Essentials by the Dozen - The Beach Boys in 12 Tracks

With respect to The Beach Boys, if you’ve ever made statements worthy of a solid facepalm, such as “They basically made sappy surf songs for teenagers”, or found yourself listening in on some conversation that had you asking “Why are The Beach Boys critically acclaimed if they never made anything complex?”, then this next list should serve as a good starting point if you wish to expand your knowledge on one of music’s most famous groups.

[NOTE: This list is not a definite top 12 of The Beach Boys’ all-time greatest songs. Rather, it should be viewed as a strong collection in their catalogue that would essentially allow to have an efficient overview of their entire career. As a Beach Boys fan myself, I also firmly believe that you should at the very least know every single one of these songs if you ever wish to debate the brilliance of their music. If at the moment you do not, RELAX, SIT BACK & ENJOY THE MAGIC OF ROCK.]

1. Surfin’ Safari (1962)

Obviously, if one were to only track down the roots of The Beach Boys, the misconception that they only penned catchy songs for the youth can very much arise. Is that to say this period was totally unavailing? Absolutely not. For example, there is much to love from the introductory periods of The Beatles and Kanye West; some might simply believe their creative peak came shortly afterwards. At the start of their career, The Beach Boys were the main promoters of vocal surf, a surf rock subgenre which added flawless vocal harmonies to the subgenre of instrumental surf. “Surfin’ Safari” was released off their first of a lengthy career of twenty-nine albums and serves as a quality sample of that “California Sound” they successfully managed to bring about to the masses who were mostly busy digesting girl groups and Motown by that point. The song, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love (the creative forces of the group) even manages to unveil the band’s perfect imperfections often heard throughout their career, when singer Mike Love’s vocals hilariously go off-key near the end of the track upon shouting the word “surfing”. These guys were jokers, especially in their earliest stage, and it’s important to remember that.

Great Moment:

“They’re angling in Laguna in Cerro Azul

They’re kicking out in Doheny too

I tell you surfin’s mighty wild

It’s getting better every day

From Hawaii to the shores of Peru”

2. In My Room (1963)

Brian Wilson is somewhat perceived as a tragic figure. Although undeniably the main creative strength of The Beach Boys until at least the mid-60’s, Wilson has unfortunately battled with mental illness for a large portion of his life, and this had an inevitable effect on his career. Wilson was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and manic depression at quite an early age, and he was 22 years old when he supposedly began hallucinating. I am aware this song was released before then, in 1963, but for some reason, upon hearing it, my mind never fails to think of its writer Brian Wilson and all the cruel despair the man’s had to endure. The lyrics to “In My Room” seem much more introspective than the other Beach Boys songs released at the time, and its content, though straightforward in nature, is one to which pretty much anyone can relate. Although not about the singer’s deteriorating mental health, “In My Room” makes me think of that period in Brian Wilson’s life. Another listener might think of someone completely different, and that’s brilliant, for the mere fact of linking the song to anyone means it has rightfully served its purpose.

Great Moment:

“Do my dreaming and my scheming

Lie awake and pray

Do my crying and my sighing

Laugh at yesterday”

3. Fun, Fun, Fun (1964)

A prime example of the early surf sounds of The Beach Boys, “Fun, Fun, Fun” is exactly what its title suggests. Evidently inspired by Chuck Berry’s famed guitar melody, the opening announces a tune that is both untroubled and sunny, and in the short span of just slightly over two minutes, it is absolutely what our ears are being fed. There are two components in this song that are so typical of The Beach Boys, it was impossible for me not to single out this track within their early essentials: the lyrics deal with cars and cruising and what not, and in the last twenty or so seconds are presented the highly recognizable Woo’s of one singer as the others can still be heard repeating other lines of the song. This is so incredibly representative of that “California Sound” discussed earlier.

Great Moment:

“Well, you knew all along that your dad was getting wise to you, now

And since he took your set of keys, you’ve been thinking that your fun is all through, now

But you can come along with me ’cause we got a lot of things to do, now

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird away”

4. When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) (1965)

Considered their first remarkable album, the eighth one to be released entitled The Beach Boys Today! serves as a magnificent collection of more mature songs that saw a departure from their earlier content that dealt with surfing and cars. By this time, Brian Wilson’s health slowly began deteriorating, but his will to write, produce and arrange the next album was as strong as ever, and the result was a triumphant effort that saw the band dive into more orchestrated rock. The album subtly following a thematic pattern, its first side is composed of snappier tunes while the flip side is filled with heavenly ballads. “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)” can be found on the first side of the LP, and Mike Love sings the lead vocals.

Great Moment:

“Will I love my wife

For the rest of my life?

When I grow up to be a man…

What will I be

When I grow up to be a man?”

