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| Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
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Put simply, this is the Beach Boys at their mid-'60s prime. Ironically, the band's greatest evolutionary leap was spurred by its leader, Brian Wilson, who decided to drop out of the band's live performances after a December 1964 nervous breakdown to concentrate on honing the Beach Boys' studio sound. With Wilson's productions gaining a significant new depth and confidence (note the innovative modulations on "Dance, Dance, Dance"), the first half of Today seems a logical, upbeat step forward from its predecessors. But it's the album's second act that steals the show, setting the stage for the triumph of Pet Sounds. Indeed, it's easy to imagine gorgeous, introspective tracks such as "Please Let Me Wonder," "She Knows Me Too Well," and "In the Back of My Mind" intertwined with the best of Sounds. Set against that standard, the follow-up, Summer Days, feels like a step backward, despite the presence of another Wilson world-beater production, "California Girls," and the band's second No. 1 single, "Help Me, Rhonda." Ever pressured by commercial concerns, Wilson and the band created what was in essence the true follow-up to the All Summer Long album. Still, there's a level of musical sophistication to tracks such as "The Girl from New York City," the Phil Spector tribute "Then I Kissed Her," and especially "Girl Don't Tell Me" and "Let Him Run Wild." Reissued (with 24-bit digital remastering) in a long out-of-print twofer edition to mark the band's 40th anniversary and Lifetime Achievement Grammy, this set features several bonus tracks as well as the insightful notes of David Leaf (The Beach Boys and the California Myth). Bonus cuts include the spectacular "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and revealing outtakes of "Dance, Dance, Dance," "I'm So Young," and "Let Him Run Wild," along with a studio version of a song previously only available on the Beach Boys Concert collection, "Graduation Day." --Jerry McCulley
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| Walk Don't Run
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| Beach Boys - An American Band / Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
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Brand: Lions Gate
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Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 06/22/2004 Run time: 69 minutes Rating: Nr
A magnificent DVD pairing for Beach Boys fans, these two stylistically different films here pretty much represent the two sides of "America's Band." First up is The Beach Boys: An American Band, made at the height of their Reagan-era resurgence after then Interior Secretary James Watt banned them from performing at the nation's capitol on the 4th of July. A colorful, upbeat film, it doesn't entirely gloss over the more downbeat aspects of the Beach Boys saga (parental abuse, mental illness, uncomfortably tight pants, loads of drugs, and Charles Manson), though it does go out of its way to give the story a happy ending, despite the recent death of drummer Dennis Wilson and the group's complete creative standstill. However, what it lacks in perspective, it more than makes up for in priceless footage, including Smile-era studio outtakes, the unreleased 1967 concert in Hawaii, numerous TV appearances, and extensive interview footage from the mid-'70s. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, on the other hand, goes more out of its way to show the long dark path of head Beach Boy Brian Wilson. While Wilson is now acknowledged as the Mozart of the late 20th century, director Don Was gives us a stark black-and-white portrait of a troubled artist still struggling to get his life back. His reminiscence of dad Murry Wilson's beatings is chilling, and Wilson is as comfortable as he'll ever be in front of the camera bragging up his drug use ("Cocaine... the works... put me in jail") and randomly quoting Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. Through it all, Wilson comes across as a complete original, and if the reworkings of his classic songs don't quite match up to the originals, give the guy a break--he just wasn't made for these times. --Kristian St. Clair
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| Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story
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Brand: Capitol Entertainment
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ENDLESS HARMONY - DVD Movie
This smartly produced, intelligently written documentary strikes a satisfying balance between thoughtful analysis, personal history, and sheer musical pleasure for a portrait of the seminal California pop band that will prove equally compelling to both knowledgeable fans and casual listeners. In the audiovisual equivalent of a loaves-and-fishes miracle, The Beach Boys: Endless Harmony weaves 45 of the group's songs through extended interview segments with all the original members, key musicians involved in their career-defining recordings, and astute peers and industry observers. Evocative period footage, including archival film and early, no-budget promotional videos, only add to the impact, but the real achievement is the clarity and candor of this authorized project, which might easily have lapsed into callow myth-making and media spin control given the involvement of the surviving Beach Boys and their record label, Capitol, which is releasing both the documentary and a companion hits compilation. Instead, these archetypal Southern Californians, who transmuted their experiences growing up in suburban Hawthorne into a potent teen iconography orbiting surfing, cars, and girls, tackle the underlying personal and cultural upheavals beneath their discography. The