Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Wata, Jun 18, 2018.

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  1. harmony kick

    harmony kick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Thanks Will, very kind words indeed.

    Craig has had the privilege of listening to The Beach Boys' recording sessions extensively, so his knowledge is unsurpassed. His latest Pet Sounds sessionography prepared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the album is a revelation, especially regarding the recording of "That's Not Me": beachboysarchives.com
    What I can add drawing from Craig's notes from ss.net is that the first overdub featured Brian playing Fender bass with his thumb, the second overdub has Brian playing 6-string Danelectro bass with his fingernail.
     
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  2. Mr. D

    Mr. D Forum Resident

    I’m So Young is a bit old fashion in sound but fits the concept of B.B. Today perfectly, despite being a cover.

    Out of 10, I’d likely give it a 7 but out of 5, I have to go with a 4. A 3 would be too low.
     
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  3. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    "I'm So Young": great passionate vocal from Brian.

    4/5
     
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  4. Will Harris

    Will Harris Forum Resident

    Sorry, I was distracted watching football and trying to post at the same time. Didn't read close enough. I now see S. P. Honeybunch first brought up the clarinet.
     
  5. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I'm So Young

    I think people are overlooking this incredible tune because it's a 1950s (1959 IIRC) cover. Brian Wilson's lead vocal is unearthly. There is something unique in those reverb laden guitar phrases that always make me think of Pet Sounds -- maybe That's Not Me. The arrangement seems to me like it's a hybrid between The Students' '50s original and the Ronettes more recent version.

    The way BW sings the lines

    "Pretty soon now I'll go to sea, then my baby will have seen the last of me..."

    is heart wrenching.

    People write it off because it's '50s doo-wop. I think it's one of the greatest covers The Beach Boys ever did. It certainly transcends the original and The Ronettes '64 cover by a HUGE margin IMO, and takes the tune into that un-matched Brian Wilson spirit ether.

    4/5

    Here's the original for comparison:

     
  6. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Your ratings for I'm So Young:
    1-0 vote
    2-2 votes
    3-1 vote
    4-5 votes
    5-5 votes
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
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  7. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Today's song is She Knows Me Too Well:
     
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  8. Rock66

    Rock66 Forum Resident

    I'm So Young is a 4/5. The Beach Boys frequently did covers and during this period their covers were frequently better or at least more popular than the originals (and sometimes charted higher than the Beach Boy's original tracks from the same album).
     
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  9. Rock66

    Rock66 Forum Resident

    Well I was just 1 minute too late to vote for I'm So Young, but I get to be first for She Knows Me Too Well, which is a 5/5. The classic Beach Boy sound.
     
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  10. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    She Knows Me So Well 5/5

    In my opinion this is one the finest lyrics of 1964. Mike Love at his peak lyric-writing ability. The song is so nakedly emotional; the vocal performance from Brian so emotional and real. Really, the lyric is pretty unusual and pretty complex -- it's hard to believe that it's even from 1964, it seems like it's about a REAL relationship, not just a cynical song aimed at pre-teen girls, like most early sixties love songs.

    There's a lot of drama in "She Knows Me" but it's the drama of a man who loves but doesn't show it as well as he should and he knows it. The overall vocal and instrumental arrangmenets are so gorgeous. I love the way Mike sings "She knows me". I like the nifty little guitar solo, too, and that triangle that precedes every "she knows me." Restrained and tuneful but perfectly on point.
     
  11. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    I added your vote to the tally.
     
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  12. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Absolutely. And nothing to add.

    5/5
     
  13. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    She Knows Me Too Well - very intelligent, plaintive lyric about unspoken sort of feelings. Sophistication. Another masterpiece. 5/5
     
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  14. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    She Knows Me Too Well
    Another stunner. It's hard to add on to what @Lance LaSalle had to say. It's sophisticated pop perfection, with that hint of melancholy that makes so many Brian Wilson songs beautiful in such a special way.

    5/5
     
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  15. jwb1231970

    jwb1231970 Ordinary Guy

    Location:
    USA
    5/5 not my favorite from the album but the arrangement is fantastic
     
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  16. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    She Knows Me Too Well. 5/5. Seriously this is one of my all time favorite Beach Boys songs. Among other things its presence as an album track here is what puts Today! over the top as my favorite album from them.

