I feel a little bad, because I’ve only posted about summer songs once this season. Oliver Wang at Soul Sides does these big profiles of summer songs, complete with guest bloggers. Here, you get what you get.
So, when I think summer music, I think of The Beach Boys. This is a group which filled me with indifference or disdain until the Capitol two-fers releases of the Nineties. (Capitol Records re-released all of the Beach Boys albums they had put out in the Sixties; given their short length, the CDs each had two albums, bonus tracks and great liner notes.) I had only thought of the band as doing silly songs about surfing, cars and girls. Like some other bands (Beatles, anyone?), radio only played the same five songs over and over.
This week, I’ll post some songs that illustrate why I love them. If you’ve only heard “Surfin’ U.S.A.” or (godforbid) “Kokomo,” this should change your mind.
Two very summery albums are The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). They both came out in 1965. In fact, they released three albums that year. Between November 1962 (Surfin’ Safari) and May 1966 (their masterpiece Pet Sounds), they put out eleven albums.
“Let Him Run Wild” was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the Summer Days album and was the B-side of the “California Girls” single. This is an alternate version, from the 1990 two-fer release. “In the Back of My Mind” is from Today!. That’s Brian Wilson singing the high lead on the first song and Dennis Wilson doing vocals on the second.
Both of these songs are from a period when the group was transitioning to a more sophisticated sound.
The Beach Boys – Let Him Run Wild (Alternate Take) — BUY
The Beach Boys – In the Back of My Mind — BUY
Tags: Beach Boys, MP3s
One Response
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Uli Says:
“Let Him Run Wild” is a brilliant song. Like many of the Beach Boys songs, despite its simple sound, it is incredibly difficult to sing and the changes are quite complex. I guess that’s why we’ve heard few covers of this tune! Brian’s vocal is just phenomenal.