1. Sail On Sailor (3:18) - This song has a slow, 12/8 tempo. It may not sound like the BBs at first because during the first half of the 1970s two black men from South Africa (Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar) were with the BBs; Blondie sang lead on this song. (He was probably called Blondie for the same reason as Florence Ballard--having lighter-colored hair and/or skin than most blacks.) This song never made it to the top 40, but it's my favorite BBs song. The ocean of life may be rough, but the narrator has to sail on, as must each of us. This was the opening song to the LP Holland.
2. California (3:20) - The tempo is moderate. Instruments include a harmonica. Here Al takes the lead, and for his first two lines, his voice is in the right speaker only. He asks us if we've ever been to various regions of California, including Salinas, of which John Steinbeck had written in The Grapes of Wrath. I've never been anywhere in California myself, but I do know enough second-hand to stay away from there. In some places, the air may be "so clean that it just takes your mind away," but in others, there's smog galore from cars and industrial plants.
3. Trader (5:03) - This song, with a moderate tempo a tiny bit on the fast side, opens with the voice of a little boy saying "Hi." The setting is colonial America, and the main character could be either Columbus or some other European explorer. The "humans of a second look who couldn't even write their names" were the Native Americans (Indians); the velvet-robed people were the Europeans. The trader writes home for help in clearing the Indians from the land he has just claimed for his country. This story ends at 2:20. A slow piano roll makes the transition to the song's second part, which elicits images like "morning breeze," "piercing the crust of the tower," "merging stream," and "burning the flesh of all sorrows." The character in this part of the story sees the sight of all these images as a "reason to live."
4. Funky Pretty (4:09) - On most lines in this moderate-paced song, Blondie takes lead once more; thus, the Holland LP both opened and closed with a lead from him. The narrator loves a woman whose birthday is in the Pisces range and who seems very skilled in astrology. She "values flowers more than gold" and is "a princess incarnate" to him. Now he reads the horoscope section of the newspaper every day. Just like in "Sail On Sailor," I hear a reference to Neptune, the Roman god of oceans. First, Neptune's waters; now, Neptune's daughter.
5. Fairy Tale Music (4:05) - This composition has five parts. Part 1 is a slow instrumental; one instrument is low-pitched and sounds wobbly. Part 2 has a moderate tempo and features an organ; the guys sing lyrics like "Pied Piper, I'd better get back in bed." Part 3 is moderate paced, with repetition of the lyric "Glowin' magic transistor radio." For Part 4, the tempo speeds up slightly and the guys do "ba ba bow bow" scat vocals. Part 5 consists of the striking back and forth across the keys of a piano or xylophone or something, followed by the repetition of "Dom dom kingdom."
6. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone (3:25) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, opens with a piano. Then a guitar enters, then vocals and drums, including a tambourine. The narrator needs sunshine, raindrops, soil for his grass, sparks for his winter fires, and a lot of other stuff to survive.
7. Marcella (3:51) - The tempo is moderate. For the first 19 seconds, the guys repeat "Hey-ey, Marcella" several times; that repetition occurs again shortly after the 1-minute mark. She is very attractive to the narrator; one look over his shoulder, and he found her standing behind him with "eyes that knock you right over." During the fading sequence, instruments include jingle bells.
8. All This Is That (3:59) - This song has a moderate speed a little on the slow side. I like how the guys sing "I am that, thou art that, all this is that." Each morning when the narrator wakes up, he feels "Mother Divine's precious kiss" and peace within him. Then at every sunset, he tells his girlfriend that "golden auras" and "omnipresent love" envelop her. With help from above, he and she are "truly one." For the last minute, the song slowly fades out.
9. Rock And Roll Music (2:27) - This version is moderately fast, somewhat slower than the original by Chuck Berry or another one by the Beatles. This one also contains a lyrical variation in one verse: "They're drinkin' beer from a wooden cup," whereas in the previous versions the drink was "home brew."
10. It's OK (2:10) - This moderate-paced song features handclaps and an organ. In the setting of this tune, it is time once again to enjoy sunbathing, cars, lemonade, and anything else associated with summer. "Fun is in, it's no sin," so don't worry, have some!
11. Had To Phone Ya (1:42) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. Instruments include a clarinet. The narrator calls the woman he loves just to chat with her and tell her how much he misses her. The lyric "When I'm alone, ya..." is an interesting one to rhyme with the title; when he's alone, she's just a phone call away. From 1:15 till fadeout, the guys repeat, "Come on, come on, come on and answer the phone."
12. That Same Song (2:13) - This song, somewhat faster than moderate, features an organ. This is a nice theory on the evolution of music: it began with Gregorian chants, then that "great big choir...spread like fire" and took us over the centuries from the chants to Bach to rock. In other words, it's all one song that branched out over the centuries.
13. It's Over Now * (2:49) - This song is slow and melancholy. The love relationship between the narrator and the girl has ended, and "shades of blue and purple" torment him. Brian apparently is a Frank Sinatra fan, as his character in this song attempts to swallow his fear by playing one of Frank's albums.
