THE BEACH BOYS!!!

I love the Beach Boys, and the Beach Boys love you! Enjoy my discussion of various Beach Boy topics. If you wish to contact me and discuss the Beach Boys, email stangelas@myyahoo.com with the subject: "Sam's World - Beach Boys". Thanks!

I got into the Beach Boys following an exposure to their Sounds of Summer compilation CD on around 29 September - 1 October 2024. They quickly became my favorite group to listen to, surpassing the Beatles (who I exclusively listened to prior to this event). They have pretty much taken over my mind since that date.

Recently I've been listening to Friends, their 1968 finale to the "Lo-Fi" trilogy. I personally find this era of to be the source of many of my favorites of theirs. Although, I'm not sure if Friends is truly Lo-Fi. Sure, it started that way (demos reveal a very Wild Honey-style production), but eventually they recorded with many instruments, including members of the Wrecking Crew, who had worked with Brian on Pet Sounds and SMiLE. I'm still willing to debate on that point. Friends is such a killer album; ther really are no misses in my view. Many people dislike "Transcendental Mediation", but I love it. It's very jazzy, and rather catchy if I do say so myself. Overall, I'd say Friends is an underrated masterpiece, a true second Pet Sounds. I cannot beleive it didn't chart well (actually, I can. But I don't like the reasons - why did record buyers in the 60s have to be so pretentious about who was "hip" and who wasn't?). It should have sold better than most albums which were released in that year. An obvious exception is for the Beatles' self titled, which is their best work in my opinion. Unfortunately, due to its poor charting and the fact that Brian was essentially at the helm of the project, he took this personally. If people at the time just bought the damn thing, listened to it a tiny bit, and told their Friends, we could've gotten more Brian-produced records. I'm going to move on to another album now.

15 Big Ones! Brian is Back!!! Speaking of Brian producing albums, this is... one of those. After a long haitus, Wilson enters the care of controversial and insane psychotherapist Eugene Landy. He is ushered back into the studio, and asked to produce and write an entire album. He does it, but in a complete spectrum. Some of his productions are incredible (notably "Just once in My Life", the album closer. Other songs are just... meh. However, don't get to thinking I'm the type to dislike this album. I love it - love it! I bought a copy of the record on vinyl recently, and it's been very welcome on my turntable since. It's good listening, it just doesn't sound very Beach Boys. But I suppose that's their whole thing - switching it up. I love the use of synthesizers on this album *FORESHADOWING*. It's really cool to hear them interspersed with live instruments. My favorite songs off of this album are "It's OK", "Had to Phone Ya", "That Same Song", "TM Song", "Suzie Cincinnati", and "Just Once in My Life". I love all the originals here, and I wish they had put more on this one. Particularly "Rollin' Up to Heaven". I'm mostly joking, but that song genuinely slaps, in spite of the lyrical content. I once listened to "Rollin' Up to Heaven" for about 3 hours non-stop. I only ended that session when my Friends asked me to stop listening. I would go so far as to say it's the finest rendition of "Shortenin' Bread" America's Band ever recorded. Yes, even more so than "Ding Dang". Speaking of "Ding Dang"...

The Beach Boys Love You is the true comeback record of the 1970s. It's dense synth instrumentation, unique chord changes, and absurd lyrics serve to create a uniquely Brian mood.