Smile (Beach Boys album) Puns

It is lofi and it was recorded in a living room, and there isnt much mention of cars and surfing

Can the term Lo-Fi be applied to music before the term existed?

From what I’ve read the term Lo-Fi got coined in 1986, so there’s a camp of people who believe lo-fi only applies to music after 1986 and not anything before. I’ve argued that Stevie Moore (godfather of lo-fi) has been around since 1970 and lo-fi has been around since the 1950s. They don’t seem to budge and think it’s a movement and not a style of production.

Here’s the thread for anyone curious https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread/787382?utm_campaign=user-mention&utm_medium=pm&page=1&utm_source=relationship#7813993

More specifically, I like the quiet and understated pieces like With Me Tonight, Meant for You, and Be Still along with the Hawai'ian inspired tunes like Little Pad, Passing By, and Diamond Head.

Surf's Up for me.

I’ve recently found that several different albums by the band just really fit in certain life moments for me. I figured I’d put together a little list of albums and the moments that they fit. I won’t be listing every album, just the ones that I’ve found fit at certain times. I would also love to hear from anyone else about what albums they find fit in certain moments of their own lives!

Pet Sounds - Crying, just kidding, this album fits anywhere anytime. it’s perfect all around!

Smiley Smile - perfect for laying around at home, particularly on a rainy or calm day.

Wild Honey - I’ve found this album is great for car rides with family or anyone who digs good music, the title track and Darlin are enough to make it enjoyable for a casual fan while the whole album is great for anyone who listens to the boys more than the average person.

Friends - Another great chilling at home album but I also think this album is amazing for walks on the beach or even just around your neighborhood. Gives off great happy and relaxing vibes.

Sunflower - This album fits very well at anytime, driving, relaxing, with other people, etc. It’s a great album and it’s always a good listen. It’s one of my go to albums while playing video games, along side Love You, Brian Wilson 88, and Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin.

Surf’s Up - Something about this album just really fits while doing some yard work. I think it’s just fits well with being outside and keeping busy by getting stuff done, whether it be mowing the lawn or laying down mulch.

Holland - Another album that fits with almost anything. It’s one of my favorites to listen to while driving but it’s also awesome while at home relaxing or working outside. Great album and one of my favorites to listen to no matter where I am or what I’m doing.

Love You - As I said before I usually like listening to this while playing video games but it’s also great for driving as well. I really like this albums except for I Wanna Pick You Up, besides that song it’s a great listen all the way through for me.

Adult/Child - This might be kinda weird but this album is awesome while cooking. Life is for the Living is a great opener that just fills you with energy. The album ranges in energy from fast paced and happy to slow and sad but it’s a great listen all the way through especially on an early morning.

That’s all I have for now, obviously I’ve listened to many of the other albums that haven’t been listed but I just haven’t found what moments

So I was on a 16 hour car trip this week and what would I do other than listen to the boys for the entire time. Anyhow, I listened to every album from Surfin’ Safari all the way up to Love You (some even more than once) and decided to compile what I believe to be the top 3 songs on each album, I will obviously highlight some of the ones that just didn’t cut and am welcome to suggestions of what to change. Also keep in mind that this is mostly my opinion so when Till I Die doesn’t make it on Surfs Up or something like that, don’t have an aneurysm. Anyhow, hope you enjoy!!

(Track order is loosely ranked, I’ll put an “S” next to the ones that are for sure my #1s, oh and 4 = Honorable Mention)

Surfin’ Safari:

1. Surfin’ “S”
2. Surfin Safari
3. Heads You Win, Tails I Lose
4. Little Girl, I suppose

Surfin’ USA:

1. The Lonely Sea “S”
2. Farmers Daughter
3. Surfin’ U.S.A.
4. Honestly I’m quite partial to Let’s Go Trippin even though it’s a cover of Dick Dale

Surfer Girl (this one was hella tough):

1. Surfer Moon
2. Surfer Girl
3. In My Room
4. Your Summer Dream (def my hardest cut out of all Pre-Today albums)

Little Deuce Coupe:

1. Ballad of Ole’ Betsy “S”
2. Custom Machine
3. Car Crazy Cutie
4. Be True to Your School (The single version is better, fight me)

Shut Down Vol. 2:

1. The Warmth of the Sun
2. Don’t Worry Baby
3. Keep and Eye on Summer
4. “Cassius” Love Vs. “Sonny” Wilson is goated and you can’t make me disagree

All Summer Long:

1. I Get Around
2. We’ll Run Away
3. Girls on the Beach
4. All Summer Long (Tough cut, especially since it’s in American Graffiti)

Christmas Album:

1. Little Saint Nick (OBVIOUSLY) “S”
2. I’ll be Home For Christmas (super super great, if LSN didn’t exist this would be an easy #1)
3. He’s the Man With All the Toys
4. Frosty the Snowman

Today! :

1. In the Back of My Mind
2. She Knows Me Too Well
3. Kiss Me Baby
4. I’m So Young (kinda hot take but whatever)

Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!):

1. You’re So Good to Me (I want to put an “S” here but California Girls is too damn good for me to be sure)
2. California Girls
3. Summer Means New Love
4. Let Him Run Wild, Hell Me Rhonda, The Girl From New York City (Damn LHRW is a hard cut)

I confess, I do NOT like Party! So I skipped it...

