Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

Surfin' - 4/5
It may not be a great song, but I do love it for its freshness. My favorite on this debut album.

 

409:
This is a pretty cool song, I really dig it, nice harmonies and good drive to it (pun not intended). I like it.
4/5

 

Surfin:
I really like this song, love the harmonies as well as the little snare, I know it’s the first song and all that, but it’s still a cool ditty if you ask me.
4/5

Maybe 3/5 cause my work that got me a bad grade never made me wrong.

You know, let’s just stick with 4/5

 

Surfin'
3/5

Not bad at all for a bunch of kids who really, really didn't know what they were doing. It's amazing how well this works considering they were literally flying by the seat of their pants. And by "literally" I mean, "Actually not literally."

"Uh, yeah...sure...we have an original song...uh...it's about surfin', the new craze sweeping the land! Let's go home and, er, grab a sandwich and...er... finish it...and then we'll come back and show you. It's really awesome, yeah, uh, be right back!"

The image of a stressed out perfectionist Brian Wilson, still-skinny and freckled, whipping the other boys into shape while beating a snare drum with his thumb is iconic in my mind.

But beyond that, the lyrics are good slice of Chuck Berry multi-syllabic patter (what Mike calls "alliteration" -- I don't think Mike knows what alliteration actually altogether amounts to, but I know what he means.) The doo-wop bass, the vocals -- a little limp but consider the fact that they are recording in a garage-cum-stereo. The buried guitar, the thumping bass... There's just a bit of pop magic in this track that defies everything; even though it does not work on paper, the song flies.

Prefer the original version to the sped up album track, just because the sound is gentler on my ears.

 

Your ratings for Surfin':
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Today's song is Heads You Win, Tails I Lose:

 

Heads You Win - Tails I Lose: Slight harmony, pretty but unmemorable melody, deserves a 2/5.

 

Confident drumming from Dennis to the point where I can barely hear the other instruments, I wonder if this was a stage favourite in the early days? I guess it would have the ability to get the girls going.

4/5

 

Heads You Win, Tails You Lose
2/5

Another Wilson-Usher number. Mike Love puts back on the wimpy voice from "Country Fair" to portray the meek weakling who's always taken advantage of. His decision in the end, to turn the tables and become a full-on cheating is as humorous as it is disturbing. (To me.)

I feel like this song could really, really rock -- it is almost punky -- and that the production fails to emphasize that two chord punch in the chorus (Bum BUM -- Heads you win --bum BUM-- tails you lose --bum BUM...).

 

I don't know why but I enjoy "Heads/Tails". It's just silly fun. And it's cool how Mike sings those $50 words.

3/5

 

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Today's song is Summertime Blues:

 

Summertime Blues - 2/5
Super lame cover of a great song.

 

I'm not a fan of "Summertime Blues". Amateur hour. NIce to hear Carl and Dave singing but that's about it. 1/5.

 

Exactly this. Even Mike's bass part is lame. When you think about how much power there is in the cover by The Who just a few years later, this is just embarrassing.

1/5

 

...Blue Cheer from Jan. '68 is the best Summertime Blues - to me anyway.

 

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Today's song is Cuckoo Clock:

 

Still one of my favorite posts ever...

 

Cuckoo Clock - 3/5
Refreshing to hear Brian's lead vocal here. He's by far the best singer at that time, and though his singing doesn't really compete with his later voice, you can see its potential to get better in the next couple of years.

 

I really like "Cuckoo Clock" Brian sounds so sweet and innocent. It's sad the horrors that this poor kid would have to face throughout his life. Very charming number. 3/5

 

Just found this thread today, and I intend to stay on it. But first, especially with a 5 rather than 10 rating, no fractions, I have a hard time with it. Then there's the question are we talking compared to their overall work, or to music in general? I think since that's not clear from the rating description that for me it will be a mix of overall work and music in general. Which given who we are talking about (me a big fan) there will be a fair number of fives. So here we go:

Surfin Safari
5/5. Iconic song. If this were only compared to their overall work, I'd give it a 4. But it is that great overall.

County Fair
2/5. Weak lead vocal.

Ten Little Indians
2/5. The 2 is giving them a break here. I am close to saying I don't like this song.

Chug-a-Lug
3/5. Much better than the previous two, I can't however give it a 4.

Little Girl
4/5. I like this one. One of those songs very much of its time that still speaks to me.

409
5/5, and that would be true if the comp is to their overall work. Actually might be my favorite of their car songs. The beat "drives" it, and it really works.

Surfin'
4/5. I would give it 9/10 of I could, but here I round it down. Still a very compelling song.

Heads - tails
3/5. I like the looseness of this song.

SUmmertime Blues
2/5. Great song, they probably needed to do a few more takes on it. Not a failure, but disappointing.

Cuckoo Clock
2/5. This song had great potential as a deep album cut, but the Cuckoo Cuckoo added by Brian nearly ruins it for me.

And thanks to the OP for this thread.

 

There is no clear criteria for rating, but when I ran this thread on a Beach Boys forum, most of the people seemed to rate songs compared to their overall work, not music in general. Hope this helps.

 

Summertime Blues 1/5
I dont hate it, in fact it's amateurishness is what gives it it's charm, as is true for much of this album. But it's not very well done or even well-sung. I think it could have been improved even at the time, if they had taken a little more time to do it.

Cuckoo Clock
3/5
I like Cuckoo Clock. I think the melody is really, really catchy. Brian's voice seems, well, undeveloped somehow. He sounds very nervous. Which suits the song's sorry protagonist very well. It's a comic song about a guy who just can't get any action due to that "doggone cuckoo" but really, all jokes aside, I can't help but think that the cuckoo does symbolize something deeper: external influences keeping Brian from doing what he wants and controlling him. A theme that would repeat in his life many times. Am I reading too much into it? Maybe, but basically that is what the song is about.

The production just isn't all there, though. The straightforward "punk" production does not make the most out of the melody, which seems rushed and less-than-assured. But, I like it.

 

"Surfin'": the "baa baa dip pi dip pi dip" riff is pretty genius stuff. The verses and chorus set the stage for further surfing escapades, 1962-1985. There is a certain charm with this original, however, that the boys could not duplicate. It holds its own and only gets nudged out on compilations due to the sheer number of sweet BB surfin' trax. 4/5

"Heads/Tails": The Beach Boys and Gary Usher oddly explained the deckstacking way that Murry and Brian swindled Mike Love out of coin. They also foretold how, through a stacked deck, David Marks lost his job in the station wagon incident of '63 and how Mike turned the tables and got his money back from Brian in the lawsuit from 25 years ago. 5/5 for soothsaying abilities.

"Summertime Blues": great vocals from the youngins and great surfin' beat/rhythm on this oldie. 4/5

"Cuckoo Clock": Brian's most vulnerable vocal performance yet. 5/5