The Beach Boys Love You

[Jay]

I wonder if the band had to compensate The Ronettes or Phil Spector in any way for that line?

[Jonas]

In Mona, the line "Listen to Be My Baby, I know you're gonna love Phil Spector" always cracks me up. I bet you Marylin wasn't so crazy about Be My Baby and Phil Spector by 1976, 

I have to say though, thats my fav line of the song...it totally makes me think of me trying to play 'God Only Knows' to every girl that passes by through here....

[carl r]

I love you Love You

Haunting album, one the BBs best.

Straight 5.

[the captain]

I wonder if the band had to compensate The Ronettes or Phil Spector in any way for that line?

No. You don't have to pay for referencing a public figure / song. They would've had to pay if they slandered them (and thus got sued and lost) or recorded (or in the modern era, sampled) their material and had to be the appropriate fees. Just saying the name isn't something requiring permission, fees, etc.

[Shady]

Whoever says this album is bad, needs to get their ears checked..

It's pure awesome, 5 stars.

The best driving album ever.

Let Us Go On This Way- Really good vocals from Carl, and I really like the Mike part.

Roller Skating Child- I love it, Mike's voice is great here.

Mona- Dennis rocks on this, the voice works

Johnny Carson- My fav on the album, Mike's sleazy delivery and the whore house Piano are genius

Good Time- Sticks out like a sore thumb, but a great song in it's own right

Honkin' Down The Highway- Great drums, Al kills on this, the best driving song ever

Ding Dang- I always considered this an interlude into the more serious side of the album

Solar System- If Brian sang this back in the 'friends' era it would of been glorious, but it's just passes as ok due to what I consider 'passion' in Brian's voice

The Night Was So Young - Carl had the greatest voice ever

I'll Bet He's Nice- Pure Brian, great arrangement

Let's Put Our Hearts Together- Very intimate, a nice love song

I Wanna Pick You Up- Very strange, but it works, mostly due to the 'pat pat pat' part.

Airplane- The last 38 Seconds of this song are fantastic

Love Is A Woman- A nice closer, leaves you with a good feeling.

[Mahalo]

Whoever says this album is bad, needs to get their ears checked..

Mike's sleazy delivery and the whore house Piano are genius

Agreed. I love this album...like it or not I don't think one has truly lived until they listen to this record.

[Alex]

Pretty good, except for I Wanna Pick You Up. That one is up there with Hey Little Tomboy as way too creepy. I don't really care for Love is a Woman, unless it was Brian playing a joke on Mike. Best tracks are The Night Was So Young, Johnny Carson, I'll Bet He's Nice (kinda new wavey), Airplane, Roller Skating Child, and Mona.

[lance]

I love the whole thing(though it must be said my CD won't play Love is a Woman so I've never heard it.

That opening of Let Us Go On This Way is pure adrenaline.

[phirnis]

Frankly, I never thought of I Wanna Pick You Up as creepy. In fact, to me it's one of BW's most touching post-sixties songs, as it's an incredibly honest expression of his feelings, no matter if people might term them inapproriate or not. I even wish there were more songs like that in most artists' catalgues.

(That said, I can see what people might find offensive about Hey Little Tomboy. Still prefer it over Winds of Change or Kona Coast.)

[Alex]

Frankly, I never thought of I Wanna Pick You Up as creepy. In fact, to me it's one of BW's most touching post-sixties songs, as it's an incredibly honest expression of his feelings, no matter if people might term them inapproriate or not. I even wish there were more songs like that in most artists' catalgues.

(That said, I can see what people might find offensive about Hey Little Tomboy. Still prefer it over Winds of Change or Kona Coast.)

I think Hey Little Tomboy and Kona Coast are both just as bad as the other. And unlike the majority, I actually like Winds of Change.

[dsl]

Great album all around. The first time I heard it a couple of years ago, I couldn't understand why people were saying how incredible it was. I mean, I was sitting there hearing the guys sing these goofy lyrics about how Johnny Carson fills up the slack when guests are boring and I thought that "I Wanna Pick You Up" was the creepiest thing in the world. However, over time, I think I finally got what makes the album as magical as it is. I mean, how AWSOME is "I'll Bet He's Nice" and "The Night Was So Young"? Then, there's that opening! Doesn't "Let Us Go On This Way" have everything in it that the album as a whole does? I just love the "God...Please....Let...Us...Go...On...This...Way..." part. It's just amazing!
                                         

[BiNNS]

Love you is probably my 3rd favourite BB album. From top to bottom it never lets up. I just love how BRIAN it is. From the child-like lyrics, the brilliant-yet understated arrangements to production. I'll admit that this is my favourite phase for the boys, vocally speaking. especially Brian. this album never gets old to me.

