kona Coast
-I'm So Lonely

Notice, I didn't include any cover songs. These are my least favorite songs written and released by the Beach Boys.

I like all of those!!! Just 'cuz a song is a little corny doesn't make it suck.

[Gohi]

Busy Doin' Nothin' and A Day in the Life of a Tree are in my top five favorite tracks.

Or at least damn close.

[Zach95]

Busy Doin' Nohin' is, objectively, a brilliant song with, in my opinion, glorious lyrics.

[Runaways]

Busy Doin' Nothin' and A Day in the Life of a Tree are in my top five favorite tracks.

Or at least damn close.

mine too.

[Dunderhead]

The guy doesn't really sound like he knows a whole lot about the band to begin with, especially when he says that by Surf's Up the band was "in freefall", which is the sort of opinion I had when I was a newbie, and I think most people who haven't really explored the band's catalogue in much depth share. You can't really blame him as that's sort of the standard narrative that main stream rock journalism sticks with, but I'd agree with everyone here who things that BDN and Tree are essential cuts.

Before Love You it's hard for me to really pick any songs I actively dislike. Even some of the more maligned tracks like Tears In The Morning are enjoyable in my view. There are some songs, the brilliant ones, that get all the acclaim and strike the listener with their full force upon first listening, then there are the growers, the ear worms that sort of seem disposable at first but get better over time.

In the first category are things like 'Til I Die, All I Wanna Do, Little Bird, This Whole World etc. In the second are songs more like Got To Know The Woman, and Mess of Help. I think most Beach Boys songs up until, and including the ones on Love You fall into one of those two categories.

Then there are the really more mediocre, forgettable tracks that, while not genuinely bad, just don't ultimately make it.

But in the end, only a handful of songs really fall into the fourth and final, "wow this kind sucks" category. Even weird stuff like Gettin' Hungry is pretty enjoyable when you're in the mood, and I'd have a hard time picking any songs from Smiley/Wild Honey/Friends to put into this category.

On 20/20, you have The Nearest Faraway Place, which I've always disliked, and maybe Brian's Cottonfields, which I hesitate to call bad, but in all honestly was one of, if not the most, lackluster Brian Wilson production up until that point.

Sunflower rocks, and is pretty much nothing but masterpieces and ear worms.

Surf's Up, in the context of the whole album has a few disappointing tracks. Feet is sort of a drag, but had it appeared on another LP would have been perfectly charming. Really only Student Demonstration Time sticks out as being "bad", and only by virtue of its' snarky lyrics.

So Tuff isn't a great album, but it's stronger than it might look at first glance. The only track I don't generally like is He Come Down, but even that is alright for an occasional listen.

Holland is one of the best albums the band ever did, period. I can't take issue with anything on there besides a few awkward lyrics on California Saga, but still that song is alright in my book in light of its' other strengths.

15 Big Ones has Everyone's In Love With You, which I would comfortably say is the weakest track on that album. TM Song is stupid, but it's so slight it's not really fair to bash it. I'll also admit it brings a smile to my face when I hear it come on.
It's a really weird album, the track selection is poor, and the production misses the mark, but I still love a lot of the songs. Same Song is classic Brian, Had To Phone You is downright addictive once you've heard the backing track, and the covers hold up better on closer listening than one would assume.

So really,

Nearest Faraway Place
Student Demonstration Time
He Come Down
Everyone's In Love With You

From Pet Sounds to Love You those are the only songs I would call shitty. There are some mediocre ones sure, All I Want To Do certainly isn't great, and it's not like Here She Comes is a masterpiece, but even those lesser tracks still have something to recommend themselves with. The Beach Boys have a pretty incredible career when you get right down to it, and when you add in unreleased tracks you have a truly astonishing collection of great songs. I don't think any other band maintained such a high level of quality for so long, at least while keeping up such a proactive release schedule where something new got put out every year.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Wow, of all the terrible songs they did in the 80's and 90's he finds some place to put in the beautiful Busy Doin' Nothin' and A Day In The Life Of A Tree? holy cow.

[Nicko1234]

I don`t think Everyone`s in Love with You is anything like the worst song on 15 Big Ones. The production and arrangement let it down obviously (and Mike`s more recent version isn`t exactly a masterpiece) but it`s nowhere near as bad as dreck like TM Song, Chapel of Love and In the Still of the Night.

The Nearest Faraway Place certainly isn`t a bad song. When Bruce used to perform it live back in the 60s I believe that it was one of the most popular songs in the setlist even causing jealousy among the other band members.

