I have listened to a lot of Beach Boys music during the last forty years and have their entire catalogue in my music collection. By far, All Summer Long, is the Beach Boys album I have played the most times. Are there better Beach Boys albums? Maybe. Are there more critically acclaimed albums by the Beach Boys? Definitely. Are there more listenable albums by the Beach Boys? No. All Summer Long remains the Beach Boys perfect ode to summer.
All Summer Long, even forty plus years after its first release, remains a place where summer stretches on forever and the sun is always shining.
The classic Beach Boys song “I Get Around” is the first track. It is an assault on the senses and would finally give the Beach Boys a number one hit song. This was all the more impressive as it came at the beginning of the British musical invasion and the pop charts were being dominated by The Beatles and other English artists. The Beach Boys proved that there was at least one American group that could challenge them both musically and commercially.
“I Get Around,” combining the fused vocal leads of Brian Wilson and Mike Love, builds upon itself until it settles into the melody. The soaring vocal harmonies set to an up-tempo rocking beat were a counterpoint to what was being issued in England. It is a very sophisticated song and shows Brian Wilson improving technological prowess in the studio.
If there was ever a hit single that was not issued it is the album’s title song “All Summer Long.” Mike Love’s overdubbed vocals recorded over basic harmonies with a falsetto mixed in make summer eternal. George Lucas, of Star Wars fame, had the good sense to use “All Summer Long" as the closing song on his Oscar nominated movie American Graffiti.
Article comments
1 - john socha
I couldn't agree with you more. I still listen to the cut All Summer Long and I'm transponded to another time....Long Beach Island, New Jersey