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Post by Kapitan on Jun 21, 2021 11:48:23 GMT
In mid-July 1968, about a month after the album Friends, the Beach Boys released a single that history has seen as something of a comeback: "Do It Again." From the opening effects-treated snare drum, to the Mike Love-sung verses, to the mostly wordless group vocals including soaring falsetto "bom bom boms" and band "dit dit dits," this, indeed, was the Beach Boys.
The song peaked at a respectable #20 in the US, but was a Top 10 hit across much of the world and hit #1 in the UK. It has been a staple of the Beach Boys live show and greatest hits compilations since. It has also been covered by the Beach Boys and various members repeatedly, including Brian Wilson in 1995, the Beach Boys in 2011, and Mike Love in 2017.
On the flipside was a track from the album Friends, "Wake the World." That brief (1:29!), light song is the first writing collaboration between Al Jardine and Brian Wilson, and could be described as one of Wilson's "slice of life" songs, detailing the transitions between day and night. Wilson has been quoted as saying it was his favorite song from Friends, and the song began appearing in his live setlists when Jardine joined his solo band after the C50 reunion tour.
Please rate and discuss "Do It Again" backed with "Wake the World."
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Post by kds on Jun 21, 2021 12:37:09 GMT
Do It Again was the first, and still the best, Beach Boys nostalgia song. It's also the only one of their nostalgia songs that really sounds like classic Beach Boys, the fact that the "Classic" Era wasn't too far in the rearview helped.
If I recall, I think Mike also did a version in 2016 for some Summer Music collection that he promoted on PBS. That was before the Legacy Slaughtering version with Uncle Jessie and Sugar Ray.
I like Wake the World as part of the Friends album, not so sure it works as a single, even a B side.
I'm going to go with a nine.
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Post by jk on Jun 21, 2021 12:37:22 GMT
Once again, a great A-side. As for the B-side, was it there to tempt singles-buyers to invest in the LP? I'm baffled by so many BB B-side choices! At least "Break Away" and "Celebrate The News" were both non-album tracks... Still, it gets 10 because I love "Do It Again". Yes, the ever-faithful British fans did it proud by pushing it up to the top slot. As for the intro, according to Andrew Hickey, "[SWD] came up with an effect for the snare drum sound, using two tape delay units (which had originally been bought to thicken the band's live vocal sound by artificially double-tracking, live), but having the delay be in the region of ten milliseconds. The result was to effectively quadruple-track the snare on the intro, creating a buzzing, powerful, sound quite unlike anything else that had ever been heard. [ Source] The French duo Air sampled that intro on "Remember":
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 21, 2021 13:00:08 GMT
It's funny to me how this is often discussed as a comeback single. I think that has more to do with nostalgia than actual performance, because while it hit a respectable #20, that's not as good as the single before last, "Darlin," which hit #19! So it's a "comeback" only over the previous single, "Friends." It seems more that it had the idea of being a comeback, as it was about surfing.
I like the song, but don't love it. I do really like the falsetto and background vocals. The delay-treated snare is something I've always thought was somewhat cool on its own, but after hearing it once or twice, I actually don't much like it in the song.
"Wake the World," on the other hand, I like quite a bit! Single material? Ah, no, not really. Not at all, in fact. But I like it. It's almost goofy, a children's song--a vibe I think especially strong in the chorus, with the low brass bounding up and down the scale. I also love the harmony vocal in the chorus. (To me, the song is ALL the chorus: the verses are so inconsequential as to feel like placeholders until the chorus returns.)
I'm in the 8-9 range, TBD.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2021 0:12:36 GMT
I give this a 10. "Do It Again" is one of my favorites, definitely a 10 in its own right. The melody is actual very simple; just basic up and down scales. But the arrangement is where the magic is. The Boys took something simple and created something with quite a bit of depth. That middle bridge before the Hey Nows and the guitar solo is really a breath of fresh air!
I don't know if I'd give it a flat out 10, but "Wake the World" is a great song too. Like "Friends" I feel it works best as an album cut, but it seems to work ok as a B-side (for that matter "Friends" as a B-side wouldn't have hurt my feelings any....crap, now I'm overthinking this!)
Anyway, the matchup works for me. A very strong A-side and a pleasant B-side.
Ya know, if "We're Together Again" had been recorded at the time, it would have made a dandy B-side...(ok, I'm giving it a rest now!)
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Post by B.E. on Jun 22, 2021 0:15:30 GMT
Ya know, if "We're Together Again" had been recorded at the time, it would have made a dandy B-side...(ok, I'm giving it a rest now!) Oh man, I never made that connection!
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Post by lonelysummer on Jun 22, 2021 2:17:31 GMT
Even though it wasn't one of their biggest hits, this is a song the guys keep going back to. Not sure why, other than it's a fun song that sums up their fun in the sun era. I don't think I had ever heard it until I got the album B.E. uses as his avatar (one of my favorite comps, although I Can Hear Music should have been included). That version had a bit of the workshop stuff on it, and I always hear it that way in my head. Wake the World is dreamy. It's just so peaceful, happy, I wish i woke up feeling that way (I always wake up grumpy!). It's a perfect 10 for me. Yes, it is a comeback. A return to themes of summer.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 22, 2021 11:00:57 GMT
"Do It Again" is a great Beach Boys' song, borderline great but great. It's not necessarily "fun", but it makes you feel good. There are plenty of Beach Boys'...characteristics...throughout. "Do It Again" was one of the last BW/BB-type songs like that before the band would change it's sound, only to revisit this style later in the 70's to much less satisfactory results. My only negative about the song is Mike's vocal. I always thought it sounded "off"; there's something not quite right. I wouldn't say it's off-key, but it's strained in places. He downplays it. However, "Do It Again" is one of the few Brian Wilson songs that comes off better live. It can rock, and, actually, I wish the studio version rocked a little more.