14. Still I Dream Of It * (3:25) - This moderately slow tune has a similar mood to its predecessor. The narrator, tired after a hard day at work, is hungry as he hears his maid whistle and smells the supper she cooks. Though sometimes he feels good "like a tree that's just been planted," he still dreams anxiously of the day he finds a woman to love. As a boy, he used to be told of Jesus' love for the world; now he wonders why Jesus hasn't helped him to find a special woman.
15. Let Us Go On This Way (1:57) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, is kind of loud--organ, drums, vocals and all; you may need to turn the volume down. The narrator loves the girl so much, he doesn't want the girl to slip through his fingers. He prays that their relationship can continue.
16. The Night Was So Young (2:13) - This song, somewhat slower than moderate, features an organ and high-pitched guitar licks. The narrator wonders why his girlfriend has acted strange lately--why she has to hide from and lie to him. Throughout the night he lies in his bed awake and anxious. At 3 AM he goes to his kitchen for a drink and ponders what she, somewhere far away, might be thinking.
17. I'll Bet He's Nice (2:34) - The tempo is moderate. Instruments and sound effects include a tambourine and handclaps. The narrator is sure that his ex-girlfriend has a new man who treats her good. Yet he begs her not to tell her whether it's true, for even though they are through, he still loves her.
18. Airplane (3:02) - For the first few seconds, I hear a sound resembling the roaring of an airplane. Most of the time, the tempo is moderately slow. Instruments include cymbals and an organ. The narrator is aboard an airplane headed for the city where his girlfriend lives. During the flight, he looks out his window and observes, "The houses look so tiny, the cars look like dots." Indeed, when I fly on airplanes, during takeoff and landing, the cars seem as small as the toy cars I used to play with as a child. The fading sequence is fast, with the guys repeating, "I can't wait, can't wait to see her face."
19. Come Go With Me (2:03) - This song has a moderate tempo, approximately the same pace as the original version by the Del Vikings. Sound effects and instruments include finger snaps and a saxophone.
20. Our Team * (2:33) - For the first 4 seconds, I hear sounds resembling the dribbling of a basketball. The tempo is moderate. Instruments and sound effects include a flute, horns and handclaps. Here the guys portray basketball players who need only a few minutes to warm up for a game. Once they've warmed up, they're ready to show the cheerleaders and the fans that they can take even the biggest opposing team down to their size. They assure the fans, "You'll never lose it; with us you're still #1."
21. Baby Blue (3:16) - Here's a good one: a slow tune featuring a piano, horns, ethereal background vocals, and a lead from Dennis. Every night when the narrator goes to bed, he misses the girl he loves, whose eyes have the color named in the title. In his dreams, he embraces her and feels her heartbeat.
22. Good Timin' (2:09) - This moderately slow tune is not the song sung by two-hit wonder Jimmy Jones, but the idea is similar: "The world keeps turnin' and we're all learnin' " that it takes good timing to accomplish anything in life.
23. Goin' On (3:02) - This song has a slow 12/8 tempo. A sax plays during the instrumental. Though the relationship between the narrator and the girl has ended, his feelings for her continue, and he wonders why. In the first verse, he words "mirror" and "clearer" make an interesting rhyming pair; when he sees his reflection, it is very clear that depression shows in his eyes.
24. Getcha Back (3:01) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. Instruments include castanets. The narrator and the girl used to be lovers, but now she's found a new man who provides her with money and a car and treats her like an actress. The narrator still loves her so much, he wonders if he'll ever get her back, especially since two nights before the setting, he heard their old favorite song on the radio.
25. Kokomo (3:35, also on 20GV) - This song was recorded in 1988 without Brian, who was working on a solo album at the time. The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. The narrator wants to take his girlfriend on a vacation to a place called Kokomo near the Caribbean.
1. In My Room (demo) (2:33) - The speed and key are the same here as in the final version. Here, the only instruments are drums and a guitar. Scat singing, rather than an instrumental, precedes the first verse. Instead of fading out, this version ends with a final strum of a C chord.
2. Radio Spot #1 (0:09) - The guys say in unison, "Hi, we're the Beach Boys!" Then Mike thanks the DJs at Los Angeles radio station KDWB for playing the group's records, "especially our latest."
3. I Get Around (instrumental track) (2:18)
4. Radio Spot #2 (0:13) - Now Brian's the one acknowledging the airplay for the group's records. He also promises to tell about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when the group returns from a tour of England.
5. Dance Dance Dance (instrumental track) (2:12) - In the studio talking and counting preceding, I can tell that it took 17 takes to get the track right.
6. Hang On To Your Ego (sessions) (6:38) - This and the next two tracks, whose total time comprises 2/5 of the whole disc, are long enough that we get to hear some directions from Brian regarding what instruments should be played, how loud, etc. This song had at least two working titles even before "Hang On To Your Ego": first "Let Go Of Your Ego," then "Let Go Of Your Libido." No vocals are included here.
