Deep Tracks: The Beach Boys, the Early 1960s
Trying to prepare a list of Beach Boys’ deep tracks is no easy task. As I realized when I started to pick songs for the article, it’s really hard to make these selections because there are so many songs. The group recorded at least 132 tracks for inclusion on 11 albums before 1966 alone, not to mention back-up appearances, singles that weren’t on albums, and the like. Consequently, an article that started as “Deep Tracks: The Beach Boys” soon became “Deep Tracks: The Beach Boys, the 1960s,” and then “Deep Tracks: The Beach Boys, the Early 1960s.”
That’s still a lot of music to cover, but lest that make you think I should have had a multitude of good songs to pick from, and then wonder why I chose some you may be familiar with already, consider that the Beach Boys are the absolute kings of the compilation LP, and any decent song of theirs with a beat has been collected and recollected again and again. They seem to recognize which songs, even if they didn’t chart, are good, and which ones are just throwaways and filler tracks. All of that is to say that chances are if you are a fan, you’ve heard their best recordings collected somewhere, and if you haven’t heard them, they may not be worth hearing. I didn’t want to include an uncollected rarity on this list unless it was worth listening to, and so as a result, they actually don’t have a lot of really obscure deep tracks in the strictest sense. All that being said, here are ten pre-1966 recordings that I consider the best Beach Boys deep tracks, in this case songs that didn’t crack the Top 40, albums cuts that weren’t released as singles, and even a song they sang back-up on.
1) “Surfin’,” initial single release (1961)
This was the single that started it all for the group, the song inspired by the day when Dennis Wilson came back from the beach and told the guys they should write a song about the popular sport of surfing. The rest, as they say, is history. The group recorded it for the tiny Candix label as the Pendletones (the label changed their names to the Beach Boys to match the song), and it became a huge hit locally though it only reached #75 nationally. But why is it here as a deep track? As the band became more and more successful, they seemed to regard this simple little song as a crude early release and didn’t appear to be eager to take ownership of it, so it didn’t get played a lot. Initially it wasn’t an album cut, but in 1962 they did tack it on to the end of 1962’s Surfin’ Safari album and after that it was more-or-less forgotten.
Think about it: the 1974 album Endless Summer, which started a massive revival of interest in the Beach Boys’ music, didn’t have it on the album, although every other early ’60s chart single they cut about surfing was included; it didn’t appear on the 1975 follow-up, Spirit of America, either. Since I only discovered the Beach Boys when Endless Summer was released, it wasn’t until I eventually stumbled upon a 1976 surf music compilation album called Golden Summer, which featured the likes of Jan and Dean, the Trashmen, the Surfaris, and others, that I found “Surfin’.” It is a somewhat crude song, and perhaps that and the fact that it is one of the few Beach Boys songs Capitol initially didn’t own the rights to kept it from being anthologized more and thus better known.
2) “Hawaii,” Surfer Girl (1963)
This album cut was never released as a single in the US, but it was in Australia where it actually made the Top 10. One thing that drew me to this song was what I thought was Dennis Wilson’s impressive drumming. Even Wilson himself admitted he was more of a “clubber” early on and not a particularly proficient drummer, but it sounded like he finally got it right here. The drum licks here are perfect — they carry the song, and they’re ever present but not overbearing. As I later learned, however, that’s because that’s not Dennis drumming, but the famous Hal Blaine of “The Wrecking Crew” — which explains the flawless execution. By the way, Dennis’ proficiency as a drummer did improve as the years went on.
3) “Car Crazy Cutie,” Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
I’ve never understood why this track from their Little Deuce Coupe album wasn’t released as a single, because it’s one of best-sounding songs in their early catalog. Maybe it was because they’d already released two albums in 1963 (Surfin’ Safari and Surfer Girl) before this one, and had had six charting singles that year, and perhaps one more would have been too much saturation of the “car song” market. Who knows. It’s just a shame it’s so little-known, and in fact I prefer it to most of their better-known car songs.
4) “Be True to Your School,” Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdMSstpIbuA
Before you think I’ve lost my mind and included one of the group’s most popular songs on a list of recordings that are by definition supposed to be lesser-known, consider that there are two versions of this song. The first (and the first video above) was recorded for the album, and it’s performed a little slower and the vocals are keyed a bit higher than the second version. Most obvious though is that the album version doesn’t feature the “cheerleaders” chanting (who were actually the girl group the Honeys). It was the second version, the cheerleader version, that was recorded just days later and released as a single that went to #5 on the Hot 100.
