One of the other interesting things about the classic Beach Boys albums is the way they used to put instrumentals on them. Their first album Surfin’ Safari (1962) contained a cover of The Gamblers’ “Moon Dawg.” Instrumentals were pretty standard in the surf genre, but even as the band moved beyond that, they continued to create instrumentals, such as “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” on Pet Sounds (1966) and “The Nearest Faraway Place” on 20/20 (1969).
Today, you get a pair of instrumentals that also demonstrate two factors in the Beach Boys sound. Their songs often celebrated Americana, especially in the instrumentation, such as the use of banjo and harmonica. And the productions often functioned as little audio plays, full of drama and action. “Heroes and Villains,” off SMiLE and Smiley Smile, is a good example of both of these factors.
“Diamond Head,” from the Friends album (1968), gives us an audio trip to Hawaii, complete with sound effects. Close your eyes and you’re there on the beach. “Dixie Trombone” is an unreleased track that showed up on the CD release of Pet Sounds in 1990. Here’s the story of the song, according to David Leaf’s liner notes:
It was recorded in November of 1965. As neither lyrics nor vocals could be found, and given that it was recorded just days before the track that became the song Pet Sounds, Trombone Dixie probably was an instrumental. And while it predates the official PET SOUNDS sessions, Trombone Dixie is clearly one of the false starts Brian discarded on his way to the album’s final song line-up.
It’s not on the single disc any more, but is instead found on the massive The Pet Sounds Sessions box set.
The Beach Boys – Diamond Head — BUY
The Beach Boys – Trombone Dixie — BUY
Tags: Beach Boys, MP3s
One Response
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Sabrina Says:
Yes, I know I’m about 4 years late in responding, but I found this post while researching the Beach Boys. Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this post. I’ve always appreciated the BB’s instrumentals, and “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” is one of my absolute favorites. If they made a CD of nothing but instrumental works, I’d be a happy camper…the closest I’ve got to that is the Rockabye Baby Beach Boy lullabies.