Today! / Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)

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Product Description ------------------- Two 1965 classics, garnished with alternate takes of Dance, Dance, Dance; I'm So Young, and Let Him Run Wild ; a studio version of Graduation Day, and the single version of the Little Girl I Once Knew. .co.uk ------ This single disc gathers two Beach Boys albums--Today! and Summer Days and Summer Nights--with the addition of remastering and bonus tracks. When Brian Wilson finally summoned up the courage to confront his musically interfering her (the bands' early benefactor Murray Wilson) during the sessions for the Today! album, it could hardly be termed a rite of passage. Brian had always been in charge of his music, less so of himself. Thus, it's hard to believe that the gloriously realised, tender suite of songs ("Please Let Me Wonder" to "In the Back of My Mind") which occupy the second side of Today!--the exquisite semi-orchestral arrangements, the caramel harmonies and the lyrics which dwell on the dreamy, soul-searching solitaire of adolescence--are actually the work of a wobbly, self-doubting recluse recovering from a mental breakdown. But here it is--undiminished by time--the symphonic template for Pet Sounds ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000259CP/%24%7B0%7D ). Summer Days and Summer Nights, meanwhile, is livelier and sunnier. Carl Wilson makes his vocal debut (what took so long?) on the Beatles-do-Dylan inspired pop strum of "Girl Don't Tell Me", there's the cheesy pseudo surf of "Amusement Parks USA" (a hit in Japan) and some other numbers called "Help Me Rhonda" and "California Girls" which will still be around on the airwaves long after global warming has made the sea levels rise to wash all the beaches away. Similarly indispensable, the bonus tracks include the ground-breaking stop-start of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" (Brian's first "pocket symphony") and a terrific, twangy-guitar demo take of "Dance Dance Dance". --Kevin Maidment P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review ------ Released just four months after Today! in July 1965, The Beach Boys' ninth album was at first deemed by some to be a regression. Its predecessor had, on its second side, revealed the now studio-locked, pot-guzzling Brian Wilson's knack for melancholy, darker ballads. Summer Days re-embraced the band's archetypal themes of fun, sun, and partying. Mike Love was pleased the group were back on course, as were Capitol, little knowing that Wilson had Pet Sounds brewing as his next trick. If Pet Sounds is now so firmly ensconced in the canon and drowned with adulation that it's impossible to hear it without wondering if it's quite the epic work of genius it's cracked up to be, Summer Days inversely wins love for having always been unfairly sniffed at. Sparkling pop records don't feature in lists of The Greatest Albums You Must Own Or We'll Disown You as frequently as drug-influenced over-strainers, and this is simply loaded with proud pop songs. Half the tracklisting reads like a Greatest Hits: Then I Kissed Her, Help Me Rhonda, You're So Good to Me and California Girls are up there with any icons of West Coast sunshine. Help Me Rhonda - a number one - was a reworking of the previous album's Help Me Ronda, with new vocals by Al Jardine. (This was also the first album to feature Bruce Johnston.) Then I Kissed Her was Wilson's attempt to out-play his hero Phil Spector at his own game, but his arrangements elsewhere were more inspired. Throwaways like Amusement Parks USA and Salt Lake City boast subtle intricacies and Summer Means New Love is a coy but charming instrumental. It was California Girls however which, with its symphonic intro (Wilson's personal favourite), fused operatic pretensions and pop smarts to best effect, landing another huge hit. Cloying joke songs (I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man) aside, Summer Days retains its big, balmy sound through the Beatles-esque Girl Don't Tell Me and the Bacharach homage Let Him Run Wild. If Pet Sounds is the critics' favourite, Summer Days is perhaps the people's day at the beach. --Chris Roberts Find more music at the BBC ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/syn//albumreviews/-/music/ ) This link will take you off in a new window See more ( javascript:void(0) )