Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (studio album) by The Beach Boys

From Jboy56 02/04/2022 11:35

Two CLASSIC songs, the others seem to be from the BB factory, nothing particular to be remembered.

Para mí, el mejor disco de los Beach Boys anterior a Pet Sounds. Help Me Rhonda y California Girls son clásicos absolutos.

From 2nd-Impressions 10/04/2020 00:00

67/100

Best tracks: Then I Kissed Her, Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, And Your Dreams Come True
Worst tracks: Salt Lake City, Girl Don't Tell Me, Let Him Run Wild, I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man

Sure theres a some garbage on this album (Ex: tracks 2 & 4) but it still has a lot of great music!

From Tamthebam 02/21/2017 00:18

One of their better albums obviously it seems out of sequence with it coming after the Today album which was a big step forward for them. But this in its own right stands out from their early albums some really great songs You're So Good to Me & California Girls stand out along with this first version of Help me Rhonda.

After the cohesive album statement of Today!, The Beach Boys lowered their artistic standards with Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!). Released just months after Today!, it’s a curious mixture of inconsequential material with bizarre lyrical preoccupations (amusement parks, Salt Lake City), and absolutely brilliant pieces of music that were Wilson’s best yet.

Tracks 5-9 are a must-hear. Everything else is standard early Beach Boys fare

The general consensus that this album is regressive after the creative leap of the, today, album, is slightly misleading. It features some of the beach boys most forward thinking moments. The most famous off course is the brilliant, California girls, the intro is stunning. The non vocal, summer means new love, has hints of the pet sounds instrumentals to come. There's some underrated stuff here like, the folk rock of, girl don't tell me, the best version of, help me Rhondda, and, let him run wild. Amusement parks USA is silly, but fun, and, salt lake city, is enjoyable. You're so good to me, is a strong track too. Maybe the most interesting track, at least lyrically, is Brian's, I'm bugged at my ole man. It's done in a kind of spontaneous jokey way, but knowing of his tempestuous relationship with his father, Murry, is does sound a little unsettling, like it's a little close to the bone. Summer days, is an uneven album as a whole, compared with what came before, and what's to come after,(discounting the party! album), still, like most of their records, it's fun.

The first of what I consider the "golden" records. A taste of what was to come.

Girl Don't Tell Me is easily in my top 10 Beach Boys tracks...love it! Summer Days (and nights) is not as good as Today but make no mistake, we're getting into Beach Boys gold here.