Underrated BB-Related Songs

[Andrew G. Doe]

3. Santa Ana Winds - While not prolific Al could occasionally come up with a real gem. 

And ya know what ? It's a complete blast to sing live. 

[Sound of Free]

"Let Him Run Wild" is my favorite BB song. I think we die-hards love it, but it's not wel known by the general public.

I agree with Jon who suggested it and everyone who seconded "We'll Run Away."  A lot of the others already suggested are great. I would add:

"Wake the World" - Very short, but great harmonies, and I LOVE the tuba.

"Slip on Through" GREAT Dennis song. Love his balladfs, but I wish he had done more uptempo songs like this and (of course) "Sound of Free"

"Melt Away" To me it's easily Brian's best solo song (besides "Caroline No" and the BWPS Smile songs). Was this a single in '88? If so, why wasn't it a hit?

"The Night Was So Young" I know Love You sparks great disagreements, but can't we all agree that this one is great?

"Rainbows" A very good song and, IMHO, Dennis' best vocal performance on POB. I think ths should have been the single off the album.

[TonyW]

Not a big fan of pre Today album but from that era the pre-cursors to Brian's best work:

Farmers Daughter
The Little Girl I Once Knew

The classic Brian era:

When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
Please Let Me Wonder
The Girl from New York City
(Everything on Pet Sounds and SMiLE get the credit they deserve and Smiley Smile is just ... just ... just ... )
Heroes & Villains stereo single version on Hawthorne because Brian's mix down of the original single is sooooooo bad ..
Meant For You

The Progressive Band era:

This Whole World
Lady
Cuddle Up
Big Sur (Mike's outtake)
California
Rainbows

The post being a significant band era:

Still I Dream Of It

[adamghost]

Wow...love this thread.  The two that jumped out to me that I agree with are "It's A Beautiful Day" and "Love Surrounds Me."  Surprised no one mentioned "Be With Me."

[TdHabib]

"Melt Away" To me it's easily Brian's best solo song (besides "Caroline No" and the BWPS Smile songs). Was this a single in '88? If so, why wasn't it a hit?

Landy, Landy, Landy. If there had been proper promotion, no Landy controversy and a big push "Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight" b/w "Melt Away" by Brian Wilson could've gotten into the top 10.

[Sheriff John Stone]

8. Roller Skating Child - Get beyond the creepy lyrics and this song flat out rocks.

9. Livnn' With a Heartache - If only Carl's solo work sounded more like this.

Glad to see "Roller Skating Child" getting some recognition. Like phirnis said, it's near the top of my favorites list, too. I never get tired of listening to it; there's so much going on in the track. It proved, even as late as 1976, that Brian could still produce the magical two minute song. If not for Brian's off-key tag, it would've been perfect. "Roller Skating Child" rocked live also, including Brian's DANCE!

I've heard/read some criticism of "Livin' With A Heartache", but I love it; probably my favorite song on KTSA. It didn't sound like a Beach Boys' song, but it did, if you know what I mean. Carl was peaking as a lead vocalist around this time IMO.

[Paulos]

4th Of July - I absolutely adore this song, the shimmering strings, Carl's vocal married to Dennis' gorgeuos track and not forgetting the flute on the outro  simply stunning.

A Young Man Is Gone - My favourite version of Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, vocally flawless (at least to these ears) performance which never fails to make the hairs on my arms stand up, spellbinding.

Don't Back Down - Brilliant song, should really have been a single and I love the alternate version on the LDC/ASL twofer. In fact I'm not sure which version I prefer more.

Kiss Me Baby - The only flaw with the Good Vibrations boxset is that this song was left off it, breathtakingly beautiful and the stereo version makes me want to cry tears on unshamed joy.

Sherriff Of Noddingham - Best Beach Boys surf instrumental by a clear mile, Dave really shines on this and shows us exactly what he was capable of.

Brother Lou's Love Colony - Perhaps a strange choice but this song is great and Dave's lead vocal is non too shabby either! Highlight is the 'love is the reason' refrain, love it!

Meant For You - Mike's shining moment (well, apart from Big Sur) with a wonderfully restrained vocal, why couldn't he sing like this more often?

Got To Know The Woman - So very Dennis, a great fun rocker and the awesome bass vocals in the chorus knock me out.

[adamghost]

"Melt Away" is pretty awesome.

[mtaber]

That Same Song (with the Double Rock Baptist Choir)...

Too Much Sugar

Little Bird

Country Air

Sweet Sunday Kinda Love

...to name a few.

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

Some of my favorites...