5. Please Let Me Wonder (1965)

Released on the flip side of The Beach Boys Today!, “Please Let Me Wonder” is such a gorgeous track, not only in its lyrics, but in its poignant sounds as well. Whereas The Beach Boys’ early catalog mostly consisted of spectacular hit singles, this is where their career as critically acclaimed artists, who greatly made use of the album-as-art concept, truly erupted. Less than thirty minutes in length, the album is one worth listening to its entirety, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to further appreciate the wondrous irreplaceable sounds of The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson provides the vocals to “Please Let Me Wonder”, and there’s just something about the way he sings “This beautiful image I have of you” that inexplicably brings about the widest of smiles on my face every time.

Great Moment:

“For so long I thought about it

And now I just can’t live without it

This beautiful image I have of you”

6. California Girls (1965)

Not only is this by far my favourite Beach Boys track, but it is also undoubtedly in my personal top 10 songs of all-time. Sonically, it is absolutely astounding, like nothing I heard from any other artist to this day, and lyrically, it’s amongst the most joyous anthems ever written, honoring the great beauty found within all girls from across the globe. Contrary to popular misconception, the song is not about the singer’s desire for all girls to be like those in California, but rather his desire for all girls across the globe to be in the state of California where he lives. Huge difference, I know. When Mike Love proclaims that the States have “the cutest girls in the world”, I cannot help but smile, for I believe the same can be said within my own arresting city of Montreal, as should most proud citizens of the world declare with respect to their own locations. Whereas the track’s opening thirty seconds provide that initial aura of mystery and curiosity, those last thirty seconds never fail to evoke in me an immense outburst of exhilaration, and every last detail of this song feels utterly perfect, no matter how many times I give it a listen.

Great Moment:

“Well, East Coast girls are hip

I really dig those styles they wear

And the Southern girls, with the way they talk

They knock me out when I’m down there”

7. God Only Knows (1966)

There is a reason Pet Sounds is often hailed one of the greatest and most influential albums ever released, many going so far as throning it the absolute best. Inspired by the phenomenal ambition with which The Beatles tackled their legendary Rubber Soul in 1965, on which there were neither fillers nor low-quality content, Brian Wilson vowed to create unprecedented art out of one whole album rather than singles, and Pet Sounds was the result of this newfound determination of his. Opting to incorporate a variety of genres on the album, Wilson made use of the Wall of Sound, a production technique developed by Phil Spector who wished to make an instrument out of the studio itself, and the whole is a project that was beyond any other achievement of the time. The craziest part of the story is that few American critics and listeners truly understood the groundbreaking feat that was Pet Sounds at the moment of its release, for reception was initially mixed in the United States. It’s also interesting to note that Brian Wilson — the brain behind it all — had even considered recording the project without the use of any of the other Beach Boys. Thankfully, all members were present, and those with a decent sense of taste understood just what Wilson meant from the undertaking. Paul McCartney has consistently labelled “God Only Knows” the greatest song of all time, and he was so moved by the immense beauty it brought forth, the song actually inspired the Beatle to write his own similar love song “Here, There and Everywhere” a few months later. Here is “God Only Knows”, the very peak of one of the all-time great albums by one of the all-time great music minds.

Great Moment:

“If you should ever leave me

Though life would still go on, believe me

The world could show nothing to me

So, what good would living do me?

God only knows what I’d be without you”

8. That’s Not Me (1966)

Another song off the highly revered Pet Sounds, “That’s Not Me” continues the trend of employing the studio as an instrument. The track deals with one man’s dream and his subsequent packing up and splitting for the city. It is presented in a very echoey illusive fashion, and it provides a good sense of the underlying statement the entire album endeavored to make. Since the album is nearly sixty years old, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I still recommend it in its entirety, nonetheless, if just to grasp how much of a turning point in popular music Pet Sounds proved to be. If you know of anyone who still disregards The Beach Boys as that “surf rock group for teenagers”, they clearly never came to appreciate Brian Wilson’s vision so elegantly displayed on Pet Sounds.

Great Moment:

“I’m a little bit scared

Cause I haven’t been home in a long time

You needed my love

And I know that I left at the wrong time”

