Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

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

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  1. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Your ratings for Cuckoo Clock:
    1-0 vote
    2-1 vote
    3-3 votes
    4-0 vote
    5-0 vote
     
  2. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Today's song is Moon Dawg:
     
  3. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Moon Dawg - 1/5 I don't care for it at all. a weaker link on this weak debut album.
     
  4. Al Smith

    Al Smith Forum Resident

    ‘Moosh, you are a hard man. Not as blistering as the original, but a great surf groove - Nik Venet as the dawg is inspired.

    3!
     
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  5. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    409-3/5-Not a bad tune, but there were better car songs to come.

    Surfin-3/5-Comfortably their weakest surf/surfin/surfer song. Catchy, but mainly of historical interest.

    Heads You Win...-4/5. A lovely, innocent pop song about a ridiculously specific subject. I was tempted go for 5/5 for the “Why can’t we arbitrarily resolve our fight?” line but if I did that, I’d need to invent a new number to represent the magnificence of Farmer’s Daughter when that cones up.

    Cuckoo Clock-4/5. Similar feelings to HYWTIL, though there are perhaps echoes of Brian’s future difficulties. For a more poignant riff on the same theme, seek out “Mrs Murphy” but Jake Thackray.

    Summertime Blues-2/5-There are some songs that should never be covered. The original will never be topped and the best I can say ablut this is that it’s more believable than the Who’s version.

    Moon Dawg-?/5-I must’ve always skipped this one. I have no idea what it sounds like, though I have a vague idea it involved someone saying the title in an exaggeratedly deep voice. This could be wrong, as it’s been 20 odd years since I heard it, but the same applies to 409 and Chug-A-Lug and I could probably still hum them on demand.
     
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  6. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    Moon Dawg - 2/5

    Nice basic harmonies.

    Irritating barking.

    Never heard the original.

    Side note: I wonder how much of the debut album made it into the band’s early sets? Apart from two or three songs, it’s vanished from their live repertoire for as long as I know. Did they ever do ‘Moon Dawg’ or ‘Heads You Win’ in the early days, or even ever again?
     
  7. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Moon Dawg - 2/5. Meh. I don't have much to say about it.
     
  8. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I kind of like Moon Dawg. Nice guitar work with that surf rock sound. The dog barking could have driven me the other way, but here it makes me smile. Still, compared to their overall work? Cant do better than

    3/5.
     
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  9. I think "Cuckoo Clock" is charming up to the point where the Cuckoo is brutally murdered.
     
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  10. MaccaBeatles

    MaccaBeatles Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greater London
    Surfin' (Pop Charts: US No. 75)
    Brian Wilson/Mike Love

    What can you about Surfin' that hasn't been said? As a piece of historical significance it is as vital to The Beach Boys story as 'Love Me Do' is to The Beatles. (or perhaps more appropriately, In Spite of All The Danger)
    It is as primitive as a pop song can get really, but that is actually a lot of the charm of the original recording. You can tell that this group has absolutely no idea of where they're headed. It is Beach Boys 101, and no deep delving into their deep back catalog would be complete without giving it a listen. It's naive charm and catchy simplicity overrides any attempt to properly dismiss it.

    Brian Wilson: "I began noodling around the piano singing 'surfin', surfin', surfin''. It sounded stupid. But then Mike sang 'ba-ba-dippity-dippity-ba-ba.' He was fooling around, trying to spark a new idea with the same bass sounds he'd sung countless times before. For some reason, though, this time when he sang I pounded out a few chords to accompany him and then he took up the chant I'd been singing, 'surfin', surfin''. "Twenty seconds later, I had the opening for the song that would become the Beach Boys' first hit single."

    An obvious 3/5 rating for the original Candix recording. The Surfin' Safari version is unfortunately sped up, in a sorry attempt to make it sound punchier. This has the unfortunate effect of making Mike Love sound like one of Alvin & The Chipmunks. 2/5 for that version!)

    Heads You Win - Tails You Lose

    Brian Wilson/Gary Usher

    A pretty damn forgettable song, all things considered. It almost gets a point for being one of the only songs to use the word 'arbitrarily' in it's lyrical content. But there's not really any serious melodic hook to latch onto here, pretty lame, even for 1962. It won't offend anyone listening, but if this wasn't a Beach Boys song no one would give it the time of day. At least they're trying I guess.
    2/5

    Summertime Blues
    Eddie Cochran/Jerry Capehart

    A rather generic cover of a Rock 'N' Roll classic. Most interesting for introducing the first lead vocals of Carl Wilson and David Marks. (of course the 15 year old Carl's voice is still a million miles away from even 'Girl Don't Tell Me [1965]') Another dud of a track in a row unfortunately, one that does absolutely nothing to make people forget about the 500 versions of this song.
    1/5

    Cuckoo Clock

    Brian Wilson/Gary Usher

    The first lead by The Beach Boys resident genius isn't as consistent as most of his 1962-1974 performances. It's clear that he hasn't managed to fully control his wavering falsetto yet. But that sense of nervousness also contributes to the songs charm and makes a rather pedestrian song positively charming. (He also sang in this vocal range on the earlier song, 'What Is A Young Girl Made Of? [1962]') But all in all, a nice vocal can not save a mediocre composition.
    2/5

    Moon Dawg

    Derry Weaver

    Not a very inspiring cover, but a nice guitar sound. Love them or hate them, those first two Beach Boys albums would not have inspired so many without a few instrumentals to showcase the surfin' sound of the era. Harmonies are fairly good, and the dog barks don't distract horribly. But otherwise there just isn't much else to this obvious piece of filler, the instrumentation at this time on the Beach Boys part was sorely lacking. The most interesting aspect is that the original group to record Moon Dawg, (The Gamblers) featured long time serving Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston in it's lineup.
    2/5
     
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  11. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Your ratings for Moon Dawg:
    1-1 vote
    2-3 votes
    3-2 votes
    4-0 vote
    5-0 vote
     
  12. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Today's song is The Shift:
     
  13. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    The Shift - 1/5
    One of the (very few) most boring songs the Beach Boys ever done. It's just...uninteresting. An uninspired end to an album.
     
