In all that's been said and written about this year's fortieth anniversary of 1967's Summer of Love, not much of it has mentioned the Beach Boys. Perennial bridesmaids to Capitol Record's top act, "America's Band" seemed poised in '67 to take their rightful place alongside the Beatles in being embraced as the most innovative and influential acts in pop music.
Then, in all-too-typical Beach Boys' tradition, they were scuttled by a series of bad decisions and unfortunate circumstances. The band backed out of the headlining spot at the Monterey Pop Festival that June — fearing they'd been seen as "too square" by the hip, new youth culture — and they failed to complete and release Smile, meant to be the band's ultimate artistic expression. As many superior records as they made subsequently, what the Beach Boys accomplished after the summer of 1967, compared to their potential, has been something like what Smiley Smile was, compared to what Smile could have been.
The twin setbacks of '67 have also been compounded by one of the most confusing catalogs in rock and roll, especially since the advent of CDs. A simple suggestion that Good Vibrations is a good starting point in an essential Beach Boys collection begs the question of where to start. Well, do you mean the box set, greatest hits volume one, or volume two? Given that the Beach Boys are artists who coined a signature catch phrase, Capitol has been unable to slap it on a ridiculous number of products through the years.
So it was refreshing to see this summer's new Beach Boys compilation, The Warmth of the Sun, with title and content that seem to signal a welcome new approach to the band's Capitol recordings. Intended as a companion to the 2003 greatest hits CD, The Sounds of Summer, Warmth is a 27-track sampler of singles and album tracks that provide ample evidence of the band's versatility.
Some of their most breath-taking melodies and harmonies were heard in songs that never saw radio play; including "Kiss Me Baby" and the original version of "Forever." Both tracks are included here, and should bring them new respect. Cherry-picking the best tracks from the uneven Surf's Up album — representing some of the finest songwriting by Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, and Bruce Johnston — may help place "Til I Die," "Feel Flows," and "Disney Girls" among the Beach Boys' finest moments. Even the more-familiar tracks, such as "All Summer Long" and "Wendy," are spruced up with new stereo mixes that make them sound fresh.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Welcome to BC James. And my compliments to you on a terrific first article!
For all the talk about Smile at the begining of the review, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention the resurrected version of "Smile" that was finally released by Brian Wilson a few years back. The album turned out to be just a gorgeous piece of music, and the live shows Wilson did of "Smile" (theres a great DVD out which captures one such concert), were just breathtaking experiences for all who were lucky enough to catch any of these performances.
Anyway, nice review just the same. And I look forward to reading more of your work here.
-Glen
2 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
What Glen said. Good call on the essential "Surf's Up," a good chunk of which -- for the SMILE DVD, if you haven't seen it yet -- is performed solo by Brian at the piano for a Leonard Bernstein TV special back in the '60s. Bernstein would be the insufferably smug one.
3 - James A. Gardner
Thank you both, Glen and Gordon, for your kind welcome and comments. I only hope you see this! It hadn't occurred to me to check for comments!
About "Smile," I wound up cutting quite a few paragraphs, mainly about it and conjecture on how things might've been so different, had it been released as planned.
I thoroughly agree that the finished "Smile" is gorgeous. And, while I am so grateful to have it (and glad that Brian Wilson has come back to the extent to even deal with, much less complete it), part of me will always regret the 60's version that will never be.
Part of me will always wish that Lewis Shiner's "Glimpses" were true! If anything can make one appreciate "Smile" even more, it's that highly-recommended book.
Thank you both.