Okay let’s keep this thing going, I’m popping these buggers out like Land Before Time Sequels… So far, we have covered the third and fourth periods, (and the last post apparently stunned everyone into silence “Comments 0″ is such a sad sight), BUT now I’m going to jump back to the first period (and if you have been paying attention then you now know what period it is that is THE period, but then again if you know much about the Beach Boys, you knew that the moment I mentioned it), BUT ANYWHOO… The Surfing/Hot Rod hit single period (1961-65). We all know the songs from this time, they literally had more hit singles than anyone except the Beatles: Surfin’ USA, California Girls, Little Deuce Coupe, Fun, Fun, Fun, Barbara Ann, 409, Catch A Wave, In My Room, Surfer Girl, Be True To Your School, I Get Around and on and on and on. They are fun songs, building on some California myth of cars and surf (something Brian didn’t really know that much about, but learned from watching his brother Dennis, but that’s another story). The songs obviously openly stole from Chuck Berry and production techniques from Phil Spector (Don’t Worry Baby, especially) and even their harmonies had their roots in the doo wop groups of the 50s, the Everly Brother and especially The Four Freshman. BUT what’s really interesting about this time (aside from Brian’s inhuman ability to write hit songs) is how Brian was beginning to develop as a writer/producer/arranger. The year was 1965 and Brian had suffered some kind of mental breakdown (on a plane flight if I recall) and stopped touring/performing with the band (this is where Bruce Johnston comes in, filling in for Brian on tour). So while the band toured America, Brian stayed home, wrote music and working with the best LA Studio players (the “wrecking crew” the same group used by Phil Spector) began to record.
You can begin to see his growth as a writer producer on side two of the 1965 album, Today! Side one contains the usual stuff including hits: Do You Want To Dance, When I Grow Up To Be A Man, Dance Dance Dance (Help Me Rhonda was on the album, but this is not the version that became a hit, Ooo I’m such a nerd to know that!!). BUT side two is something altogether different. These are not songs targeted to be singles about surfing or cars; they play almost like a suite of songs about young love and heartbreak: “Please Let Me Wonder,” “I’m So Young” “Kiss Me Baby,” “She Knows Me Too Well,” and “In the Back of My Mind.” Amazing melodies, of course killer harmonies and very sophisticated arrangements. Brian was known as a perfectionist who could demand 78 takes on a particular vocal. The next album (Summer Days!) was back to their usually stuff: including the hit: “California Girls” and cheeseball songs like “Amusement Park USA” and “Salt Lake City.” It also contain the brilliant “Let Him Run Wild” (a song obviously about Dennis). It was also during this time that Brian began to experiment with drugs, marijuana and LSD, the negative effects of which wouldn’t show up at first, but would have huge impact on the band in the coming years. So to re-cap, this first period established the Beach Boys as a household name, solidified their place in American music, defined a vocal sound that has been imitated by everyone from The Beatles (Back In The USSR) to Super Furry Animals (Rings Around The World) to literally an endless list of bands. Points for this period toward being my number one group? 80 points. So 80 + 15 – 45 = 50 points which would barely put them in my top 100. If they had broke up in 1965 and never recorded again, they would be fondly remembered today as one of the best groups of the 1960s (kind of like Diana Ross & The Supremes), but the records which were to follow made them the greatest band of ALL TIME!!!
I think your apologetic is fascinating and is best summed up in your last post by “Oooh, I am such a nerd to know this!) … but you’re MY nerd!