10 Amazing Beach Boys Songs You've Never Heard Of

 Remember when I wrote that this blog would be about photography and stuff? Well, today I delve into stuff. It's something I hold near and dear to me that has nothing to do with photography, but is a passion of mine: the music of The Beach Boys. I'm a fan. 

Songs like Fun, Fun, Fun, Surfin' USA, Help Me Rhonda, All Summer Long, The Warmth Of The Sun, Surfer Girl, Sloop John B., God Only Knows, Wouldn't it Be Nice and so many others spark joy for so many. But while they were commercially successful, their best work was ahead of them. And unfortunately, their best work was a commercial failure and has been forgotten for all but their most die-hard fans.

More Than Fun, Fun, Fun

While you probably know their surf-girls-cars themed music of the early-mid 60s, you may not be aware that from around 1967 on into the mid-70s, the Beach Boys abruptly pivoted, becoming a progressive art-rock band. It happened around the time that Brian Wilson checked out, mentally, for a while. He had been working on his masterpiece, Smile, but was getting no support from his record lable and very little love and support from the rest of the band. 

Also, he was taking a lot of drugs. By the time he gave up on the project, the band was moving on but the "old" Beach Boys music no longer was considered important. Protest songs, psychodelia and acid rock ruled the airwaves. The Beach Boys were no longer cool. And yet, by the late '60s they were doing protest songs, psychodelia and acid rock!

Except, if you listen to their output from that era now, you may think that they were not only cool, but perhaps ahead of their time. Their albums 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland, and the Beach Boys In Concert have many hidden gems that might have been big hits if they had gotten support from their label. 

Here are ten of my favorite Beach Boys songs from the late 60s and early 70s.

All I Wanna Do

A dreamy, psychedelic production with a stunning lead vocal by frontman Mike Love, this song was on the Wildflower album. It may have been released in the 70s, but many say it sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. It has been called the first "chillwave" song. Chillwave didn't exist until the 2000s. Were the Beach boys slightly ahead of their time here?

Breakaway

Written by Brian Wilson and his father Murry (Under the pseudonym Reggie Dunbar), Breakaway was released as a single 1969, and was filled with tight harmonies and musical hooks, but sold poorly. Murry got the idea while watching the Joey Bishop Show. Bishop announced a commercial break by saying "we're going to break away now..." and Murry pitched the idea of using the phrase as the basis for a song. 

Wonderful

The abandoned "Smile" project's best-known songs, Heros and Villains and Good Vibrations, may have been undeniable hits (the latter was the Beach Boys' biggest seller), but Wonderful may be one of the sweetest little songs Brian Wilson ever wrote. Van Dyke Park's poetic lyrics describe a happy girl who grows up in a loving home, meets a guy, loses her innocence and her way, and then—older but wiser—she returns to her loving mother and father. All of this unfolds beautifully in exactly two minutes, carried by a fine melody and exquisite harmonies. It's an unfinished track. Thus, the abrupt ending. But still. This is wonderful.

The Trader

Carl Wilson's toddler saying "hi" at the begnning, followed by the false start give you a sense that this song from the 1973 Holland album will be a lighthearted ditty, but it is anything but that. The seriousness of the subject matter takes you by surprise. The song tracks the devastating effects of "manifest destiny," colonization and racism, first from the perspective of the conquerer, followed by a heartbreaking, extended coda from the point of view of a defeated native trying to find a "reason to live." The heavy lyrics are offset by Carl Wilson's sweet lead vocals. You can follow along with the lyrics here.

Funky Pretty

You want funky new-agey R&B? Check. With input from Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, and lead singer Blondie Chaplin (who was a Beach Boy for just a few short years), Funky Pretty is an aural painting of a cosmically conscious flower girl. Part of the Holland album and written in the 1973, it was definitely a product of its time. Flower power!

This Whole World

There's a joke among die-hard Beach Boys fans about this song: Q: "Hey Brian, what key is This Whole World in?" A: "ALL of them!" So many modulations, so little time (a top-40-friendly 1:57, to be exact). The lyrics, about the world and love and girls getting mad at boys...are all over the place. Brian Wilson explains he wrote it in the middle of the night when he was "stoned and confused." Yes, the words are trippy. And yet, somehow it lyrically and musically holds together. Daryl Dragon (The Captain) said "I've never heard a song like that since I've been in pop music. I've never heard a song go through that many changes and come back." Little known fact: It was used in an Eastern Airlines commercial.  

'Till I Die

This is about as far as the Beach Boys got from their carefree California Fun in the sun theme of their most famous songs. It's Brian Wilson in the depth of his undiagnosed depression, choosing to write a song about existential angst. Despite its nihilistic theme, the harmonies and melody are contemplative and moving. Part of the oustanding 1972 Surf's Up album.

Forever

If George Harrison shocked the world with "Something," one of the greatest love songs ever written, then Brian and Carl's younger brother Dennis Wilson surely surprised The Beach Boys with the 1970 "Forever." Brian called his brother's song, which appeared on Sunflower, "the most harmonically beautiful thing I've ever heard. It's a rock and roll prayer." Dennis's soulful singing does this timeless love song justice.

Marcella (Live)

Marcella was written by Brian Wilson in 1972 for the "Carl and the Passions - So Tough" record, but the 1972-3 Beach Boys touring band, which included Blondie Chaplin and Rikki Fattar, absolutely rocked this one out on stage. The lyrics were inspired by a local massage therapist. The lead guitar was apparently inspired by George Harrison, even though Wilson says he was trying to emulate the Rolling Stones. This is from their Beach Boys In Concert double album, which came out in 1973. Some say The Beach Boys In Concert is right up there with Frampton Comes Alive and Cheap Trick in Buddokan as one of the best live albums of all time. No argument here.

I'll Bet He's Nice

When asked to name his favorite Beach Boys Album, Brian Wilson said "The Beach Boys Love You." It was released in 1977, as Brian was coming out of his isolation. The album has been referred to as proto-punk, anticipating '80s Europop, and more. It sounds different from all other Beach Boys albums because the instrumentation is almost all synthesizers. Some of the songs are just bizarre (for instance, there's a song praising Johnny Carson). But imagine if "normal" instrumentation had been used for "I'll Bet He's Nice". It might have become a classic. It features the three Wilson brothers--Brian, Carl, and Dennis--trading lead vocals, with Brian and Dennis's voices sounding rough after years of drug and alcohol abuse. And yet: The melody is great, and the lyrics follow a classic Beach Boy's theme of a jilted boyfriend talking bitterly about the girl's new beau.

And on that bizzarre note, I hope you enjoyed my indulgent foray into Beach Boys obscurity.