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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 10:00:39 GMT
Hi. Here's the first in the series of threads to discuss Beach Boys-related albums at random (incl. original albums, solo albums, live albums and major compilations), one album per a week. This week's album is Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), a Beach Boys album released in 1965. Tracklist: 1. The Girl From New York City 2. Amusement Parks USA 3. Then I Kissed Her 4. Salt Lake City 5. Girl Don't Tell Me 6. Help Me, Rhonda 7. California Girls 8. Let Him Run Wild 9. You're So Good To Me 10. Summer Means New Love 11. I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man 12. And Your Dream Comes True [Bonus Tracks] 13. The Little Girl I Once Knew 14. Let Him Run Wild (Alternate Version) 15. Graduation Day Share your opinion & story about the album, and vote on the poll above. Enjoy!
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 12:17:14 GMT
I'm giving Summer Days and Summer Nights a nine. Despite the return of some of the lyric themes of the early albums, I think this album carries on with the progression started with the Today album, particularly with California Girls (which Brian often calls the ultimate Beach Boys song) and Let Him Run Wild. It's really only marred by the jokey I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man. I wish that song had been saved for a B Side, and The Little Girl I Once Knew was included instead.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 23, 2019 17:52:36 GMT
I gave it a 9 as well. It's not their best album, it's not my favorite album, and it's not the album with the most hit singles ... but somehow it's almost the prototypical Beach Boys album anyway, in my opinion. (Certainly its twofer, with Today!, would be hard to beat for that claim.)
A few absolute classics, a few great songs that aren't very well known outside of fan circles. (Girl From New York City, for me, is especially brilliant and underappreciated.) Yeah, some filler. But oh well. Great album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 23:40:11 GMT
I usually rank Summer Days (And Summer Nights) - it isn't necessarily a summer-y album is it? - very high on BB "Best Of" polls, usually below only Pet Sounds, SMiLE, Love You, and sometimes Today. SD&SN certainly has its share of outstanding tracks. "California Girls", "Help Me, Rhonda", "You're So Good To Me", and "Then I Kissed Her" appeared on many comps through the years, and "Let Him Run Wild", "Girl Don't Tell Me", and "Salt Lake City" to a lesser extent. This was peak Early Period stuff. Brian was on fire and The Wrecking Crew was loving it. Dontcha wish Brian would've done one more of this kind of album instead of Party and before Pet Sounds? I do.
There is one other song worth mentioning, a personal favorite - "Amusement Parks U.S.A.". I have often referred to this song as the most intense two minutes of music that Brian ever produced. He somehow created this rollicking, raucous, rocking track, and the guitars and drums are barely audible! But so much packed into this mini-classic. A very underrated song.
SD&SN reached No. 2 on the Billboard Album Chart, their highest charting album ever (along with Surfin' U.S.A. and Endless Summer). But it could've been a better album, a stronger album. I know Brian was being pushed by his record company contract; he was recording like crazy and churning out one song after another. Yet I wish he (or whoever) would've devoted just a little more care in making the SD&SN album everything it COULD'VE been. The sequencing of SD&SN could be better. The album tails off at the end. "I'm Bugged At My Old Man" is a questionable choice. And Brian had two potential songs, one a great one, almost making the cut. During the SD&SN sessions, Brian recorded a studio version of "Graduation Day". Why didn't he use it? But the real ace-in-the-hole was "Sherry She Needs Me". Why oh why didn't Brian finish this one? If you add "Graduation Day" and a finished "Sherry She Needs Me" to the album, nix "I'm Bugged At My Old Man", and tweak the sequencing, you have maybe the No. 2 BB album right behind Pet Sounds. The way it stands, it's still a great one. I want to go with a 9, but the album only clocks in at 26:42 (too short), and ending of the album is just too disappointing. How about an 8.5? For voting purposes I'll go with an 8.
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Post by kds on Jul 24, 2019 12:04:38 GMT
Dontcha wish Brian would've done one more of this kind of album instead of Party and before Pet Sounds? I do.
YES YES YES. I certainly do. I'd have taken another album or two like this after Pet Sounds as well. And, the album does touch on some summertime lyrics, like going to the amusement park and some of the lyrics about the the west coast sunshine and the tan girls. But, moreso than the lyrics, this album "sounds" like summertime to me.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 24, 2019 12:30:43 GMT
Dontcha wish Brian would've done one more of this kind of album instead of Party and before Pet Sounds? I do.
YES YES YES. I certainly do. I'd have taken another album or two like this after Pet Sounds as well. And, the album does touch on some summertime lyrics, like going to the amusement park and some of the lyrics about the the west coast sunshine and the tan girls. But, moreso than the lyrics, this album "sounds" like summertime to me. It is a frustration and a regret that Brian limited and eventually stopped working with The Wrecking Crew (that damn home studio ). His music was never the same, among other reasons of course. Just when Brian was peaking with his use of these brilliant musicians (1965-66), he changed gears.
I might have overstated Summer Days (And Summer Nights) not being a "summer" album. It doesn't have any strictly surf & turf tunes, but it comes close with "Amusement Parks U.S.A." and "Salt Lake City" - they are kind of driving/traveling songs. And, yes, "California Girls" is a classic Beach Boys' sounding song. Most of the songs/lyrics are relationship-driven, not that there's anything wrong with that. Brian and Mike mastered that genre. And, as I posted, I would've loved to have more of this stuff.
