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Post by kds on Jul 19, 2022 12:57:04 GMT
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? It's possible, but personally, I don't think that approach really works for the song. I'm actually a bigger fan of higher volume versions by the likes of The Who, Blue Cheer, and, much later, Rush.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2022 12:59:45 GMT
For my money, nobody ever topped the original by Eddie Cochran (who was born and grew up about 25 miles from my tiny little hometown, btw).
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Post by jk on Jul 19, 2022 13:02:34 GMT
For my money, nobody ever topped the original by Eddie Cochran (who was born and grew up about 25 miles from my tiny little hometown, btw). Oh I do agree!! I just like the Boys' approach to it, is all. I just listened around and I believe it was only The Who who also added a higher harmony, but only to the ends of the lines...
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2022 13:04:17 GMT
In theory I like adding a harmony line, too.
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Post by kds on Jul 19, 2022 13:08:07 GMT
For my money, nobody ever topped the original by Eddie Cochran (who was born and grew up about 25 miles from my tiny little hometown, btw). That's a really good version. I will say it feels a little more "summery" than the heavier versions that I enjoy.
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Post by beachboystalkmatt on Jul 19, 2022 15:49:41 GMT
Awesome! In preparing for this show I found how difficult this is! Some albums have all quality songs.
For the Surfin Safari album the best track is The title track, and the worst for me is County Fair. None are horrible, and I think most of the tracks are on the same level.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 19, 2022 19:08:41 GMT
For my money, nobody ever topped the original by Eddie Cochran (who was born and grew up about 25 miles from my tiny little hometown, btw). Gotta pull out my Eddie Cochran albums tonight!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 19, 2022 20:38:45 GMT
For the best song on Surfin' Safari, I'll go with the title track. It was one of the first songs that Brian (and Mike) wrote for The Beach Boys - what was he, only 19 years old at the time - but it still holds up quite well. I think "Surfin' Safari" is as good as any surfing song in the catalog. If "Surfin' U.S.A." is better, it's not by much. But, "Surfin' Safari" has everything - one of the best intros Brian ever wrote, a great Mike Love lead vocal (and lyrics), a good melody, and it rocks! Carl and David definitely had their moments. This is pure garage rock, and the garage was literally right off the Wilson's house in Hawthorne. I still put "Surfin' Safari" on most "best of" comps. You can't lose with starting a comp with it.
I can't argue that "Summertime Blues" is the weakest song on the album, but I'm going to vote for "Ten Little Indians". It has nothing to do with the performance of the song, and it also rocks a little, but the song is so stupid for a rock & roll band to be covering. I mean, of all the great early rock & roll covers of that time, and they chose a children's song. Why? Just why? I thought the guys were supposed to be cool. "Ten Little Indians" was on the first BB comp I ever bought and I remember being embarrassed to play it for family and friends.
One other note on "Summertime Blues"...Yes, Eddies Cochran's version might be the best, but after the Beach Boys' weak attempt, look what some other bands did with the song like The Who and Blue Cheer. It blows the Beach Boys' version away.
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Post by jk on Jul 19, 2022 21:31:54 GMT
I can't argue that "Summertime Blues" is the weakest song on the album, but I'm going to vote for "Ten Little Indians". It has nothing to do with the performance of the song, and it also rocks a little, but the song is so stupid for a rock & roll band to be covering. I mean, of all the great early rock & roll covers of that time, and they chose a children's song. Why? Just why? I thought the guys were supposed to be cool. "Ten Little Indians" was on the first BB comp I ever bought and I remember being embarrassed to play it for family and friends. Bill Haley did it in 1954. Maybe that's where they got the idea...
