SAVE THE HOOPLA ABOUT CHANGING COLORS

This is the third time I've posted this thematic trio in the past five years. I guess I always get lazy at the end of the summer. Exhaling. Actually, the next month is usually the most enjoyable of the year. The weather's usually good, the water temperature cooling but not yet cold. We'll get Santa Ana conditions, hot and dry with offshore breezes. Tourists gone, kids back in school. If we could repeat the month between mid-September and mid-October for the entire year I'd be just fine.  

 

I know. You don't come here for a weather report. Here's the three end of summer songs. One from a Southern California band, one from a UK pop singer and one from an East coast vocal group, all of similar vintage (the sixties). I still don't get this seasons thing.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long mp3 at The Pop History Dig
Dusty Spingfield - Summer Is Over mp3 at Tumblr
The Drifters - Sand In My Shoes mp3 at R Strathdee (?)

"ARE YOU THAT DRUNK?" ASKED HIS SON

If you know the history of the Beach Boys, you may know that the Murry Wilson, (father of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl) was an abusive, over controlling father. Frustrated over his own lack of success in music, he took it out on his sons. He may have had veiled good intentions, but when he got pissed, he really let go, doing all sorts of incredibly cruel shit. Things like taking out his false eye and making Brian look at the empty eye socket. Once he got so pissed off at Brian, that he hit him upside the head (with a piece of lumber, if memory serves), so hard that he became deaf in one ear. So it was a strained relationship, to say the least. As with many abusive parents, the dynamic changes as the child ages. Some children handle it well, and take it stride. When the Beach Boys were riding high, they became less submissive, and actually started to stand up for themselves. And, thanks to the trend of releasing every outtake and fart ever recorded in a studio, you can hear the Wilson family dynamic as the boys started to realize that they may in fact have the upper hand. So, with no further ado, here are two mp3s of the night a drunk Murry Wilson tried to commandeer the recording session for "Help Me Rhonda." The first version is 40 minutes long, admittedly a little much, even for a Beach Boys freak. The other is a twelve minute edit with the highlights.

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Murry Wilson butts in (40 min version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Murry Wilson butts in (12 min version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Beach Boys - Help Me Rhonda mp3 at Internet Archive

BRIAN, NO

The other night I was out in the alley having a smoke and reading a few pages of a book and noticed a young woman having a smoke across from me,. We got to chatting and after a few minutes I introduced myself. (Relax, I do that with anybody that I have a decent conversation with, particularly if the possibility exists that I'll see them again at some point. I'm the friendly asshole of the neighborhood. The chit chat dude.) Her name was Caroline.

As I do when I meet someone, to remember their name I try to associate it with a song. The obvious one for Caroline was "Caroline, No" by the Beach Boys. The closing track on Pet Sounds. So, after formal introductions I asked Caroline if she'd ever heard "Caoline, No" and she hadn't. She only vaguely recognized the name the Beach Boys (I did say young woman). I told her that it was a song I'd use to remember her name and that it was a beautiful song, "forget all about that 'Surfing USA' stuff," yadda yada, yadda, look it up on YouTube. When I got back inside I went to look for it online, because I couldn't find my CD. In doing so, I ran across "Smart Girls". Have you heard this stinker? A rap record by Brian Wilson. It's awful. Rejected by his record company for good reason. It's the worst thing he's ever done. The worst rap-related piece of corn I've ever heard. It was done at the insistence of his then over-controlling shrink, Eugene Landy. True. It also involved Matt Dyke, DJ and a principal of Delicious Vinyl. He had some sort of affiliation with the Beastie Boys around the time of Paul's Boutque, but whatever cred he had from that, as far as I'm concerned, is negated by this piece of shit. He really ought to be ashamed. He should have known better than to enable this nonsense.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Caroline, No (alt. take) mp3 at Big O Zine
Brian Wilson - Smart Girls mp3 at Beware of the Blog