central, dysfunctional drama of the Wilson family--brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl, the group's nucleus, and their manager-father, Murry--is addressed early on, and underlined with harrowing excerpts from session tapes capturing the hard-driving, abusive style of Wilson père. Composer and acknowledged group leader Brian Wilson, who long ago became a poster boy for "troubled genius," pop division, is likewise depicted without evasion or apology, as are the internal tensions between Wilson and other members including Wilson cousin Mike Love; it's a testament to the filmmakers' acuity and skill that Love depicts himself as a force of "positivity... and 'upbeatness'" that counterbalanced Brian's darker, more introverted style, then dismisses the elliptical poetry of Wilson's most artistically ambitious collaborations with Van Dyke Parks as lyrically opaque. Originally aired on VH-1, Endless Harmony works as an apotheosis of the cable channel's Behind the Music concept, elevating the concept substantially and covering an enormous terrain in 105 minutes. For the Beach Boys fan, this will be an essential companion to their enduring music. --Sam Sutherland
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| King Of The Surf Guitar: The Best Of Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
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This collection rightly concentrates on Dale's instrumental exploits as the Jimi Hendrix of surf music. Nineteen sixty-one's "Let's Go Trippin'" was the first real surf instrumental, although the pyrotechnic fretwork of later Dale records is largely absent. Those divebomb runs, reverb drenchings, and impossibly quick picking displays materialize on the next single, "Shake & Stomp," then bloom on the revved-up Middle-Eastern standard "Misirlou." Dale's instrumentals generally fell into two camps: standard-progression frat blasts ("Take It Off," "Night Rider," "Mr. Eliminator") and minor-key Middle-Eastern excursions ("The Wedge," the "Pipeline"-esque "Banzai Wipeout," "The Victor," even "Hava Nagila"--which Jewish purists must have regarded as a hora of Babylon), on which his blistering technique was more likely to find its spotlight Some of his best work is found on "King of the Surf Guitar," a Duane Eddy knockoff with great vocals by the Blossoms garnished by lightning flashes of boss guitar. With all the dazzling axe-work on display (also including a beautiful 1987 duet with Stevie Ray Vaughan on the Chantays' unearthly "Pipeline"), the coolest cut here may be the sole vocal, "Mr. Peppermint Man," on which Dale's rasp oozes a concupiscent slime over the murky tale of a lollipop Lothario who "carries a little sign that says, Have some dessert." Frat rock godhead. --Ken Barnes
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| Jan & Dean - Greatest Hits
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| Surfin Safari / Surfin Usa
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Beach Boys Photos More from The Beach Boys
Little Deuce Coupe/ All Summer Long | 
Pet Sounds | 
20 Good Vibrations, The Greatest Hits | 
Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys | 
Endless Harmony | 
Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights) |
Seeking to Capitol-ize on their local L.A. indie-label novelty hit, "Surfin'," the Beach Boys and their nascent sound (tales of innocent SoCal hedonism set to equal parts doo-wop vocal influences and Chuck Berry licks) were produced on these initial releases by the A&R exec who signed them, Nik Venet. But if Brian Wilson's production genius was yet untapped, his songwriting knack, trademark arrangements, and soaring falsetto were already coming to the fore, even on Surfin' Safari, the band's hastily recorded, low-budget debut album--"Surfin'," "Surfin' Safari," and "409" are ample testament to his hitmeister potential. Released just five months later, Surfin' USA both insured the band's national appeal and testified to the rapid development of their harmonies on cuts such as "Farmer's Daughter" and "Lana." The band sounds more confident throughout, and Wilson hints at the greatness to come with the moody ballad "The Lonely Sea." The flip side to Wilson's fragile emotionalism is, of course, Mike Love's nasal, fun-seeking twang; those voices revolving--often tensely--around a hub of incomparable harmony became one of rock's most indelible archetypes. These are the humble, charmingly awkward beginnings of that legend. Three unreleased bonus cuts are also featured: "Cindy, Oh Cindy," "The Baker Man" (a nursery rhyme take on the Olympics' "Hully Gully"), and the nautical "Land Ahoy." The latter two tracks are notable as Brian's official producing debut. This twofer edition features comments by Brian and the astute liner notes of music historian David Leaf. --Jerry McCulley
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| Beach Boys Concert / Live London
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Like virtually every band in the mid-'60s, the Beach Boys were expected to deliver their hits in person--no mean feat considering the ever more baroque concoctions that Brian Wilson was constructing in the studio. Tellingly, at the time the 1964 Concert was recorded in Beach Boys hotbed Sacramento, the band had but a few hits of their own and so they padded their set with Jan and Dean's "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (cowritten by Brian), Dion's "The Wanderer," "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" by the Rivingtons, Bobby Pickett's "The Monster Mash," and, of course, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." The instrumental backing here is sparse and simplistic; it's the band's vocal interplay that carries the day before a throng of screaming fans. By the time the year was out, Brian suffered his first nervous breakdown and gave