Consequently, if you listened to the radio in 1963, and didn’t buy the album, you only knew about the cheerleader version. Oddly enough, it was the album cut, sans cheerleaders, that was released on the compilation Endless Summer in 1974, and so for people like me who didn’t hear the song when released, we thought the album cut was the Top 40 version. Confused? So am I. But if you haven’t heard both of these, then one of them surely qualifies as a deep track.
5) “Drive In,” All Summer Long (1964)
Perhaps no song the group did is as stuck in time as 1964’s “Drive In.” The drive-in was a staple of teenage life in the ’60s and ’70s, a place where you could take your date and make out if you were lucky, or if you didn’t have a date and it was a slow night, you might go with a few buddies and drink beer and watch a flick. (The line “don’t sneak your buddies in the trunk, cause they might get caught” is a reference to the practice of one or two of you paying, but several others hiding in the trunk until you were well inside.) The song fits with the whole teenage surf/cars/girls songs the group did frequently in their early years and is a celebration of something as American as apple pie. On a side note, the song has a very long break that qualifies as a false ending, and it was actually this song that was the inspiration for the piece I did for April Fool’s Day.
6) “Don’t Back Down,” All Summer Long (1964)
One thing that may be lost on casual fans of the Beach Boys’ music is that after 1964, they really didn’t do surf songs; this was in fact the last one they did in the 1960s. (Note: unlike some people, I don’t count 1968’s “Do It Again” as a surf song. It’s not about surfing, it’s about reminiscing about girls, the beach, and surfing.) But this is a good one, as frenzied as the rush of trying to catch that elusive big wave.
7) “Long Tall Texan,” Beach Boys Concert (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmxEiJX5qGM
Despite the fact that “Long Tall Texan” sounds like a piece of time-tested Americana, a song in the tradition of one of those old Western songs like “Home on the Range” or “Yellow Rose of Texas,” it was actually written and first recorded by the Four Flickers in 1959. It’s an odd little song, but apparently the Beach Boys were quite fond of it because they frequently did it live in concert; fittingly it initially appeared on their first live album, 1964’s Beach Boys Concert. They later included this live version on two of their greatest hits compilations: the US release of Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 2, and the British release of Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3. They don’t appear to have ever recorded a studio version, however, but since it surfaced so often in their repertoire I’ve included it as a deep track. It’s certainly catchy — if a bit of a strange choice for them.
8) “Salt Lake City,” Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) (1965)
On the surface, this song seems to be a stark departure from the group’s usual fare: it isn’t directly about surfing, cars, or girls (though of course girls are mentioned). It’s about young people having fun though, and apparently it was recorded to address the group’s large fanbase in Salt Lake City, a place where they frequently performed. Outside of Utah, it’s probably best known because it was included on the compilation Spirit of America in 1975.
9) “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow,” Beach Boys Party! (1965)
I included this cover of the Rivington’s “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” in my retro review of the Beach Boys Party! album, which is going live later this week, but I felt it deserved a place here, too. It’s a track few people who don’t know the album have ever heard, and it’s a really fun cut that captures the essence of that great, sometimes silly album. Despite the fact that Brian Wilson and Mike Love share lead vocals, they sound a bit raw at times, but that’s what you’d expect of the type of real impromptu session — the type they were trying to fabricate here.
10) “The Monkey’s Uncle” with Annette Funicello; movie theme (1965)
Yes, I realize it’s not just the Beach Boys, as they back up Annette Funicello on this theme song from the movie The Monkey’s Uncle. And no, they don’t need anyone’s help on this song or any other. But basically it is a Beach Boys song, because without their vocals, it would be nothing. The harmonies are fabulous, but the most interesting thing about the video is actually watching the faces of the band as they sing and play. Brian Wilson seems uncomfortable in the spotlight (typical) and Mike Love seems a bit irritated at having to simply dance (awkwardly, I might add) and play second fiddle to Annette (not unexpected). But it’s a fun song, a damned addictive song, and Beach Boys harmonies at their finest.
What’s your favorite early Beach Boys track? Let us know in the comments!
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George L