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Post by kds on Jul 18, 2022 18:01:54 GMT
Prompted by the top of Ep. 21 of Beach Boys Talk, here's a thread to discuss the best and worst song off each Beach Boys album. I'll be doing studio albums only, and will also include Smile (ie. Disc 1 of The Smile Sessions), so that's a total of 29 albums. Per B.E.'s suggestion, I'll post a new album every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, this will pretty much take us to the official end of summer.
Keep in mind "best" and "worst" are not definitive terms, just our opinions of favorite and least favorite tracks.
Let's begin at the beginning.
Surfin' Safari (1962) Best Worst Surfin' Safari 6 County Fair Ten Little Indians 3 Chug-a-Lug Little Girl (You're My Miss America) 409 1 Surfin' 1 Heads You Win Tails I Lose Summertime Blues 4 Cuckoo Clock Moon Dawg The Shift 1
Best - Surfin' Safari - With the possible exception of 409, the title track is really the only standout track on The Beach Boys' debut album. While I think the album is fun enough for what it is, I think the title track is really the only song that foreshadows the greatness that lies ahead.
Worst - Ten Little Indians - At least it's the shortest song on the album. It's hard to believe this was actually chosen as a single.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 18, 2022 18:13:31 GMT
I like the idea of only selecting one each. That’ll make it more of a challenge. (And it’s not something I remember doing before.)
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 18, 2022 18:21:16 GMT
I like the idea of only selecting one each. That’ll make it more of a challenge. (And it’s not something I remember doing before.) Agreed. Otherwise it'll be too tempting to say "the best song is a, b, c, or d," or in the case of Pet Sounds, "everything." If we're going to commit, let's commit! (Especially since it's just a matter of opinions anyway.)
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Post by B.E. on Jul 18, 2022 18:30:34 GMT
I like the idea of only selecting one each. That’ll make it more of a challenge. (And it’s not something I remember doing before.) Agreed. Otherwise it'll be too tempting to say "the best song is a, b, c, or d," or in the case of Pet Sounds, "everything." If we're going to commit, let's commit! (Especially since it's just a matter of opinions anyway.) Yeah, I'm pretty excited, actually, to see which one each of us will pick. Especially from about '64-73. I know I'll be wracking my brain on some of those albums, but I look forward to the challenge! I think it's more likely to spur some discussion than the inevitable more-or-less-agreeing on the top 3 or so.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 18, 2022 19:01:51 GMT
As I think you know, I am not a fan of this album at all. I've said before that if this were the path the Beach Boys continued down, I simply wouldn't be a fan of the group. That said, there are a few songs I like more than the others. I won't name them now, but it's going to be interesting trying to decide which is the best.
Similarly, there isn't a single, "standout" bad song, either, from my perspective. There are a few that don't do it for me.
This might be harder than I thought when I said it was a good idea. I should have kept my mouth shut! (Not really. I think it's going to be fun, not to mention a nice rolling thread to hopefully keep some activity.)
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Post by kds on Jul 18, 2022 19:06:34 GMT
I think Surfin' Safari is actually one of the easier albums for me to do, particularly from the 1960s.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 18, 2022 19:23:05 GMT
Honestly I think they're all going to be pretty tough for me. Whenever things get to choosing, ranking, rating, etc., I can really lose myself in irrelevant details and suffer absurd indecision. (You don't even want to see me in the grocery store, or for that matter trying to decide what to make for dinner.)
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Post by kds on Jul 18, 2022 19:27:14 GMT
I know a lot of the albums from 63-66 will be tough for me. For several of them, I can easily narrow it down to 2-3 favorites.
The liquor store is where I'm at my worst when it comes to that type of stuff, especially if I'm picking out beer.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 18, 2022 22:02:26 GMT
Surfin' Safari (1962)
Best - "Surfin' Safari" - This is a no-brainer for me. "409", "Surfin'", and any oddball favorites, are simply not on the same level.
Worst - "Summertime Blues" - Not a skip track, but I do think it's the blandest. And being a clearly inferior cover of a very popular song doesn't really help things. All of the rest of the tracks just bring more to the table, IMO. Lyrically, most of the album is just more fun, quirky, and charming ("County Fair", "Chug-A-Lug", "Heads You Win", "Cuckoo Clock", etc.). Musically, "Ten Little Indians" and "The Shift" are more interesting. And I'll take the performances of the other covers over "Summertime Blues".
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 19, 2022 2:00:54 GMT
I think I agree with B.E. on this one. The drumming on "Summertime Blues" kills it. It feels like Dennis is pushing AGAINST the beat. In fact, his drumming is probably the weakest link on this album. He would get better, though, much better. David and Carl already are an impressive guitar team. I do like "Surfin'" - especially the "come on baby and surf with me" tag; but the title cut is easily the best song on the album. I've also got a soft spot for Denny's vocal showcase, "Little Miss America".
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Post by jk on Jul 19, 2022 9:04:58 GMT
Nice idea, kds. Still, I'd rather like to change it in my case to "most memorable" and "least memorable". For me the most memorable track on Surfin' Safari is "The Shift", musically its most forward-looking song and nicely placed at album's end. The least memorable for me is "Surfin'". OK, it's of inestimable importance historically but musically it makes the least impact on me.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2022 11:13:28 GMT
For the best (my favorite) song, I'm going with "409," which edges out the title track and "Little Girl (You're My Miss America)."
For the worst (my least favorite) song, I'll agree about "Summertime Blues." It had more competition than those at the top of the list, as I put several others down in a similar territory of my disinterest.
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Post by kds on Jul 19, 2022 12:26:02 GMT
Nice idea, kds . Still, I'd rather like to change it in my case to "most memorable" and "least memorable". For me the most memorable track on Surfin' Safari is "The Shift", musically its most forward-looking song and nicely placed at album's end. The least memorable for me is "Surfin'". OK, it's of inestimable importance historically but musically it makes the least impact on me. As I said, "best" and "worst" is in no way definitive.
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Post by kds on Jul 19, 2022 12:26:58 GMT
For the best (my favorite) song, I'm going with "409," which edges out the title track and "Little Girl (You're My Miss America)."
For the worst (my least favorite) song, I'll agree about "Summertime Blues." It had more competition than those at the top of the list, as I put several others down in a similar territory of my disinterest.
I almost went with Summertime Blues as my least favorite since it's really a weak, and pretty disposable, version of a classic.
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Post by jk on Jul 19, 2022 12:55:01 GMT
For the best (my favorite) song, I'm going with "409," which edges out the title track and "Little Girl (You're My Miss America)."
For the worst (my least favorite) song, I'll agree about "Summertime Blues." It had more competition than those at the top of the list, as I put several others down in a similar territory of my disinterest.
I almost went with Summertime Blues as my least favorite since it's really a weak, and pretty disposable, version of a classic. Wasn't this the first version to give it an Everly Brothers approach, adding a higher harmony to Eddie's melody line?
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