up touring to concentrate on his studio productions. Live in London was culled from live shows recorded at a time (1968) when the band were virtual pop-cultural outcasts in their home country, but still enjoyed an enthusiastic following in England. These recordings document the Beach Boys' remarkable resilience in the face of Brian's deliberate distancing and their frigid American career prospects; when the going got tough, the tough got spectacularly professional. Augmented by a horn section, the band locks into a powerful groove, giving energetic, largely note-perfect versions of the expected hits along with some key album cuts. Digitally remastered, this long out-of-print twofer edition features commentary by David Leaf (The Beach Boys and the California Myth), as well as two bonus cuts: a 1964 concert rendition of "Don't Worry Baby" and a 1967 live version (from the unreleased Lei'd in Hawaii album) of the challenging "Heroes and Villains" that features a rare appearance by Brian Wilson performing with the band. --Jerry McCulley
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| The Warmth of the Sun
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Brand: BEACH BOYS
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The Warmth Of The Sun, a new collection of 28 career-spanning tracks, hand-selected and sequenced by The Beach Boys themselves. The Warmth Of The Sun traces the iconic band's creative arc in a sun-up to sundown musical journey that goes beyond the beach, presenting a broad view of the rich musical legacy of America's band. The perfect complement and companion to Sounds Of Summer. This new collection delves deeper into The Beach Boys' musical legacy with hits like "Sail On, Sailor" "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and "Feel Flows." Within The Warmth Of The Sun's three decade-spanning tracklist, much of the Beach Boys' most accomplished work is featured. Compiled and sequenced by The Beach Boys' Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, Mike Love, and Brian Wilson, The Warmth Of The Sun showcases the broad scope of their recorded history. The journey takes us from the surf to the streets, and all with The Beach Boys' unparalleled trademark harmonies.
In a sense, The Warmth of the Sun is to 2004's double-platinum Sounds of Summer as 1975's Spirit of America was to the previous year's chart-topping Endless Summer. Both Summer compilations feature the obvious hits, and their followups collect less famous--though still worthy--tracks like "Hawaii," "409," and "Little Honda." But the 21st-century collections are sequenced by the Beach Boys themselves, and that means this volume's songs are second-tier in fame only. The casual fan whose curiosity was piqued by Sounds of Summer and picks this up for "All Summer Long" will be captivated by Brian Wilson's stops on the road to Pet Sounds ("Kiss Me Baby," "Please Let Me Wonder," "Let Him Run Wild," "The Little Girl I Once Knew"), moved by the father-son collaboration "Break Away" (in many ways the Beach Boys' farewell to the '60s), and floored by a string of five songs from the early '70s--a few of which had their genesis in the ill-fated Smile project--that are a perfect showcase for the maturity the group, especially Brian and Carl, managed to attain less than a decade after penning "Pom Pom Play Girl" ("Surf's Up," "Feel Flows," "All This Is That," "'Til I Die," "Sail On, Sailor"). Taken together, these two volumes provide an extraordinary portrait of a band attempting to straddle popularity and artistic vision, spotlighting each facet just long enough to make you want more. (Collectors note: many of these songs appear in new stereo remixes--they may not be the original Brian Wilson productions as he heard them, but being able to distinctly make out the vibraphone in "Let Him Run Wild" is worth it.) --Benjamin Lukoff
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| Ventures Play Greatest Surfing Hits of All Time
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Brand: VENTURES
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No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: VENTURES
Title: VENTURES PLAY THE GREATEST SUR
Street Release Date: 08/28/2001
Domestic
Genre: OLDIES
If there's irony in the fact that the founding fathers of surf rock the Ventures hail from quarters not exactly renowned as bastions of sun-drenched wave-riding (Portland, Oregon, and Tacoma, Washington), it only stands to reason that their inspirations weren't exactly baggy-clad and bushy-blond-coiffed, either (Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy). But those unlikely roots did indeed spawn a 40-year career for the band as international stars and, more important, instrumental rock's first and foremost preservationists. This album replicates much of the Ventures' longtime tour repertoire, drawing on their own considerable hits ("Walk, Don't Run," "Perfidia," "Hawaii Five-O") as well as covers that range from Richard Rodgers ("Slaughter on 10th Ave.") to prime '60s bands like the Surfaris ("Wipe Out"), Marketts ("Out of Limits"), and Astronauts ("Baja"). All are performed with the verve and solid craftsmanship that has long characterized the band. Longtime fans should note the presence of guitarist Nokie Edwards (the band's most fabled soloist from their heyday) on most of the tracks, as well as Leon Taylor, who ably fills the drum throne of his late father, Mel. Later guitarist Gerry McGee's Nashville-influenced licks are featured on "Five-O" and "Bambora," with former Steely Dan-Doobies fretman Jeff "Skunk" Baxter also taking a solo turn on the latter. While some can't quite measure up to the originals, this collection often succeeds on the band's still-driving momentum and the obvious joy they continue to find in the material. --Jerry McCulley
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