It's About Time: Beach Boys Poll Results

33

Kiss Me, Baby - Today!
141 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoJ-yulhF8o

4 real this time

re: Today's cover photo - why are they hanging out by the pool in sweaters

since we already saw that one:

#32

Can't Wait Too Long - Rarity/Outtake
144 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHXGvDP8iLI

my #1

yeah this one was way up there for me as well, remember being totally knocked out the first time I heard it. Oddly, structurally it reminds me of that other legendary outtake "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number", with the different permutations on a single theme being strung together. Of course, the effect here is entirely different - less comical, alternately exuberant and meditative, and of course with better vocals

Damn, forgot how good that one was.

it's not hard to see how Brian felt overwhelmed by the prospect of stringing all these musical ideas together into a cohesive 40-minute LP during the Smile process. This one track has about 15 of them, and it's a mess, but an enjoyable mess.

Fun Fun Fun should have been top 10!

the weird thing is, by all accounts Can't Wait Too Long was written/constructed AFTER Smile had already crashed and burned

yay for can't wait too long!

woulda been my #1 too. had I voted :/

I'm collecting late/missed votes and showing the alt results when it's over, so you can still send one. someone else voted it high too, so that would potentially make it bizarro world top 20.

can't wait too long was my #2 i think. prefer the good vibrations box set version -- that opening! good lord.

Dom you didn't vote?! wtf

also I'm lazy and still haven't compiled the album results so it's not too late for anyone to officially vote for those

heh, that sounds like me at work.

"When's the ad deadline?"
"When do you want it to be?"

i know i know. it was a busy time when this was happening, and I just couldn't get it together. but maybe I can think about it today and come up w/something. also I'm lazy

can't wait too long needs you

it's a mess, but an enjoyable mess.
--skip

I've said it like 10 times on ilm but this song is straight stereolab

maybe not the bongos + shouty "baby you know that I/can't wait forever" part but yeah I definitely think the 'Lab took notes on this one

What instrument/effects are used for the bass that comes in at about 1:20?

I think this might have made my ballot if I'd done more research listening before voting. But it still felt like I listened to nothing but Beach Boys for a week!

What instrument/effects are used for the bass that comes in at about 1:20?

pretty basic - sounds like picked bass with a slapback echo/plate reverb on it to me

Anyone know why they abandoned this one after that much work on it, given how promising it was? I have to mentally shift the lyrics from the last part to the lushly-produced middle section for it to work as a song.

What instrument/effects are used for the bass that comes in at about 1:20?

Just sounds like regular old bass to me. If it's Carol Kaye, she played a P-Bass with pick and mute which leads to that plunky sound.

Can't wait to long also kind of reminds me of Child is Father to the Man in its structure. Instrumental parts + a minimal repeated lyrical riff of sorts.

IDG the stereolab connection though?

I know Brian liked to use a bass harmonica for that buzzy low sound sometimes, though this did sound like a bass guitar. I'm not a bassist so not familiar with common effects pedals or amp settings.

oh wait no I was thinking of Carol's bass tag at the end, sorry.

1:20 mark = I'm a little less sure what's going on, sounds like there might be Carol's standard P-bass pick + mute as well as a bass run through a fuzz/distortion channel? Fuzz just might be a guitar too though.

xp

didn't high llamas actually cover this at some point? am i making that up?

at 1:20 the bass line is also doubled with piano. that might be what you're talking about

IDG the stereolab connection though?

wordless vocals, droning two chord changes, multiple permutations of a single theme - these are things Stereolab did a lot of

xp

just noticed your screen name lol

Oh, and "Kiss Me Baby" amongst my higher picks - one of their best lyrics. The second verse is especially devastating - so many mood shifts in such a short space - "As I drove away I felt a tear/it hit me I was losing someone dear/Told my folks I would be alright/tossed and I turned, my head was so heavy/Then I wondered as it got light/were you still awake like me?"

Spectacular!

Not the clean plucked bass, but the fuzzy bass or thick stringed guitar on the right channel, also prominent at 1:54 - 2:04

didn't high llamas actually cover this at some point? am i making that up?
--Dominique

I think you are cause I feel like i would have come across that at some point in my life. I hope you aren't, tho.

iirc they did anna lee the healer

i don't think the high llamas have done it, though i hear more of them than stereolab here.

Hey - I've been at a festival - did I miss everything?!

haters, i'm the one who voted for Barbara Ann. and I did know it's a cover - but it's just so fun! Great dancing song. I like the Beach Boys when they urge me to dance. The beauty of the write-in poll!

#31

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beach_boys_surfin%27_usa.PNG

Surfin' USA - Surfin' USA
146 points, 6 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwU30Cw5q8

classic. even with overexposure, still sounds fresh/fun to me.
bonus: my hometown mentioned in this song.

It's instructive comparing this to, say, "Hey Little Cobra" by the Rip Chords or "GTO" by Ronny & the Daytonas. This may sound kind of stale nowadays (disagree, but you could make that argument) but it's head and shoulders above pretty much any pure surf vocal track I can think of. With the possible exception of Surfin' Bird :)

the Chuck Berry lift doesn't hurt either

does berry get royalties on this song? doesn't seem like he'd hesitate to sue.

According to wiki he did just that:

"Berry received co-writing credit for composing the song after litigating."

it's a total bite, Berry very justified imho

yeah i suppose he deserves credit -- wilson adds quite a bit though, doesn't he?

re: Smile vs Smiley Smile versions of Wind Chimes/Wonderful - I'll take the creepy Autumnal Smiley Smile vershes every time.

Not the clean plucked bass, but the fuzzy bass or thick stringed guitar on the right channel, also prominent at 1:54 - 2:04

aha, I hear what you mean now