THE HONEY-DO LIST STRIKES AGAIN

This sucker is so breezy I could just about vomit. Spring was a duo, Brian Wilson's wife Marilyn with her sister Diane Rovell. The song was produced by Brian Wilson, with assorted Beach Boys on backing vocals which is what keeps it on its breezy keel. The melody is partially borrowed from the Beach Boys' "Darlin'", so, yeah, there is more than enough indication that this never would have been committed to tape if it wasn't for their involvement. Spring's own vocals aren't the smoothest, which is oddly the one thing I like most about it. All the smooth stuff is done by the husband's band, the production, everything. Substandard (by Beach Boys standards) lead vocals keep it real. As real as it can be with one of the greatest producers of all time, and some of the best harmony vocals of all time, involved.

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Listen:
Spring - Thinkin' Bout You Baby mp3 at Don't Stay Up Too Late

BRIAN WILSON'S EPIC FART

Unrelated photo of Wilson, because it's cool.

Last night when I was hunting for clips from The Endless Summer, I ran into a song of the same name by some hip hop dude named G-Eazy. What the hell, I wasn't doing anything, so I gave it a listen. It didn't really grab me, but it was relatively imaginative with the unlikely sampling of the Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations", and not just a snippet. The song was pretty much built around it. You knew it was going to happen, all the cross genre sampling that's gone on for what, like thirty years? At least since Afrika Bambaataa started dropping Kraftwerk. But, as much as it is only so-so as a hip hop song, I came away with two things. One was a line in it :"I chopped up the Beach Boys and made it 'to a jam, cuz everything I'm not made me everything I am", That last part is killer. "Everything I'm not made me everything I am." Hell yeah, I can dig that.

The other thing I thought about is how far hip-hop has come, in general. Though I'm sure it's been done more than once before G-Eazy's lightweight jam, the only other rap song I've heard that sampled the Beach Boys was Brian Wilson's unreleased 1991 turd "Smart Girls". It's a Beach Boys fail, a Brian Wilson fail, and a rap fail all in one. Quite possibly the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. Though, to be fair, it's likely Eugene Landy's fault. He was Wilson's doctor at the time, completely domineering. He took over Wilson's life, feeding him pills and bad ideas. He is a permanent resident of the shit list.

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Listen:
G-Eazy - Endless Summer (streaming) at YouTube
Brian Wilson - Smart Girls (streaming) at YouTube

YOU WILL HATE THIS OR YOU WILL LOVE THIS

If you don't know the Beach Boys music beyond Pet Sounds and their early hits, then you're likely not to know "Feel Flows", which was Carl Wilson's baby. He co-wrote it, he sang it, and, among other instruments, he played the wicked fuzz. It's about as psychedelic as they ever got. Fuzz and flute going off at the same time? How could that possibly work? Somehow it does.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Feel Flows mp3 at Immerse (?)

BUGGIN' USA

"When I was with Canned Heat in the mid-1970s, we toured with the Beach Boys (minus Brian). Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston were friendly, Carl was friendly but quiet, Dennis was always on us to share our stash and Mike Love was a complete dick."

That's from a comment left on a post at Facebook a while back, by Gene Taylor, who you might know as the pianist for the Blasters. Been saving that one.

Time for more Beach Boys crap. This time exorcising the bad and the ugly. Started out with the awful remix of "Wouldn't It Be Nice". This is technology enabled Mike Love level douchbaggery. Listen to it if you dare. If you need a chaser, the original is down there too.

Another thing is a recent Mike Love profile at Rolling Stone, which I haven't bothered to read. I'm not going there. Let's just say that my opinion is so locked in, that even if that article said we've had him all wrong all along, and his contributions are underappreciated, I'd still think he's an asshole. I don't care. Even his minor infractions land him on that list.

