The best part of SIP

[Eric Aniversario]

Summer in Paradise is nowhere near as bad as its reputation. I stand by the 3/5 I gave it in the review section on the board. It ranks higher than MIU and KTSA on my personal list, with KTSA the absolute nadir.

I agree that it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.  At one point, for the first few years of my fanhood, it ranked in my top ten BB or BB related albums.  It's still probably in the top 15 or 20.  I think that the worst BB album as a group was 15 Big Ones.  The worst solo project was Mike & Dean's "Rock & Roll City".

[MBE]

SJS I do hear what you are saying about his voice getting more powerful, I just miss that tinge of airiness I hear early on. I think I have trouble getting into some of the material he did after from 1976 on purely from a musical standpoint. I'm not suggesting  that he didn't do some good vocals even on SIP,  but there is little I like as a complete song or record.  Carl could still sing pretty well when he died but I think that once he hit 40 I hear him getting more husky. No doubt his singing added some class to the Beach Boys ultimately disappointing later years.

[Wilsonista]

Summer in Paradise is nowhere near as bad as its reputation. I stand by the 3/5 I gave it in the review section on the board. It ranks higher than MIU and KTSA on my personal list, with KTSA the absolute nadir.

Not surprsing coming from someone who has 1980's Mike Love as his avatar.

But please, try and defend "Summer  of Love"!  Peter Carlin's  descripton of the song in Catch a Wave is frighteningly accurate.

[Eric Aniversario]

Summer in Paradise is nowhere near as bad as its reputation. I stand by the 3/5 I gave it in the review section on the board. It ranks higher than MIU and KTSA on my personal list, with KTSA the absolute nadir.

Not surprsing coming from someone who has 1980's Mike Love as his avatar.

But please, try and defend "Summer  of Love"!  Peter Carlin's  descripton of the song in Catch a Wave is frighteningly accurate.

Summer Of Love never fails to bring a smile to my face just because it's so laughingly cheesy!

[Wilsonista]

You know how fans think Hey Little Tomboy sounds disturbing and creepy? Take that and multpily it by 1000 and you have how Summer of Love makes me feel.  At least Tomboy sounds like it's trying to be tongue-in-cheek. Summer of Love sounds completely and utterly sincere, if you can call it that.

[Jason]

Not surprsing coming from someone who has 1980's Mike Love as his avatar.

But please, try and defend "Summer  of Love"!  Peter Carlin's  descripton of the song in Catch a Wave is frighteningly accurate.

Hey, Summer of Love could have been even worse, that is, if that so-called duet with Bart Simpson ever came to fruition.

And besides, what's with the first comment? Who are you, Bill O'Reilly? Opinions that don't match yours are wrong? Or are you just a troll with too much to say?

[Sheriff John Stone]

We had a fairly long thread about "salvaging" Summer In Paradide a while back, I believe....Anyway,  this thread prompted me to play Summer In Paradise and give it a good going over. I'm prepared for the shots, go ahead, but I didn't find as much "bad" as is usually associated with the album. I suppose this post could go in the album review section, but here goes:

Very Good Songs:
1. Lahaina Aloha
2. Strange Things Happen

Good Songs:
3. Still Surfin'
4. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) - if the credit said BW you'd think differently
5. Hot Fun In The Summertime

Average Songs:
6. Island Fever
7. Under The Boardwalk
8. Forever - it's not that bad!
9. Summer In Paradise - this one isn't either, and it rocked in concert

Below Average Songs:
10. Surfin' - almost makes Average
11. Remember (Walking In The Sand)

Bad Song:
12. Summer Of Love - in my opinion, the worst Beach Boys' song ever recorded

Yes, the production is weak, and can override the quality of the songs. But, the songs themselves actually aren't "bad", and, as has been posted, some of the vocal performances are quite good.

[punkinhead]

For me, I can't listen to SIP all the way through, I just wanna hit skip on a lot...i guess i get bored.  The thing that bugs me about Forever most is that people of my generation (that grew up with Full House) just think of Jessie and the Rippers....ugh....Dennis Wilson is so much more than that!

[doc smiley]

add me as another defender of Slow Summer Dancin'...
pretty solid Bruce type contribution..

used it at my wedding  :-)   

[SG7]

The silence at the end   

[phirnis]

We had a fairly long thread about "salvaging" Summer In Paradide a while back, I believe....Anyway,  this thread prompted me to play Summer In Paradise and give it a good going over. I'm prepared for the shots, go ahead, but I didn't find as much "bad" as is usually associated with the album. I suppose this post could go in the album review section, but here goes:
...

I mostly agree with your selection of good and very good songs on SIP, in fact I thought "Still Surfin'" was almost as good as "Lahaina Aloha" due to the touching faux-Brian falsetto, which serves as such a potent reminder of whose vocal contributions were so sorely missed on this album. To me it sounds like one final wholehearted attempt at trying to sound like themselves and that can really make you prick your ears considering the album's overall sterile and robotic sound.

