There are good – great, even – Beach Boys records that predate 1965’s The Beach Boys Today!, but consistency is an issue.
Of their seven previous studio albums Litte Deuce Coupe (1963), an album of car-themed songs with standouts ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ and ‘The Warmth Of The Sun’ is probably the standout, but as with many of their early albums, it’s padded out with pure filler – in this case, a supposed comedy sketch entitled ‘'Cassius' Love vs. 'Sonny' Wilson’’.
But from Today! onwards, the quality is unquestionable (even the filler closing tracks of the boys getting lunch has its charm), and so it’s from there that we’re staking our claim for this being the greatest run of studio albums in rock history (we are still arguing about whether Yellow Submarine’s inclusion in The Beatles’ discography spoils their rival claim).
Debate rages too about where the run should end, with fans of 1972’s Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" demanding an inquest. And there’s plenty to enjoy on it, as there is on Holland, 15 Big Ones and The Beach Boys Love You but all of these, as with those early offerings, suffer from lack of consistency, to one degree or another.
So load up your Woody with your boards inside, it’s time to head out singing their songs. We’re gonna have fun, fun, fun…
1. The Beach Boys Today! (1965)
This 1965 offering marks the point at which The Beach Boys’ music became noticeably more sophisticated, both in terms of the arrangement and production, and as songs themselves. ‘When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)’ addresses the confusion of teenagerhood, ‘Please Let Me Wonder’ is one of Brian Wilson and Mike Love’s most tender and endearing love songs, and ‘She Knows Me Too Well’ is an early piece of confessionally introspection.
Elsewhere, ‘In The Back Of My Mind’ is probably the first sign of the emerging talent of Dennis as a singer of emotional depth, rather than purely as a rocking’n’rolling party animal.
2. Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965)
Also from 1965 (but with double the exclamation points!!), Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) picks up on the burgeoning sophistication of Today! and runs with it. Brian and Mike’s songwriting partnership is blooming – ‘California Girls’, ‘You’re So Good To Me’ and ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ are just three examples of how they’re by this point writing songs that rival anything being put out in the US or UK, and find them standing shoulder to shoulder with The Beatles.
The arrangements, too, take a giant leap – ‘Let Him Run Wild’ could sit comfortably on Pet Sounds, and it’s not the only one. If you want to know where Pet Sounds came from, Summer Days is the wayfinder.
3. Beach Boys' Party! (1965)
This was the album that gave us the most debate in terms of whether it breaks the run in terms of quality – and some would (and did!) argue that it doesn’t really count as a studio album anyway, but ignoring those protests and revisiting Party! (back to a single exclamation), this is an album of pure sunshine.
The premise is simple – the group are presented as though at a beach party (in reality, it was recorded in a Hollywood studio, with atmospherics dubbed onto a fun-time session in which the boys play a bunch of their favourite songs by The Beatles (‘I Should Have Known Better’, ‘You've Got to Hide Your Love Away’, ‘Tell Me Why’) and Bob Dylan (‘The Times They Are a-Changin'), alongside a host of rock’n’roll faves (‘Hully Gully’, ‘Alley Oop’ and the hit single ‘Barbara Ann’).
Having basically anticipated MTV’s Unplugged series a few decades early, it may not have flown at the time, but hindsight makes it a wonderful thing.
4. Pet Sounds (1966)
What more is there to say about the album often cited as the greatest record ever made? The invention and arrangements are breathtaking; the songwriting is top class; and the exposed vulnerability displays an approach to mental health way ahead of its times.
Alice Cooper said of it, ‘Pet Sounds is arguably one of the five best albums of all time. It shows off Brian’s genius, which is a term used way too much in our business; really, it should only be applied to a handful of people, Brian being one of them.’ We tend to agree.
5. Smile (1967)
Another bone of contention – although Smile was originally recorded through 1966 and '67, it remained unreleased and unfinished for decades, until 2011’s The Smile Sessions boxset attempted to assemble the various parts how they would have appeared had Brian not suffered chronic mental health issues.
