Brian picks 10 summer songs...and yours?

[Ovi]

From his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/officialbrianwilson/photos/a.452661542240.241240.34250497240/10152506432067241/?type=1&permPage=1

1. Hot Fun In The Summertime: Sly and the Family Stone
2. In The Summer Time: Mungo Jerry
3. I Get Around: The Beach Boys
4. Be My Baby: The Ronettes
5. California Girls: The Beach Boys
6. Give Me Some Lovin': Spencer Davis Group
7. Hey Jude: The Beatles
8. Honky Tonk Women: The Rolling Stones
9. My Obsession: The Rolling Stones
10. Mony Mony: Tommy James and the Shondells

inb4 jokes about Be My Baby... 

[Ovi]

For me, Good Vibrations has always been one of the ultimate summer songs, which is kinda weird... something off the early albums would make more sense. It's got to do with the fact that I used to listen to it first thing in the morning literally every day in the summer that I discovered the band. The way it begins, then the lyrics about colourful clothes and sunlight playing upon the hair...that's just THE sound of summer for me, even if the song's lyrics are not specifically about that. Who knows, maybe Brian has the same kind of connection with some of the songs he listed.

[Mr. Cohen]

"My Obsession" is a dire recording, but since Brian was invited to the mixdown, he loves it. I looked up Between the Buttons and even Jagger thinks it's garbage. One of the worst Stones albums during their peak years.

[Joel Goldenberg]

Not Beach Boys, but Suavacito by Malo (Carlo Santana's brother) is a great summer song. Summer's not the topic, but the song's whole atmosphere is early 1970s New York or Los Angeles on a steamy hot day.

[leggo of my ego]

Minus the BB these songs remind me of 60's summers of my youth.  But I could list 100 songs.

Now, in no particular order

1. Summer In the City: The Hollies
2. Pleasant Valley Sunday: The Monkees
3. The Unknown Solider: The Doors
4. Happy Together: The Turtles
5. Hush: Deep Purple
6. Incense And Peppermints: Strawberry Alarm Clock
7. Shakin All Over: Guess Who
8. Pictures of Matchstick Men: Status Quo
9. Western Union: ???damn
10. Crimson and Clover: Tommy James and the Shondells

[Orange Crate Art]

1. Rockaway Beach- The Ramones
2. All Summer Long- Beach Boys
3. School's Out- Alice Cooper
4. Hot Fun In The Summertime- Sly Stone
5. Girls On The Beach- Beach Boys
6. Summertime Blues- Blue Cheer, Eddie Cochran, Beach Boys, The Who
7. See You In September- The Happenings
8. Surfin' USA- Beach Boys
9. Draggin'- Roger McGuinn (with Bruce Johnston on backing vocals)
10. Keepin' The Summer Alive- Beach Boys

my bonus track: 11. Summertime Summertime- The Jamies

[Lowbacca]

Off the top of my head... (Beach Boys catalogue excluded and generally unsorted):


1. Van Halen - Summer Nights 
2. Jewel Akens - The Birds and the Bees 
3. Alice Cooper - School's Out 
4. Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze 
5. Texas - Summer Son 
6. The Danleers - One Summer Night 
7. George Gershwin - Summertime 
8. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes 
9. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues 
10. Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling 

[Cyncie]

1. Fun, Fun, Fun--- The Beach Boys
2, Summer Breeze--- Seals and Croft
3. Under The Boardwalk--- The Drifters
4. Dancing in the Street--- Martha and the Vandellas
5. Summertime Blues--- Eddie Cochran
6. I Get Around--- The Beach Boys
7. Wipe Out--- The Surfaris
8. Sleepwalk--- Santo and Johnny
9. Tequila--- The Champs
10. The Lonely Sea--- The Beach Boys

Bonus track: Walk Don't Run--- The Ventures

[guitarfool2002]

I can't do 10 songs...it changes so often the 'top 10' list concept ruins the feel of remembering and enjoying the music. But anyhoo....

Instrumentals really do it for me. No need to equate lyrics to the mood, or have a songwriter put images in your mind, you just let the music take over and create the imagery. Plus no one can challenge whether or not a song is summer-centric enough in the lyrics to qualify.

Hugh Masekela "Grazing In The Grass" from the terrific Uni record label, 1968. Just put this on any time of the year, the summer feeling and mood where you're basking in the heat and the breeze just washes over you. The lyric version was neat, a great record, but they lost the laid-back, summer dreaming mood and vibe that Hugh's original captured better than most.

"Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited. Another late-60's instrumental, just captures perfectly that slower, lazy summer vibe without a single word of lyric necessary or missed. Let this one wash over you, you'll start swaying slowly to the beat without realizing it and you'll be doing whatever summertime relaxation activity you like the best.