A Day in the Life of a Tree is an ok song but nothing like one of the band`s best.

Busy Doin` Nothing doesn`t deserve a place on that list.

If I was nominating the 5 worst released songs by any band members I would go for:

1, Summer of Love
2, Speed Turtle
3, The Waltz
4, TM Song
5, In the Still of the Night

[Dunderhead]

I don`t think Everyone`s in Love with You is anything like the worst song on 15 Big Ones. The production and arrangement let it down obviously (and Mike`s more recent version isn`t exactly a masterpiece) but it`s nowhere near as bad as dreck like TM Song, Chapel of Love and In the Still of the Night.

The Nearest Faraway Place certainly isn`t a bad song. When Bruce used to perform it live back in the 60s I believe that it was one of the most popular songs in the setlist even causing jealousy among the other band members.

A Day in the Life of a Tree is an ok song but nothing like one of the band`s best.

Busy Doin` Nothing doesn`t deserve a place on that list.

If I was nominating the 5 worst released songs by any band members I would go for:

1, Summer of Love
2, Speed Turtle
3, The Waltz
4, TM Song
5, In the Still of the Night

When you get them on headphones the covers on 15BO really grow on you. In The Still of The Night though has always been one of my favorites on that album though, they're classic songs in of themselves so you can't say that they aren't good songs in general. And the production is cool once you start to pay attention to it, the mixing is really the only thing bringing them down.

Also, TM Song is really more of a skit than anything else. It's just not really supposed to be a serious song, it's just a blow off that you're supposed to chuckle at. It's not like this was Mike's self serious side long epic track extolling the virtues of TM, it's just a gag.

But really, even the so called "bad" songs of the band have supporters, so I don't think anyone could come up with just one universally reviled BB song, let alone 5.

[Ron]

You've got to have your head WAY up your ass to think that "A Day in The Life Of a Tree" even begins to approach 'suck'.  It's marvelous. 

[Nicko1234]

When you get them on headphones the covers on 15BO really grow on you. In The Still of The Night though has always been one of my favorites on that album though, they're classic songs in of themselves so you can't say that they aren't good songs in general. And the production is cool once you start to pay attention to it, the mixing is really the only thing bringing them down.

Also, TM Song is really more of a skit than anything else. It's just not really supposed to be a serious song, it's just a blow off that you're supposed to chuckle at. It's not like this was Mike's self serious side long epic track extolling the virtues of TM, it's just a gag.

I think that because it has `produced by BW` on the label many people give 15BO too easy a ride. In the Still of the Night, for example, has an atrocious lead vocal from Dennis, dire harmonies and poor musicianship. If the group had taken this to Candix or Capitol or whoever in the early 60s they would never have been given a record deal.

I agree that TM Song isn`t a very serious attempt at music making. But personally I would rather hear Mike (or anyone) actually trying to write a good song rather than listening to Brian intentionally recording bilge.

These songs and the 15BO album should never have been released and Brian shouldn`t have been allowed to produce solo as he wasn`t up to it. The same goes for GIOMH 25+ years later.

[Ron]

I have to be honest, and admit that I can't really be critical of 15 Big Ones.  If the songs were by anybody else, yeah, I probably wouldn't be that into them... but man it's the BEACH BOYS!  Palisades Park is amazing on there.  "Run Run Runnin, Now the Rides Are Runnin"  In the still of the night is alright... I've even grown to like Rock & Roll music.  If anybody else was singing it, though, yeah, I'd probably think it was trash. 

[Ron]

Fishmonk, reading your 4 that you listed, I pretty much agree with you... i'm kind of amazed that I can probably think of more Beatles songs that I dislike than Beach Boys songs, and I've always been a huge Beatle fan.  They've probably got at least a dozen tracks though that I'll skip or actively can't stand, whereas I'd probably agree with you that there's only 4 or 5 all the way up to the late 70's of the Beach Boys that I don't like. 

[Dunderhead]

When you get them on headphones the covers on 15BO really grow on you. In The Still of The Night though has always been one of my favorites on that album though, they're classic songs in of themselves so you can't say that they aren't good songs in general. And the production is cool once you start to pay attention to it, the mixing is really the only thing bringing them down.

Also, TM Song is really more of a skit than anything else. It's just not really supposed to be a serious song, it's just a blow off that you're supposed to chuckle at. It's not like this was Mike's self serious side long epic track extolling the virtues of TM, it's just a gag.

