Beach Boys Wild Honey Is Massively Underrated

I love this whole troubled phase of the Beach Boys' career. Smiley Smile was a compromised salvaging of leftovers and re-recordings of the magnum opus promised by the aborted Smile, but it stands as one of the weirdest and most uniquely experimental albums of 1967 (and in that highly experimental year, no one could say that was easy to pull off). Wild Honey is a great album, going into a more rocking direction, and after relying heavily on studio musicians since the mid-'60s, they were a band again, playing their own instruments with the ragged but right garage band intensity they had on their earliest albums (augmented by some additional instrumentation like the biting brass on "Darlin' "). Sweet-voiced Carl unleashed some real R&B-flavored passion on his soulfully strained lead vocals, and I LOVE the screaming Theremin and the trippy organ break (R&B with a psychedelic edge) on the killer title song. Although they envisioned it as an R&B album, it also has touches of psych and Baroque pop, and what an epiphany it was years later when I realized that "Mama Says" had originally been a section of "Vegetables" (omitted from the Smiley Smile version). And as much as I love Wild Honey, I love Friends even more. To this day, IMO, it stands as the most blissfully spiritual album ever made, and Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, and Friends form a sort of trilogy of a band in transition and searching for direction, but going to some very inspired places along the way. (I also love the cover art for all 3.)

 

Carl singing is terrible. I was made to love her is painful to listen.

A weak album IMHO. I don't understand you guys

 

Unfortunately is my 95%.
I say unfortunately because I don't have people around me to talk about music. This forum is my oasis

 

I too was really unaware of the post Pet-Sounds stuff, until about year ago. Now those 8 albums (Smiley through Holland) have become favorites of mine. I snagged them all on the 2-fer CDs last year, and this past month I have been binging on all of them (Sunshine Tomorrow also).
Currently I'm leaning towards Friends and 20/20 as my favorite, but that changes. All these years just ignoring the stuff from this period...jeez, I'm glad I got wise. This whole past month I have been a total BB geek. (The neighbors probably wanna kill me). 3 DVD docs, a book, and currently listening to the In Concert/Live In London CD that came yesterday. And that Good Vibrations box set is heaven!

 

Not only do I think it's a fine album, but I love the cover art. That section of Brian's stained glass window perfectly captures the "psychedelic soul" vibe of the album (tempered with "a whiff of that Country Air"). After Paul McCartney told Brian Wilson how much he loved Pet Sounds, he reportedly said of its cover photo, "You should take more care with your album covers." Brian must have taken the advice to heart, because the bright cover of the aborted Smile, the colorful cover of Wild Honey, and the dreamy and impressionistic covers of Smiley Smile, Friends, Surf's Up, and Holland stand as some of the best and most artistically evocative album covers in the history of the art form.

 

Completely agree, all from Smiley to Holland are great cover designs. I probably like 20/20 the most because it's a really nice picture of them, which doesn't happen very often

 

Pretty sure that "Darlin'" was a top 40 hit, it's certainly the most well known song. I even hear it on oldies stations sometimes

 

The Beach Boys after "Pet Sounds" are not the easiest ride, but that was due to the band putting the craftwork more on Brian's shoulders between '62 & '66, which produced their classic song bag. It was too much to put onto one person, and Brian, a much bullied & intimidated young man to begin with unfortunately found drugs & crumbled. For all the praise that the late 60's/early 70's BB's get on this forum, the fact remains that Carl & Dennis weren't Brian. They did not have the opportunities presented to them to write & stretch themselves artistically during that hit period because "Brian takes care of that". Yes they had great moments during '67 to '73, but to ask them to provide the next "In My Room" or "California Girls" was not going to happen. (The unfortunately dated image in the minds of Rock fans in the late 60's didn't help either). The damage was done during the initial period of '62 to '66, and would wind up with everybody & his dog going bonkers for "Endless Summer" in '74.

 

What about the people at Revolver Records in the Gotic district in that little town to the north?

 

Those people aren't of my social circle. They are just the record store clerks not friends of mine.

It's the best record store I've ever been, by the way. I'm a regular. The second hand section is unbeatable

 

#19

 

Ok I'm listening right now Wild honey album again and I can agree it's enjoyable at least

 

Sometimes stuff hits you differently at different times, glad you gave it another chance and are digging it!

 

I got it today for £2.99 in the HMV sale, along with a 2CD Pet Sounds remaster.

Off topic but the HMV sale is ridiculous. I got 9 Cd albums, most of which are remastered / deluxe editions or recent releases (I.e. Not dusty warehouse stock) all for £29.

 

Nice!!!

 

I have the 2001 Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 2-Fer CD. According to the notes in the booklet; All tracks in original mono except #28 which is stereo (i.e. Can't Wait Too Long). The reissue was produced and coordinated by Mark Linett, there are also six bonus tracks; Heroes And Villains (Alternate Take), Good Vibrations (Various Sessions), Good Vibrations (Early Take), You're Welcome, Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, Can't Wait Too Long.

It's quite a musical transition between Smiley Smile and Wild Honey but in its fullness the 2-fer is a record I really enjoy listening to.

 

It reached #19, in the US

 

I agree..."I Was Made to Love Her" is cringe-inducing. If you're going to do Stevie, you'd better have the chops to pull it off, and he certainly didn't.

 

I have the pleasure of having the WB/Brother Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 2-fer LP set. I got it mainly because of Heroes and Villains and Good Vibrations, but Darlin' was one of my favorites and Wild Honey was becoming one of my favorites. Still have them, but use my CDs more often now. The LP sets (There is a Friends/20-20 set as well which I have) were my introduction into later Beach Boy music, and are probably the reason why they're my favorite group.

I can see why some don't like I Was Made to Love Her, but it fits the atmosphere of the album. It's not really set to imitate Stevie, after all, Mr. Wonder does not have the same keyboard the Beach Boys have, either. But is very different than most Beach Boy tracks as well.

And yes, I really like the cover on the original album!

 

I have that two-fer also. It uses the type of fake stereo that separates the bass frequencies in one channel and the treble frequencies in the other. It's a little more subtly done here than with some other records that did this, but it's definitely there. Love the album, by the way, underrated or not.

 

Wait- the 1974 WB 2-fers are paired up like this:
Smiley Smile/Friends
2020/Wild Honey

 

Masterpiece! Probably their best album.

 

It can be a tough listen, I was put off at first too. But Carl was really coming into a whole new way of singing, he was really pushing his voice as he took on a different style of singing. It definitely got stronger and better over the years.

 

I don’t know why but Darlin’ always felt so unbalanced. Maybe it’s the structure, Choruses felt too short and repetitive and verses felt way too long in comparison to the Choruses. Also their is no real bridge so things feel like they run together a bit.

It’s a great sound and some really good vocals by Carl. But structure wise? It feels like a half finished jam that was thrown into the “formula” because they had to have a single.

 

C'mon man...