Also at Rolling Stone, a couple cuts I hadn't heard. Outtakes from the Party LP, covers of Dylan's "The Times They Are A- Changin'" and the Beatles' "Tell Me Why". They were recorded during the same live-in-studio fake party session that produced their cover of the Regents' "Barbara Ann". So, yeah, they suck as bad as that one.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Justin Caruso Remix) (streaming) at Soundcloud Awful
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice mp3 at Review Stalker
The Beach Boys - The Times They Are A-Changin', and Tell Me Why (streaming) at Rolling Stone Bad
Visit:
The Ballad of Mike Love at Rolling Stone See earlier comments.
Much more Beach Boys in the old posts Scroll down.

SPRAY TAN ROCK

Hey, I don't know where you are but, in my parts, today is the last day of summer. Sort of. I'm in Southern California. Fall colors here are radiant sunsets. September and October are the warmest, driest, and sunniest months. The ocean is at it's warmest. The crowds are gone. Shit, what's not to like?

I try to stay away from thematic posts, because a similar theme rarely means a common musical thread. The closest thing to a thread with these is that they're all great songs. They may not have the same feel, but they're all about the end of summer, or lack thereof. Dig the Dusty cut. She wins this one.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long mp3 at The Pop History Dig
The Doors - Summer's Almost Gone (streaming) at YouTube
Dusty Spingfield - Summer Is Over mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Drifters - Sand In My Shoes (streaming) at YouTube
The Sandals - The Endless Summer mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Bonus:
The Sandals - The Endless Summer (film soundtrack) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Twelve songs

THE RECORD IS BETTER

You may remember the BBC commercial from a few years back, a version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" with Reed and about two dozen other artists. They've just made another commercial utilizing the same formula. This one is "God Only Knows", the Beach Boys song from Pet Sounds, written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher. (In case you've been living under a rock, Pet Sounds is a 1966 album that Brian Wilson created while the rest of the Beach Boys were on tour. Their vocals were added after all of the grunt work by Wilson and the Wrecking Crew was done,)  Wilson is in the video, along with Pharrell Williams, Elton John, Lorde, Chris Martin, Florence Welch, Stevie Wonder, Brian May, Chrissie Hynde, Baaba Maal, Dave Grohl and a bunch of others that, presumably, are better known in the UK then they are here. (The full cast is listed at the BBC.). As well done as the video is, and as well written as the song is, can it really be a fully realized interpretation if it doesn't employ Wilson's production? I mean, come on, that's part and parcel of its epicness. It may be part of some future "Great American Songbook" but what it really is, is a great American record. As in the original version, the context in which it was created. Sure, trying to add current relevance is well intended, but is it timeless? The record is.

What amazes me the most is that the song was written forty eight years ago, and Wilson is still around. Without gushing too much (dude's one of few that can get me gushing), it reminds me how lucky we are that he has survived, against all odds, and still performs. There was a time when Wilson all but checked out due to psychiatric and health problems. Even when he started to recover, it was under the watch of Eugene Landy, a controlling shrink fond of keeping him heavily medicated. That Wilson was able to break free of Landy's control is a story in itself. Which reminds me, there's a biopic of Wilson that covers that, as well as the boy genius years. It's Love and Mercy and it just debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. It's got John Cusak cast as the older Wilson, and Paul Dano, (the son in Little Miss Sunshine) as the younger Wilson. A review from the Los Angeles Times seems to be positive enough that it may be worth seeing.

Rather than continuing to stray all over the place, I'll just duck out now. Here's the original version of "God Only Knows" (remastered in stereo), along with a rehearsal take. There's also a couple annotated videos about the recording of the original, with audio from the sessions featuring the Wrecking Crew. You fiends ought to dig that.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows mp3 at Illustr
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (rehearsal) mp3 at Electric Adolescence
More Brian Wilson stuff in past posts (scroll down)
Video:
Behind The Sounds: God Only Knows Part 1 at YouTube About the original, audio from the sessions.
Behind The Sounds: God Only Knows Part 2 at YouTube
The Making of the BBC's "God Only Know" video at BBC
Visit:
God Only Knows - Wikipedia entry
Love and Mercy - Review at L.A. Times

THE WELL MEANING DICKHEAD

If you're into the Beach Boys enough to go beyond their discography, you know who Murry Wilson is. He was the father of Brian. Carl and Dennis Wilson, and he was a bit of an asshole. Though some of his behavior could be written off as well intended, you don't exactly get the Father of the Year award for hitting your son upside the head with a two by four. And that's just one incident. But even the victim in that incident, Brian Wilson, has acknowledged his fathers influence on his initial interest in music. But you cannot, as a dad, coast on that. You can't be going around swinging slabs of wood at your family. It's been a while since I've read Brian Wilson's autobiography, Wouldn't It Be Nice, but I remember coming away from it thinking Murry Wilson was a complete dick.

