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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2022 14:38:55 GMT
I can see that, having heard Surfin USA years before I ever head Sweet Little Sixteen, I don't think that really ever bothered me. Like Kap, I think I almost surprised myself with my vote, but I think considering I listened to Sounds of Summer several times after its release, Surfin' USA really jumped out. Well - I’ve never been a big fan of the early Beach Boys music. It’s fun to hear in the Summertime floating in a lake with a beer, but I don’t seek out tunes like “Surfin’ USA” or “Fun, Fun, Fun”, to listen to. Songs like “Lonely Sea” are songs that changed my mind about The Beach Boys. Songs I will seek out to hear and add to BB comps. I only listen to SUSA if it randomly appears on Pandora or I’m listening to the entire SUSA album on Apple Music. It’s a great song - just not my cup of tea. I've gone back and forth with the early stuff. It was the era that first drew me into the band. Those were the songs I heard growing up, and that material enticed me first buy the original Sounds of Summer back in 2006. Although, hearing some of the deeper cuts from Today - Holland in concert is what ultimately made me the die hard I am now. In fact, for a while in the 2010s when I first really, really got into the band, I almost dismissed some of the material from the first six albums. But, I've come back around on it, and I tend to gravitate to those early albums the most this time of year.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 25, 2022 14:39:40 GMT
That's roughly my stance, too, carllove. And I guess that's why I surprised myself with my pick of SUSA. But that said, there is no doubt I appreciate some of the early hits more now than I ever did before. However, we're still talking about songs that aren't high on my list of favorites.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2022 15:01:56 GMT
We had eight voters for Surfin' USA, and here's the tally.
Best - Surfin' USA - 5 Lonely Sea - 3
Worst - Honky Tonk - 6 Noble Surfer - 1 Let's Go Trippin' - 1
Up next, Surfer Girl.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2022 15:13:49 GMT
Next up, the Beach Boys third studio album - Surfer Girl
Surfer Girl (1963)
Best Worst Surfer Girl 3 Catch a Wave The Surfer Moon South Bay Surfer 5 The Rocking Surfer Little Deuce Coupe In My Room 5 Hawaii Surfer's Rule 1 Our Car Club Your Summer Dream Boogie Woodie 2
Best - In My Room - This one was extremely difficult. Despite great tracks like Catch a Wave, Hawaii, Little Deuce Couple, and the underrated Your Summer Dream, it's the two hit ballads that I ultimately had to choose from. Surfer Girl and In My Room are part of a trinity of BB ballads (Don't Worry Baby being the other) that really got me into band. Now, I probably prefer the title track a little more in the summer months, which we're in now. But, I think I like In My Room just a little more, so I'm going with my gut and picking In My Room as my favorite song from the Surfer Girl album.
Worst - Surfer's Rule - Despite the hammering drum into to South Bay Surfer being my least favorite moment of the album (coming right after The Surfer Moon, it's very jarring), I have to go with Surfer's Rule. It's not a bad song. In fact, this is probably what I'd call The Beach Boys first really good to great album, so I don't think there's really a bad track, but it's a song that I've just never really been into. It could be that I'm also really not into The Four Seasons who get called out.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 25, 2022 15:41:11 GMT
This will be a tough one. It is the band's first good album, in my opinion, and it's a really good one. (I don't go as far as great yet, but definitely has enough very good-to-great songs to be praised.)
I'm giving it a fresh listen now, and my guess is I'll come down to the same two ballads kds did for the best song. I have no idea yet on worst. We shall see...
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 25, 2022 15:47:03 GMT
This one (Surfer Girl) is easy for me. But first, man, did Brian really shine on this album! Look at all those classics.
Best: "In My Room" - I always loved this song, everything about it - the melody, the vocals, the lyrics, the spiritualism that comes off. I never get tired of hearing it. Brian would go on to compose some all-time classics after this, but he and Gary Usher came up with something special...in 1963 no less!
Worst: "Boogie Woodie" - As someone who appreciates rock and roll, especially hard rock and roll, I can't believe I'm saying this, but this song is just too much for me. It TOO intense. I guess it's supposed to be some kind of quasi-surf/car song, but I much prefer the other instrumentals. Oh, and "South Bay Surfer" is runner-up for worst song. Meh...
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 25, 2022 17:46:18 GMT
OK, I'm ready...
