Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys
1993
Capitol Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Disc 1: 1. Surfin' U.S.A. (Demo Version) 2. Little Surfer Girl 3. Surfin' (Rehearsal) 4. Surfin' 5. Their Hearts Were Full of Spring (Demo) 6. Surfin' Safari 7. 409 8. Punchline (Instrumental) 9. Surfin' U.S.A. 10. Shut Down 11. Surfer Girl 12. Little Deuce Coupe 13. In My Room 14. Catch a Wave 15. The Surfer Moon 16. Be True to Your School 17. Spirit of America 18. Little Saint Nick (Single Version) 19. The Things We Did Last Summer 20. Fun, Fun, Fun 21. Don't Worry Baby 22. Why Do Fools Fall in Love 23. The Warmth of the Sun 24. I Get Around 25. All Summer Long 26. Little Honda 27. Wendy 28. Don't Back Down 29. Do You Wanna Dance 30. When I Grow Up (To Be a Man) 31. Dance, Dance, Dance 32. Please Let Me Wonder 33. She Knows Me Too Well 34. Radio Station Jingles/Concert Promo 35. Hushabye (Live)/Happy Birthday Four Freshmen (hidden track)
Disc 3: 1. Heroes and Villains 2. Darlin' 3. Wild Honey 4. Let the Wind Blow 5. Can't Wait Too Long 6. Cool, Cool Water 7. Meant for You 8. Friends 9. Little Bird 10. Busy Doin' Nothin' 11. Do It Again 12. I Can Hear Music 13. I Went to Sleep 14. Time to Get Alone 15. Break Away 16. Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) 17. San Miguel 18. Games Two Can Play 19. I Just Got My Pay 20. This Whole World 21. Add Some Music to Your Day 22. Forever 23. Our Sweet Love 24. H.E.L.P. Is on the Way 25. 4th Of July 26. Long Promised Road 27. Disney Girls (1957) 28. Surf's Up 29. Til I Die
Disc 4: 1. Sail On, Sailor 2. California 3. The Trader 4. Funky Pretty 5. Fairy Tale Music 6. You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone 7. Marcella 8. All This Is That 9. Rock And Roll Music 10. It's O.K 11. Had to Phone Ya 12. That Same Song 13. It's Over Now 14. Still I Dream of It 15. Let Us Go On This Way 16. The Night Was So Young 17. I'll Bet He's Nice 18. Airplane 19. Come Go with Me 20. Our Team 21. Baby Blue 22. Good Timin' 23. Goin' On 24. Getcha Back 25. Kokomo
Disc 5: 1. In My Room (Demo) 2. Radio Spot #1 3. I Get Around (Track Only) 4. Radio Spot #2 5. Dance, Dance, Dance (Tracking Session) 6. Hang On to Your Ego (Sessions) 7. God Only Knows (Tracking Session) 8. Good Vibrations (Sessions) 9. Heroes and Villains (Track Only) 10. Cabinessence (Track Only) 11. Surf's Up (Track Only) 12. Radio Spot #3 13. All Summer Long (Vocals) 14. Wendy (Vocals) 15. Hushabye (Vocals) 16. When I Grow Up (Vocals) 17. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Vocals) 18. California Girls (Vocals only) 19. Radio Spot #4 20. Concert Intro/Surfin' USA (Live 1964) 21.Surfer Girl (Live 1964) 22. Be True to Your School (Live 1964) 23. Good Vibrations (Live 1966) 24. Surfer Girl (Live in Hawaii Rehearsals 1967)
Whoo...Am I done yet?
Just typing out that track listing was an all day ordeal...This is a hefty 5 disc box set that was released in '93. It was mostly famous for giving us an unprecedented look at "Smile." Honestly, most of "Smile" appears here...Even though the release of "The Smile Sessions" diminishes the initial appeal of the set, there's still quite a bit of previously unreleased stuff here...(By the way...I'm going to play a game of "Album Cover Rorschach Test" with the cover art for the individual discs...I'm just going to type whatever immediately pops into my head when I see the covers...This should be pretty exciting, so you might not want to make any other plans tonight...)
