Do You Love The Beach Boys?

"The Warmth of the Sun" is magical -- one of my favorite songs.

 

Yep - though I can't turn a blind eye to the some of the awful summer fun retro stuff they churned out from the late 70s onwards.

 

I'm actually still kind of shocked by the hate for Mike Love. I don't get it. Maybe people were bullied by someone like him when they were in school? I think he was probably a bit of a jock way back. I really like the Heroes & Villains where he does the low doo-wop voice thing "heroes, heroes, heroes and villains".

 

TBH, I LOVE Pet Sounds. Other then that? Meh.

 

At their best, they are without equal to me on a strictly emotional level. Only The Velvet Underground & The Beatles get the same amount of love from me. Plenty of others come close, but it's just something about the music that makes me sad & happy while making me eternally greatful for my ears. Big Star & Stevie Wonder kind of have a similar effect on me.

 

Mike, Brian, Al, Bruce, and Dennis all participated in athletics to some degree. Mike was into track and cross country running. Brian played baseball and football. Al played football. Bruce, Dennis, and some of the other guys in the band surf. The competition from athletics probably carried over to their music. Their manager Murry Wilson goaded them to fight for success and wanted them to have a competitive or winning attitude toward their work. It really isn't fair to single Mike out in this regard, as all of the members of the band have competed with each other to lead or share creative direction for the band.

 

Yes, I do. Quite a lot.

 

Well, it is the single best album ever made, Beach Boys or not.

 

Pet Sounds and Holland are two of my favorites.

 

The Beach Boys were the spark that lit my love of music.

I graduated from elementary school in the early sixties and found that event hugely depressing because I knew getting beat up and bullied was only going to get worse in middle school. My 6th grade graduating class went on a picnic which was equally depressing until I heard Beach Boys music playing over a loudspeaker. That music was a life vest in my sea of despair.

I have the same first name as Brian Wilson and, stupid as it may sound, that also somehow gave me some hope early on.

My first record was a new copy of Shut Down Vol. 2 that my sister gave me in 1964. I wore that record out on my little all-in-one record player.

That same year my sister and brother and I went to what was my first ever concert- The Beach Boys, Jackie Lee and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Unfortunately, that was one of the first shows where Bruce Johnston filled in for Brian. Bruce was fine but not having Brian show was heartbreaking. Great show though, of course.

I fist heard that Carl Wilson had died while watching Conan O'Brien's show. After Conan made the announcement, The Max Weinberg Seven played the sweetest version of "God Only Knows" and I cried and cried and cried.

I'm hugely thankful Brian was able to get back on his feet and keep doing it!

So yeah, I love the Beach Boys!

 

I've always liked the hits & only recently grew to appreciate the rest of their catalogue.
Don't know what took me so long, but I like things to come to me naturally (rather than forcing it).
More enjoyable that way.

Darryl

 

Yes. Love.

And the Wilsons, too!

And Al, and Bruce, and David!

 

Other than that...everything else, for me!

 

I'm actually still kind of shocked by Mike Love's hate for...everybody!!! I don't get it.

Beach Boys accept award Rock and Roll Hall of Fam…:

 

"Surfer Girl" was the first LP I ever bought, in 1963.

I've loved The Beach Boys ever since.

 

I remember coming across a cassette copy of LOVE YOU around 1995 as my higher education in Beach Boys-ology was just beginning. I didn't buy it, but something about the strange and quirky cover intrigued me. I had so many questions, especially about the song titles. "Johnny Carson?" "Solar System?" "Honkin' Down The Highway?" These weren't the "fun in the sun" songs I remember hearing on the oldies station.

I soon bought a used vinyl copy of LOVE YOU (and all the 70s/80s albums) and my life changed forever! By then, I had learned all about Brian Wilson and his incredible and heartbreaking story. As weird as LOVE YOU sounded at first, it made PERFECT sense to me. Soon, it became one of my all-time favorite albums by ANYONE! Seeing Brian smiling on LOVE YOU's inner sleeve made me happy. I was even happier knowing he survived his hardships and was finally getting the recognition he so richly deserved.

The Beach Boys are now also firmly entrenched among the all-time greats in popular music.

So like so many in this wonderful thread have already mentioned, I LOVE BRIAN WILSON AND THE BEACH BOYS!!! I wouldn't be the man I am without their comforting and wonderful songs. Long live the Beach Boys!!!

 

Endless Summer is a desert island disc for me. It was what introed me to them, at a time when nothing I previously listened to could have predicted it. Hearing it now brings me right back to that time, when things were a lot simpler, and yet painful. My Beach Boys palette is fairly narrow (basically Pet Sounds), so I tend to not revisit them often. But hearing songs like "In My Room" or "Be True To Your School" gives me a feeling unlike any other music I listen to-wistfulness, longing, nostalgia, and mostly, joy.

 

I like them a lot......let's keep it fun.

 

Ha, the typical competitive jock type thing only over performing live, a lot of that was pretty confused actually, oh well.

 

My favorite piece of music is BWPS.

 

Mike has talked openly about this. He says he was fasting and drinking and he meant to preach harmony (motivated by other feuding bands at that time) and just went off the rails because .... well ..... he's insane.

Keith Richards wrote a book and talked about how small Mick's ***** is. Sometimes these guys are just freaking nuts.

 

Yes... absolutely

 

Put me in the "no" tally.

 

I saw them in my youth in concert and was a big fan back then especially of their early stuff but my enthusiasm for them has mellowed from the 1980's onwards. Still love their big hits though!

 

Yes I do. They were a major part of my summer soundtrack that extended into fall, winter & spring.