  14. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    The Shift

    What stands out about this song is Carl developing his guitar sound. Chuck Berry on Fender via The Ventures, but that's too formulaic I suppose. I hear a budding style coming through. So much so I am tempted to give it a 3. But... this track so obviously needed a few more takes. As it stands it is so amateurish. So...

    2/5, avoinding a 1 thanks to Carl.
     
  15. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Moon Dawg:2/5

    Original is better, this one is ok. I like ringy surfy sounding instrumentals no matter what. They are fun and cool without being stupid. But the stuff they did on Surfin' USA is better. Fun fact: Bruce Johnston played piano on the original Moon Dawg.

    The Shift:
    This song is amazingly explicit for such an innocent album in such innocent times. Not much melody, but i like the lyrics and the clicky guitar. 2/5. "We'll ball it with the shift on and we'll have a good time." Oh, that brings back some X-rated memories.
     
  16. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    The Shift has dirty talk that frightens me off. It's an average number, musically. 2/5
     
  17. MaccaBeatles

    MaccaBeatles Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greater London
    The Shift
    Brian Wilson/Mike Love

    Now this is another song I had almost forgot even existed. Don't let the Wilson/Love credit fool you, this song isn't very good. It makes for a dull, uninspiring closer to the Surfin' Safari album, so much that you might barely notice that the album has ended. Carl's guitar solo almost saves it, but it still isn't enough to make this track worth giving much attention. Beach Boys songs can be many things, but rarely are they this boring. (Spoken dialogue tracks such as 'Bull Sessions.. [1965]' aside) If they had nixed a few of the weaker tracks such as this and 'Moon Dawg' and added the likes of 'Land Ahoy', 'Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring' and especially 'Lonely Sea' (why on earth would they not use a song that good?) than they would have had a much stronger debut to their name. As it is though there is a huge progression from this until their next LP...
    1/5
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2018
  18. Al Smith

    Al Smith Forum Resident

    2 - no great shakes, but not a bad effort at the time by a bunch of teenagers, and it pops along at a pretty brisk clip. I imagine this is representative of the sort of stuff they needed to have up their sleeves for the sock-hop audiences, and gives some idea of how they thought they’d need to approach “the market”.
     
  19. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I meant to say never made me rich.

    Now onto Heads I Win, Tails You Lose:
    This is pretty much filler. It’s just there.

    That is all.
     
  20. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Summertime Blues:
    I love this song, the original one. This is a decent cover, but of all the covers I’ve heard (Alan Jackson, The Who, Blue Cheer, Rush, this one), this would be the weakest of the bunch, and the group could have done a lot better with this one. Nontheless, it’s one of the better tracks on here.
    3/5 (3.5 If we could use half points, as a 3.5 more accurately reflects my opinion of this song, or a 6/10)

    Cuckoo Clock:
    I admit, I love this track, it’s a really good pop tune with a certain quirkiness that is pure Brian, and I enjoy the organ solo as well. Great vocals and hooks, this is my favorite song on here by far, love it.
    5/5

    Moon Dog:
    Nice surf/Bond kind of riffage, Carl and David are the high point of this track, and the harmonies are solid, although I hate the monkey sounds, I wish it was just aninstrumental and maybe the odd harmonies.
    3/5

    The Shift:
    A forgettable tune to close out this album.
    2/5


    Overall Thoughts:
    Not really that great an album, this is very much a pre-Beatles record with the one or two potential singles and a bunch of filler. Nontheless, you occasionally hear nuggets of potential in these tracks. It is what it is, and they would do great things after this record of course.
     
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  21. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Cool, I don’t even know the original Moon Dawg so cool tidbit.
     
  22. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

    Location:
    .
    Heads You Win, Tails I Lose - 4/5
    Cuckoo Clock - 5/5
     
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  23. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    "Moon Dawg": great drum intro from Dennis as he continues to develop his drumming skills. We can't give him a full length drum solo for LP yet, but just wait a few albums for that achievement. The singing is good here, so I guess the only fault is with the yelping, which isn't the fault of the band. Great guitar tone from Carl and recording of the guitar at the Capitol tower studio. 3/5

    "The Shift": background vocals sound good, but Mike Love needed to do another take or three. I'm just not feeling the lead vocal performance here. I could use a little more Mike Love vocal vim and vigor here and maybe add some cowbell on the chorus to liven up the Mike Love polyrhythms. Jazz it up and syncopate the cowbell if need be! 2/5
     
  24. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Your ratings for The Shift:
    1-12 votes
    2-5 votes
    3-0 vote
    4-0 vote
    5-0 vote
     
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  25. Wata

    Wata Poller Thread Starter

    Location:
    Japan
    Today we'll discuss the entire Surfin' Safari album.
     
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