Where Do I Start With the Beach Boys?

Pet Sounds
Sunflower
Surf's Up
Holland

 

I started with Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, and Wild Honey.

 

Same as every other artist or group, go the the beginning and start streaming.
Once you've been exposed to enough music to provide some context for what you're hearing,
that's the point you start buying.

 

At the beginning ...

 

1993 Good Vibrations Box set

Then start at the beginning with Surfin Safari

 

Let the "30 Years of Good Vibrations" box be your gateway drug.

 

Any of their early fun surf records. Except for Good Vibrations and only the singles from Pet Sounds, you can skip everything from 1966 forward, unless you want to lullabye music and druggy song fragments about farm animals and fire in a sandbox.

 

What? The Beach Boys still did some terrific stuff up until 1973! You'd be doing a great disservice by turning people off from stuff like 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up and Holland with such an inaccurate description

 

Horrible advice.

 

Endless Summer.

ES was my first BB album, bought in 1978 and I haven't looked back. It's still great and always brings back fond memories whenever I play my record. It's it a great career retrospective, no. However, it's a fun album.

 

Get, besides Pet Sounds,
DON'T start with their post-Pet Sounds stuff. Maybe later you'll want to.
I recommend:
Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Vol. 2
Today!/ Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long
and
Beach Boys Concert/Live In London (the former, total fun, the latter, fantastic versions of songs like Darlin' and Do It Again and so forth).
and you'll want the song Good Vibrations of course, but worry about that later.
I recommend the above 4 two-fers (the 2001 remasters; much more clarity then the previous ones), and Pet Sounds.

 

This was my first Beach Boys album, I totally loved it.
I later had a gold disc version of it on CD, unfortunately they used the horrible (to me) version of Be True To Your School.

 

That was my start too. Parents had it on cassette and played it often in the late 70's Grand Prix with the T-Tops off. I was probably 9 years old. I don't think I've heard it since then. I have 'Sounds of Summer', 'Warmth of the Sun', 'Pet Sounds' and 'That's Why God Made the Radio'.

 

Being a third wave Beach Boys fan, I can say that as a late teen/young adult, I thought the Beach Boys were pretty bubblegum. Until I heard this track:



From there I listened to the entirety of the Smile Sessions. Then moved onto Pet Sounds and realized it for the masterpiece it is. From there I moved onto Sunflower, Surf's Up, Today!, Summer Days, Wild Honey, Friends, 20/20, Holland, Endless Summer, and the rest is history

 

I'd get these five:

Pet Sounds (duh)
the Today/Summer Days (Summer Nights) two-fer
Sunflower
The Smile Sessions
And maybe Endless Summer for the early stuff

 

Beach Boys Party

 

Love You and Wild Honey. Plus Male Ego on the flip of Getcha Back is a pretty good introduction into the mindset of Brian Wilson.

 

Pet Sounds
SMiLE Sessions
Sunflower
Surfs Up

 

Surfer Girl
Summer Days ( and Summer Nights)
Pet Sounds
Smiley Smile
Holland

 

Still Cruisin'
L.A.
Stars & Stripes Vol. 1

 

LOL

I wouldn't even suggest ending with those

 

I like that analogy...the box set was my gateway drug

 

Dear Lord. How did I forget "Surf's Up?" Shameful.

 

you really can't go wrong with 20 good vibrations greatest hits vol 1

as for albums
Surfer Girl is the most solid album start to finish
From there I would go with Shut Down Vol 2 and then Today.

All Summer Long is really great. i might put it #3 on the albums list

 

Surfer Girl
Now
Smiley Smile
Friends
Love You