"I Get Around", by the Beach Boys. Nothing to do at all with summer in the lyrics, it's about a guy bragging how fast his car is, how much money he has, and how popular he is. But the *sound* of this record, the power of the vocals and the arrangement totally masks all of that and turns it into something beyond a teen bragging-rights anthem. Brian could sing the dictionary with that falsetto and you'd think he was preaching the California gospel. I had to pick "I Get Around" because as a kid, we'd go to Wildwood NJ in the summers, and a few diners there had those tabletop jukeboxes...stocked with Beach Boys singles. I remember hearing a lot of the tables playing "I Get Around", and as a kid I'd ask my parents for change to feed the jukebox and play "I Get Around" repeatedly, it just hit my very young ears a certain way that I loved. And it reminds me of summers as a kid.

Off the wall choice: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" by Eurythmics. Again, nothing at all to do with the summer, but whatever summer's year that was, the top-40 station played this record constantly and whenever I hear it I remember driving to Jersey to summer vacation, and on the beach a lot of the radios were tuned to that same station which spun this record every hour, sometimes twice an hour. Puts me in that state of mind, the nostalgia/memory trip from 80's summertime.

"So Much In Love" by The Tymes...classic early 60's on the Parkway label. I knew this song, heard it all the time, but one summer on some anonymous part-time job I had, a co-worker who had grown up in the 60's added another element. This song started playing over the company's radio/PA, and she started talking about how it reminded her of the Boardwalk, of the shore, of the whole summertime vibe when she was a kid, and it sounded like she was almost near-tears talking about it. All triggered by a two-minute pop/doo-wop song. Damn, i thought, that's pretty powerful stuff.

And I never heard the song as just another "golden oldie" again. I thought the Beach Boys should/could have done a fantastic cover of this in the 60's, when all their voices were prime and youthful, and Brian could have *nailed* both the arrangement and the falsetto while Mike sang the baritone lead. Damn, missed opportunity.

That's about it.

[D Cunningham]

Oh geeze...just one song.  Theme from A Summer Place

Percy Faith being faithful to the Max Steiner (my hero) original...but adding touches in the arrangement to make it a monster.

Right from the start...PF's version presenting that keyboard rhythm then high glide (Brian's fat fingers and falsetto, anyone?)
that takes the top of your head off (Emily Dickinson).

Has Brian ever mentioned the PF single in interviews?  1959.  Brian was conscious.
A killer sound.  I hear Pet Sounds in it, for crying out loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSsiS-v6_6M

[CoolWater]

My Top 10 Songs of Summer - from the tail end of the 20th Century.  (Edit: In response to an interesting comment below, I decided to add the release dates and chart positions for the songs, in part to see how our memory of 'Summer Songs' stands the test of time (or at least of Seasons):

1. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Released May of 1991, entered charts in June, peaked at #4 on Billboard Hot 100
2. Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana - Released iin Sept. of 1991, entered charts, entered charts in November, peaked at #6 on Billboard Hot 100
3. 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins - Released in January of 1996, it entered the charts in February, peaking at #12.
4. So Alive - Love and Rockets - Released in September of 1989, peaked at # 3 on the Hot 100
5. La Bamba - Los Lobos - Released June of 1987, it reached # 1 in August of the same year
6. Semi-Chamed Life - Third Eye Blind - Released in June of '97, entered charts on 7/7, spent 3 weeks at #1 that Summer
7. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Released in Sept of 1991, entered the charts in October and peaked at # 2 on the hot 100
8. The Way - Fastball - released in February of 1998, spent 7 weeks in the Hot 100 in April and May.
9. Red, Red Wine - UB40 - Re-released in August of 1988, it reached #1
10. Crazy - Aerosmith - Released in 1994, it peaked at #17 in June of that year.


Thought this was a different take/mix than the other excellent lists that have been posted. Enjoy.

[Ovi]

"My Obsession" is a dire recording, but since Brian was invited to the mixdown, he loves it. I looked up Between the Buttons and even Jagger thinks it's garbage. One of the worst Stones albums during their peak years.

You're out of your mind.

[rab2591]

1. Let's Go Trippin' - Dick Dale & his Del-tones
2. I Get Around - The Beach Boys
3. No Snow On The Mountain - Nada Surf
4. Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin
5. Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix

6. Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra
7. Tahiti: A Summer Night At Sea - Les Baxter
8. Holes To Heaven (acoustic version) - Jack Johnson
9. Kinky Reggae - Bob Marley & the Wailers
10. Slow Dance With A Fast Girl - Aqua Velvets

[leggo of my ego]

interesting not much repitions, everybody has a different and distinct idea of "summer" tunez. 

now I wonder if I looked up release dates of my list how many would have been charting in summer months?? 

School's Out:Alice Cooper [for a mid 70's summer memory.]

[urbanite]

1.  Summer Rain  - Johnny Rivers
2.  Yesterday's Gone  -  Chad & Jeremy
3.  Beach Baby  -  Firsty Class
4.  Everyone's Gone to the Moon - Jonathan King
5.  Every Beach Boys' song, esp. All Summer Long and Calf. Girls
6.  96 Tears - Mike and the Mysterios

[Mark H]

Minus the BB these songs remind me of 60's summers of my youth.  But I could list 100 songs.