9. Good Vibrations (1966)

If one, who never got around to listening to the entirety of Pet Sounds, were to complain about The Beach Boys’ lack of complexity with respect to other renowned artists, “Good Vibrations” should immediately serve to kill that conversation. At the time, it was the most expensive song ever recorded, and Brian Wilson’s experimentation with the track is like no other. It’s one thing to create a tune as innovative in1966, but it’s another thing to stand the test of time after so many decades. If “Good Vibrations” were to have been released today for the first time, I guarantee it would be a Summer hit still, and its sound is genuinely as fresh and aesthetic as any of the music from the great geniuses of the numerable decades that followed (if not, more so). As much as I despise the Grammys and think it rather laughable, I am thankful my sisters watched it on the television set back in 2012, for the band’s performance of “Good Vibrations” that night actually served as my true introduction to the group, after which I spent months as an avid listener of their work. The highlight of my discovery of the band arose a short while later, in the month of June of that same year, when I decided to attend their reunion concert at the Bell Centre. This occurred alongside both of my grandfathers who, after immigrating to Montreal as teenagers in the late 50's/early 60's, had learned English via listening to their favourite artists of the time, amongst which were The Beach Boys. The day following the concert, I had an Ethics and Religion final but risked receiving a bad grade to enjoy my night, nonetheless. I cannot recall what score was given to me on that exam so many years ago, but the experience of watching The Beach Boys live with my grandfathers is one which will remain unforgettable for the rest of my life.

Great Moment:

“Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’ with her

Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’ with her

Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’ with her”

10. Wild Honey (1967)

The story of The Beach Boys took on a tragic turn in 1967. Due to Brian Wilson’s mental health deteriorating, the project that was to follow Pet Sounds never came to fruition. It was supposed to be entitled Smile and is commonly thought of today as the greatest album in popular music to never be released. The result instead was Smiley Smile, an album which was not only shorter and less ambitious but also a critical and commercial failure. That same year, the band released Wild Honey, a twenty-four-minute album that had the group dive into soul music rather than persist into the sought-after complexity so resolutely craved by Wilson. On Wild Honey, Mike Love becomes Wilson’s songwriting partner once more, and the weight seems to be more equally divided amongst the band members. Brian Wilson was no longer the main drive of The Beach Boys after this album, but the group continued to make beautiful music all the same. The titular track of Wild Honey was sung by Carl Wilson, and I can honestly say that it’s one of their better songs to ever be released if just for the singer’s fervent intensity heard throughout the track. The intricate art rock might have been a thing of the past for The Beach Boys by the end of 1967, but the magic of the group was far from over, and with Wild Honey, a new era was to commence.

Great Moment:

“Mama! I’m telling you as sure as I am standing here

She’s my girl! And that’s the way I’m keeping it now mama dear”

11. Long Promised Road (1971)

“Long Promised Road” was written by Carl Wilson and Jack Rieley, the group’s manager at the time of release. It is an example of a track which stands out amid the group’s catalogue even without having been written by either of the two main songwriters. By this point in time, the credit was pretty much split evenly, and all members contributed to the direction and ambience of the band’s sound. Released on Surf’s Up, their seventeenth album and amongst their most acclaimed during this later period of theirs, “Long Promised Road” at first sounds tragic before erupting into sporadic cheerful frenzies. The experience feels particularly uplifting by the song’s conclusion, but not in the typical Beach Boys way so often heard within their 60’s body of work. The creative revamping of the band is heavily felt on this one, and Carl Wilson’s determination to “throw off all the shackles that are binding [him] down” is amongst the group’s most inspiring deliveries.

Great Moment:

“But I hit hard at the battle that’s confronting me, yeah

Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me

Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down”

12. Getcha Back (1985)

Following the Beach Boys’ creative revival in the early 70’s, although the group continued to release songs in the decades to follow, their artistic relevance very much became a thing of the past. However, just to prove how astounding a group The Beach Boys remained, I decided to add a song from the later era regardless, for there are indeed many great gems to be found still for those who seek them. For example, to this day, one of their most popular songs amongst fans remains “Kokomo”, and it was released in the year 1988, much later than the end of their artistic peak. Another superb example of what the group was able to accomplish in their later years is a personal favourite of mine entitled “Getcha Back”. The fact that The Beach Boys are able to make my emotions run wild on their famed “California Sound” with a song they released in 1985 is beyond impressive. The background vocals are what really hit on this one, and I cannot help but feel as if I were surrounded by the wondrous crashing sounds of waves hitting on a soothing beach as this song progresses. Written and sung by Mike Love, “Getcha Back” is one last prime example of the group’s exceptionally innovative sound they developed over the course of many decades.

Great Moment:

“The other night, they were playing our song

Hadn’t heard it for oh, so long

Took me back darlin’ to that time in my car

When you cried all night cause we’d gone too far

Can I ever Getcha back?”

BONUS:

1. “I Get Around”

2. “Don’t Worry Baby”

3. “All Summer Long”

4. “Help Me, Rhonda”

5. “I’m So Young”

6. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”

7. “Pet Sounds”

8. “Do It Again”

9. “Surf’s Up”

10. “Good Timin’”

Disclaimer: The original version of this story was published on another platform. Link to original version: https://medium.com/@gabriele_delbusso/essentials-by-the-dozen-the-beach-boys-in-12-tracks-a2b31e037149