[donald]

Just too much effort to try to like this album.  Hot fun had potential as a cover but even that falls flat.

The album was just a flop.  So bad even the voice of Carl Wilson couldn't save it.   Why does mike love write those sappy looking back songs?  Summer in paradise, looking back with love, Brians back........he definitely has a pattern of these......and once again....how can this be the same guy who wrote lyrics for Warmth of the Sun?

Last good BB song released on an LP?   Somewhere near Japan.

[Dave in KC]

Still Surfin' is the best on the album. Total Beach Boys soaked lyrics and sound. Have you ever listened to the song with high volume? I love Beach Boys songs that tell a story.

[the captain]

Why does mike love write those sappy looking back songs?  Summer in paradise, looking back with love, Brians back........he definitely has a pattern of these......and once again....how can this be the same guy who wrote lyrics for Warmth of the Sun?

I think that is why: he had great, great success with a certain kind of thing and he--getting older (now long since "getting," and flat-out "gotten)--was trying to recapture it. He was writing backward looking songs by the late '60s! (Do it Again)

Brian, and plenty of others, do the same thing. Pop/rock is a young man's game. Doesn't mean the aging generation can't still do great things, but it's just not the same thing. It isn't likely to be continually fresh.

[TonyW]

Why does mike love write those sappy looking back songs?  Summer in paradise, looking back with love, Brians back........he definitely has a pattern of these......and once again....how can this be the same guy who wrote lyrics for Warmth of the Sun?

I think that is why: he had great, great success with a certain kind of thing and he--getting older (now long since "getting," and flat-out "gotten)--was trying to recapture it. He was writing backward looking songs by the late '60s! (Do it Again)

... yes ... but nobody does it as badly as Mike.

[the captain]

I was trying to be nice (for once)...

[Sheriff John Stone]

Why does mike love write those sappy looking back songs?  Summer in paradise, looking back with love, Brians back....

Yeah, I don't particularly care for some of those lyrics either; however, I do kinda like those songs you referenced.

But, it was just a couple of songs. What do you think if Mike would've chosen to do an ENTIRE "looking back" album? You know, one about growing up in Southern California, singing with his brothers, going home, complete with surfer girl references....

[Wilsonista]

Why does mike love write those sappy looking back songs?  Summer in paradise, looking back with love, Brians back....

Yeah, I don't particularly care for some of those lyrics either; however, I do kinda like those songs you referenced.

But, it was just a couple of songs. What do you think if Mike would've chosen to do an ENTIRE "looking back" album? You know, one about growing up in Southern California, singing with his brothers, going home, complete with surfer girl references....

There is a HUGE difference between Brian doing it and Mike doing it. With Mike, you can smell the calculation from half a world away!  Brian and Scott doing it might look corny, but at the very least, it is heartfelt.  "Southern California" whips the holy hell out of most anything that's come from the BB world in the last 3 decades.  Just because you don't like TLOS doesn't mean it isn't any good.

[Jonathan Blum]

But, it was just a couple of songs. What do you think if Mike would've chosen to do an ENTIRE "looking back" album? You know, one about growing up in Southern California, singing with his brothers, going home, complete with surfer girl references....

Course, TLOS only has about four songs in that vein either.  And there might just be a slight bit more personal emotional content in looking back and writing "I had a dream, singing with my brothers, in harmony, supporting each other", than saying "Way back when well our master plan was havin' fun fun fun as America's band / Well we came out rockin' with Rhonda and Barbara Ann, singin' of surf and sand".

All these voices, all these memories, make me feel like... namechecking a whole bunch of old song titles?

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Sheriff John Stone]

But, it was just a couple of songs. What do you think if Mike would've chosen to do an ENTIRE "looking back" album? You know, one about growing up in Southern California, singing with his brothers, going home, complete with surfer girl references....

Course, TLOS only has about four songs in that vein either.  And there might just be a slight bit more personal emotional content in looking back and writing "I had a dream, singing with my brothers, in harmony, supporting each other", than saying "Way back when well our master plan was havin' fun fun fun as America's band / Well we came out rockin' with Rhonda and Barbara Ann, singin' of surf and sand".

All these voices, all these memories, make me feel like... namechecking a whole bunch of old song titles?

Only four songs that directly used "old" phrases, but I was referring to the CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM, and much of TLOS is a Looking Back With Wilson album. That was my point; I wasn't commenting on the quality of TLOS, just the concept. If Mike Love would've used that concept for an album, or would use it in the future, he would undoubtedly be criticized for it, no matter how good the songs were. Just trying to point out the hypocrisy. Mike "looking back" - no good. Brian "looking back" - you go guy!

As far as personal emotional content, I hear just as much emotion from Mike in "Summer In Paradise" as I do with Brian in "Southern California". And, again, that's not comparing the quality of each song or the overall performance, just the emotion. I hear Mike sounding very passionate about those subjects that he's singing about. And, of course, in real life, we know Mike values those things, whereas what Brian is feeling, well....