1. Lahaina Aloha
2. Angel Come Home
3. Little Pad
4. It's Trying To Say (Baseball)
5. With Me Tonight

The funny thing for me is that I had many of the "...unreleased" songs on my computer, where I listen to most of my music; compared to the official albums, which I have on CD. At things point, I think I'm as familiar with the unreleased songs as the released ones. Oh, this crazy digital world. 

[tomstuart]

Hello, I'm new.
I'm a big Beach Boys fan - ever since I was searching through my Dad's old vinyl records when I was about fourteen (and just starting to get into music) and I stumbled across a BB Best Of. Shortly thereafter I bought Smiley Smile coz i loved the cover, and then I loved the album too - and I've been fanatically obsessed ever since!
So there's my intro.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I thought it was meant to be 3 under-rated songs? So I'm going to stick to that. So here they are:

'In The Parkin' Lot' - not surprising it gets ignored really, with Dont worry baby and Warmth of the Sun surrounding it, but this is a sublime early BB song: fantastic intro (and outro), a great vocal from Mike, and as for those chord changes on the chorus - woah momma!

'She's Goin Bald' - Smiley is one of my very fave BB albums and this is my favourite song off it. Those trippy background vocals on the opening section are tremendous, concentrate on 'em next time you're giving it a listen. Plus the lyrics are hilarious, and words can't describe how much I love the 'what a blow' speeded-up vocals bit, so I'll just write a load of gobbledegook instead: bhdsbhvjbvdbvgdhvbsdvb.

'Steamboat' - a great great song on a brilliant album. Carl's vocal is gorgeous and I love the whole chugging sound of the song, it's got its own unique rhythm. The slide guitar solo is awesome too. All of 'Holland' is underrated really...

[phirnis]

...
'Steamboat' - a great great song on a brilliant album. Carl's vocal is gorgeous and I love the whole chugging sound of the song, it's got its own unique rhythm. The slide guitar solo is awesome too. All of 'Holland' is underrated really...

It is, I agree. I think it's one of the group's most consistently great records and that greatness does include "Mt Vernon and Fairway", which to me feels like one of those rare glimpses into the very soul of Brian Wilson (could just as well be nothing more than wishful thinking on my part, however).

[Sam_BFC]

"Melt Away" To me it's easily Brian's best solo song (besides "Caroline No" and the BWPS Smile songs). Was this a single in '88? If so, why wasn't it a hit?

Landy, Landy, Landy. If there had been proper promotion, no Landy controversy and a big push "Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight" b/w "Melt Away" by Brian Wilson could've gotten into the top 10.

Really?

[Sheriff John Stone]

A couple of votes for "Lahaina Aloha"....It is a great one IMO. Is this Carl Wilson's last great Beach Boys' vocal? "You know I wanna but I can't stay. Girl you know I'm gonna sail away...." Is this Carl's "Riders On The Storm"?































Or is it "I Wish For You"?

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

Sheriff, I believe that someday that track will end up on an official compilation and get some recognition. They've had 'best-ofs' for everything, sooner or later they'll get around to the later years!

[Mr. Cohen]

"He Came Down" - A fun gospel style song that I think gets some undue hatred because it's about TM. "I belieeeeevee it (in my soul)!" Any time Mike says "yeah" in his deep bass voice a song gets a +1 automatically with me.
"Funky Pretty" - I like this song a lot more than "Sail On Sailor".
"Rock And Roll Music (Single Mix)"  - This mix has that Love You farting bass synth that is either not present or inaudible on the more common album mix, which boosts the song IMO. Sure, the song is kind of dumb (in comparison to something like "Good Vibrations"), but it's that catchy kind of dumb that you know could have only come from the mind of Brian. Take, for example, those organ stabs during the chorus. They're kind of ridiculous in a way, but who else besides Brian would think of doing that? I love it. While the song was a hit, not many BB fans are big on it.
"Airplane" - An interesting, spacey arrangement with a cute lyrical concept. Love the falsettos from Brian and the demented "I need God as my guide..." bit, and the outro is such a pleasant surprise.
"No Go Showboat" - Magic.
"He's A Doll" - A rocking Honeys song. Great production from Brian.
"I Went to Sleep" - One of the best things Brian ever did. It should be considered one of his classics in my opinion.
Brian's songs on BB85 and a few others: You know, I don't think that those songs are classics, but they're not that bad IMO. I find them enjoyable in moderation.

Also, I second "Melt Away". The ending is like "Til I Die" pt. 2.