But in terms of their legend and career, those Smile recordings deserve the attention and praise that would have seen it elevated to the level of Pet Sounds. In his later life, it was incredibly moving to watch Brian perform this lost masterpiece and it feels only right that it should be restored to their canon.
6. Smiley Smile (1967)
From the ashes of the abandoned Smile project rose the phoenix-like Smiley Smile, with the magnificent singles ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘Heroes And Villains’ nestling alongside such oddities as ‘Vegetables’ and ‘She’s Going Bald’, and the dreamy ‘Wonderful’.
As individual songs, many of the cuts on Smiley Smile appear bizarre, but played as a whole, it’s an exceptional exploration of the way that Brian had tried to push the boundaries of what a pop album could be.
It was slated on release and saw the group forced to play at high schools rather than theatres, and it could be argued that the band’s resurgence following this disaster is one of their most admirable achievements. Within today’s musical landscape, it just sounds like a great record.
7. Wild Honey (1967)
In their native US, by this point in their career The Beach Boys were fast becoming persona non grata. Wild Honey failed to break the top 20 albums chart, yet in the UK it reached number 7. And while singles ‘Darlin’’ and the title song have since become firm favourites, the group was navigating troubled waters, and looking at whatever life rafts they could hitch a ride on.
In the case of this album, Motown and soul were big influences, albeit lacking some of the authenticity you’d get from Memphis, Detroit or Muscle Shoals. But any album that includes a song with as utterly brilliant a payoff as ‘I’d Love Just Once To See You’ gets our approval every time.
8. Friends (1968)
Largely Brian’s baby, 1968’s Friends is the band’s warmest album, with themes of camaraderie, home and nature central to its short-but-sweet nature. The title song reflects on the ways the band (presumably) have been there for each other through thick and thin (some may enjoy a wry sneer at this point). The everyday is a constant – ‘Be Here in the Mornin'’ and ‘Busy Doin' Nothin'’ are both such slices of unremarkable life that it’s hard not to look for hidden meaning.
9. 20/20 (1969)
Single ‘Do It Again’ suggests that after all the changes they’d been through, The Beach Boys were ending the 60s as they’d begun them, hanging out and surfing with friends. Of course, the truth is that neither was reality, and while ‘Do It Again’ implies a regrouping, 20/20 actually finds the band as splintered as they’d ever been. With Brian hospitalised due to his worsening mental health, his brothers Carl and Dennis rounded up various unused recordings to assemble this, their 15th studio outing.
Carl in particular shone as a producer, managing to bring together a selection of Smile-era songs (‘Our Prayer’, ‘Cabinessence’) with older songs ‘(Bluebirds Over The Mountain’, ‘I Can Hear Music’, ‘Cotton Fields’) and even a co-write between Dennis and the dark character of Charles Manson, who had befriended Dennis.
10. Sunflower (1970)
Although it bombed at the time (peaking at number 151 on the US albums chart), Sunflower has become one of the highest-rated of all Beach Boys albums – Rolling Stone magazine included it in the list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
In the stunning ‘Forever’, it includes arguably Dennis Wilson’s greatest song, while ‘All I Wanna Do’ is a fine collaboration between cousins Brian and Mike, on which Mike’s vocal invents dream-pop. Bruce Johnston’s ‘Deirdre’ is an acquired taste, but otherwise, Sunflower saw thew band begin the 1970s on outstanding form.
11. Surf's Up (1971)
Made up partly of songs leftover from Sunflower and Smile, 1971's Surf’s Up marks Carl’s semi-official graduation as leader of the group and features two of his greatest pieces, in ‘Feel Flows’ and the sublime ‘Long Promised Road’.
But as is so often the case, Brian still steals the show, with an incredible closing trio: ‘A Day in the Life of a Tree’, an early example of environmental issues in pop music; the existential ‘Til I Die’; and the remarkable title track, originally intended for Smile. Surf’s Up marked the last time The Beach Boys would ever deliver an album beloved by most fans, but what a way to step back.
