Where Do I Start With the Beach Boys?

stat with the steve hoffman mastered best of....if you can find it.

you can't get any better than that.

 

Today
Summer Days and Summer Nights

Beach Boys at their peak (in my opinion).

 

Certainly one of their peaks!

 

There are two flavors of Beach Boys, early fun surf/car/girls songs which they did as well or better than any one else (my favorite album from that era is Surfin USA) then there is the 2nd half, after Brian quite touring which would include Today, Pet Sounds to Smile and then there is the 3rd half of their career which includes Holland, Sunflower and Surfs Up. Each section has a different sound and vibe, each has its value but if you only listen to Pet Sounds and Surfs Up, you would get the more serious side of the Beach Boys and if you listen to the 1st set of albums, you get the fun but less "weighty" songs. Each is valuable but both are better
Box set is great, several greatest hits double albums (sounds of summer, 50 Big Ones, endless summer) are also a good place to start. As has been said several times on this forum, the Beach Boys put out many album very quickly and as a result had a lot of filler on their early albums (something the Beatles never did), having said that Surfer Girl, Summer Days and Summer Nights, Surfin USA and Today would almost completely cover the early years (Little Deuce Coupe if you want all car songs). Pet Sounds, Smile(y Smile), Sunflower and Surfs Up would cover the later years and Holland and So Tough (the Brian-less Beach Boys as Carl and the Passions) would be extra attractions.

I am very fond of their double Live album-the Beach Boys in Concert, which gives good live versions of all of the eras of the Beach Boys.

As an aside, I was able to play Pet Sounds for a friend the other day who had never heard it and she was literally amazed, her reference point was the Beatles and she kept saying "what were the Beatles doing at this point" (Help and Rubber Soul) and she was stunned.

Enjoy,
Phil

 

Actually, Help! was already one year old (a long time in Beatle development at tha point). Their last album had been Rubber Soul (which served as inspiration for Pet Sounds) and they recorded Revolver at approximately the same time.

 

Don’t get me started on these where do I start threads!

 

Pet Sounds
The Smile Sessions
Today
Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)
Wild Honey
Friends
Sunflower
Holland
Love You
Endless Summer

Solo albums:

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue (Deluxe Edition with Bamboo Sessions
Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, Smile, That Lucky Old Sun, No Pier Pressure

 

Don't start, then you won't have to quit.
You could become addicted.

 

Great post.

 

This! All Summer Long too.

 

Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys is the perfect place to start. When it was released in 1993 it reinvigorated my interest in the band. In the mid 70s I heard a multi-part program about the history of the BB and the discussion of the lost SMiLE pieces really piqued my interest. I bought all of the LPs that had related songs such as 20/20 and Surf's Up. I fell in love with everything up through Holland. Then that 30 years collection appeared and I was exposed to the amazing songs from 65-66 so I bought those albums too. Today is still one of my favorite albums by anyone. But the real motherload are the long lost SMiLE tracks at the end of disc 2. My mind was officially blown. So I suggest starting with this box, then branch out based on what floats your boat. Good luck and happy listening.

 

Some of these suggestions are silly.
You can't go wrong with Sounds of Summer then you can decide which version of the band, if any, is worth further spending. It's in print, it's cheap, and it's available anywhere.

Maybe hold off on the Japanese 2nd press of Friends for a little while...

 

"Pet Sounds" a brilliant piece of music. Start with that.

 

Probably a best of compilation. If you want to be blown away though, you should listen to the albums in order. After you get done with Pet Sounds, get the SMiLE sessions. You'll be blown away at what you here, if for no other reason it's pretty strange compared to what they had been doing. I remember when I first heard the SMiLE tracks on the GV box set, I couldn't believe that it was The Beach Boys doing that stuff. It seemed so out there for them. Then I became a SMiLE fanatic-the kind that has to always write SMiLE like SMiLE, and not like Smile.

 

Just Once in My Life is the best track and that's a cover.

 

Endless Summer is like only reading the old testament. The original Capitol album didn't even have Good Vibrations (a #1 single) and used the wrong version of Be True to Your School. Plus outside the USA the boys were still having massive hits (Cottonfields was #1 in Australia for example). For the fewest number of comps I'd buy Made in USA and The Brother Years plus Pet Sounds and The Beach Boys Love You. If you can get Good Vibrations 30 Years of The Beach Boys cheap BUY IT. The only bad things about it was the BBs got to veto songs so you miss out on gold like Let Him Run Wild. Capitol tried to fiddle with the royalties by having disc five only using different versions of songs already compiled on the first four discs and they stuff up the chronology on disc four because they wanted Sail On Sailor as the first track. Otherwise it's as close to perfect as a box set containing previously released material has been.

 

I'd go to All Summer Long and Summer Days and Summer Nights next. I found Pet Sounds meh from the perspective of one who listened to a lot of BBs in the mid-60s.

 

I would start with Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Those 2 LPs cover all of the big hits of the 1962 to '65 era. They sound great, with the duophonic mixes of tracks like Kiss Me Baby, You're So Good to Me, 409, Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, etc. Plus classics like Surfin' U.S.A., Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Fun Fun Fun, Don't Worry Baby, etc. in true stereo.
Then I'd suggest the psychedelic era of Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile.

 

Start with Beach Boys Today, end with Smile.

 

That is the most hilariously fitting GIF for the album mentioned. I'm sorry.

 

If you're a rabid Culture Club fan, start with the 1985 self titled album.

 

"Today" was actually my entry ralphb ......the drums are really quite wild on this one as well. Hal Blaine.
I remember thinking that their voices were a like "Peppermint Stick Ice Cream" a flavor from
Giffords.....I still sort of feel this way to this day.

 

I'm so glad we were able to clear this up for you!

 

I agree with those who recommend the 1993 Good Vibrations box set as a starting point. It has the perfect balance between the hits, lesser known album cuts, rarities and outtakes.