[rogerlancelot]

I'm a little late on this thread and I do agree with most of what people have brought up ("Steamboat", "Cuddle Up", "Melt Away", etc.) but here are a few more:
1) San Fransisco
2) This Whole World (Spring version)
3) You're Still A Mystery (unreleased)
4) Farewell My Friend
5) The End Of The Show
6) Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
7) Tears In The Morning
Let It Shine
9) I'll Bet He's Nice

I'll stop there for now.....

[Eric Aniversario]

"Rock And Roll Music (Single Mix)"  - This mix has that Love You farting bass synth that is either not present or inaudible on the more common album mix, which boosts the song IMO. Sure, the song is kind of dumb (in comparison to something like "Good Vibrations"), but it's that catchy kind of dumb that you know could have only come from the mind of Brian. Take, for example, those organ stabs during the chorus. They're kind of ridiculous in a way, but who else besides Brian would think of doing that? I love it. While the song was a hit, not many BB fans are big on it.

I agree wholeheartedly!!!  15 Big Ones is the worst BB album, in my opinion, but I LOVE the single mixes of RNRM and It's OK...they are regular staples on my in-car compilations...I always get embarrassed when my friends hear the album version of RNRM.  I quickly forward to the next song or ANY other song...my friend summed it up..."I hate this song!  Why are the background vocals so loud?"  It's an embarrassment on Sounds Of Summer...the 45 version definitely should have been used there.

[Eric Aniversario]

Someone mentioned "I Wish For You".  I think that the whole Like A Brother album is under-rated, both among the fans and the general public.  Great stuff.

[phirnis]

Great overall choices, Dada! I think I pretty much agree with all of them.

"He Came Down" - A fun gospel style song that I think gets some undue hatred because it's about TM. "I belieeeeevee it (in my soul)!" Any time Mike says "yeah" in his deep bass voice a song gets a +1 automatically with me.

It took me years to get into this song. To be perfectly honest, I used to hate it. One day, however, I thought of it as a precursor to all the other gospel-infused BW material (such as "That Same Song", or "Walking Down the Path of Life") and from there on it has grown on me to the point of being one of my favourite BB songs from that particular era.

"Rock And Roll Music (Single Mix)"  - This mix has that Love You farting bass synth that is either not present or inaudible on the more common album mix, which boosts the song IMO. Sure, the song is kind of dumb (in comparison to something like "Good Vibrations"), but it's that catchy kind of dumb that you know could have only come from the mind of Brian. Take, for example, those organ stabs during the chorus. They're kind of ridiculous in a way, but who else besides Brian would think of doing that? I love it. While the song was a hit, not many BB fans are big on it.

Brian really must've liked those organ stabs around that time. Personally I think they made some of the BB's music sound rather robotic, especially when combined with some of the basic Love You-era drumming. For some odd reason I absolutely love it.

"Airplane" - An interesting, spacey arrangement with a cute lyrical concept. Love the falsettos from Brian and the demented "I need God as my guide..." bit, and the outro is such a pleasant surprise.

If only Brian would sing this song in concert these days. I bet he'd love to sing that outro!

[DSamore]

Much agreed on "Ballad of Ole' Betsy", "Cherry, Cherry Coupe", and "Little Pad"
 

Others:

Girls On The Beach
Soulful Old Man Sunshine
The Night Was So Young
Busy Doin' Nothin'
Passing By
When A Man Needs A Woman
Custom Machine

...gotta cut myself off. I could go on for a while 

[JJ3810]

Some of my favorites...

1. Lahaina Aloha
2. Angel Come Home
3. Little Pad
4. It's Trying To Say (Baseball)
5. With Me Tonight

LITTLE PAD - Funny that this one came up as it's been in my head for about a week now. Just one of those very catcht little tunes that's hard to git rid of once you start hearing it over and over. Actually, Smiley is full of that kind of stuff. Just little bits and pieces of VERY catchy stuff.

[phirnis]

Another two off the top of my head...

"Good to My Baby" - to me Today is one of those very rare "all killer no filler" type of records and this (despite all the fantastic material on the album's second side) has been my favourite ever since I first heard the instrumental mix on the Hawthorne compilation CD

"Wind Chimes" - Smiley version. This has to be one of the spookiest recordings ever put to tape by a major pop group. Psychedelic Brian at the very top of his game. Love the little touches of musique concrete

[Alex]

[...the 45 version definitely should have been used there.

Is the 45 version the one on Get the Boot that plays after the interview with Carl?

[Andrew G. Doe]

[...the 45 version definitely should have been used there.

Is the 45 version the one on Get the Boot that plays after the interview with Carl?

No - that's the 'hot' and as-yet unreleased version. Or so I've been told by people who have heard it.