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Post by kds on Jul 24, 2019 12:48:14 GMT
YES YES YES. I certainly do. I'd have taken another album or two like this after Pet Sounds as well. And, the album does touch on some summertime lyrics, like going to the amusement park and some of the lyrics about the the west coast sunshine and the tan girls. But, moreso than the lyrics, this album "sounds" like summertime to me. It is a frustration and a regret that Brian limited and eventually stopped working with The Wrecking Crew (that damn home studio ). His music was never the same, among other reasons of course. Just when Brian was peaking with his use of these brilliant musicians (1965-66), he changed gears.
I might have overstated Summer Days (And Summer Nights) not being a "summer" album. It doesn't have any strictly surf & turf tunes, but it comes close with "Amusement Parks U.S.A." and "Salt Lake City" - they are kind of driving/traveling songs. And, yes, "California Girls" is a classic Beach Boys' sounding song. Most of the songs/lyrics are relationship-driven, not that there's anything wrong with that. Brian and Mike mastered that genre. And, as I posted, I would've loved to have more of this stuff. Yeah, as much as I like their 1968-1973 period, The Beach Boys never sounded better than they did from 1963-1966. There was a lot of solid gold in that time period. It's a shame it was so short lived.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 24, 2019 17:12:34 GMT
The beauty of this period to me is that it has broad appeal without compromising quality. In fact, the quality just kept improving right through Pet Sounds. It has the depth, the dazzling musicianship, that serious students of the geekier persuasion may want; yet it's fun and entirely enjoyable on the surface for the casual listener.
Unfortunately I don't think it was realistic to expect them to stay in this vein much longer. Just as happened to popular hard rock bands in the early '90s, the reality is that once the scene changes, it's awfully hard to ignore that. Plus, for better and worse, artists' own interests change.
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Post by kds on Jul 24, 2019 17:32:06 GMT
The beauty of this period to me is that it has broad appeal without compromising quality. In fact, the quality just kept improving right through Pet Sounds. It has the depth, the dazzling musicianship, that serious students of the geekier persuasion may want; yet it's fun and entirely enjoyable on the surface for the casual listener.
Unfortunately I don't think it was realistic to expect them to stay in this vein much longer. Just as happened to popular hard rock bands in the early '90s, the reality is that once the scene changes, it's awfully hard to ignore that. Plus, for better and worse, artists' own interests change.
While that's true, after all the dust settled, their material from that golden period of 63-66 is their most enduring and timeless.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 24, 2019 18:01:20 GMT
The beauty of this period to me is that it has broad appeal without compromising quality. In fact, the quality just kept improving right through Pet Sounds. It has the depth, the dazzling musicianship, that serious students of the geekier persuasion may want; yet it's fun and entirely enjoyable on the surface for the casual listener.
Unfortunately I don't think it was realistic to expect them to stay in this vein much longer. Just as happened to popular hard rock bands in the early '90s, the reality is that once the scene changes, it's awfully hard to ignore that. Plus, for better and worse, artists' own interests change.
While that's true, after all the dust settled, their material from that golden period of 63-66 is their most enduring and timeless. Oh, no question. But that's with hindsight.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 24, 2019 20:44:53 GMT
Unfortunately I don't think it was realistic to expect them to stay in this vein much longer. Just as happened to popular hard rock bands in the early '90s, the reality is that once the scene changes, it's awfully hard to ignore that. Plus, for better and worse, artists' own interests change.
And in this case, the artist was Brian Wilson, who was notorious for moving on, "progressing" if you will. Very few were going to influence him, nobody was going to stop him. However, when you do hear songs/albums like SD&SN, it does make you wish he would've continued in that vein...just a little bit longer.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 24, 2019 21:40:13 GMT
Absolutely. Though personally, with a few exceptions*, I really liked his work right up through Surf's Up almost as much, and sometimes even more than the classic period. Not as prolific, usually not as catchy or approachable, but I'm happy to get things like Darlin, I'd Love Just Once to See You, Time To Get Alone, I Went to Sleep, This Whole World, etc.
*Smiley Smile. I don't dislike it as much as some, and most of the songs themselves are great. But the arrangements, the style ... no thanks, for the most part.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2019 4:53:12 GMT
Personally, I prefer 67-73 over 63-66 as a whole in Beach Boys' discography. While I love a lot of classics made in their golden days, I just can't get enough of homemade feels to much of their post-SMiLE stuff at Capitol, as well as mature and complex music on the first four Brother albums.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2019 12:09:23 GMT
Unfortunately I don't think it was realistic to expect them to stay in this vein much longer. Just as happened to popular hard rock bands in the early '90s, the reality is that once the scene changes, it's awfully hard to ignore that. Plus, for better and worse, artists' own interests change.
And in this case, the artist was Brian Wilson, who was notorious for moving on, "progressing" if you will. Very few were going to influence him, nobody was going to stop him. However, when you do hear songs/albums like SD&SN, it does make you wish he would've continued in that vein...just a little bit longer. At the very least, like you said, maybe another album like this between SDSN and Pet Sounds, or maybe a bit of a smoother transition between Pet Sounds and the experimentation of Smile / Smiley Smile. By the time, The Beach Boys decided to try to recreate this sound in the late 70s, they just couldn't capture that lightning again.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2019 12:10:33 GMT
Personally, I prefer 67-73 over 63-66 as a whole in Beach Boys' discography. While I love a lot of classics made in their golden days, I just can't get enough of homemade feels to much of their post-SMiLE stuff at Capitol, as well as mature and complex music on the first four Brother albums. When I first really started to dig deep in The Beach Boys catalog a few years ago, I began to favor that second golden period. But, in the last year or two, I find myself listening to the 63-66 period much more.
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