Beach Boys minutia nuts, this might interest you. Ten Murry Wilson related songs at Probe Is Turning-On the People (scroll down to "Session 496 - The Moody Moods of Murry Wilson); some he wrote, some he released under his own name, and a couple he wrote and produced for the Sunrays, a Beach Boys soundalike band. It's a slow download, but not painful, ten songs in a zip.

If that's too much hassle, you can listen to a shnockered Murry Wilson dropping by the recording studio to provide his unsolicited advice during the recording of "Help Me Rhonda". Oh, the hilarity that ensues. You gotta know all of the annoying and abusive behavior of Murry Wilson had a butterfly effect. I swear to God, if you listen closely, you can hear six Wilson you-know-whats drop all at once. Though, if that were the case they'd have to be called the Beach Men, and that just wouldn't work at all.

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Listen:
The Moody Moods of Murry Wilson - Ten mp3s in a zip at Probe Is Turning-On the People NOTE: Scroll down to "Session 496"
Murry Wilson butts in (12 min version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Murry Wilson butts in (40 minute version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Visit:
Murry Wilson at Wikipedia

AMBITION: BLOW MINDS

Earlier today I read something about some old hardened 78 collector being transformed when one of his favorite old slabs was playing. "Experiencing ecstasy" is what it actually said. A bunch of songs can do that to me, or get close. While not necessarily ecstasy, they can turn me into an old softie. One that came to mind was "Surf's Up", from the Beach Boys album of the same name. It was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks in 1966, originally for the Smile LP, but that album was never completed. (Not back then anyways.) The song was finished for the later album, Surf's Up, in 1971. That's the first version below. The second version below is a demo. There are a few other versions, notably one on a Brian Wilson solo album in 2004, and another patched together with tapes from the original Smile sessions. Check this video, a live version by Brian Wilson. It's just plain awesome, thickly layered and every bit as complex as the recorded versions. His reaction to the ovation at the end is heartwarming.

There's also a great documentary, Beautiful Dreamer (also linked below), about the Smile sessions. Lots of musicians and media types interviewed, lots of Brian Wilson, and a shitload of details. It should get you caught up, if you're so inclined. It's over an hour and a half long, so, yeah, go pee and get a beer now.

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Listen:
The Beack Boys - Surfs Up mp3 at DK Presents
The Beach Boys - Surf's Up (demo) mp3 at Thighs Wide Shut
Video:
Beautiful Dreamer - Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile atYouTube
Visit:
Surf's Up (song entry) at Wikipedia
Smile (LP entry) at Wikipedia

SALUTE TO A COMPLETE DICK

I had to post the above photo. If you're someone familiar with the history of the Beach Boys, you probably know why it's so snicker inducing. If not, a good primer would be Why I hate Mike Love, a post on the blog, Man vs Clown.  The flipper in the photo is Dennis Wilson, and the face in need of a slap in the lower right corner is Mike Love. Almost as funny as the photo is a comment from Gene Taylor, left on Facebook, where I found the photo.  As many of you may know, Taylor was the piano player for the Blasters. A few years before that, he toured with Canned Heat. Here's what he had to say: "When I was with Canned Heat in the mid-1970s, we toured with the Beach Boys (minus Brian). Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston were friendly, Carl was friendly but quiet, Dennis was always on us to share our stash and Mike Love was a complete dick." So, here's a couple Beach Boys songs with Dennis on lead vocals, and an outtake from his solo LP Pacific Ocean Blue.  Tee-hee.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Forever mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan

The Beach Boys - Never Learn Not to Love mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan

Dennis Wilson - All of My Love mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan
Hogpig - Fuck You Mike Love (streaming) at YouTube 
Visit:
Why I hate Mike Love at Man vs Clown

THIS ONE DID SURF

I know, just a few weeks ago I posted a mess of stuff by the Beach Boys, but it isn't everyday that you run into a post that features Dennis Wilson's contributions to the group, particularly when it's accompanied by well written and informed text. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Beach Boys story, in a nutshell, Dennis Wilson was the only Beach Boy who actually surfed, the lady killer of the band, and he was kind of a fuck up (which may or may not of added to the lady killer bit, depending on which side of the tracks the lady lived on). He partied quite a bit, and died drowning in a marina. (He had been drinking all day and decided to dive in to look for items he had thrown in the water...three years earlier.)

He also played a significant role in the Beach Boys output, particularly when Brian Wilson was indisposed with his piano-in-the-sandbox shenanigans. Plain or Pan just posted about nine or ten of his songs from assorted Beach Boys LPs. It's a nice post, you should check it out. (All the songs links are within the text. Read it, or just look for the blue words.) Here's a couple of them and a link to post for the rest. (All are on Box.net. Once you get there, look for the blue "download" button in the top right of your screen, if you're so inclined.) There's another couple other songs, found elsewhere, from his solo LP Pacific Ocean Blue. I also ran into a nifty all Beach Boys blog, Magic Transistor Radio, another excellent time suck.

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Listen:
The Beach Boys - Forever mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan

The Beach Boys - Never Learn Not to Love mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan NOTE: Make sure to read the post for the story behind this song, and a link to the Charles Manson song it is said to have ripped off. Personally, I've no desire to hear a Manson song, Charles or Marilyn. But there you are.

Dennis Wilson - All of My Love mp3 (via Box.net) at Plain or Pan Outtake from solo album
The Beach Boys - More Dennis Wilson songs at Plain or Pan
Dennis Wilson - Moonshine mp3 at Obscure Sound From solo LP
Dennis Wilson - Dreamer mp3 at Disco Delicious Also from solo LP, decidedly un-Beach Boys like
Visit:
Dennis Wilson at Wikipedia
Dennis Wilson: "I Live With 17 Girls" (Record Mirror, 1968) at Uncanny
Magic Transistor Radio - All Beach Boys blog

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.

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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

SCREAMING BEACH YOUTH COVER ME

I have respect for some of the people who do the little niche blogs. When it's the narrow scope of a music sub-genre it's one thing, but then there's the non-music genre niche blogs; they can get weird. There are thrift store record blogs, bootleg blogs, and the always questionable I'm gonna share every record I ever owned blogs (if you're wondering, this one would probably best be categorized as a I'm gonna go on an MP3 hunt for some cool shit and see if I can milk it for a post blog). And one rather popular blog theme is cover versions. It's a particularly brave theme, because a high percentage of covers either suck or are way too obvious. Some time ago, I was hooting and hollering about Versions Galore, still my favorite cover blog and one that gets it right. Another cover blog I find myself on from time to time is Cover Me. And that was the case tonight.

The latest post at Cover Me is a collection of covers of all of the songs from Pet Sounds, which could easily be subtitled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" because, one of the challenges of posting covers of one particular artist, is finding decent covers of their songs. The challenge becomes bigger still when you're trying to find covers of songs all from the same parent album. Quite frankly, it's a recipe for disaster. So, while I'm not nuts about all of the covers of Pet Sounds material (can I stop for a moment to tell you how much I hate She & Him?), I have to tip my hat, because it's a bold endeavor, a bold endeavor with some songs that suck, but a bold endeavor nonetheless.