"All these voices, all these memories, make me feel like..." Who wrote those lyrics? They're very emotional.

AttwentyfiveIturnedoutthelightcauseIcouldn'thandletheglareinmytiredeyesbutnowI'mbackdrawingshadesofkindbluesky

Surfers recycle, now don't you know, like everyone from California to Kokomo.... Now that's real poetry!

[mikeyj]

4. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) - if the credit said BW you'd think differently

Sorry to complain here Sheriff, but it really annoys me when people say "well if Brian had written it people would say it was brilliant". Actually no, a bad song is a bad song to me. There are plenty of crap BW moments - I'm not going to list them here most people know what they are - and most people will agree with me that BW has written his fair share of crap. I see your point but to say a statement like that is ridiculous because it is implying that we think that ANYTHING with "Brian Wilson" on the writing credits is a work of genius but clearly it ain't and most here will acknowledge that.

P.S. I'm not disagreeing with you on Slow Summer Dancin' - just making a general point.

[Sheriff John Stone]

4. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) - if the credit said BW you'd think differently

Sorry to complain here Sheriff, but it really annoys me when people say "well if Brian had written it people would say it was brilliant". Actually no, a bad song is a bad song to me. There are plenty of crap BW moments - I'm not going to list them here most people know what they are - and most people will agree with me that BW has written his fair share of crap. I see your point but to say a statement like that is ridiculous because it is implying that we think that ANYTHING with "Brian Wilson" on the writing credits is a work of genius but clearly it ain't and most here will acknowledge that.

P.S. I'm not disagreeing with you on Slow Summer Dancin' - just making a general point.

Yeah, I didn't word that like I should've; I hurried the post....

I was listening to "Slow Summer Dancin'", and it reminded me of a Brian Wilson production. It's an oldie, has a doo-wop kind of feel with Mike's deep bass vocal, and I'm thinking of "I'm So Young" or something like that. The whole arrangement is very "Brian" as if Brian could've written it, so I threw that comment in there.

Dare I ask if you've changed your opinion of Summer In Paradise? Do you think it's a bad album?

[Jonathan Blum]

Only four songs that directly used "old" phrases, but I was referring to the CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM, and much of TLOS is a Looking Back With Wilson album.

Nah, more of it's a Looking At LA With Wilson album.  Pretty much all present tense, from "Morning Beat" up to partway through "Oxygen".  It's just that the looking-back bits resonate with us oldsters more.

And there, once again, the difference is in what sort of looking back they do.  Most of the looking back in TLOS isn't basking in the hit singles, it's about having lost years (and family) to mental illness and depression.  These back-references aren't "Weren't we *cool*?"  so much as "Weren't we together?"  If Mike Love faced some of that in his lyrics, they might get a bit more respect.  Plus, of course, the difference between the look at the long-ago goddess in "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" and Surfer Joe in "Still Surfin'" is the difference between nostalgia and arrested development, right there...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[mikeyj]

Dare I ask if you've changed your opinion of Summer In Paradise? Do you think it's a bad album?

To be honest I'd have to give it another listen but yeah from memory it ain't as bad as most people make out, just the production makes it so hard to listen to. As you and others have said there are some great vocals from Carl and there are some decent moments and some of the songs aren't that bad. It's still their worst album imo - As I say I'd have to give it another listen before I deem whether or not it's still a bad album from my point of view. I'll post my opinion whenever I get around to giving it another listen

[Aegir]

4. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) - if the credit said BW you'd think differently

Sorry to complain here Sheriff, but it really annoys me when people say "well if Brian had written it people would say it was brilliant". Actually no, a bad song is a bad song to me. There are plenty of crap BW moments - I'm not going to list them here most people know what they are - and most people will agree with me that BW has written his fair share of crap. I see your point but to say a statement like that is ridiculous because it is implying that we think that ANYTHING with "Brian Wilson" on the writing credits is a work of genius but clearly it ain't and most here will acknowledge that.

P.S. I'm not disagreeing with you on Slow Summer Dancin' - just making a general point.

Yeah, I didn't word that like I should've; I hurried the post....

I was listening to "Slow Summer Dancin'", and it reminded me of a Brian Wilson production. It's an oldie, has a doo-wop kind of feel with Mike's deep bass vocal, and I'm thinking of "I'm So Young" or something like that. The whole arrangement is very "Brian" as if Brian could've written it, so I threw that comment in there.

Dare I ask if you've changed your opinion of Summer In Paradise? Do you think it's a bad album?

While I like Summer in Paradise probably more than 95% of the people who've heard it, and same thing to Bruce's songs in general, arguably the best part of Slow Summer Dancin' (the chorus) is a doo-wop song by The Danleers from 1958 called One Summer Night. That's why the song is credited to Johnston/Webb.