Beach Boys

Certain Songs: The Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations”

November 19, 2014 by Jim Connelly

Album: Smiley Smile.

Year: 1966.

If you’re an artist, and you’ve just made the greatest thing you’ll ever make – hell, one of the the greatest things anyone will ever make – by the time you turn 25, where do you go from there?

For Brian Wilson, of course, it’s been a long weird road, ending with some kind of redemption. But had he gone the full Syd Barrett after this song, his legacy would have been secure. Hell, had The Beach Boys only produced just “Good Vibrations” as a one-off, his legacy would have been secure.

For a very long time, this was the only Beach Boys song I truly loved without reservations: the early singles felt slight and silly, and things like “God Only Knows” were simply gorgeous when I needed grit as well.

But “Good Vibrations” is arty and psychedelic and does that thing where the verses are downtempo but the choruses are uptempo, and that’s just for starters.

Just when you think you’ve got the whole thing figured out, it goes into what is clearly the same song but from a different conception, and then another one, and then another one so the end result is like the several different Brian Wilsons from several different universes were able to collaborate on it across time and space.

Also: still don’t know if rhyming “vibrations” and “excitations” is absolute genius or utter trash. Must be both!

Fan-made video for “Good Vibrations”

My Certain Songs Playlist on Spotify

Every “Certain Song” Ever

Certain Songs: The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows”

November 18, 2014 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pet Sounds.

Year: 1966.

God only knows why I don’t have the same love for Pet Sounds that so many people whose taste I share and/or respect do, but I don’t. After decades of trying, I’ve given up worrying about it, and you can assume it’s clearly a defect on my part.

That said, I’m not a monster, so I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that “God Only Knows” is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and when it’s on (and to a lesser extent, “Sloop John B”), I fully understand what everybody else gets about what Brian Wilson was up to.

Video for “God Only Knows”

My Certain Songs Playlist on Spotify

Every “Certain Song” Ever

Certain Songs #34: The Beach Boys – “I Get Around”

November 17, 2014 by Jim Connelly

Album: All Summer Long
Year: 1964

Here’s a bit of heresy: with a couple of exceptions, I prefer the early exuberant Beach Boys singles over the teenage symphonies to god that ended up breaking Brian Wilson’s brain.

As far as I’m concerned, creating or at least popularizing “Surf Music” by welding teenage concerns & barbershop harmonies to Chuck Berry licks was pretty fucking revolutionary in and of itself. And the automatic singalong “I Get Around” is a prime example of the Beach Boys as a rock ‘n’ roll hit machine.

Even discounting the vocals – which, no, why would you do that? – the music here is pretty sophisticated. Opening with the chorus is always a strong gambit, but my favorite bit is how they invoke The Handclap Rule in order to kick the second half of each verse into high gear, followed by either just a guitar riff and bam into another verse, or straight into the chorus.

The end result is all forward motion, the musical equivalent of the getting around they’re endlessly singing about.

“I Get Around”

My Certain Songs Playlist on Spotify

Every “Certain Song” Ever

Medialoper Bebop Episode 28: [REDACTED]

January 18, 2012 by Jim Connelly

Kirk, Tim & Jim have all seen Moneyball, so we figured we’d talk about both the film and the concept. (05:30 – 15:20)

After that, we look at the SOPA protests, including the one on this site. And explain why Lamar Smith, the author (or “author”) of SOPA, is exactly like Snooki. (15:22 – 20:55)

Then, we look at SPIN’s plan to tweet the vast majority of their record reviews. (20:56 – 32:53)

Finally, it’s Kirk’s turn to explain what is in his mix, which has been utterly transformed by iTunes Match: Elmore James, Sharon Jones and Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs. (32:54 – 40:53)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:59 — 68.7MB)

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23 Musical Moments to Die For, Part 2

October 3, 2008 by Jim Connelly

NOTE: Because of a godsdammed bug between Flash and Firefox for Windows, I’ve had to break this up into two parts in order for the players to work for those with that particular configuration. Stupid internets.

If you’re running Firefox and get stuck on “buffering,” restarting your browser should work.

Hello EMI! Goooood-bye!

September 13, 2006 by Jim Connelly

Just when you think that major record companies couldn’t get any meaner and any stupider, one of them proves you wrong. In this case, the record company is EMI, an acronym that apparently stands for Evil Motherfracking Idiots.

Apparently, a guy named Clayton Counts put together a mash-up that combined The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band & The Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Why did he do it? On his website, he says that it was a work of satire, which is generally protected speech.

Whether or not you believe that, it is true that Mr. Counts didn’t make a single penny from his creation. And soon after word got out about it, he got a cease-and-desist from EMI. But with a twist!