The Beach Boys - Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.39 You Save: $7.55 (63%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights)
Free Music Review: And Your Dreams Come True
Hit: 5 Stars
I grew up in a strict, no nonsense Italian household in rural Connecticut. You just can't get any farther from the warm California sunshine, surfing, and the quest for the California dream than that. Our family summertime treks to the beach consisted of my brother and me loaded into back seat of the family Chevy wagon on a bumpy trip to " Long Island Sound " filled with mirky, seaweed laden water and rocky( read: ouch ) beaches. But then one summer, out of the blue, a song issued from my small transistor AM radio. The song was " Surfin' Safari " and hence my dream of sunny California became closer to reality. I was no longer trapped in rural Connecticut. I was mesmerized by the song, and with maybe two quarters to my name, pedaled my way to the local department store and bought the 45 RPM record. The flip side was " 409 " and boy was I ever in heaven, having already been a full fledged greaser by age 12.
I bought everything the boys of summer put out,the Surfin' Safari Album, Little Deuce Coupe, Surfer Girl, Concert, and Surfin U.S.A.
What struck me profoundly were the harmonies and the melodies, which in my young mind made every other record put out by others seem amateurish and rudimentary in comparison. And the themes of the songs were right up my alley. Four decades later I feel the same way. By the time the Today album and Summer Days and Summer Nights album were released, I was in high school, and these songs took on new meanings to me, ( READ: Girl Crazy ). My father was a tyrant at times, he'd scream and yell at my brother and me, and would make me " go to my room " ( to study ) whenever my report card came- I always brought home poor grades. It was from lack of interest in school, and my great interest in cars and girls that killed my grades. I prided myself in never bringing home a school book to study. I would really dread the last report card before summer- because he'd usually " ground " me to my room to study all summer long. ( no pun intended. ) I never understood this, because I had no books to study for summer. When I'd remind him of this fact, he'd scream and say, " Then you'll go to the library and find the books for next year and bring them home and study them! "
So when I heard " I'm Bugged at My Old Man. " I felt a true allegiance to BIG BROTHER Brian. I felt that he knew some of the stuff I'd been going through. And I think that is what endures with respect to the Beach Boys and their music. Our relation ships, desires, fears, and longings are reflected in their music. More than once I've gotten shivers up my spine upon first hearing a new Beach Boys song,( that's what real harmony will do to you ) that's the kind of emotion it evokes. Just think of the turmoil we felt as teenagers. Who could we talk to? Who would listen and understand our deepest fears, our longing to be loved? You guessed it. Brian and the Boys. They were beyond hip as far as I was concerned, and while others turned their attention to the Rolling Stones, Jimmie Hendrix, and the British invasion groups ( especially the Beatles. ) my loyalty never wavered from " The Boys. " While everyone was cranking up " I wanna Hold your Hand " and " She Loves You ", I was cranking up " I get Around " and " When I Grow Up to Be a Man. " I often times wonder what my adolescent years would have been like if the Beach Boys never existed. We've been through a lot together, the Boys and me. They were there when I obtained my driver's license. They stood by me when I'd get a crush on a girl, ( and the subsequent heartache of unrequited love. ) They were there when my mom died of a heart attack at age 45 ( I was 17 ). And when my BIG brother Ted lost his battle with Cancer at age 27. They were there, holding me up, allowing the tears, and the pain, and the sorrow to issue from me, and then to be replaced by joyousness, the joyousness of being alive. They never failed me, those Boys of Summer. And they will not fail you.
Regards,
Tony
Free Music Review: Prime Case for Brian Wilson as a Genius
Hit: 5 Stars
Pet Sounds gets much of the "Brian Wilson is a Genius" press, but these two albums are quite excellent in their own right. Many early/mid Sixties albums contained a lot of filler songs. The only outright fillers here are "Bull Session," which is a brief interview over a luncheon with journalist Earl Leaf, the neurotic "I'm Bugged At My Old Man," and perhaps the silly "Amusement Parks U.S.A." The original LP version of "Help Me, Rhonda" stinks. But its inclusion, along with the single version, serves to show how much Brian Wilson could improve on a song with his genius for production. On the plus side, you have outstanding singles ("Do You Wanna Dance", "When I Grow Up", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Help Me, Rhonda", "California Girls", "The Little Girl I Once Knew") and excellent album tracks ("Good To My Baby", "Girl Don't Tell Me", "Let Him Run Wild", "Summer Means New Love") which didn't make it onto the Good Vibrations box set. The five-song "suite" from Side 2 of "Today" ("Please Let Me Wonder", "I'm So Young", "Kiss Me Baby", "She Knows Me Too Well", and "In the Back of My Mind") is simply surreal in its lush beauty (although "...Mind" is a bit odd). These songs presaged what was to come on 1966's "Pet Sounds."With "Summer Days..", the Capitol execs pressured Brian to come up with another "fun in the sun" album, a la the previous year's classic, "All Summer Long." The album was rushed to come out in time for Summer, so the production isn't nearly as lush and beautiful. But many songs are still very enjoyable. It is fun to listen to "All Summer Long" and then "Summer Days..", which are "the" two albums upon which the whole "endless summer" myth of the Beach Boys became built on.