Pet Sounds:

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Prob my fav song but LGAFA is prob #2 all time so it’s too close to give an “S”)
2. Let’s Go Away for Awhile
3. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
4. I’m Waiting for the Day, God Only Knows, Pet

Just started getting into The Beach Boys since early December and have become addicted to listening to them and learning about them. I'm even writing a novel loosely inspired by Pet Sounds. At first, Pet Sounds was by far my favourite, but now I think Surf's Up is definitely the best. Even Smiley Smile has a brilliant rawness to it.

What's your favourite album by them?

We all the know the Beach Boys released so much quality material but the albums didn't necessarily reflect this as there were too many releases ( 3 Studio Albums in a year! Can you imagine a modern group doing that?) So I've done an exercise and combined these all into all killer no filler 13 track LP's one release per year. Let me know what you think!

1962 Rather than release an LP you have Surfin' Safari and Surfin' as a Double A Side

1963 Surfin' USA album

1. Surfin' USA
2. 409
3. Lonely Sea
4. Farmer's Daugher
5. Shut Down
6. Little Deuce Coup
7. Be True to Your School
8. Surfer Girl
9. In My Room
10. Catch a Wave
11. Hawaii
12. The Surfer Moon
13. Your Summer Dream

1964 All Summer Long Album

1. Fun Fun Fun
2. Don't Worry Baby
3. The Warmth of The Sun
4. Why Do Fools Fall In Love
5. Keep an Eye on Summer
6. I Get Around
7. All Summer Long
8. Hushabye
9. Little Honda
10. Wendy
11. Girls on The Beach
12. Drive In
13. Don't Back Down

1965 California Girls Album

1. Do You Wanna Dance
2. When I Grow Up to Be A Man
3. Help Me Rhonda
4. Girl Don't Tell Me
5. California Girls
6. Let Him Run Wild
7. The Little Girl I Once Knew
8. You're So Good To Me
9. Please Let Me Wonder
10. I'm So Young
11. Kiss Me Baby
12. She Knows Me Too Well
13. In the Back Of My Mind

1966 Pet Sounds

1967 Smile

1968 Wild Honey Album

1. Wild Honey
2. Aren't You Glad
3. Country Air
4. A Thing or Two
5. Darlin'
6. Here Comes The Night
7. Let The Wind Blow
8. Meant For You
9. Friends
10. When A Man Needs a Woman
11. Little Bird
12. Can't Wait Too Long
13. Busy Doin' Nothin

1969 Breakaway Album

1. Do It Again
2. I Can Hear Music
3. Breakaway
4. Be With Me
5. Time to Get Alone
6. I Went to Sleep
7. Cottonfields
8. Sail Plane Song
9. All I Want To Do
10. Celebrate The News
11. We're Together Again
12. Walk On By
13. Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River

1970 This Whole World Album

1. Slip on Through
2. This Whole World
3. Add Some Music to Your Day
4. All I Wanna Do
5. Forever
6. Our Sweet Love
7. Wouldn't It Be Nice (To Live Again)
8. Don't Go Near the Water
9. Long Promised Road
10. Disney Girls (1957)
11. Feel Flows
12. A Day in the Life of a Tree
13. Til I Die

I know it's gonna take a while to say all your favorite songs but we are in quarantine and I am just interested in seeing your insight.

I know this has been done many times, but I finally have gotten into enough material to have an opinion so I wanted to share and compare with you all!

1. Pet Sounds

2. Smiley Smile*

3. Love You

4. Today!

5. Friends

Honorable Mention: Surfer Girl

*if Smile Sessions counts, I might need to replace SS with it mainly because it has Surfs Up and the mama says part of Vegetables. I do love the SS vibe though.

I'm mainly speaking in terms of the mix and master and how it was produced (arrangement and instrumentation).

Personally, Mark Linnet's stereo mix of Kiss Me Baby is fantastic sounding. The instrumentation and vocals are very clear, and when the chorus hits, you can really feel the power in the Wall of Sound.

Honestly that single mix sounds better than even most of the mixes on the Pet Sounds.

after pet sounds, brian wilson was working on what was supposed to be an even better album, called smile. he had a mental breakdown and it was only just released, a few years ago, about 40 years after the recordings broke down. maybe frank's second album just doesn't happen. another example: ralph ellison couldn't finish a novel after Invisible Man, because of perfectionism and being overwhelmed by the legacy of that novel. maybe he just can't deal with releasing/finishing it? maybe the only new frank we get is 40 years from now? how's THAT for an L

I have fallen in love over and over again with the harmonies and the incredible arrangements from this album. Additionally, it is a "lost" album that spawned many bootlegs and stories detailing a work that was miles ahead of its time.

My pick is Love You. While the lyrics can be very cheesy at times and the vocal performances are not 100% stellar, it's a really creative and fun record that took me at least 10 listens before I started to really like it.

