NO? YOU DO BETTER.

A couple years ago, the stepdad of my girlfriend asked me to meet him for dinner.  I suspected a sort of "man to man" sort of discussion, being that he was moving several hundred miles north and this would be our last one-on-one conversation before he left town.  It was the sort of thing that a younger me would have dreaded, but in this case, we'd always got along, and although our worlds were quite different, we had common ground in music.  Before we had ever met, I heard a three CD compilation he'd made for one of his high school reunions, mostly fifties stuff, and it was apparent that he knew his shit.  So, if conversation ever slowed (which it rarely did with him) I could always drag out a question of the "back in the day" variety.  After we chowed down (The Barbeque House in Ocean Beach, CA, thank you very much), he asked me to walk him to his car, so I obliged.  Once there he opened it up, and there were a couple boxes of records.  It was his record collection from over years, going back to original LPs by Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly.  He was giving them to me.  It was such a.generous gesture, I was nearly speechless.  After flipping through them, just before parting, I thought to ask him a question that any music lover would find hard to answer.  I asked him what his favorite album of all time was.  Without hesitation, and not knowing enough of my taste to know whether I held it in high regard, he answered "Pet Sounds."  I was flabbergasted.    

Brian Wilson performing Smile, live.  The whole thing. This is amazing.  Skip to 22:30 and watch "Surf's Up".  It's four and a half minutes of brilliance.

All of this came flooding back today when I was listing to Pet Sounds Revisited, a track-by-track compilation of covers of the entire Pet Sounds LP by different artists.  It came with the latest Mojo magazine, with several articles, including the cover story, about the Beach Boys.  So, here's some Beach Boys stuff, most from their what I consider their prime, 1966-1971.  A few things to note: "Good Vibrations" is from the original Smile sessions, a slightly different version then was released back in the day.  Oh, check out the "Unknown Harmony" thing, even if you have to go to the hosting blog to do so (they sometimes disable direct linking).  It's mindblowing how other-worldly their voices sound without music or lyrics.

It's remarkable that they were where they were creatively, especially when you consider that three of the members, the most talented, were subjected to abusive behavior from their father, and were further handicapped by being related, as cousins, to the biggest asshole ever to walk upright.  (Okay, Hitler was worse.)  On that note, here is some beautiful music.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations mp3 at No Genre
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (rehearsal) mp3 at Electric Adolescence 
The Beach Boys - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times mp3 at Music For Ants 
The Beach Boys - Surf's Up mp3 at Music For Ants 
The Beach Boys - Feel Flows mp3 at Immerse 
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice mp3 at Review Stalker 
The Beach Boys - Unknown Harmony (1968) mp3 at Aquarium Drunkard May disable direct linking.  If so, go there to get it. 
Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney - God Only Knows (live) (streaming) at YouTube From a 2002 benefit for Adopt-A-Minefield 
Covers: 
Sonic Youth - I Know There's An Answer mp3 at Cover Me 
Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her - You Still Believe In Me mp3 at Cover Me 
Thurston Moore - Here Today mp3 at Cover Me 
Pet Sounds covers - The whole shooting match at Cover Me Not the Mojo comp, a whole other set. 
Oddball: 
Wilco/Beach Boys - That's Not War (mash-up) mp3 at Indie Shuffle 
Video: 
The Beach Boys - The Long Promised Road (1971) at YouTube Surf's Up LP promo.  Carl's got something going on too.  Symbolic foot washing, strange dancing, chest beating = weirdness. 
Brian Wilson talks about "Good Vibrations" at YouTube 
Brian Wilson talks drugs with Mike Douglas (1976) at YouTube 
Visit: 
Pet Sounds Liner Notes at Beach Boys Fan Club 
Pet Sounds Track Notes at Beach Boys Fan Club