The CD booklet by big-hearted Brian Wilson friend, David Leaf, is great, and the bonus songs are all neat to hear. "Graduation Day" showcases the group's fantastic vocal harmonies, and how Brian was profoundly influenced in vocal arranging by the Four Freshmen.
All of the songs here (except the bonus selections) are in the original mono mixes, as Brian Wilson always mixed them and wanted them. No 3-track "stereo" mixes of these albums were ever made (by some bozo at Capitol Records), as for earlier albums, with the instruments in mono and the vocals in the left and right channels. However, to satisfy the stereo market, for many years, these albums were issued in horrible-sounding, echo-heavy, fake stereo remixes, which Capitol termed "Duophonic Sound" (featuring all the bass at one end and all the treble at the other end of the stereo sound spectrum), so to use the original mono (as was done for the original CD issue in 1990) is definitely better. However, new, rich, full, spacious stereo remixes of "Kiss Me, Baby" and "California Girls" appeared on the fairly-recent Endless Harmony CD and sounded fantastic. All kinds of instrumentation which was buried in previous mixes was finally heard clearly. I can imagine that many "stereophiles" will be pissed at Capitol for not making stereo versions of all these songs, and will see this reissue as a great opportunity wasted. Maybe for the 50th Anniversary in 2011?....
Free Music Review: if you can only own one music cd, this should be it
Hit: 5 Stars
This Capitol "two-fer" CD combines two remarkable, five-star Beach Boys albums released in 1965 at the height of Brian Wilson's youthful genius and creativity. Both "Today" and "Summer Days" rank among the ten greatest albums ever recorded, and when they are combined on a single CD with the great 45 track "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and several other unreleased tracks, well, then you have the best CD ever put out by a record label.Many Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fanatics rank "Today" as their second favorite album after "Pet Sounds," and who could argue with such an assessment? Side one features great BB rock and roll, including "Good to My Baby," "Don't Hurt My Little Sister," and the classic "When I Grow Up." The original version of "Help Me, Ronda," is interesting and I think unfavorably maligned. Side two of "Today" is truly mindblowing: "Please Let Me Wonder" is one of BW's greatest songs ever, and "Kiss Me Baby" and "She Knows Me Too Well" are not far behind. "I'm So Young" is incredible as well; though a cover, Brian truly made it his own with the brilliant harmonies (such as the fade-out tag) and the awesome echoing guitar. Finally, the cool, jazzy "In the Back of My Mind," sung with great feeling by Dennis, should be appreciated more than it is.
Side two of "Today" holds up, listening after listening, decade after decade. "Summer Days" is sometimes maligned as a step back for the group, mostly because it features less of the introspection of "Today" side two. But what "Summer Days" does better than ANY Beach Boys album is flat-out rock. From the opening sax-and-drums of "The Girl from New York City," this album has always brought a smile to my face and had me tapping my toes. The aforementioned "Girl," "Amusement Parks, USA," and "Salt Lake City," (with its killer guitar intro) while not introspective, have great lyrics, classic harmonies, and phenomenal instrumental grooves (arranged by BW of course). "Girl Don't Tell Me" features the Beach Boys on instruments and Carl Wilson on vocals -- another great rocker. "Help Me, Rhonda" is a classic, and "California Girls" is probably one of the ten most famous rock songs ever recorded (deservedly so). "Let Him Run Wild" is almost the greatest thing Brian has ever done (he was reportedly never happy with his vocal, and I have to agree -- a touch too much falsetto over the chorus). "You're So Good to Me" is as catchy and infectious as can be, "Summer Means New Love" a worthy companion to the Pet Sounds instrumentals, and "I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man" is hilarious and yet touchingly autobiographical at the same time. And the album ends on the perfect note -- "And Your Dream Comes True," a breathtaking a cappella song, just over a minute, that presages the simlarly breathtaking "Our Prayer" from SMiLE (the single greatest album ever recorded, released or not).
Bottom line -- if I'm condemned to a desert island and I only get one disk to bring with me, this is the one.
Free Music Review: Setting the stage for Pet Sounds.
Hit: 5 Stars
I discovered "Today" at a garage sale back in the 70's when my teenage fasincation with the Beach Boys was beginning because of the successful 2-Fers LP's "Endless Summer" and "Spirit of America" which were getting a lot of play on my bedroom stereo. That worn Duophonic copy of "Today" got more spins than any of the new Rock albums I bought that year, and I started searching out for more of the band's original albums, including "Pet Sounds" and now I own them all.
