The Beach Boys' "15 Big Ones"*

It's produced very similarly to "Love You" and is a good mixture of originals and covers.

1. Rock and Roll Music - the only bad cover on here
2. It's OK - closest thing to a real Beach Boys song on here, really catchy - love it
3. Had to Phone Ya - cool tune
4. Chapel of Love - farting its way through this cover - Phil Spector should cringe, but who else could deliver a cover like this? Glad they did it exactly at that time.
5. Everyone's in Love With You - Really sweet and lovely Mike tune - not synth produced like the others
6. Talk to Me - Great stuff, love the "Tallahasee Lassie" cutting in in the middle
7. That Same Song - One of the best songs on the album, so uplifting and gospelish
8. TM Song - Catchy and brief.
9. Palisades Park - Another great cover - if you like the way "Love You" was produced, you've gotta hear this cover. Especially Carl, I believe it is, who starts yelling "Yo!..."
10. Susie Cincinnati - Fantastic and rockin' Al tune
11. Casual Look - Good take
12. Blueberry Hill - Eh. A little plodding. They missed the mark on this one.
13. Back Home - Another great tune. Dates back to '63 I believe (a backing track exists from then) - Great Brian song. "They won't believe how I've grown..." - yeah, that's for sure!
14. In the Still of the Night - Great remake.
15. Just Once in My Life - Another fine remake.

It's just as good in my opinion as "Love You." It's a great (and unique!) two-fer!

JEFF!

 

I am interested in hearing it when the twofer I order arrives. More interested in LOVE YOU though. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Took a while to get used to Brian's "new" voice, but I've always liked it. It did however sound awfully out of date at the time of release, but I guess that is true of many of the BB albums of the late 60s/early 70s.

 

Sez who? I love this track, and think it's one of the strongest songs on the album!!! I must have five or six copies of the single. I keep finding mint copies.... Great update of a Chuck Berry classic.

Jeez, I'm probably the only one here who will defend the B Boys right up to the title track of Keepin' The Summer Alive. ok, maybe a couple of you agree..

 

You gotta hear the Sunny and the Sunglows version!

 

...you are not alone! Count me in a one who loves this also...

 

The version of Susie Cincinatti on this album is pretty weak. Probably a shortage of groove space on the original lp was the reason for it. That would be my guess.

 

I remember being very embarassed by the album when it first was released, especially after the comparative polish of HOLLAND: the cheesy cover, the moldy oldies, the Mike Love vanity, Brian's horrifying vocal work. It's taken 30 years (thirty years?!) for me to warm up to about half the album.

 

I only like the following songs on the album, which is 40%. Of all Beach Boys albums before 1980, this is my least favorite. I'd rate it slightly above Keepin' The Summer Alive.

It's OK - Reminds me of Roller Skatin' Child
Had to Phone Ya - Has similarities to Trombone Dixie and Love To Say Da Da. Great production. The only excellent song on this album.
That Same Song - Enjoyable.
Susie Cincinnati - Good, from 1970.
Back Home - Brian's vocal is hard to get used to, but it is a great tune, and he often did it in concert in recent years. There are (unreleased) versions from 1963 (Mike sings lead) and 1970 (Al sings lead).
Just Once in My Life - The only acceptable cover on the album. The production is great, but I find the vocals too sloppy for this song. The original is much better.

 

It's OK is a great song! Right up there with Marcella and Sail On Sailor, IMO. I like it, but yes it took a long time to get used to it. Give Blueberry Hill another chance -- it seems to be plodding along but that's just Brian leading us down the garden path, then wham! "The moon stood still -- STOOD STILL!" I get chills every time on that one.

Had to Phone Ya is like a cross between SMiLE and Wild Honey-era BB's and I like it a lot. And yes, Tallahassee Lassie is a surprise, and a cool one at that!

 

I think the problem with the album with me was after such a long line of great Lps (Wild Honey, 20/20 Sunflower, Surfs Up , Holland and In Concert) this was a HARD right in terms of the sound of the then Beach Boys. They were turning out jewell after jewell (in the words of Rolling Stone) and then this! This was the "Brian's back " period which was put together by Mike Love. Brian was not back not by a long shot. The overall production was ok but not great. The plan was for the Beach Boys to "ease" Brian back with a LP of oldies then a Lp of all new material. brian got about half way thru the project and walked away. The boys had to put this together with what was done at the time. They even went back in behind Brians back and redid some of the vocals. At the time Brian was into One Takes...thus the raw sound of some of the vocals.

