Top 30 Beach Boys' songs

[RollPlymouthRock]

I'm sure that this topic has been done ad infinitum but i'm interested to see how people's top 30 compare to mine.

1. Surf's Up
2. This Whole World
3. God Only Knows
4. Don't Worry Baby
5. Caroline No (Original Speed)
6. Heroes and Villains
7. Good Vibrations
8. Surfer Girl (Good Vibrations boxset version)
9. Wouldn't it be Nice
10. In My Room
11. Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder
12. Cool Cool Water
13. California Girls
14. 'Til I Die
15. Cabinessence
16. Wonderful (Smile version)
17. All I Wanna Do
18. Please Let Me Wonder
19. You Still Believe in Me
20.  I Get Around
21. The Warmth Of The Sun
22. When I Grow Up To Be A Man
23. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
24. Let Him Run Wild
25. Darlin'
26. Time To Get Alone
27. Wild Honey
28. Break Away
29. Can't Wait Too Long
30. Help Me Rhonda

[rab2591]

I'll do a top 10.

1. Don't Worry Baby
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice
3. Sloop John B
4. In The Back Of My Mind
5. She Knows Me Too Well
6. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
7. Surf's Up
8. All Summer Long
9. Wonderful (Smile version)
10. Do You Like Worms

My top 10 normally stay the same. Anything after that really fluctuates from time to time.

The most-played Beach Boys songs in my itunes are:

1. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
2. Don't Talk (Vocal Snippet from Pet Sounds Sessions)
3. Let Us Go On This Way
4. The Night Was So Young
5. Meant For You
6. Johnny Carson
7. Wake The World
8. Friends
9. Be Here In The Mornin'
10. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine

I find it alarming that I listen to Love You far more than Pet Sounds LOL

[RollPlymouthRock]

Interesting that your most played song is A Day In The Life Of A Tree. May i ask why?

[rab2591]

Interesting that your most played song is A Day In The Life Of A Tree. May i ask why?

I find ADITLOAT to be the saddest Beach Boys song ever made and the Coda is the greatest ending to any Beach Boys song I have ever heard.....and thus I absolutely love it. Funny, that for the majority of the song there are no Beach Boys even singing on it. 

[Mahalo]

Kiss Me Baby has to be in any top 30.

[Sam_BFC]

Interesting that your most played song is A Day In The Life Of A Tree. May i ask why?

I find ADITLOAT to be the saddest Beach Boys song ever made and the Coda is the greatest ending to any Beach Boys song I have ever heard.....and thus I absolutely love it.

Same here

[shelter]

01. God Only Knows
02. Surf's Up
03. Time To Get Alone
04. This Whole World
05. Forever
06. Wouldn't It Be Nice
07. I Get Around
08. Break Away
09. Our Prayer
10. Good Vibrations
11. Cabinessence
12. Friends
13. California Girls
14. Sloop John B.
15. All This Is That
16. Wonderful (GV box set version)
17. All I Wanna Do
18. Winter Symphony
19. Let's Go Away For Awhile
20. Lonely Sea
21. Aren't You Glad
22. Our Sweet Love
23. Lookin' Down The Coast
24. Feel Flows
25. Tears In The Morning
26. Big Sur
27. Kiss Me, Baby
28. I'm Waiting For The Day
29. Cuddle Up
30. Heroes And Villains

[RollPlymouthRock]

I agree ADITLOAT has a great coda but i prefer the Surf's Up Coda  . Kiss Me Baby would be Top 40 for me along with others like Fun Fun Fun, Girl Don't Tell Me and Sail On Sailor as well. I'd say its a 3 way tie for saddest beach boys song, ADITLOAT along with 'Til I Die and Still i Dream Of It.

[rab2591]

I agree ADITLOAT has a great coda but i prefer the Surf's Up Coda  . Kiss Me Baby would be Top 40 for me along with others like Fun Fun Fun, Girl Don't Tell Me and Sail On Sailor as well. I'd say its a 3 way tie for saddest beach boys song, ADITLOAT along with 'Til I Die and Still i Dream Of It.

Still I Dream Of It is definitely in my top 20. That line "Like a dream that's somehow linked to all the stars above" gets me everytime....It makes no sense to me but it is incredibly surreal.

[donald]

Seems like most of us would pick a similar top 30 but each of us has a few odd personal favorites. 


My list would include as odd pieces;

I'll bet he's Nice
Had to Phone Ya
Somewhere Near Japan

[RollPlymouthRock]

Seems like most of us would pick a similar top 30 but each of us has a few odd personal favorites. 


My list would include as odd pieces;

I'll bet he's Nice
Had to Phone Ya
Somewhere Near Japan

I suppose my odd piece would be It's Ok, Good Time or Roller Skating Child.

