Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys

Performer: The Beach Boys
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks. Producers include: Brian Wilson, Murry Wilson, Nik Venet, Steve Levine, The Beachboys. Recorded between 1962 & 1988. Includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis. Personnel: Carl Wilson (vocals, guitar); Dennis Wilson (vocals, drums); Dean Torrence, Alan Jardine, Mike Love , Brian Wilson (vocals); David Marks (guitar). Audio Remixer: Mark Linett. Liner Note Author: Anthony DeCurtis. Recording information: 1962-1985. This collection perfectly captures on a single disc the career arc of one of America's most important pop groups. Stuffing 30 songs into a small space, SOUNDS OF SUMMER checks in with these West Coast sunshine pop wizards at each phase of their development. There's the early chicks-and-cars, Chuck Berry-influenced material ("I Get Around," "Little Deuce Coupe"), the surf songs on which the Beach Boys' early reputation is based (the genre's national anthem "Surfin' Safari," the surprisingly transcendent "Surfer Girl"), and more. Of course the celebrated "teenage symphonies to God" era is covered nicely, with such untouchable moments as "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations," and "Wouldn't It Be Nice." The fact that the band didn't dry up and blow away after the 1960s is not lost on SOUNDS OF SUMMER either, as witnessed by the inclusion of Chuck Berry cover "Rock and Roll Music" and the latter-day summer-fun hit "Kokomo." One of the few acts to simultaneously challenge and inspire the Beatles, the Beach Boys continued making wonderful music long after the 1960s drew to a close. SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF SUMMER is the first single-disc hits package to comprehensively cover the Boys' entire career. Organized thematically rather than chronologically, the collection explores both the group's sun-soaked California teenage fantasies ("Surfin' Safari," "Little Deuce Coupe") and Brian Wilson's later, increasingly introspective and sophisticated pieces ("God Only Knows," "Heroes and Villains"). In addition, there is a healthy amount of running time devoted to the group's harder-edged, band-oriented '70s experiments ("Good Timin'") and '80s revivalist hits ("Kokomo"). One of the few best-of CDs that can boast 30 tracks of uniformly great music, SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF SUMMER will satisfy both nostalgia hounds and Beach Boys neophytes curious about why this ostensibly innocuous West Coast band is counted among pop music's greatest groups.

Rolling Stone (6/12/03, p.98) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...The overall effect of this thirty-track overview of the Beach Boys' career is similar to that of the Beatles' 1: Both compilations strive to blow you away with the sheer amount of hit singles at hand, and both succeed..."

Admired for both their infectious surfer music and their sophisticated, multi-tracked pop productions, the Beach Boys created a lasting impression on popular music through their complex harmonies and Brian Wilson's genius for composition and arrangement. Their 1966 album, PET SOUNDS, is a baroque/psychedelic-pop masterpiece that easily ranks among the most influential albums of the rock era. Brian's emotional difficulties eventually prevented him from performing, but his brothers and buddies carried on without him, singing his songs and spreading that California sunshine all over the world. In 1999, Brian launched a solo world tour, showcasing his Beach Boys compositions, and has continued to perform live as well.

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