Favorite Beach Boys Moments

[JK]

The descending bass and ascending flutes in "I'm Waiting For The Day". Followed by the rest of this supremely uplifting song. 

[Juice Brohnston]

"Furry, floppy easy rider" line in 'Wrinkles'. Sublime...

[rab2591]

The entirety of Brian's 'Still I Dream of It' demo. I've probably never heard a more honest song in my life (both vocally and lyrically).

This is one song I wish to god that Brian would re-record for his upcoming rock and roll album (even just as an exclusive bonus track). Put some crazy beautiful strings in there, harpsichord, wall of Brian harmonies, etc. Could be won-won-wonderful.

edit: for anyone who hasn't heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEsehvPOvM

"Still I dream of it,
of that happy day when I can say I've fallen in love
And it haunts me so,
like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above"

Some of the best lyrics in the entire Beach Boys catalog.

[CenturyDeprived]

The entirety of Brian's 'Still I Dream of It' demo. I've probably never heard a more honest song in my life (both vocally and lyrically).

This is one song I wish to god that Brian would re-record for his upcoming rock and roll album (even just as an exclusive bonus track). Put some crazy beautiful strings in there, harpsichord, wall of Brian harmonies, etc. Could be won-won-wonderful.

edit: for anyone who hasn't heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEsehvPOvM

"Still I dream of it,
of that happy day when I can say I've fallen in love
And it haunts me so,
like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above"

Some of the best lyrics in the entire Beach Boys catalog.

I agree. Brian is often an underrated lyricist. I think if he had more encouragement, he could have written more lyrics like these without the need for collaborators.

[SMiLE Brian]

Hell, the BW suite of songs at the end of surf's up is epic!

[rab2591]

The entirety of Brian's 'Still I Dream of It' demo. I've probably never heard a more honest song in my life (both vocally and lyrically).

This is one song I wish to god that Brian would re-record for his upcoming rock and roll album (even just as an exclusive bonus track). Put some crazy beautiful strings in there, harpsichord, wall of Brian harmonies, etc. Could be won-won-wonderful.

edit: for anyone who hasn't heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEsehvPOvM

"Still I dream of it,
of that happy day when I can say I've fallen in love
And it haunts me so,
like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above"

Some of the best lyrics in the entire Beach Boys catalog.

I agree. Brian is often an underrated lyricist. I think if he had more encouragement, he could have written more lyrics like these without the need for collaborators.

His song 'Awake' has this same feel of innocence and beauty - I really think he had so many of these types of songs inside of him. Btw, anyone know whatever happened with the 'Bedroom Tapes'?

That LA Times writeup of all those tracks that were in the "vault" was such a damn tease (as great as the article was). In this new age of digital releases how much could it cost to release those demos/tracks on iTunes? I would pay $20 or more for a digital set of that material.

[SMiLE Brian]

Awake needs to be a bonus track on the next BW album!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

The entirety of Brian's 'Still I Dream of It' demo. I've probably never heard a more honest song in my life (both vocally and lyrically).

This is one song I wish to god that Brian would re-record for his upcoming rock and roll album (even just as an exclusive bonus track). Put some crazy beautiful strings in there, harpsichord, wall of Brian harmonies, etc. Could be won-won-wonderful.

edit: for anyone who hasn't heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEsehvPOvM

"Still I dream of it,
of that happy day when I can say I've fallen in love
And it haunts me so,
like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above"

Some of the best lyrics in the entire Beach Boys catalog.

Favorite line for me on that track is "like a tree that's just been planted I found life today". Always moves me, esp when looked at as a spiritual *lyrical* successor to A Day in the life of a tree.

[Michael Edward Osbourne]

The three part vocal chorus in I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
The complex backing track of Let Him Run Wild
The Grand Coulee Dam part of Cabinessence. Everything about it, vocals, instrumentation, just awesome.
The cyclical organ pattern in The Little Girl I Once Knew. Plus those knock-out vocals on the chorus.
The Hawaiian chant in Do You Like Worms?
The harmonized humming in Little Pad.
The final choral section on Surf's Up (Child Is Father To The Man)
The ending to Endless Harmony ("And we sang God Bless America....")
The last one minute and thirty seconds of All This Is That
The sax solo in Shut Down (I'm totally not kidding. It's so bad-ass and punk. Love it!)
The last 38 seconds of Wind Chimes from Smiley Smile
The 'Love To Say Da Da' part in Cool Cool Water
The 'Oomm dot dit it' parts of This Whole World
Mike Love's lead on All I Wanna Do
The middle part of Long Promised Road (long promised road, trail starts at dawn, carries on....)
Brian's "Oooooo's" on the chorus of the '67 version of Here Comes The Night
The 'success had come to my solution/my instant aid to evolution' part of My Solution

[rab2591]

The entirety of Brian's 'Still I Dream of It' demo. I've probably never heard a more honest song in my life (both vocally and lyrically).

