I'll take the first stab. All Summer Long is an improvement over Little Deuce Coupe and Shut Down. It doesn't have any knockout tracks (well maybe the opener). I didn't find it pushed their music into any new territory. And they still haven't gotten over breaking the fourth wall for whatever reason (Track #11, Our Favorite Recording Sessions). But overall, this collection of songs has a better batting average than previous two albums, which showed signs of song-writing fatigue. All Summer Long also has a small, but noticeable increase in musical arrangements. It would have been cool if Brian was in the same headspace that created Don't Worry Baby. But hey, it was the summer of '64. It's totally fine for them to crank out another collection of upbeat tunes about love, beaches, and cars. We know Today! and Pet Sounds are right around the corner.
Sneaked a vacation for the past couple of weeks, so squeezing two albums into rankings to catch up...
Preferred tempo of Little Deuce Coupe to Surfer Girl. Enjoyed quite a few tracks, but music felt a tiny bit repetitive and didn't quite reach the heights of some of their other albums. In terms of Shut Down Vol. 2, Don't Worry is obviously a gem but the rest of the album is fairly skippable.
I'd probably need to go back and revisit each album again and listen side by side to validate rankings (obviously missing something with Surfer Girl), but sticking with previous order until I do that:
1. Surfin’ Safari (1962)
2. Surfin' USA (1963)
3. Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
4. Surfer Girl (1963)
5. Shut Down Vol. 2 (1964)
We needed to grow. Up to this point we had milked every idea dry. We milked it fucking dry. We had done every possible angle about surfing and then we did the car routine. But we needed to grow artistically. - Brian Wilson on 1964.
I had quite the journey with this one. For the first 3 listens or so, I didn’t think this was really any better than Shut Down, Vol. 2. I was even going to entitle this write-up “The Sequel No One Asked For!” I’ll be honest, part of that may have been some Beach Boys fatigue setting in. I'm a nomadic music listener by habit so delving principally into ONE artist for weeks at a time might have been taking its toll. What can I say? I've got commitment issues. 🤣 BUT, it wasn’t all me. All Summer Long really does follow the same recipe as Shut Down, Vol 2. Let’s examine the ingredients and see for ourselves…
The "Shut Down, Vol. 2 - All Summer Long" Recipe
1) START with 2 unassailable Bangers < "Fun, Fun, Fun" & "Don't Worry Baby" c/w "I Get Around" & "All Summer Long">
2) ADD a Doo-Wop Cover from the 50s <"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" c/w "Hushabye">
3) Marinate with Instrumental Filler from a Brother Wilson < "Denny's Drums" c/w Carl's Big Chance">
4) Sprinkle a 4th Wall breaking Gag song that totally breaks up the flow 🧱 < " 'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson" c/w "Our Favorite Recording Sessions"
The difference this time? Better ingredients. AND, as any baker could tell you, timing! Brian at least waited until almost the end of the album to sprinkle in the flow killing Gag Song. 🙏
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
The Ranking: I largely agree with CADreamin. It’s an improvement but not a dramatic one. Same recipe, better ingredients. You can tell that Brian was able to take a bit more time with this one. As a result, it flows MUCH better than its predecessor. And the material was definitely an upgrade. With The Beatles breathing down his neck, Brian knew All Summer Long had to flow and sound better than Shut Down, and to his credit, it does.
The Rating: 😈😈😈
Rank 'Em: The Beach Boys
1. Surfin' USA (1963) 😈😈😈😈
2. Surfin’ Safari (1962) 😈😈😈😈
3. Surfer Girl (1963) 😈😈😈😈
4. All Summer Long (1964)😈😈😈
5. Little Deuce Coup (1963) 🤬🤬 1/2
6. Shut Down, Vol. 2 (1964)🤬🤬
Next up: NOT a Christmas album! It's still Summer! 😈
I'm going on a mini-vacation next week, so I decided to jump ahead with this listening project...
Repo wrote:
Next up: NOT a Christmas album! It's still Summer! :twisted:
Well, it is currently August but like it or not, The Beach Boys Christmas Album is up next. I've never heard any of this album before, and after one listen, I doubt I'll ever revisit it. Not because it's terrible. I'm not much of an Xmas music fan. And when tis the season, there are other holiday tunes I prefer. As for The Beach Boys, they used their casual, laid back style to their original Xmas songs. The tempos, riffs, vocals, and beats that we're used to hearing to songs about beaches, cars, and love, now we're hearing them to songs about Santa Claus. And his beard, and the toys he brings to children. It seems a little weird to me. I just don't feel the inspiration was there. I don't think it was there later in the album either when they started doing covers of more classical Xmas songs. However, I wonder if these cover songs marked a turning because this was when we started to hear the orchestra more. We hear the strings, brasses, and percussions on their covers of Blue Christmas, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and White Christmas, among others. It's a standard approach to Xmas music, but could these recording sessions got Brian thinking about how he could incorporate various instruments into his own music? If so, The Beach Boys Christmas Album was good for something. It doesn't do much for me, but I'd like to think it was still a step in a better direction.
..so I may just like this Beach Boys' one. BUT, there's just no way I could give it the proper love it deserves until at least late October. So, I'll shelve it until then.
