"The Beach Boys are a very special Group to me"
Me too bdp24. "Surfin Safari" was my first album, a Christmas gift from my parents. I suppose my love of vocal harmony was as much the main reason initially but it was also the Southern California culture that I was also drawn to, girls, cars and surf pretty much in that order. The early stuff is pretty basic, much like the Beatles. I certainly remember around 1964-1965 the competitions on the radio as to which is your favorite of the two groups seemingly was always won by the Beatles to my dismay! In any case it is interesting to observe the progression of the musical and vocal harmonies with each succeeding album. Unfortunately for the BBs, the British invasion and the advent of more progressive R&R diminished their popularity during the time of Brian Wilson's most creative period which coincided with the release of "Pet Sounds", a deviation from their earlier surf, car and girl songs. You can really hear the introspection and real progression of both the music and lyrics of Tony Asher. It is without any question my very favorite BB album and Brian's masterpiece. It is the very first album I listened to where each song spoke to me.
I personally don't think there is a better BB or for that matter rock/pop album than Pet Sounds but would recommend many of the ones mentioned above including Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl and the Passions- So Tough and Holland. Of recent release is "Smile" with different mixes of previously released material, it is a real gem. It includes tracks of the incomplete "Smile" album that was never released when Brian went into his long term funk. Of the pre "Pet Sound" albums I would recommend "Shut Down-Volume Two"; "The Beach Boys Today". There is a lot of filler on both the last two but some really great ballads that you won't find unless you buy the albums. Long live Brian Wilson!
Me too bdp24. "Surfin Safari" was my first album, a Christmas gift from my parents. I suppose my love of vocal harmony was as much the main reason initially but it was also the Southern California culture that I was also drawn to, girls, cars and surf pretty much in that order. The early stuff is pretty basic, much like the Beatles. I certainly remember around 1964-1965 the competitions on the radio as to which is your favorite of the two groups seemingly was always won by the Beatles to my dismay! In any case it is interesting to observe the progression of the musical and vocal harmonies with each succeeding album. Unfortunately for the BBs, the British invasion and the advent of more progressive R&R diminished their popularity during the time of Brian Wilson's most creative period which coincided with the release of "Pet Sounds", a deviation from their earlier surf, car and girl songs. You can really hear the introspection and real progression of both the music and lyrics of Tony Asher. It is without any question my very favorite BB album and Brian's masterpiece. It is the very first album I listened to where each song spoke to me.
I personally don't think there is a better BB or for that matter rock/pop album than Pet Sounds but would recommend many of the ones mentioned above including Sunflower, Surf's Up, Carl and the Passions- So Tough and Holland. Of recent release is "Smile" with different mixes of previously released material, it is a real gem. It includes tracks of the incomplete "Smile" album that was never released when Brian went into his long term funk. Of the pre "Pet Sound" albums I would recommend "Shut Down-Volume Two"; "The Beach Boys Today". There is a lot of filler on both the last two but some really great ballads that you won't find unless you buy the albums. Long live Brian Wilson!