This is one song I wish to god that Brian would re-record for his upcoming rock and roll album (even just as an exclusive bonus track). Put some crazy beautiful strings in there, harpsichord, wall of Brian harmonies, etc. Could be won-won-wonderful.

edit: for anyone who hasn't heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEsehvPOvM

"Still I dream of it,
of that happy day when I can say I've fallen in love
And it haunts me so,
like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above"

Some of the best lyrics in the entire Beach Boys catalog.

Favorite line for me on that track is "like a tree that's just been planted I found life today". Always moves me, esp when looked at as a spiritual *lyrical* successor to A Day in the life of a tree.

I never made the connection with ADITLOAT but I'm so glad you brought that up.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Thank you kindly!

Another one for me is the "deep and wide" part in "Time to Get Alone", although the most recent remasters have been overly compressed to the point where some of the magic is gone.

[Adult Child]

Add Some Music to Your Day - Brian's part where he sings, "When day is over, I close my tired eyes."

I've had this bit stuck in my head since I read this. I forgot how great this song is.

[JK]

The shift of a whole tone in "The Shift".

I'd say it was upward; Lambert claims it's downward...

Whatever, it's a masterstroke and probably not attempted before or since.

And it sounds great! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_vUHgz_jGo

[Adult Child]

The shift of a whole tone in "The Shift".

I'd say it was upward; Lambert claims it's downward...

Whatever, it's a masterstroke and probably not attempted before or since.

And it sounds great! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_vUHgz_jGo

I forgot about this song haha. The shift does sound upward.

[JK]

The shift of a whole tone in "The Shift".

I'd say it was upward; Lambert claims it's downward...

Whatever, it's a masterstroke and probably not attempted before or since.

And it sounds great! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_vUHgz_jGo

I forgot about this song haha. The shift does sound upward.

I suppose Ian Lambert sees the first two bars of the verse as being pushed down a tone, so to speak, and it jumps up to the right key in bar three, only to be pushed down again at the end of the verse. But that doesn't explain the bridge.   

Actually, the intro has a upward shift of its own. I can't help thinking of the extraordinary double modulation after the bridge in "Girls On The Beach". "The Shift" might be described as a first step in that direction.

To say nothing of Dennis's introductory four-on-the-floor.


Another "moment": Carl's sung "stars" during the spoken part of "Can't Wait Too Long"...

[Rick5150]

Feel Flows synth. 8 notes repeated twice. Brilliant.

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

[JK]

Feel Flows synth. 8 notes repeated twice. Brilliant.

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

Oh yes. Talking of "Feel Flows"----two more favourite moments for me are the only two BB instrumental workouts over an ostinato (rather than using the chords of a verse or chorus), the other being in "Leaving This Town". Both are simply overwhelming.   

[RangeRoverA1]

My big-time favorite is "Lavender" - beautiful song with beautiful vocals. It's benign & joyful in understated way.
"Cabinessence" - chorus & Mike's bits. I dare say this song alone smashes Pet Sounds with 13 tracks. It's THAT cool.

[rab2591]

Mike's bass vocal in the chorus of 'Cherry Cherry Coupe' ("My cherry coupe beats em up coming off the line, and she really gets sparks when she starts to whine"). I think it's one of the most underrated songs in their catalog and that bass vocal is kick ass.

This vocal line also reminds me so much of the "truck drivin' man" line from Cabinessence; it's a completely separate line from what everyone else is singing but it fits perfectly with the song.

[Jukka]

Deep and wide.

I mean, talking about genius. The moment lasts maybe one second, but it grabs you and never let's go... Somehow unbelievably moving.

[RangeRoverA1]

I mean, talking about genius. The moment lasts maybe one second

You're right. Just checked it.

Incidentally, it was WIBN with "sore throat" Brian lead that was 1st favorite BBs song. But then I listened to Pet Sounds & it's definitely best version. I'm glad the clearer vocal take is picked to be in the album.

[phirnis]

Speaking of Wouldn't It Be Nice:

First verse, the way the bass line interacts with the lead melody; then second verse, with the group vocals on top. These are two of my favorite BB moments ever, pure genius.

[guitarfool2002]

Among my favorites: The a capella vocal break on "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". A fully stacked wall of jazz vocal harmony that explodes, then drops out entirely switching to only Mike's bass vocal riff. That is stunning vocal arranging, right there. Pure excitement.

[guitarfool2002]

The outro/round/fade of "Til I Die" has become even more of a favorite recently - I don't think there is anything quite like that in popular music. Sonic bliss.

[thorgil]

I think there's nothing like the whole song 'Til I Die in popular, or any music. It has been my fav BB/BW song for some years now.