[Wrightfan]

Five. It's a crime that this album isn't mentioned on "best rock album" lists.  Granted, it's not a top 100 album but I think it should've been on Rolling Stones' top 500 list:

Best to worst:
Honkin' Down the Highway
Good Time
Let Us Go On This Way
The Night Was So Young
Roller Skating Child
Airplane
I'll Bet He's Nice
I Wanna Pick You Up
Let's Put Our Hearts Together
Johnny Carson
Solar System
Mona
Love is a Woman
Ding Dang

[Poprocks]

I love that you all love Love You.  I'd love to say that I like Love You but that would be to say that I love to lie; in reality, I too love Love You.

I could probably listen to Good Time 100 times in a row and not get sick of it.

5 stars.

[carl r]

The tune of Mona just came to me - out of the blue. I haven't listened to this in ages.  It's a classic example of an elemental tune unlike anything preceding it, but appearing really basic and simple. It's a huge achievement, and if our Western culture was more ... cultural, Mona, and its second-cousin-twice-removed Shortening Bread would be default karaoke standards.

[TimeToGetAlone]

What a great album.  What astounds me is how there is basically nothing else like it.  I love how there is still a great range in the songs even though almost all of them seem to be connected in sheer quirkiness.  Lyrics never bother me, and in this case the unpretentiousness of them actually enhances the experience for me.

Let Us Go On This Way - 5/5
Roller Skating Child - 5/5
Mona - 4.5/5
Johnny Carson - 5/5
Good Time - 5/5
Honkin' Down The Highway - 5/5
Ding Dang - 3.5/5
Solar System - 4.5/5
The Night Was So Young - 5/5
I'll Bet He's Nice - 5/5
Let's Put Our Hearts Together - 4.5/5
I Wanna Pick You Up - 5/5
Airplane - 4.5/5
Love Is A Woman - 4/5

Rounds to a 5, which I would have given regardless of my usual statistic-based decision.

[urbanite]

Solar System - 1.0; Let's Put Our Together - 0.0; Love is A Woman, 1.0 and Airplane - 2.0.  I dare say that if those songs had been left off the album and maybe some of the cuts from Adult Child put on it, the album would have had a very different reception.   

[the captain]

I'd give Solar System a 10 out of 5.

[lance]

Why? I'm not arguing with you--I like the song too, but for me it's nothing special. Why do you like it so much?

[Marty77]

Tried to get a friend who was just getting into the beach boys to get into this album.  He took it away and then later called me to say that he'd snapped the record over his knee and threw it out the window!! Apparently he thought that it was some sort of practical joke and I had put a fake beach boys label on some complete piece of crap record I had found. !!

Then, after taking a closer look at the record realised he had been hasty and went looking for a replacement A couple of weeks later he came round to my flat with an apology and said that he had listened to it "a few dozen times" and thought it was his favourite BBs album.

[Alex]

The first new wave album. That's good enough for me.

Did Love You predate Elvis Costello's first album?

[Alex]

I just mentioned this in the 15 Big Ones thread, but I'll mention it here too... 15 Big Ones and Love You taken together make an awesome foda you to pretty much everyone expecting another masterpiece from Brian, and to "serious" rock music in general. Punker than most punk rock records!!!

[DSamore]

I dunno how "punk" "love you" is but...damn is it good. The lyrics are awful. But in a charming way. I dunno, perhaps in a way that people see Hugh Grant. But the oppressed and doubted Brian makes his stand here. It is a feeble stand, but great nonetheless. a solid 4!


"I Bet He's Nice" takes the cake for me. Wow. Killer ideas. Great falsetto line- simple and choice.  Carl's line is great too. Love the "farty" bass synth as people have described it. again- awkwardly nice. Only track I don't love is "Let's Put Our Hearts Together."

God, I love Brian Wilson.

[phirnis]

"I'll Bet He's Nice" is indeed full of great ideas. Love Mike's "You my darling" part near the end.

[SmileySam]

"I don't wanna tell you that I care for you and have you just ignore me"......That lyric seems like something you'd hear someone say to someone else in a regular conversation.