[Fall Breaks]

I've highlighted the ones that hasn't been mentioned before. Some short motivations in parentheses.

01. 'Til I Die (how to squeeze all existential questions you've ever had into 2 ½ minutes of pop)
02. Please Let Me Wonder
03. Don't Worry Baby
04. Time to Get Alone ("deep and wide")
05. Just Once In My Life (the emotion that Carl puts into it, especially the middleeight)
06. Kiss Me Baby
07. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (one of my anthems in my teens)
08. California (how to squeeze all your homesickness into 3 minutes of pop)
09. Sloop John B. (vocals and bass line)
10. Break Away (always been a sucker for the autobiographical "I heard voices in my head" even though it was probably Murry who wrote that)
11. Cottonfields (Al's version) (so full of energy and great vocals)
12. Only With You (a song I'd like to have played at my wedding)
13. Add Some Music
14. Forever
15. Soulful Old Man Sunshine ("I feel so high and so far within you" - wonderful hippie pop poetry)
16. Big Sur (1970 version)
17. Darlin'
18. Surf's Up
19. Cool Cool Water
20. God Only Knows
21. Let Him Run Wild
22. Trader
23. Good Vibrations
24. Long Promised Road (another anthem for me in my teens)
25. Let The Wind Blow (the voices emulating the wind always get to me)
26. All I Wanna Do
27. Wild Honey (the fierceness of Carl's lead)
28. Shut Down (their best car song due to the energy and lyrics)
29. Hawaii
30. Goin' On

Some songs, like Surf's Up, could've been higher if I hadn't felt that there aren't a definitive version of them. H&V, which didn't make my, list is another example. Other suffer from being played too much, like Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows and Good Vibrations which objectively may be "better" songs than many others on the list but which are (at least temporarly) worn out for me.

[rab2591]

Soulful Old Man Sunshine is definitely in my top 30. I just bought the Endless Harmony Soundtrack and have listened the heck out of that song.

[Rob Dean]

I'll do a top 10.

1. Don't Worry Baby
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice
3. Sloop John B
4. In The Back Of My Mind
5. She Knows Me Too Well
6. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
7. Surf's Up
8. All Summer Long
9. Wonderful (Smile version)
10. Do You Like Worms

My top 10 normally stay the same. Anything after that really fluctuates from time to time.

The most-played Beach Boys songs in my itunes are:

1. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
2. Don't Talk (Vocal Snippet from Pet Sounds Sessions)
3. Let Us Go On This Way
4. The Night Was So Young
5. Meant For You
6. Johnny Carson
7. Wake The World
8. Friends
9. Be Here In The Mornin'
10. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine

I find it alarming that I listen to Love You far more than Pet Sounds LOL

You find it alarming listening to 'Love You' more than 'Pet Sounds' ?? no , no no so do i !!!!!! And i am very sure that we are not alone, by far :-)

[Myk Luhv]

Love You is awesome, f*** the haters. Better than Pet Sounds? Nearly.

[Peter Reum]

Okay...I kind of like these threads...in no particular order...Amusement Parks USA, Pet Sounds (the track), The Warmth of the Sun, I`d Love Just Once to See You, Surfer Girl, He Come Down, California Saga, Rock and Roll Music (hot mix), Ruby Baby, Wouldn`t It Be Nice, Diamond Head,The Lonely Sea, Cabinessence, Our Sweet Love, Got to Know the Woman, Pitter Patter, Breakaway, I Went to Sleep, Time to Get Alone (from Endless Harmony), Heroes and Villains (Stereo mix), Marcella, Do It Again, I`m Bugged at My Old Man, Surfin` USA, Don`t Worry Baby, Sail on Sailor, Sea Cruise, Baby Blue, Good Time (for the horn chart), Let Him Run Wild

[Mahalo]

Please Let Me Wonder
Meant For You
Do It Again
Heroe's and Villians (still waiting for my favorite mix)
Surf's Up
Wonderful
God Only Knows
Sloop John B
The Night Was So Young
All I Wanna Do

Kiss Me Baby
Let Him Run Wild
Pet Sounds
Let's Go Away For Awhile
She Knows Me Too Well
Don't Back Down
Fall Breaks
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
Friends
Cabinessence

CITFOTM
With Me Tonight
Wake the World
Good Vibrations
Cuckoo Clock
County Fair
Just Once in My Life
Funky Pretty
Be Still
Forever

Ding Dang
Somewhere Near Japan
I'll Bet He's Nice
This Whole World
TTGA (Hawthorne)
Cuddle Up
All This is That
Make it Good
In My Room
Surfer Girl (Hawaii version)

I know it's more, but I don't care...I can give another 40 more, in no particular order. Hell, they all rock except for maybe 10 songs out of their entire reportoire.