To tell you the truth, what really got my attention is that one of the songs from Cover Me's Pet Sounds "Full Album" cover post is by Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her, a Japanese band that can, at different times, sound like the Ramones, Sonic Youth, a hard rocking predominantly female Japanese band that you've probably never heard of, or a combination of any of the three. Their cover of the Beach Boy's "You Still Believe In Me" is nice, but not them at their best. But, I dig 'em, and their stuff is near impossible to find online. So, bonus points are due Cover Me, for posting them. Not only that but it gave me an excuse to post a totally unrelated video of them, being that they are a hard rocking predominantly female Japanese band that you've probably never heard of, and I've been dying to shove them in front of you. I just needed an excuse. That is all.

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Listen:
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 (Moore's side project: Self-Indulgent Youth)
LPs:
Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her: 4 LP's (via Mediafire) at Rebel Japan Music Note: Cut and paste MediaFire link addresses.
Visit:
Cover Me's Full Albums: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds cover post
Cover Me's Full Albums: The Clash's' London Calling cover post
Cover Me's Full Albums: Led Zeppelin IV cover post

FOR MELANIE

I ran into a song today, that reminded of something I've been needing to get off my chest since the summer before twelfth grade. Now that I have a platform, it is time to for me to introduce my first ever beach crush. I was never formally introduced to her. I'd see her at the beach, with her girlfriends, all summer long; while I hung out with a group of guys, most of us still too chickenshit to make a move. After the summer ended, she began her first year at my high school. There were only the slightest of encounters, but one became ritual for several weeks. I'd get home from school, and ride down to the beach. At about the same time every day, I'd start to leave, right about the time she would show up. We would look at each other and, sometimes mutter nervous "hello"s. Then, I'd take off, riding my bike home, eight blocks up the hill. After putting my bike away, I'd go out on the front lawn to water, because it was an excuse to be out on the lawn when she rode up the hill. Again, we'd make eye contact, and sometimes say "hello," from a lawn to street distance. And that was as far as it ever went. Even after I looked her last name up in the phone book, only to find that the closest address with her last name was a mile or so away. But, every time I hear "Surfer Girl," ever since way back then, I think of her. So, it's been a long time coming. Melanie McManus, or whatever your last name may be now, wherever you are, I am now professing the crush of my sixteen year old self.

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Summer crush (slight return):
The Beach Boys - Surfer Girl mp3 at USHawaiians.com
Assorted other Beach Boys:
The Beach Boys - Feel Flows mp3 at Immerse Glassy water, in the late afternoon.
The Beach Boys - Do It Again (early version) mp3 at When You Awake Because it's an different version, kind of an oddball.
The Beach Boys - Ganz Allein (In My Room) mp3 at Aquarium Drunkard German version of "In My Room", but you probably figured that one out.
The Beach Boys - Karen mp3 at Career Records TV show theme song
The Beach Boys - The Letter (demo?) mp3 at Bedazzled Another oddball.

BUG OUT DAD!

If you know the history of the Beach Boys, you may know that the Murry Wilson, (father of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl) was an abusive, over controlling father. Frustrated over his own lack of success in music, he took it out on his sons. He may have had veiled good intentions, but when he got pissed, he really let go, doing all sorts of incredibly cruel shit. Things like taking out his false eye and making Brian look at the empty eye socket. Once he got so pissed off at Brian, that he hit him upside the head (with a piece of lumber, if memory serves), so hard that he became deaf in one ear. So it was a strained relationship, to say the least. As with many abusive parents, the dynamic changes as the child ages. Some children handle it well, and take it stride. When the Beach Boys were riding high, they became less submissive, and actually started to stand up for themselves. And, thanks to the trend of releasing every outtake and fart ever recorded in a studio, you can hear the Wilson family dynamic as the boys started to realize that they may in fact have the upper hand. So, with no further ado, here are two mp3s of the night a drunk Murry Wilson tried to commandeer the recording session for "Help Me Rhonda." The first version is 40 minutes long, admittedly a little much, even for a Beach Boys freak. The other is a twelve minute edit with the highlights.

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Murry Wilson butts in (40 min version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Murry Wilson butts in (12 min version) mp3 at Beware of the Blog