I picked up this album up ina second-hand shop in the city at the peak of my record-buying mania in the late seventies where every week I would go into town just to see what new second-hand records were in. I think I used to fret knowing that every day more records were going into the shelves and being scooped up by others. But once a week I would come home with classic albums mostly American like Flaming Groovies, New York Dolls and The Beach Boys. Old sixties albums from the USA were always very tactile with bright colours and thick cardboard.
After listening to Pet Sounds continually I was interested in what Brian Wilson had released before though I was a bit turned off by some of those old cheesy surfing songs. But I had read so much about his writing I thought I would give it a try. This was the first one I found. And it was glorious. Such great melodies. Such great harmonies. Such great songs. Still surfing pop but there is something more to the songs.
The first side is upbeat with that fantastic chugging surf beat the band had perfected. Well, the session musicians (known as the Wrecking Crew) But on the second side Brian Wilson gets a bit more melancholic. The production is more sumptuous. It was stuff like this that showed what a genius Brian was. Great songs except for a bit of rubbish at the end. But Beach Boys always seem to have a bit of rubbish at the end as if we want to hear the band mucking about in the studio.
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