I think that because it has `produced by BW` on the label many people give 15BO too easy a ride. In the Still of the Night, for example, has an atrocious lead vocal from Dennis, dire harmonies and poor musicianship. If the group had taken this to Candix or Capitol or whoever in the early 60s they would never have been given a record deal.

I agree that TM Song isn`t a very serious attempt at music making. But personally I would rather hear Mike (or anyone) actually trying to write a good song rather than listening to Brian intentionally recording bilge.

These songs and the 15BO album should never have been released and Brian shouldn`t have been allowed to produce solo as he wasn`t up to it. The same goes for GIOMH 25+ years later.

I'm not going pretend that 15BO is a masterpiece, your take on the album is completely fair, and honestly more objective and critical than anything I would write in its' defense.
I used to positively despise 15BO, so I understand where you're coming from. It's easily the weakest release of theirs from between All Summer Long and Love You, so I think your appraisal of it is perfectly level headed.

Saying that though, I'd say give it a few more spins. It wasn't until someone made a thread about it here that I started to take a closer look. I don't believe that it's a bad album because the band itself had gotten bad. I see a lot of good ideas in there, and some really endearing tracks stymied by a lack of participation and cooperation from everyone involved.

This video is also what partially converted me,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeMd3HRtTg

Us Beach Boys fans are a really eclectic bunch, and it's nice that the music offers enough so that we can all find something to really enjoy.

[lance]

It's also that he calls Surf's Up 'a minor masterpiece', when in fact it's one of the greatest pop songs of the twentieth century!! Oh well.

My top five sucks:  Rock'n'Roll Music. Kona Coast. Make It Big. Happy Endings. Summer of Love. Actually the top 5 would probably all be from Summer in Paradise if I were being honest. But I'm not.

[Alan Smith]

Yep, that writer has provided more than enough evidence that he's a jackass.  And pulling the sad old "I’m someone who deeply loves Brian Wilson’s greatest moments but..."  routine makes it all the worse for him.

And nary a mention of Passing Friend, for me the worst of the pre-SIP canon.

[Nicko1234]

I'm not going pretend that 15BO is a masterpiece, your take on the album is completely fair, and honestly more objective and critical than anything I would write in its' defense.
I used to positively despise 15BO, so I understand where you're coming from. It's easily the weakest release of theirs from between All Summer Long and Love You, so I think your appraisal of it is perfectly level headed.

Saying that though, I'd say give it a few more spins. It wasn't until someone made a thread about it here that I started to take a closer look. I don't believe that it's a bad album because the band itself had gotten bad. I see a lot of good ideas in there, and some really endearing tracks stymied by a lack of participation and cooperation from everyone involved.

This video is also what partially converted me,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeMd3HRtTg

Us Beach Boys fans are a really eclectic bunch, and it's nice that the music offers enough so that we can all find something to really enjoy.

A completely fair post. I should say that when I do listen to 15BO I don`t sit there with blood coming out of my ears hating it. I agree that the band could still have made a good album if they had let Carl do the bulk of the producing (with Dennis and Brian chipping in).

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Busy Doin Nothin' sucks? I'd never have thought any BB fan anywhere could ever have felt anything besides affection for this song. Great lyrics, great melody, great singing - it's one of the highlights on Friends, which itself is one of the best, most under-rated albums of the '60's.
Likewise A Day In The Life Of A Tree - so that beautiful organ track and breathtaking fade are part of one of the TOP 5 worst BB songs ever are they? I think the guy who picked these songs either has terrible taste or just doesn't really know anything about his subject...

[Nicko1234]

A guess (playing devil`s advocate here) that if someone was trying to pick out songs that signalled the decline of the group then Busy Doin` Nothing could be a valid choice. In no way can it be considered a bad song but it does show that Brian had mentally regressed and had essentially given up.

[Dunderhead]

A guess (playing devil`s advocate here) that if someone was trying to pick out songs that signalled the decline of the group then Busy Doin` Nothing could be a valid choice. In no way can it be considered a bad song but it does show that Brian had mentally regressed and had essentially given up.

I've made the point a few times that I think people underestimate Brian's use of irony. BDN is a very self aware song, and I've always seen Brian as being grouped in with those great modern pop writers like Nilsson or Randy Newman. He uses layers of humor in a subversive way, and there's something pointedly self aware about some of the songs he wrote by himself.
BDN is an accomplished song, articulate and self contained in a way few could hope to match. The parts all go so well with eachother, the lyrics, the composition, and style and production, all lock in with one another organically. It's understated, confident, congenial in its' effect, and honest in its' expression. What more could you want?
If anything it's one of the high points of Brian's later career.