Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

No question it's a 5/5, but there are many Beach Boy songs that I like better. But I do agree it's the essential Beach Boy song. If you had to pick one and only one song that defined the group you could do it with this song.

 

5/5, what can be said?

It's a great fun song and arrangement and production-wise, the best-produced song of 1965.

 

Another day, another 5/5. "California Girls" is so amazing. Then to think... Brian got even better.

 

"California Girls" (Wilson/Love)

I dig a French bikini on Hawaiian island dolls by a palm tree in the sand



5/5

 

Definitely 5/5 and, with the possible exception of Good Vibrations, marries the best of Brian and Mike Love's talents.

 

Well, I don't know. His (Johnston's) voice is part-and-parcel with the rest of 'em, and it was always good to have someone like him who could do the falsetto parts...but without any mention of him on the cover (and I wasn't around as a 5 year old when it came out to read any music press about him joining the band) it was a puzzler to hear him on the record.

 

CG – 5/5

What's not to worship?

 

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5-13 votes

 

Today's song is Let Him Run Wild:

 

Let Him Run Wild - This is virtually a trailer of Pet Sounds. Sensitive but perfect lead vocal, as well as phenomenal production, both by Brian.

California Girls/Let Him Run Wild is with no doubt one of the best 45's ever. 5/5.

 

Let Him Run Wild
My favorite track on the album, even more than the really famous ones. Oh, it's so wonderful. Horns, that guitar riff in the verses (doo doo doo doo doo), falsetto, the "Guess you knew I waited for you" bit... It is flawless. When I hear that people only have a copy of a greatest hits collection plus Pet Sounds it is songs like 'Let Him Run Wild' that I know they are missing out on.

5/5

 

I just can't get into this track. It's OK, but nothing that would make me want to like the group. 3/5.

 

LHRW – Great track. Fabulous track. Nice lead from Brian, even though he hates the sound of his own voice on this one. I did the Mike spot. Good emotional payoff at the end. Terrific song. I love it. It’s got the groove. Mono or stereo remix, I love them both. 5/5

Speaking of Brian’s vocal, I remember back in the early days of Brian Wilson’s “blue board” message board he had to publicly apologize for an interview he gave somewhere where he said he sounded like a, and I quote, “fairy”. Well, they came out in droves to poo-poo Brian’s choice of words. I found the outrage peculiar at the time (again, this was the very early 2000’s) but now this sort of daily outrage is the norm. I remember another occasion where a fan complained and needed an apology because Brian said “god damned” on his “Live at the Roxy” CD, which they had purchased, unaware of the ‘rough language’. And then they nearly formed a lynch mob when Bob Liszik and Jimmy Hines left the band. They were going to start a petition to bring them back. This is based on the very bold assumption that the band members did not leave on their own accord. For all we know they very well might have. Any way, poor Brian; it’s no surprise that he does not drop in and communicate directly with his fans any longer. Beach Boys fans are the best. Talking about “Let Him Run Wild” reminded me of these good ol' days of surfing the world-wide internet.

 

Let Him Run Wild. 5/5. What particularly strikes me about this song is how the end of the verse crescendos into the chorus, and then the end of the chorus finds the verse beginning with a dramatic drop in volume, leaving the range wide open for Brian's verse vocal. It goes without saying that the harmonies are great here, too. One of my favorites on this album.

 

Yeah, despite what Brian says, this is one of his very best vocal performances.

I've known the song since getting Endless Summer when I was about 11 years old. My appreciation of the song continues to increase as the years go by.

Another resounding 5/5

 

INcredible song. My brain is dead (too much work) so I don't know how much I can say. but this song is what Brian Wilson is all about. I love those kind of MOtown-y vibes, and the dual bassline, and that cool-as-hell bass guitar. It's like drinking an ice-cold cocktail in an air-condintioned lounge on a blazing hot summer day. The way the horns and the vocals kind of blend together, the way the chorus leads into the verse so incredibly seamlessly. How did he come up with that amazing arrangement, so unusual and yet it sounds so natural.
5/5, but this one, like CG would get a 6, it is deffo in the top 30 BB songs for me, if I can even pick 30.

The lyric is great too, hearkening back to Today! lyrics: there is an ambiguity about them that comes from the confusion and complexity of real emotions. Maybe it really was about Murry and Audree, maybe Brian was jealous of Marilyn or something (and I know that MIke helped with these lyrics, too), whatever, the emotions just seem really real and raw like the best of Brian Wilson's work. And yes, I kind of get where Brian is coming from when he feels like he sounds like a "fairy." I'ts not an anti-homosexual thing, per se, it's the way that he just really cuts loose -- there is a nakedness to the performance and the emotion it shows that embarasses him, I reckon -- it's anguished yet at the same time it's showing off just what his voice, here, at peak quality, can do.

 

^
Nice catch for Wild having a Motown influence. It could have been on Wild Honey. heh.

 

Agreed! It does foreshadow Pet Sounds to my ears.

5/5

 

People may or may not agree with me, but I always felt there was a connection between the instrumental backing track to Jill Gibson's / Jan & Dean's It's Easy As 1 , 2, 3 and Let Him Run Wild. I haven't listened to IEA123 in quite a while (till a couple of minutes ago), but I used to think some of the sax parts sounded pretty familiar, especially starting around 0:58:

 

"Let Him Run Wild"

Great track with Carl, Hal, Carol, Steve Douglas, etc. That it swings so hard with interesting instrumental parts, like the sax, is my favorite feature. I am not always a huge fan of Brian's lead vox during this time period, but I don't know if any other BB singer could have improved on Brian's lead on this track. It seems tailor made for this iconic track now.

4/5

 

Clear sailin', Brian. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Loved that they presented the single's a and b-sides to open side two. A 5/5.

EdogawaRampo, thanks for posting the Jill Gibson track. Haven't heard that in many years.

 

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Today's song is You're So Good to Me:

 

You're So Good to Me
Another excellent song. I don't like this one quite as much as the last few, so I'll drop it down to a 4/5, but it's another great song. Brian's vocal is so confident on this one and sung in his chest voice as well. I like the guitar riff but I will say that I've never been that wild about the "la la la" background vocals. I'm not wild about the "la la la" background vocals on some Rubber Soul tracks either, so that must just be something that bugs me a little bit. Wrecking Crew sounds great, though.

4/5

 

Another 5/5 for me. In my top 20 or so Beach Boy songs.

Love the sparser sound, compared to other Brian productions of the day. His vocals are great, similar to some of Carl’s leads on Wild Honey and, yeah, the la la’s are catchy as hell.