All Summer Long has really messed with my head. Loved the more complex arrangements and the flow of the album, but now have the problem of where to rank it. Keeping with previous sequence, I'm going to squeeze it into third (one more killer track might have seen it rank higher).
1. Surfin’ Safari (1962)
2. Surfin' USA (1963)
3. All Summer Long (1964)
4. Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
5. Surfer Girl (1963)
6. Shut Down Vol. 2 (1964)
Please don't let me argue anymore
I won't make you worry like before
Can't remember what we fought about
Late, late last night we said it was over
But I remember when we thought it out
We both had a broken heart – "Kiss Me, Baby"
What happens AFTER the rush of that first kiss has faded? What happens AFTER the drive-in? Sure, making out & necking is fun and all, but eventually… things get… complicated. Messy, even. You see, since we’ve last met, our hero 😈 > Brian has fallen in love. And, as love often does, it’s messing with our dear boy’s head. Nine out of the eleven songs on Today! deal with relationship issues. (That’s right. I am completely ignoring the last track ("Bull Session...") even though it does remind me just a smidge of The Descendents “Weinerschnitzel.”) Jealousy and insecurity were driving him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. Luckily, Brian came up with a surefire solution to his conundrum– marriage! Problem solved! Right, gang? 😨
The Ranking: A proto-Baroque Pop masterpiece (& a clear influence on The Zombies). Easily one of the best albums of 1965, and right up there with whatever The Beatles, Dylan and The Byrds were doing. Written and recorded in the months just prior to Brian’s marriage to Marilynn Rovell in December 1964, when Brian was riddled by jealousy and anxiety; Today! sincerely and earnestly reflects on young love AFTER the initial glow of those first kisses and first dates has worn off and how absolutely confusing, frustrating, terrifying AND addicting it can all be.
We needed to grow. Up to this point we had milked every idea dry. We milked it fucking dry. We had done every possible angle about surfing and then we did the car routine. But we needed to grow artistically. - Brian Wilson on 1964.
I had quite the journey with this one. For the first 3 listens or so, I didn’t think this was really any better than Shut Down, Vol. 2. I was even going to entitle this write-up “The Sequel No One Asked For!” I’ll be honest, part of that may have been some Beach Boys fatigue setting in. I'm a nomadic music listener by habit so delving principally into ONE artist for weeks at a time might have been taking its toll. What can I say? I've got commitment issues. 🤣 BUT, it wasn’t all me. All Summer Long really does follow the same recipe as Shut Down, Vol 2. Let’s examine the ingredients and see for ourselves…
The "Shut Down, Vol. 2 - All Summer Long" Recipe
1) START with 2 unassailable Bangers < "Fun, Fun, Fun" & "Don't Worry Baby" c/w "I Get Around" & "All Summer Long">
2) ADD a Doo-Wop Cover from the 50s <"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" c/w "Hushabye">
3) Marinate with Instrumental Filler from a Brother Wilson < "Denny's Drums" c/w Carl's Big Chance">
4) Sprinkle a 4th Wall breaking Gag song that totally breaks up the flow 🧱 < " 'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson" c/w "Our Favorite Recording Sessions"
The difference this time? Better ingredients. AND, as any baker could tell you, timing! Brian at least waited until almost the end of the album to sprinkle in the flow killing Gag Song. 🙏
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
The Ranking: I largely agree with CADreamin. It’s an improvement but not a dramatic one. Same recipe, better ingredients. You can tell that Brian was able to take a bit more time with this one. As a result, it flows MUCH better than its predecessor. And the material was definitely an upgrade. With The Beatles breathing down his neck, Brian knew All Summer Long had to flow and sound better than Shut Down, and to his credit, it does.
The Rating: 😈😈😈
Rank 'Em: The Beach Boys
1. Surfin' USA (1963) 😈😈😈😈
2. Surfin’ Safari (1962) 😈😈😈😈
3. Surfer Girl (1963) 😈😈😈😈
4. All Summer Long (1964)😈😈😈
5. Little Deuce Coup (1963) 🤬🤬 1/2
6. Shut Down, Vol. 2 (1964)🤬🤬
Next up: NOT a Christmas album! It's still Summer! :twisted:
I'm a bit behind so I first (re)listened to this album. Strange that I already listened to it but haven't ranked it yet, maybe because again it only contains two tracks I really like.
First there's of course I Get Around which I compare a bit with (the song) Help! from The Beatles (although that one is from 1965). Certainly in the past I liked these two songs to pieces. They both have the harmonics that make my heart melt and this is one of my all-time favorites of the Beach Boys.
Little Honda is also one of those really good songs of them. Not one of my favorites but just very good.
Most of the other songs are ok and contain some good singing (especially the title track and Don't Back Down) but are not really great; and why did they have to include another one of those spoken word things.
So again an album which just isn't a masterpiece because it contains so much filler. But thx to I Get Around I just have to put this one at the first rank upto now:
1. All Summer Long
2. Surfin' USA
3. Surfer Girl
4. Little Deuce Coup
and the other ones not ranked.
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Repo
CA Dreamin
albummaster
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