Brian Wilson's brilliance manifested itself in the euphoric, cheerfully square, sun-and-fun stuff heard here early on, before it got darker and more complicated. Endless Summer runs from the beginning of the Boys' pinstriped career to 1965, right before the melancholy of Pet Sounds, but also includes the inescapable "Good Vibrations." You can hear a few hints of adolescent sadness and fear--"Help Me, Rhonda" is essentially a kids' sing-along about a wrenching emotional rebound, and the shadow of death is hiding somewhere in "Don't Worry, Baby"--but Wilson is mostly concerned with the cars, waves, and girls that made up the Boys' public image, and his ingenious arrangements (coupled with the group's inimitable harmonies) make everything go down as smoothly as lemonade. --Douglas Wolk
Brian Wilson's brilliance manifested itself in the euphoric, cheerfully square, sun-and-fun stuff heard here early on, before it got darker and more complicated. Endless Summer runs from the beginning of the Boys' pinstriped career to 1965, right before the melancholy of Pet Sounds, but also includes the inescapable "Good Vibrations." You can hear a few hints of adolescent sadness and fear--"Help Me, Rhonda" is essentially a kids' sing-along about a wrenching emotional rebound, and the shadow of death is hiding somewhere in "Don't Worry, Baby"--but Wilson is mostly concerned with the cars, waves, and girls that made up the Boys' public image, and his ingenious arrangements (coupled with the group's inimitable harmonies) make everything go down as smoothly as lemonade. --Douglas Wolk
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
This Was the One...:
This was the ONE for me...when I was 13, in 1976, I borrowed this 2 album set from my friend's older brother, and I never gave it back! I was completely hooked from the first song on. I wore grooves in all of the records, and created so many skips on my portable record player (yes, that's what they were back then...nothing fancy like a hi-fi stereo, just a blue & white plastic record player!). In fact, I could sing all of the songs, with the skips and scratches fitting right in to my vocals! I loved the... more info
LIKE...ONE OF MY FIRST RECORDS EVER....:
...and, still I listen to it frequently. It's really easy to say that The Beach Boys are outdated, especially for kids my age. BUT, I gotta say, that, this record, a hand me down on vinyl, and eventually a purchase on CD has remained an all time bust out album, for unique situations, or just the occasional, beach party in my head type moment. This thing is loaded with just about all of the beach boys classics... sans the entire Pet Sounds (which I still don't see the big deal with, did it have Surfin U.S.A.... more info
SHE'S MY LITTLE DEUCE COUPE:
OKAY, LET ME THROW MY TWO CENTS IN HERE. THIS CD FEATURES EARLY BEACH BOYS SONGS UP TILL THE TIME THEY RECORDED GOOD VIBRATIONS AND CALIFORNIA GIRLS, BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY OF THE SONGS FROM PET SOUNDS, WHICH IS ARGUABLY THEIR BEST ALBUM AND SUPPOSEDLY SOME SORT OF SEMINAL RECORDING, BUT I DON'T FIND THAT TO BE THE CASE, BUT THAT'S JUST ONE MAN'S OPINION (DON'T GET ME WRONG, I LISTEN TO IT AND LIKE IT A LOT, JUST DON'T DROOL OVER IT LIKE SOME PEOPLE DO), AND DOESN'T HAVE ANY OF THEIR LATER "
HITS"... more info
BOTH CD AND SELLER GREAT:
This is a classic record and truly gives you a great taste of fun summer beach music. Also, the seller was fantastic. He got the CD out right away and answered my email question within 18 hours. And, he wanted an email when I received the CD. Great customer service.