    I could go on and on about this one. Speaking personally this is NOT one of the songs that hit me when I first got this album. The two Dance songs, both quite upbeat, were the ones that had immediate appeal. But then you got into the rest of it, and then it seems to be an album that lyrically is about a lot of questions. What will I be like when I grow up, and what will people think of me? Can Rhonda help me find a way forward? Can I help my sister find HER way, or is this guy not the right one? How about how is going to work in this relationship in Please Let Me Wonder? In short, a lot of questions about the future.

    She Knows Me by comparison is about the now. It combines an attempt to honestly look at one's self, finding fault, even hypocrisy, but before working too hard at that, seeming to settle for a half answer, but not really having an answer. What is brilliant about the song is how the music itself sonically portrays this tension, from the beginning on through. Two chords that normally do not fit together alert us to this being something different, the beat both dreamy and steady midrange, killer harmonies before Mike's low "She Knows Me". Then we hear Brian's perfect falsetto vocals in the verse. Sonically the song really takes off for me in the chorus, as beautiful as any BB's song ever.

    And in the chorus we hear the confusion again, she knows too well, she knows so well. Knows he loves her, but then there's the tension. How does he really feel, and how does she really feel? It's talking about today but in a way that forces us to wonder about the future.

    As I understand it this song was recorded with the band playing the instrumental track themselves. That part of the song is relatively simple, but while the vocal arrangement is on one level simple as well, the net effect is incredible.

    It's funny how it took awhile to appreciate this song, but is now my favorite song on the album. Put me down for a 6.
     
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  17. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    "She Knows Me Too Well": this track doesn't go anywhere. It's too repetetive and boring for its own good. I would have preferred a new song about goin' down to the root beer stand.

    2/5
     
  18. oldsurferdude

    oldsurferdude Forum Resident

    Location:
    detroit, mi. 48150
    :wtf::faint::wtf::faint::wtf::faint: Ahem, moving on, this, since the day it was released, has always been my personal favorite from the album. Incredible track and difficult to understand why anyone who's into the band wouldn't feel somewhat the same. A genuine precursor, if not marginally better than a couple of Pet Sounds tunes.
     
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  19. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    She Knows it's a 5/5.

    Serious composer/arranger chops on display.
     
  20. Will Harris

    Will Harris Forum Resident

    One of the ones I didn't quote, Mark. Good catch! Thanks for the link. ESQ, 4th quarter push for the win. Changes are served for the main course. Not too much, tho. A 2016 issue? I won't quote more, but will say - I picked "That's Not Me" because it's one of my very favorites on that album. Also noticed how music and lyrics are detailed these days. "That's Not Me" is music by Brian and Tony, words by Tony and Brian. The Beach Boys community works hard to get everything just right. Surf and Turf for dinner tonight.
     
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  21. Mr. D

    Mr. D Forum Resident

    Please Let Me Wonder, I'm So Young, Kiss Me, Baby, She Knows Me Too Well - what a great stretch of songs at the beginning of side two. Comparable to any four straight songs from Pet Sounds.

    SKMTW - 5/5
     
  22. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Your ratings for She Knows Me Too Well:
    1-0 vote
    2-1 vote
    3-0 vote
    4-0 vote
    5-9 votes
     
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  23. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Today's song is In the Back of My Mind:
     
  24. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Psst...wrong youtube clip!!!

    In the Back of the Mind
    is an interesting track.

    I love the backing track...especially in stereo. It shimmers like the best of Brian Wilson's productions. I just love the guitar. The stereo mix is miles better than the mono mix, thanks to the shoddy double-tracking (IMO) of the Dennis vocal that is lost in stereo.

    I think it's a lovely, brave song...It's a perfect album track, in a way. Unlike the rest of the album tracks, which I feel could have been singles, and hit singles at that, it's a song that you can't imagine ever charting or hearing on the radio.

    The melody is too meandering, the tone too fragile, gloomy and too emotional for radio. Yet as an album track and an expression for the creeping paranoia that was beginning to infect Brian's life, it's brilliant. And may I say it is a brilliant and daring closer for an album: that last chord of the song sounds not decisive, not fully resolved: it points to future problems as the demons from "the back of his mind" gain prominence.

    Yes, I know that technically it's not the album closer. But, you know. I have a playlist.

    5/5
     
  25. Rock66

    Rock66 Forum Resident

    I give it a 4/5. Too bad it wasn't the closer, but I suspect after we listened to the album the first time it became the closer.:agree:
     
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