Again, what in the heck were the band and/or Capitol doing with these flip sides. Why would they go backwards with "Wake The World"? What were they trying to achieve? I like the ying/yang approach of the fast/slow single that was used successfully in the past, so "Wake The World" works in that regard. But, Friends was already history. Dennis Wilson was becoming prolific, and this would've been a good opportunity to feature him again on the B-Side. I don't know, but were "Never Learn Not To Love" or "Be With Me" completed by the time of this single.
"Do It Again" is a strong 9 and "Wake The World" is an 8, even though it wasn't a good choice as the B-Side. I'll go with a 9 based on the strength of "Do It Again". After the Friends album, I wonder how many fans actually welcomed "Do It Again"? I guess some appreciated Brian and The Beach Boys moving on to new sounds while others appreciated "the old sound", even though "Do It Again" wasn't exactly All Summer Long-like.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 22, 2021 11:28:19 GMT
However, "Do It Again" is one of the few Brian Wilson songs that comes off better live. It can rock, and, actually, I wish the studio version rocked a little more.
...But, Friends was already history. Dennis Wilson was becoming prolific, and this would've been a good opportunity to feature him again on the B-Side. I don't know, but were "Never Learn Not To Love" or "Be With Me" completed by the time of this single. On the first part, I agree 100%.
On the second part, I disagree. Friends had only been released just two weeks earlier: June 24 is when the album was released; this single was released on July 8. It was far from too early to consider Friends "history." Heck, we've seen rock bands milk albums for singles for a year or more. I think it was appropriate to use something from that album. (Though I might have considered "Busy Doin Nothin" if I weren't going to include "Wake the World.")
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Post by kds on Jun 22, 2021 12:25:33 GMT
That seems to be an ongoing theme with some of the Boys' late 60s output, with slightly stilted studio versions of songs that really came to life on life (ie. Wild Honey and Darlin' also).
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 22, 2021 13:46:29 GMT
That seems to be an ongoing theme with some of the Boys' late 60s output, with slightly stilted studio versions of songs that really came to life on life (ie. Wild Honey and Darlin' also). I don't even think it's just limited to late 60s output, but rock and roll generally. There are some exceptions where the studio versions really nailed it ("I Get Around" maybe as the crowning achievement in that respect), but usually the rockers just didn't rock in the studio as much as live.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 22, 2021 13:54:45 GMT
However, "Do It Again" is one of the few Brian Wilson songs that comes off better live. It can rock, and, actually, I wish the studio version rocked a little more.
...But, Friends was already history. Dennis Wilson was becoming prolific, and this would've been a good opportunity to feature him again on the B-Side. I don't know, but were "Never Learn Not To Love" or "Be With Me" completed by the time of this single. On the first part, I agree 100%.
On the second part, I disagree. Friends had only been released just two weeks earlier: June 24 is when the album was released; this single was released on July 8. It was far from too early to consider Friends "history." Heck, we've seen rock bands milk albums for singles for a year or more. I think it was appropriate to use something from that album. (Though I might have considered "Busy Doin Nothin" if I weren't going to include "Wake the World.")
Until you pointed that out, I never realized how close the release of "Do It Again" was to the release of Friends...which makes it a little bizarre that the group/Capitol would go with a non-album single instead of promoting their new album. Like I posted above, I think "Do It Again" is a great song, and I could see why they would want to get it out because they were starting to leak oil. But, dontcha think they could've waited a few more weeks or a month until Friends officially tanked. Then, I guess I'd complain/argue that "Do It Again" was correctly released during the summer instead of waiting until the fall.
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Post by kds on Jun 22, 2021 14:43:01 GMT
That seems to be an ongoing theme with some of the Boys' late 60s output, with slightly stilted studio versions of songs that really came to life on life (ie. Wild Honey and Darlin' also). I don't even think it's just limited to late 60s output, but rock and roll generally. There are some exceptions where the studio versions really nailed it ("I Get Around" maybe as the crowning achievement in that respect), but usually the rockers just didn't rock in the studio as much as live. With some bands I'd agree, and sometimes I think that comes down to production (KISS and Judas Priest's early studio output are big examples). But, I feel like some bands like Purple, Queen, Van Halen, and Maiden were really good at capturing that energy in the studio.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 22, 2021 14:44:27 GMT
Oh absolutely. I should have been more clear, I meant the Beach Boys generally struggled with that. Some bands were great capturing a rock sound on studio albums.
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Post by kds on Jun 22, 2021 14:58:52 GMT
Oh absolutely. I should have been more clear, I meant the Beach Boys generally struggled with that. Some bands were great capturing a rock sound on studio albums. Aaaaaaahhh. Yeah, I'd say you're right. Although some of the early rockers sounded good. You already mentioned I Get Around. I'd also say the studio versions of Shut Down, Fun Fun Fun, and Surfin USA come across quite well.
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