Disc 1:
(Whenever I see the cover art on disc one, all I see is sperm fertilizing an egg, for some reason...
Maybe I should discuss this with my Psychiatrist...)
The box set is pretty much in chronological order, so this first disc is the early surfy-pop stuff that's probably playing on your local oldies station right now...I probably play Disc 1 the least (even less than the disc with "Kokomo" on it!), probably because I've been hearing most of these songs relentlessly since I was a kid...from radio, television, film, etc...But I always forget how much I enjoy it when I do put it on...The album starts with various demos and rehearsals that are interesting (mostly because it shows how fully formed they were before they even had a record deal)...It is fun to listen to the band go from the more sparse and primitive "Surfin'" to the near "Pet Sounds" sophistication of "Warmth of the Sun." The production gets more and more elaborate as harps, marching bands,and strings are slowly added to the mix...
Disc 2:
(The first thing that jumps in my mind when I see this cover is this other cover...
)Disc 2 is mostly devoted to the baroque pop of "Pet Sounds" and the wild innovations of "Smile." Just an incredible chunk of music...I don't spin this disc much anymore...Now I just toss on "The Smile Sessions" or "Pet Sounds" if I want to hear this stuff, but back in the day I played the shit out of this...
Disc 3:
(This cover makes me think of a big ol' pitcher o' Tang...
Mmmm...Watery, Orangey Tang...)
Disc 3 is probably the most fun disc for me...I have a lot of love for Post -"Smile" Beach Boys and you don't ever get to hear songs from this era on the radio...Check out "Busy Doin' Nothin'." It's so fun! Brian sings lyrics that are so mundane that they become surreal. I can't recall any other song that explores the minutiae of everyday life so deftly...he even gives detailed directions to his house in the middle of the song! So great! "H.E.L.P is on the Way" is almost as awesome as Brian excitedly informs us of a health food resistant that's recently opened and even sings about getting a colonic...On the opposite end of the spectrum we have "'Til I Die" where Brian sings a heartbreaking dirge where he addresses his own insignificance....The guy was a raw nerve back then...The band released a ton of fascinating music during this period...
Disc 4:
Disc 4 starts off strong with "Sail On Sailor" but as this disc wears on you can hear the band coming apart...Suddenly, you're caught in a mire of increasingly hollow golden-oldie nostalgia...Brian started an intense smoking habit and totally blew out his voice...You kind of have to hear it to believe it...and the whole thing ends on "Kokomo."
I may be insane but I really don't hate "Kokomo" like everybody else does...I mean...It certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as "Pet Sounds" or anything but the guys could still sing beautifully...Sure, it's totally for yuppies who like to tuck their Hawaiian shirts into their khaki shorts and vacation in the Bahamas...
...but it's competent...One time I purposely played it at full volume at about 3 am just so I could get the Cops to show up and tell me, "Hey! Turn down that soft music! It's too loud!" What a wonderful neighbor I am!
(This cover makes me think of...uhhhh... a butterfly...
)Disc 5: Diehard-only miscellanea...A lot of it is a capella...A handful of live tracks...If you're interested in the mechanics of harmony and vocal arrangement this might just be indispensable for you, however....
If'n you're a Beach Boys fan of course you'll enjoy the hell out of this set...For most people this would probably be all the Beach Boys they'd ever need...
That said, I've listened to this thing in it's entirety in one sitting a couple of times now...Which results in a feeling not unlike eating a big bag of sugar...but what a big bag of sugar!
Oh yea...Am I the only one disappointed that their '87 collabo with the Fat Boys wasn't included?
Alright, enough screwing around...Let's check out "Busy Doin' Nothin'" by the Beach Boys...
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