Its not a bad lp overall but...well as Dennis put it in a RS interview of the time"The fans have waited so long for the new one (THREE YEARS!) and I really hated to give them this"

I do love Beach Boys LOVE YOU a little better because it was a complete Brian Wilson production. Heck it is almost a Brian Wilson solo LP. It started life as that but Warner Brothers put the kebosh on that one. The title was Brian Loves You. I also like it because Brian went in and did it on his own while the guys were on tour and Mike Love is almost nowhere to be heard. Al's big moment was a 4 year old track from American Spring so this was a WILSON BROTHERS lp.

15 Big ones is alright but I prefer the SunFlower period. The Beach Boys had become a band again and even as much as I love Brian, the Lps before this one were done by a band. Dennis had become a amazing song writer and Carl's production really took off. You need to find a copy of Dennis's solo Lp Pacific Ocean Blue with would have made a perfect follow up to Holland as it continues the sound of the Sunflower/Surfs Up/ Holland group.

The Beach were on fire as a live band during this time too. You could see them in small places like the Whiskey A Go Go doing almost all new material. They were HOT to say the least since they added Blondie Chaplan (Now with the Stones touring band) and Ricky Fatarr ( went on the the Rutles and Bonnie Raitt) both from the only band to release a group album other than the beach boys on Brothers Record..The Flame..a killer LP. I would kill to hear the unreleased tracks from the follow up Lp before they left to join the BBs.

I consider this Lp the start of the decling JukeBox years. Before this LP, the live shows was 80% new material (Pet Sounds to present), after 15 Big ones (and might I add the Endless Bummer as I like to call it) they just became a oldies band with a few new songs sprinkeled in with each new LP.

 

I like both "15 Big One's" & "Love You", but together I think they killed the momentum that had been building for the band after Capital re-released the two oldies sets. Both albums had a certain appeal to die hard fans like me, but neither one was going to broaden their fan base. From this point forward, I feel they became an oldies act live, and never produced another great record.

 

Not quite. Mike sings lead vocals on Roller Skatin' Child, Johnny Carson and Airplane, plus partial lead vocals on Let Us Go On This Way and Love Is A Woman. Al sings the lead vocal on Honkin' Down The Highway (one of the best songs on the album).

Also, you seem to imply that an album without Mike and Al would have been preferrable. I don't agree with that implication. I like the diversity of their voices and the sharing of lead vocals and background vocals between all five of them.

 

Mike also sings lead on Ding Dang.

 

Actually, the version of Back Home from 1963 has Brian on vocals and is available on the boot Landylocked. I believe none of the other members even appear on the track (I am fairly certain of this, but could be wrong).

 

15 Big Ones is one of the worst (along with 85, Summer Alive, and MIU) of the Beach Boys albums. that said, there's always something good to be found among the dross of even their worst efforts.

But Rock and Roll Music is IMO an atrocious remake - how that ever became a hit for the Beach Boys has always amazed me.

 

I don't think 15 Big Ones is one of their worst, but it's a very mixed bag. It's OK is great, and I love Susie Cincinnatti from '70. Just Once In My Life is the best production on the album. Brian's falsetto is there on In the Still of the Night, and Dennis's lead is quite good. But I think That Same Sing and TM Song are silly, Back Home suffers from poor vocals and Everyone's In Love With You is a bit smarmy, although Brian's vocals on Chapel of Love . Some oldies are done well, others sound like automatic pilot.

 

nah, come on guys......The Beach Boys legacy is amazing, "15 Big ones" is a piece of dog do-do alongside most of their other lps. I mean, come on!!!!

When the BBs "easy listening" version of "Rock and Roll Music" comes on the radio, all I can think of is how GLAD I am that I have The Beatles version to save me.

 

When I think of doggie-do, I'm thinking:

1. Summer in Paradise
2. Beach Boys (1985), except for Getcha Back and Male Ego
I also think Keepin' the Summer Alive isn't bad at all, title track is great (especially great on the Live at Wembley CD-DVD), Goin' On is good, and the rest are, at the very least, inoffensive.

 

You mean you don't enjoy John Stamos singing Forever?!?!

 

I like the album. I also like Keepin' the Summer Alive.

 

Oh gosh, I forgot, a lost classic!

 

For entertainment purposes check out this link to Prindle's BB reviews. I started it from 15 BIG ONES. The review for SUMMER IN PARADISE is priceless.

http://markprindle.com/beachboys.htm#15

 

Now that the old memory is moving..I think every version released (Beach Boys, American Spring and well Beach Boys again with John singing lead) has Carl doing back ground vocals. I am sure there are newer versions but those three have Carl the same BG on them.

 

I really must be nuts. Because I like this, "Keepin' The Summer Alive" AND "Summer in Paradise."

It's "1985" that I think is their worst. Except "Male Ego" - great song - but originally just a b-side!

JEFF!