Best: Surfer Girl This was tough for me, with In My Room just right there. In fact, I thought I'd check my Top 100 and see what I was thinking then, and I had those two songs 5 (Surfer Girl) and 6 (In My Room). They really could not be closer. These were two of the earliest Beach Boys songs I knew, hearing them on my parents' old Endless Summer vinyl as a little kid. As I said with Surfin USA, they also both just have some kind of magic to their sound, the way they jump out of the speakers. They sounded so real to me, not like some weird studio creation by some weird electronic contraptions, but people singing and playing electric guitars, especially. The presence, the sound, the voices, the echo. I love both of these so much. But yes, I give the nod to Surfer Girl. It's funny that it beats out one of the greatest ballads in rock and roll history, but it just happens to be a slightly better greatest ballad in rock and roll history.
Worst: South Bay Surfer I suspected it might be this, but I also really wanted to re-listen to the instrumentals, especially, to make sure. Well, the instrumentals both struck me as better than I'd remembered. And South Bay Surfer? The opposite. I dislike this song quite a bit.
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Post by jk on Jul 25, 2022 17:51:32 GMT
Most memorable: title track.
Least memorable, if I must: “SBS”.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2022 18:06:24 GMT
OK, I'm ready...
Best: Surfer Girl This was tough for me, with In My Room just right there. In fact, I thought I'd check my Top 100 and see what I was thinking then, and I had those two songs 5 (Surfer Girl) and 6 (In My Room). They really could not be closer. These were two of the earliest Beach Boys songs I knew, hearing them on my parents' old Endless Summer vinyl as a little kid. As I said with Surfin USA, they also both just have some kind of magic to their sound, the way they jump out of the speakers. They sounded so real to me, not like some weird studio creation by some weird electronic contraptions, but people singing and playing electric guitars, especially. The presence, the sound, the voices, the echo. I love both of these so much. But yes, I give the nod to Surfer Girl. It's funny that it beats out one of the greatest ballads in rock and roll history, but it just happens to be a slightly better greatest ballad in rock and roll history.
Worst: South Bay Surfer I suspected it might be this, but I also really wanted to re-listen to the instrumentals, especially, to make sure. Well, the instrumentals both struck me as better than I'd remembered. And South Bay Surfer? The opposite. I dislike this song quite a bit.
I went back and checked my Beach Boys Top 100, and sure enough, I had Surfer Girl at #5 also. But, I had In My Room at #4. While not the first BB songs I remember hearing, when I was looking to expand my summer playlist back in 2006 (compiling CDRs back then which was a little more time consuming than adding songs to a Spotify playlist) to include The Beach Boys, these two (and DWB) were the first songs I thought of.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 25, 2022 20:03:57 GMT
"In My Room" is easily the best, even though "Surfer Girl" is considered a classic. SG has never been a super favorite of mine; it's nice, but IMR is PERSONAL. I knew the first time I heard it, it was MY song. I always escaped to my room when I wanted to get away from the yelling, the abuse. "Boogie Woodie" is nothing to me. It's there, but it's a zero to me.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 25, 2022 22:17:48 GMT
Best - "Surfer Girl"
Worst - "South Bay Surfer" - The lone amateur-sounding track on the album. (Which is really too bad considering this album is a near all-timer.)
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 25, 2022 22:50:43 GMT
Not a lot of love for "South Bay Surfer"...but Brian must've liked it. He even recorded it for The Honeys! Better version maybe?
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 25, 2022 23:02:15 GMT
Well, we know he liked the underlying Foster song he was borrowing from. I'd love to think that's why he revisited it ... because I can't see any value in "South Bay Surfer" itself.
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Post by kds on Jul 26, 2022 12:17:53 GMT
Not a lot of love for "South Bay Surfer"...but Brian must've liked it. He even recorded it for The Honeys! Better version maybe?
I've never minded South Bay Surfer, aside from the drum intro. I do think it's in the bottom third of songs on the Surfer Girl album though.
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Post by carllove on Jul 28, 2022 11:13:06 GMT
Best song on Surfer Girl in my opinion is “In My Room”. I had it at #14 in my top 100. Such a beautiful, personal song, that so many teenagers can relate to and adults remember that feeling. Gary Usher really captured Brian in his lyrics and the harmonies are stellular.
“South Bay Surfer” gets my vote for worst song, because once again, the tune is not original. Just why? Suwannee River is a better song lyric wise as well. If you can’t improve on the original - just don’t do it.
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