These two albums were the transistion bridge between the simpler productions of 1962-4 to the breakthrough of 1966's "Pet Sounds". It's a must-have in your collection if you are learning about how that classsic album became to be. Brian had just "retired" from touring with the group and now had the time to write, arrange and produce songs the way he wanted to like his Idol/Hero Phil Spector. What he came up all by himself with help from the best LA session musicans was a huge advance in rock production, vocal arragements and songwriting that influenced hundreds of producers and writers.
"Today" is a amazing album with upbeat rockers nicely sequenced on side one, and some of Brian's best ballads on side two. The LP kicks off with a fearocious wall-of-sound version of "Do You Wanna Dance" with a fine vocal from Dennis and doesnt let up. Despite two bum tracks (the original version "Help Me Ronda" and the uselesss interview "A Session with the Bull Daddy") this is a LP that was miles ahead of any other album that any mid-60's Pop artist or band was releasing at the time.
Many Beach Boys fans have put-down and ignored "Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)" in the past because of the return of the fun-sun-girls formula from earlier albums. But even weaker songs like "Amusement Parks USA" and "Salt Lake City" come off brilliant. Dont pay much attention to the lyrics - just dig and be amazed at all the intricate parts, the great studio session players rocking out, the arrangements of the group's vocals and especally the bass work (played by ace Carol Kaye on many tracks) and how they all fit together to make one huge sounding recording. "California Girls" is a masterpiece. "Salt Lake City" may be the best track ever that Brian produced that equaled the thunderous productions of Spector. The new version of "Help Me Rhonda" was a huge improvement over the orginal and deserved to be a smash hit. "Let Him Run Wild" is one of the Beach Boys most underated and overlooked recordings - everything is 100% perfect on this song - why wasnt it an A-side? "Girl Don't Tell Me" shows the group could jangle pop with the best. "And Your Dream Comes True" are the Boys accapella harmonies at thier finest.
The new remastering is a huge improvement over the 1990 release. (PS: thanks to the remastering engineers for fixing that bad tape splice on "Do You Wanna Dance" right before the guitar break!) Now I wish CapitoL, Mark Linett and company could put together a "Today!/Summer Nights Sessions" box simular to the "Pet Sounds" box. Some parts of sessions and stereo remixes have popped up on boots and other compilations (Endless Harmony, Hawthorne USA) but I would love to hear a new stereo remix of both albums.
Free Music Review: Proto-Pet Sounds!
Hit: 5 Stars
These two albums are a must for any Beach Boys aficionado. After getting whichever "Best of" albums you have-"Endless Summer," "Spirit of America," "Sunshine Dream," "Made in USA," or the two current "Good Vibrations" best ofs. These two albums on this one disc lets you see, or rather hear that the Beach Boys could do anything and everything that the Beatles did or sang. Period.These two albums mark a transition away from cheap pastoral teenage bubble-gum rock into serious music and serious production. No beach, no cars, no carhops at the A&W. The Surfer Girl who was briefly Wendy has now become Rhonda, who is not the little girl we once new. There is maturity with these albums. Instead of having fun, fun, fun `till your daddy takes the t-bird away; you are looking forward, which is always the mark of an intelligent being.
Cases in point: "When I grow Up" and "Summer means new love." The former is very prospective-the teenagers are no longer in an ever changing now, but are thinking and wondering about the future. The music had an edge to it from the harpsichord, and the ages counting upward in the background are the first intimation that life is short and our days are numbered.
I don't know why "Kiss Me Bay" was never released as a single, since it stands firm with "Surfer Girl," or "Good Vibrations." My only guess is that "Help Me, Rhonda" got all of the attention, and Capitol may not have wanted to have two love songs in a row. Even tough that never stopped the Beatles. In any case, I am glad that Brian Wilson is playing this song on his solo tours.
"In the Back of My Mind" is one of these pre-"Pet Sounds" tracks that shows the track that Wilson was following. Essentially, it is another look at the themes sung about in "In My room." Once again, the teenager is becoming more thoughtful and reflective. The teenager is finally becoming a man, and the Teen Ager is finally becoming Human!
"California Girls" marks the entelechy of this phase of Brian Wilson's production style. It is a harmonic, bouncy, almost proto-ska song. It is, for lack of a better word, a perfect production, like "God only Knows," or "Good Vibrations."
The alternate take of "I'm So Young," is divine. I think it is better than the release version single. You hear Wilson's production style that would finally bloom in "Pet Sounds."
"I'm bugged at my Old Man" is a stab at Murray Wilson. See "The Beach Boys: An American Band," the CBS miniseries, or read "Heroes and Villains" for further information.
"Salt Lake City" remains a mystery to me. What the heck some So Cal "twenty somethings" would be singing about a city founded by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is beyond me. It is almost counter-point to "California Girls," which is just a hymn to the at times glitzy and superficial California lifestyle-remember, this is Los Angeles. Wilson may be yearning for spirituality, or ever for God himself, which ways the subject of Smile. The Beach Boys were religious "Christmas Album," "The Lord's Prayer," "God Only Knows," "Dumb Angel," and knew that they were never bigger than Jesus. I guess they will be playing this during the 2002 Winter Olympics.