Now, in no particular order

1. Summer In the City: The Hollies
2. Pleasant Valley Sunday: The Monkees
3. The Unknown Solider: The Doors
4. Happy Together: The Turtles
5. Hush: Deep Purple
6. Incense And Peppermints: Strawberry Alarm Clock
7. Shakin All Over: Guess Who
8. Pictures of Matchstick Men: Status Quo
9. Western Union: ???damn
10. Crimson and Clover: Tommy James and the Shondells

The Five Americans

[JK]

In the order I thought of them:

"Groovin'"----The Young Rascals
"California Sun"----The Rivieras
"Lazy Sunday"---The Small Faces
"Let Me Take You To The Beach"----Frank Zappa
"All Summer Long"----The Beach Boys
"It Might As Well Rain Until September"----Carole King
"See You In September"----The Happenings 
"Summer Holiday"----Cliff Richard and The Shadows
"I Live For The Sun"----The Sunrays
"Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer"----Nat "King" Cole

[guitarfool2002]

Thank you for mentioning "Theme From A Summer Place". Somehow I missed that, and it is absolutely one of the most gorgeous, beautiful, and evocative "summer" mindset type of songs ever recorded. The original version, that is, as mentioned.

Add that to my list, too. 

[Jukka]

Actually my list would include quite a few Finnish songs, but I'm not including them here, considering most of you wouldn't have heard of them... Anyway, here goes:

1. Janis Joplin: Summertime
2. Ramones: California Sun
3. Danzig: Dirty Black Summer
4. Led Zeppelin: When The Levee Breaks
5. Nick Drake: Pink Moon
6. Radiohead: Subterranean Homesick Alien
7. Jimi Hendrix: Machine Gun
8. Fiona Apple: Across the Universe
9. ABBA: Arrival
10. Robert Johnson: Come on in my Kitchen

No Beach Boys, then. To me, they're on all year, so I don't particularly associate their songs with summer.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Willie Nelson - "On The Road Again"
Paul McCartney - "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
Looking Glass - "Brandy"
Blues Image - "Ride Captain Ride"
Henry Gross - "Shannon"
Celebration - "Almost Summer"
Johnny Cash - "Sunday Morning Coming Down"
Frank Sinatra - "The Summer Wind"
Bobby Womack - "Across 110th Street"
5th Dimension - "Age Of Aquarius"

[Jukka]

Paul McCartney - "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"

Such a great, great song!

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

"Blue Sky"- Allman Bros.
"Fallin' Out"- Cheers Elephant
"Fishin' Blues"- Taj Mahal
"Turn it On"- The Flaming Lips
"Heavy Metal Drummer"- Wilco
"Talihina Sky"- Kings of Leon
"The Breeze"- Dr. Dog
"Get Lucky"- Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
"Happy"- The Rolling Stones
"Sunshine"- The Beach Boys

[RiC]

I only have five:

Beach Boys: Hey Little Tomboy
Beach Boys: Summer of Love
Beach Boys: Beaches in Mind
Beach Boys: 'Til I Die
Mike Love: Looking Back With Love

[RangeRoverA1]

Funnily, when I read the thread title, I didn't think of any BBs song, 1st thing came to mind was the "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie soundtrack, esp. the last 3 songs. Unlike others, I pay very close attention to music used in the films/cartoons, including the credits in the end. Some people just turn off DVD after the final scene & done. You never know, it could be the best stuff of the whole soundtrack. Anyway, here are:

1. Ween, "Ocean Man" (cool vocs & ukulele)
2. The Flaming Lips, "Spongebob & Patrick Confront The Psychic Wall Of Energy" (all the guitar work is A-1!)
3. Wilco - "Just a Kid" (I don't even mind the kids' choir)
4. Desmond Dekker & the Aces - 007 (Shanty Town) (original 1967 short version)
5. "Island Girl"
6. "Surfin' Safari"
7. The Rip Chords, "She Thinks I Still Care" (the best cover of a country classic that has no trace of similarity to original - insanely catchy!)
8. The Catalinas, "Summertime's Calling Me" (don't mix it up with one of Bruce bands)
9. the song from "Heathcliff" cartoon
10. last but not the least, my favorite theme song, the "Police Academy" march! Love the series, esp. #3.

H.m.: "Beaches in Mind", "Isn't It Time", "Match Point"; The Barracudas' "His Last Summer" (best song on that Mojo BW tribute disc); Chris Stamey's awesome "Summer Sun"; "Around the World with Willy Fog" cartoon opener AND this killer video ft. Al Jardine for the "ONE" project:

If I Had a Hammer rendition

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Go RangeRover! "Sponge on & Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy" is a phenomenal pop song. After I'd already posted my list I heard it in my car and said "Dang! That's a phenomenal pop song!" And wished I'd included it in my summer playlist.