I know this has been discussed before, but I would like to get some actual numbers, so I've created a Google poll.

I included all 29 released studio albums as well as SMiLE and Adult/Child here. For each album you can vote for either liking or disliking it. I know you might think an album is just okay/be caught somewhere in the middle, but I really wanted to make this a black-and-white thing. If you're not leaning to either side, just vote by whether you think the album is over- or underrated (overrated->Dislike; underrated->Like). If you still can't decide or just haven't listened to an album yet, you don't have to answer. You are free to just rate some of the albums.

Give me your opinions on the albums here!

Hi, I’m looking for the 1993 bootleg of Smile by The Beach Boys (ST-9002). Willing to negotiate on price. Does anybody have this/know where I can get it? Any help on this would be great! Thanks.

Mine would probably be SMiLE Sessions or Sunflower

Doesn't need to be in any particular order.

Almost a year ago I posted this and it's that time of year again. For those who remember, yes I did change one song, the sequencing, and decided to give each side a "title"

I'll go into each song but I won't post a download link (mostly because I don't know how)

Title: The Beach Boys' Scare You

Side 1: Charlie Says (length 13:42)

1. Hey Little Tomboy - the infamous song from MIU (or Adult Child, if you're a purist); it's now the new opener because it does have some commercial value but the lyrics are questionable to say the least
2. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow) - from The SMiLE Sessions; some of you might remember this was on my Psychedelic album too. Normally, I'm not into having songs overlap - there should be enough content in their entire discography to make a 12 track album - but damned if this song isn't at least slightly disconcerting (and it did win a Grammy after all)
3. Wonderful - in mono from Smiley Smile; normally I'm the one leading the charge for the stereo mixes because that's my listening preference but I find the separation diminishes the weirdness. I've always had this bookending a playlist about a girl who runs away from home and gets into drugs, so I guess that's why it's here
4. She's Going Bald - again from Smiley Smile; this is such a weird track
5. Never Learn Not to Love - from 20/20; I'm always bothered by this song, mostly due to the fact that's it's written by Charles Manson
6. New Song - from the new Wake the World: The Friends Sessions; if we think of side one as a narrative too, we have coercion, inebriate, seduction, addiction, submission, and now it's whatever Charlie says... I'm really dark, oh my God. The next side is much more lighthearted, I promise

Side 2: Gloomy Days (and Spooky Nights!!) [length 14:41]

1. Monster Mash (Live) - from Beach Boys Concert (1964); all I did was put a fade on the end and reduced the volume from being, like, 100 decibels (because man the 1990 remaster is a loud album)
2. My Solution - this is the only bootleg I'll ever put on one of these fan albums I post (usually for quality reasons). Brain tried his hand at a novelty song and it's really weird, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlBJq1W-pOw
3. Dead Man's Curve - this is a Jan & Dean song from their album Dead Man's Curve / The New Girl In School; hey, it's not a party without Jan and Dean
4. **Fa

Phew, that was one head-to-head race. For the first two days, Little Saint Nick was actually losing by one vote. Sadly, the tide turned and Blue Christmas was voted out by three votes. View the results

Now we'll get on to my second favorite Beach Boys album behind only Pet Sounds. As for the polls, we're including Mt. Vernon and Fairway as one song, and we will be treating the California Saga as three seperate tracks. Mt. Vernon Results; California Saga Results

Vote Here

Previous Results

Just a bit of a thought - lets say you went out to build houses for the poor in the Andes, and you could only bring one CD.

The internet and cell doesn't work (satellite phone only) - which album would you bring?

edit

Because I know it will come up, NO BOX SETS! (Twofers ok)

In sure this thread has been made thousands of time. Yes, I listened to pet sounds and got my mind blown; had no idea the “wouldn’t it be nice if were together” guys had that in them. (‘Ever was a huge fan of that song but since hearing it in context of the album I love it)

I’ve skimmed a few other albums’ first few tracks and haven’t had my ear grabbed too hard, but I’m currently listening to smile sessions and so far I’m loving it.

Now even though I haven’t listened to much of their discography I’m sure there’s not another “pet sounds” in it, but to the people who loved that album, what are your other favorites?

If it helps any the reason I love pet sounds so much is the juxtaposition of the music and the writing. I’ve never heard writing that so powerfully changed how I perceived the instrumentation. If you’re just mindlessly listening to it you’d think it’s cheery music, but once you catch a little of that darkness, those harmonies and melodies aren’t so happy anymore

Can the term Lo-Fi be applied to music before the term existed?

From what I’ve read the term Lo-Fi got coined in 1986, so there’s a camp of people who believe lo-fi only applies to music after 1986 and not anything before. I’ve argued that Stevie Moore (godfather of lo-fi) has been around since 1970 and lo-fi has been around since the 1950s. They don’t seem to budge and think it’s a movement and not a style of production.

Here’s the thread for anyone curious https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread/787382?utm_campaign=user-mention&utm_medium=pm&page=1&utm_source=relationship#7813993

Very tough choice but I’d have to go with

1. Pet Sounds
2. 20/20
3. Today!
4. Smile
5. Friends