[Fall Breaks]

Noname: Cuckoo Clock and Country Fair? Motivate for the jury, please. 

[Mahalo]

County Fair... for the "Loser" quote at the end by the chick, and the melody and humor...Cuckoo Clock for Brian's awesome voice, and humor. IMO wwaayyy better than anything Bruce wrote.

[Mahalo]

...I guess it is not top 30 material, but I love them. What may be best is not necessarily what we listen to most often...

[Smilin Ed H]

I'm in - and in no particular order:

1   Surfin' USA
2   I Get Around
3   Don't Worry Baby
4   The Warmth of the Sun
5   Let him Run Wild
6   God Only Knows
7   Surf's up
8   Heroes and Villains
9   Sail on Sailor
10 Cabinessence
11 I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
12 'Til I Die
13  Forever
14  All I Wanna Do
15  The Little Girl I Once Knew
16  All This Is That
17  Cuddle Up
18  Feel Flows
19  Long Promised Road
20  Kiss Me Baby
21  Please Let Me Wonder
22  Disney Girls
23  Caroline, No
24  Do It Again
25  Darlin'
26  Time To Get Alone
27  Good Vibrations
28  Wouldn't It Be Nice
29  She Knows Me Too Well
30  Here Today

Ahhh, can't do.  Need ten more:

31 Wonderful
32 The Trader
33 California
34 This Whole World
35  Had To Phone Ya
36  Busy Doin' Nothin'
37  The Night Was So Young
38  Baby Blue
39  Little Bird
40  Country Air

Still not enough!

[Sound of Free]

The order might change from time to time, but I think No. 1 is always my favorite:

1. Let Him Run Wild
2. God Only Knows
3. The Warmth of the Sun
4. Wouldn't It Be Nice
5. Kiss Me Baby
6. Fun Fun Fun
7. Good Vibrations
8. In My Room
9. Forever
10. Surfer Girl
11. That's Not Me
12. I Get Around
13. Surf's Up
14. Till I Die
15. Let the Wind Blow
16. Don't Worry Baby
17. Breakaway
18. Slip on Through
19. The Night Was So Young
20. Long Promised Road
21. All I Wanna Do
22. Darlin'
23. Caroline No
24. Catch a Wave
25. This Whole World
26. I'm Waiting for the Day
27. California Girls
28. Sail on Sailor
29. I'll Bet He's Nice
30. Feel Flows

[mtaber]

Peter - that is one freaking strange top 30!!!

Mine would include Johnny Carson, A Day in the Life of a Tree, Country Air, You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone and side one of the Friends LP, which I consider to be basically one long track...

[rogerlancelot]

01) Battle Hymn Of The Republic (very patriotic)
02) Our Favorite Recording Sessions (outstanding on repeated listening)
03) Summer Of Love (Mike Love sure can rap!)
04) Brian's Back (makes me want to cry or something)
05) Seasons In The Sun (fits the band perfectly, would have been a #1 hit for them!)
06) Everyone's In Love With You (this song totally has balls!)
07) Monster Mash (nice to cover this when nobody really wants to hear a Brian original)
08) Drip Drop (nice one to play to your children)
09) Bells Of Paris (beautiful lyrics)
10) Transcendental Meditation (the mood fits the subject perfectly)
11) Love Is A Woman (Brian's vocal sounds really good on this one)
12) Michael Row The Boat Ashore (indeed!)
13) Problem Child (it's too cool for it to be cool, you see?)
14) Wipe Out (smart career move)
15) Summer In Paradise (very deeply moving lyrics)
16) Matchpoint Of Your Love (very clever lyrics here)
17) Blueberry Hill (very inspired)
18) When Girls Get Together (great lyrics again)
19) Ding Dang (what an epic saga!)
20) Shortnin' Bread (makes an excellent closer to LA album)
21) Carry Me Home (nice upbeat sunshine pop)
22) Surfin' (the Summer In Paradise remake of course!)
23) Still Surfin' (creative break from their normal material)
24) Here Comes The Night (disco version because it hasn't aged a bit or become dated in any way)
25) George Fell Into His French Horn (the melody really sticks in your head)
26) Baker Man (had they chosen to release this song, it would have started a whole new dance craze)
27) She's Got Rhythm (a masterpiece of a composition!)
28) You're Welcome (enough chord changes there to keep you studying it forever)
29) Long Tall Texan (Mike looked soooo cool when he sang that one!)
30) Barbara  Ann (if only they played this one in concert more often)

[rab2591]

02) Our Favorite Recording Sessions (outstanding on repeated listening)
22) Surfin' (the Summer In Paradise remake of course!)
23) Still Surfin' (creative break from their normal material)
24) Here Comes The Night (disco version because it hasn't aged a bit or become dated in any way)

The entire list is hilarious, but especially these  that made my day!