7. God Only Knows (sessions) (9:12) - The first 6 minutes and 15 seconds focus on the building of the instrumental tracks. Then comes an alternate vocal version; from 8:30 on the guys sing the fading sequence a capella.
8. Good Vibrations (sessions) * (15:18) - A quarter of an hour's worth of sessions were included here probably to illustrate the amount of time and money it took Brian to get this song the way he wanted it. He wrote in his autobiography that the sessions cost him $50,000; imagine what that would be in today's dollars! Anyway, the experiments heard here include "hum de dum" scat vocals during the slow part; repetition of "Good, good, good, good vibrations, yeah"; and a couple of verses that ultimately weren't used in the final mix. In one of those rough-draft verses, the narrator hopes his girlfriend is getting good vibes from him, whereas the final version only mentions that he gets them from HER.
9. Heroes And Villains (instrumental track) (0:45) - Here is the track for the first part of the song, which the sessions in Disc 2, Track 20 did not include.
10. Cabinessence (instrumental track) (3:57)
11. Surf's Up (instrumental track) (1:39) - This track highlights only the part of the song before "Dove-nested towers."
12. Radio Spot #3 (0:06) - Six seconds, six guys, six words (each guy says one): "Hi, this is the Beach Boys."
13. All Summer Long (2:11) - This and the next four tracks are all stereo remixes. Instruments are in the left speaker only, while vocals are in the right speaker only. Some tracks feature opening studio chatter and/or have longer endings than the previously released versions.
14. Wendy (2:25)
15. Hushabye (2:40)
16. When I Grow Up To Be A Man (2:17)
17. Wouldn't It Be Nice (2:41)
18. California Girls (vocals only) (2:32)
19. Radio Spot #4 (0:11) - Apparently, that's a concert promoter asking the guys their names, since Brian was not present. Once the interviewer asks, "What are you guys?" the guys say "the Beach Boys," their voices echo-drenched.
20. Surfin' USA (live, 1964) (3:15) - The concert emcee peps the fans up just before the guys appear onstage and sing their hit. This version, like the demo that opened this collection, is in the key of F and faster than the hit studio version.
21. Surfer Girl (live, 1964) (2:52) - Mike introduces this song as "the first slow song the Beach Boys recorded."
22. Be True To Your School (live, 1964) (2:27) - When Mike says, "That's my cousin Brian Wilson...[and] I'm Mike Love, Brian Wilson's cousin," that's overkill, but he does describe Brian as having been capable of playing football while in high school; that capability was behind the writing of this song. After Mike sings the slow intro, the other guys do the cheers that the women had done in the studio, and they play at a faster pace than they did in the studio.
23. Good Vibrations (live, 1966) (5:13) - Whereas in the previous three tracks, the fans screamed throughout, I don't hear the audience much in this track, other than the applause once the guys finish playing.
24. Surfer Girl (live in Hawaii, rehearsals, 1967) (2:18)
I have this album in vinyl format. In the late 1980s or early 90s, this album and its successor, Surfin' USA, were reissued together on CD. By the time this album was recorded, Al temporarily left the group; his replacement on this album was David Marks. Tracks on this album (besides the below-listed) include "Surfin' Safari," "409," and "Surfin'." Lyrics to all songs are located here.
County Fair (2:12) - In this fast song, the narrator takes his girlfriend to the county fair. Periodically, drummer Hal Blaine shouts, "Hurry, hurry, step right this way," etc., while the girl pleads for the narrator to play this game that he just doesn't do well at no matter how hard he tries.
Ten Little Indians (1:24) - In a different twist to an old nursery rhyme, the ten Indian boys court an Indian girl. She doesn't like the first nine, but the tenth one wins her heart.
Chug-A-Lug (1:56) - The interesting thing about this song is that the names of the BBs other than Mike are mentioned. Also, an organ plays during the instrumental. The other guys chase girls or look under the car's hood, but Mike prefers to drink root beer.
Little Girl (You're My Miss America) (2:02) - The tempo is moderately fast. The girl has "blue eyes, blond hair, lips like a movie star." So even if she never enters a pageant for Miss America, she's still such to the narrator.
Heads You Win--Tails I Lose (2:14) - The tempo is fast in this and all subsequent songs on this album. Every time the narrator and his girlfriend quarrel, they flip a coin. But "you win" and "I lose" mean the same thing, so the girl is not playing fair. Later, the narrator decides to get even: "Heads I win, tails you lose."
Summertime Blues (2:06) - I like the original version by Eddie Cochran, and this one too!
Cuckoo Clock (2:05) - The ringing of the clock annoys the narrator and his girlfriend, who want peace and quiet. To make the cuckoo quiet, the narrator opens the clock and removes the bird. An organ plays during the instrumental.
Moon Dawg (1:58) - This instrumental starts with a 5-second drum roll. Dennis imitates a dog barking and howling, while the others sing "ahs." The guitar licks are awesome.
The Shift (1:50) - "The shift" is the dress the narrator's girlfriend is wearing. Her wearing it arouses his desire for her.