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Beatles vs Beach Boys
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John had a brilliant lead voice at this point!
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Graham, yes the Beach Boys enjoyed some love in the UK, and were about the only American band in the mid 60s that could even crack into the top charts there. At the time of Pet Sounds Capital USA were fighting Brian Wilson as they did not feel it had the Beach Boys sound. Imagine that a record label telling an artist what their sound should be. Brian Wilson pressed and got Pet Sounds released, but in spite Capital USA released a Beach Boys Greatest hits compilation album in the US without Beach Boys consent at the same time as Pet Sounds was released drawing the public’s focus away from Pet Sounds so Capital could make more money from the compilation album. Pet Sounds did not fare well in the US commercially nor in the charts barely cracking the top 10. This was a big blow to Brian, but ultimately it would gain recognition in the music world as one of the greatest and influential albums of all time
Wikipedia: In 2003 and 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Pet Sounds second on its lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2004, it was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
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Interestingly when the Beach Boys came to the UK for the first time with their hit song I Get Around, on the popular Ready Steady Go Show where the Beach Boys would appear, Mick Jagger said he liked I Get Around which helped the Beach Boys gain some initial traction there. Pete Townsend also echoed his approval of the Beach Boys. The Beatles the same for the Byrds. I think in those days they all tried to help each other out on both sides of the pond, at least the ones who were good. Everyones success was good for the proliferation of Rock and Roll! I think all the big artists saw that and there was mutual cooperation and cross pollination of creativity going on.
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Wow all this on the Beatles and Beach Boys. I myself will take the Beatles. Nothing against the Beach Boys. They were great but I myself was not into the surf sound. Jan and Dean etc.
I will give them credit they are well liked. I remember a great guitarist by the name of Hendrix who said. May you never hear surf music again. Sorry Guys… Hope I did not offend.
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Hey Joe, not offended at all. It’s all fun and good! To be honest if all the Beach Boys did was surf songs and car songs, I’d have moved on long ago. It’s those harmonies like In My Room, Kiss Me Baby, and layered harmonies of Sloop John B and Good Vibrations that keep drawing me back to them.
John is an awesome singer indeed. There is so much character in his voice. Great video there. My favourite of John singing is the rooftop concert here. Did you see Lisa in a fur coat like that in a Facebook photo a few months ago? Thought that was super cool! 🙂
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BTW I heard when John first performed Twist and Shout he almost injured himself doing the high screaming vocals at the end. I never thought how anyone could injure themselves singing, but I could see why. In this particular video he did not do that high pitched scream at the end of the song.
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Hey Jung, They were defiantly a great singing and harmonizing group. I always liked Barbara Ann, and Good Vibrations and Ronda. Beyond that I don’t know to much more about them.
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Oh Jung! Get that band off the roof or I’m calling the police or bobbies on them. I love when John says I hope we passed the audition. Thanks for the video my friend.
Joe
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You must mean this one.
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Joe, yeah great video. Poor John, but it looks like he survived. Their guitar playing as a unit sound so crisp and tight. As others have said, their live playing instrumentation is superb! Thanks for that.
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Thanks for posting that Atlantics video, Howard. I would have thought surf music would have had some staying power in Australia, given that virtually the entire population lives near the coast.
And Joe, I’m not offended at all by that Hendrix quote either. Actually I wasn’t familiar with it, which probably explains why I’ve heard tons of surf music over the years, but have never knowingly heard anything at all by Hendrix. He’s just never been on my radar.
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For anyone still needing a surf music fix from the early sixties, here’s another instrumental from the Atlantics.
The Atlantics – The Crusher
I wouldn’t be surprised if that drummer eventually got RSI.
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The Atlantics – Pipeline
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Touché David! And now why am I not surprised that Hendrix was never on your radar!
As for surf music in Australia, it did survive for quite a while, but was forced more underground. There is a brilliant soundtrack to a great surfing movie from the early seventies, of which I have posted about in another topic.
Morning of the Earth (1972)
“Though bearded, barefoot and pretty much homeless, the few surfers who lived the “back-to-nature” lifestyle were easily romanticized by Albert Falzon in his first and most well-known flick. It still makes surfers and newbs alike want to quit their jobs, toss their wallets and set up shop on a remote beach. And aside from instilling a wallop of wanderlust, Morning of the Earth is also credited with debuting surf footage of Indonesia’s coveted, world-class waves, mostly undocumented until then.” -
Good morning David and Jung.
So you know I respect the Beach Boys and their talent. It’s just not my style of music. They are a great group.
Now Jimi Hendrix did this song on their first album – Are You Experience.
Now this is a tribute cut as you can see.
The tune is Third Stone from the Sun. Which he uses that line. May you never hear Surf Music again. On this video he says that line at the 3:31 mark of the video. You can go to that mark if you don’t like this song. Either way enjoy David.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsrkDg9atcY
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Howard
The Bombora is an aboriginal word for a wave that breaks outside the normal surf line. Atlantics – Bombora – Thanks for sharing. They were good. Sounded like surf music too me.
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