This, despite growing up surrounded by Beach Boys fans. My dad was a huge fan. My sister went through a Beach Boys phase. And my best friend and roommate in college was also huge into the Beach Boys.
But I just couldn't get into them. I didn't hate them, necessarily. If a song of theirs came on the radio, I could groove to it for a while. But I also tired of them very quickly.
I think this is because in the 1980s the Beach Boys were so overplayed on oldies stations that I just grew up being overly familiar with their songs. (Sidenote: I've been living outside of America for so long now that I'm out of touch, but I'm given to understand that this is no longer the case. Beach Boys songs are no longer played on the radio all the time like they were when I was growing up. Is this true?)
Later, when I got big into the Beatles, I learned that the Beatles were huge fans of Pet Sounds. Also my roommate and best friend from college was also a Pet Sounds fan. So I tried my best to get into Pet Sounds, but I had a hard time digging it. The hit songs from Pet Sounds were just as over-played on the oldies stations as everything else, so I was already sick of them before I even knew about the album. And the minor tracks on Pet Sounds were too melancholy for me. (My college roommate used to put on Pet Sounds as music to go to sleep with, but I just remember it keeping me awake with all these depressing sounding songs.)
I'm not a complete monster though. I do really like Good Vibrations. That's the one Beach Boys song I never got sick of. I always turned up the volume on the radio whenever Good Vibrations came on. (Good Vibrations was produced in the same period as Pet Sounds, but released as a separate single.)
GOOD VIBRATIONS (HD) THE BEACH BOYS
And, when I started getting interested in the history of the New Left, I also discovered Student Demonstration Time by the Beach Boys. Which I really liked when I was younger, and still dig today because of its raw bluesy feel.
...but, yeah, aside from those two songs, I've never been much of a Beach Boys fan.
However, I've always found the story of the Beach Boys fascinating. All the family drama. The infighting between Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Brian Wilson and his struggle to make Smile. The whole incident with Charles Manson. Dennis Wilson's tragic decline and death. I mean, there is a lot of material here for a great drama.
Recently I've been going down a rabbit hole of watching Beach Boys documentaries on Youtube. (I don't remember what started it. Who remembers how these Youtube rabbit holes actually get started?)
If you, like me, are interested in the drama behind the Beach Boys, you'll find these videos fascinating. (And hopefully it will give you some distraction during these days of self-isolation.)
First off is an attempt to explain the genius of Pet Sounds to us cretins. I'm still not a huge fan of Pet Sounds, but after watching this video, I at least have a better appreciation of what Brian Wilson was trying to do.
...then, from the greatest album of the Beach Boys to the worst album, here is:
There are a few cheap shots taken in this video, but overall I found it very entertaining. In fact, I've been a fan of this whole TRAINWRECKORDS series by Youtuber Todd in the Shadows. I love a good take-down of a bad music album, and it's also always interesting to hear the stories of hubris behind them. This video also does a good job of explaining why Mike Love is such a hated figure.
Next is the story of Dennis Wilson, which is also fascinating:
...and then, if you've got room for one more Beach Boys documentary, this last one is a good one to cap it all off with:
Addendum:
The Beach Boys were the first rock band I ever saw in concert. We were at a family vacation at an amusement park somewhere (Six Flags? I don't remember actually). and it turned out the Beach Boys were playing a concert at that amusement park that night. My dad wanted to, so we all got tickets. It was sometime I think in the late 80s, so I'm not sure who the lineup would have been at that time. No Dennis Wilson certainly, possibly no Brian Wilson.
Anyway, I remember spending most of the concert feeling bored. I also remember thinking to myself, "I should be having a much better time. I'm at a rock and roll concert, after all. Why am I feeling so bored?"
This was a feeling that would re-occur again several times later as I got older and went to several other music concerts on my own initiative.
I've since come to the conclusion that if a band is going to play a song exactly the way it sounds on the music album, I'm much happier just listening to it at home than going through all the trouble of going to a music concert.
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