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2022 22:42:43 GMT
I wonder--TOTAL SPECULATION--if the idea of rock 'n' roll as "young people's music" made the idea of kids' music being converted wasn't such a stretch at the time. And only later, and RnR became thought of as more serious, first for teens, then young adults, then adults, etc., it became more of a hindsight embarrassment.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 20, 2022 10:10:41 GMT
I can't argue that "Summertime Blues" is the weakest song on the album, but I'm going to vote for "Ten Little Indians". It has nothing to do with the performance of the song, and it also rocks a little, but the song is so stupid for a rock & roll band to be covering. I mean, of all the great early rock & roll covers of that time, and they chose a children's song. Why? Just why? I thought the guys were supposed to be cool. "Ten Little Indians" was on the first BB comp I ever bought and I remember being embarrassed to play it for family and friends. Bill Haley did it in 1954. Maybe that's where they got the idea... Good find, jk. I never heard that before. Yeah, there is a good chance Bill Haley's version was the inspiration for The Beach Boys' version, though Haley's version is definitely superior.
Looking at some of the subject matter of the songs on Surfin' Safari...what a weird album :
- little Indians - chugging root beer - flipping a coin - a cuckoo clock - girls' clothing
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Post by carllove on Jul 20, 2022 10:45:32 GMT
I’m going with the consensus on the best song - “Surfin’ Safari”. It’s a great song that shows the promise of wonderful things to come.
The Beach Boys version of “Summertime Blues” is perhaps the worst version of that song I have ever heard. It makes my ears hurt. Hearing it on Apple Music with lossless audio is the worst.
You also know of my love for “Moon Dawg” and “Chug a Lug”. Both of those songs make me smile. If I ever need a pick me up - all I have to hear is “Here a mug, there a mug, everybody chug-a-lug”. Always gets a guffaw from me. I always remember the first time I heard “root beer” after thinking it was about another beverage. More innocent times! This album was released the year and month I was born.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 20, 2022 11:07:06 GMT
Good find, jk. I never heard that before. Yeah, there is a good chance Bill Haley's version was the inspiration for The Beach Boys' version, though Haley's version is definitely superior. Whoa, I couldn't disagree more on that last point. I had actually never heard any other version of "Ten Little Indians" before, whether it be a children's rhyme or a rock band performance, but I've always liked it a lot. I did a bit of a deep dive into its history and virtually all of it is downright objectionable! And yet the Beach Boys version is fun and charming. They seem to have added a lot to the song and made it something good for the first time. If all they did was count one-two-three and repeat "John Brown had a little indian" over and over, I'd never have liked the song at all. (And if they had revived some of the earlier lyrics, we'd really have a problem...) Looking at some of the subject matter of the songs on Surfin' Safari...what a weird album : - little Indians - chugging root beer - flipping a coin - a cuckoo clock - girls' clothing
It's actually occurred to me, perhaps for the first time, how elaborate the Usher co-writes were, lyrically (which is most of the album). I think of them now more as "story songs", which is something the Beach Boys moved away from with his absence. I think that contributes greatly to the charm, and uniqueness, of the album. I find it pretty interesting.
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Post by jk on Jul 20, 2022 11:14:56 GMT
I wonder--TOTAL SPECULATION--if the idea of rock 'n' roll as "young people's music" made the idea of kids' music being converted wasn't such a stretch at the time. And only later, and RnR became thought of as more serious, first for teens, then young adults, then adults, etc., it became more of a hindsight embarrassment. Not sure I follow you there, Cap'n. Let's give it a shot all the same... I was too young to understand at the time. As I see it now, parents regarded Bill Haley as a thug (it was his music that caused kids to rip out theatre seats) but the real generation gap came with "Heartbreak Hotel" by the much younger Elvis. I recall my father describing the likes of UK rock and roller Tommy Steele as "howling apes strumming guitars". And Tommy was earning £1000 a week -- scandalous!! It's also interesting to know that in the 1950s rock and roll was generally shrugged off by the older brigade as a fad (like the mambo) that would soon pass!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 20, 2022 11:25:14 GMT
Some quick Bill Haley trivia/a short story...
Before Bill Haley "made it big", in the late 1940s he was a DJ on the only radio station (WLBR 1270) in my home town here in eastern/central Pennsylvania. I have a Beach Boys' buddy who I go to the concerts with, and his grandfather was a policeman at the time, and he (the grandfather) told the story of giving a dime for a cup of coffee to this down-on-his-luck guy walking down the street on a cold winter morning. He later found out it was Bill Haley.
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