Category Archives: Beach Boys Songs

Beach Boys songs & covers: Acoustic cover songs – music videos by the songwriters of the Laptop Sessions video blog. Daily music blog with new indie rock acoustic songs.

Ranking every Beach Boys song/album: The Beach Boys Today! (by Songwriter Jim Fusco)

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By Jim Fusco:

THE BEACH BOYS TODAY!

Dance, Dance, Dance – 8
Kiss Me, Baby – 9.5
Please Let Me Wonder – 9 (I actually like the arrangement on the “Live at the Roxy” CD better- which really doesn’t fit with my stance on live versions…)
She Knows Me Too Well – 8 (What an ending! Probably one of the best endings ever)
When I Grow Up – 7 (This song is great, don’t get me wrong, but when I first learned it, I always found it to be a bit boring. But, the subject matter is amazing.)
Help Me, Ronda – 6 (I love this song, but sadly, not this version.)
Do You Wanna Dance? – 7 (Great Denny vocal here and I consider this the “standard” version of the song)
Good to My Baby – 7.5 (I love the style of this song, the great guitar riff, and the a capella vocals in the beginning)
*Dance, Dance, Dance (alternate) – 6 (Why do the unreleased alternate takes always sound so tinny?)
Don’t Hurt My Little Sister – 5 (Funny story about this song- my friends and I talk in the tune of this song! I know it sounds weird, and that’s because it is. We’ll say any line with seven syllables to the tune of this song, for instance, “Did you go buy the hot dogs?” Sing it- it fits!)
I’m So Young – 6 (This has some interesting sounds to it. Even though I like Dennis’ part at the end, it’s a bit out of his range)
*Graduation Day – 5 (Great harmonies, just not exactly “engaging”)
In the Back of My Mind – 6.5 (This is a great song with a personal message from Brian Wilson shroud in the vocals of Dennis Wilson. He really nails this and the tune is so unique that I have to give it a good rating)
*I’m So Young (alternate) – 5
Bull Session with the “Big Daddy” – 1

** This is clearly one of the Boys’ best albums of all-time. The production quality, although mixed in mono (which I’m not a fan of, growing up in the surround-sound age), is great. I do miss the Boys playing their own instruments, as they did on the Christmas album’s first side, but the song quality is so good here, that I can look far past it.

I think, without using composite song scores, but ranking albums as “albums”, that this would probably end up in the Top 5 for me. With it would be “Holland”, “Sunflower”, “Pet Sounds”, and the fifth spot is up for grabs. Of course, everyone knows by now my affinity for the ’85 album, but I do value my life, here! 🙂

As a bit of genealogy to my Beach Boys past, we actually started with Pet Sounds (after the Greatest Hits, of course), which we got in 1992. I was 8. Talk about starting with some heavy stuff! But, we hear it over and over and over and over again. My father couldn’t get enough. We listened to “God Only Knows” about three times a day for a year- I’m not exaggerating. It was like Brian Wilson listening to “Be My Baby”. We then moved on (because many of the Beach Boys albums weren’t so easy to find) to the Box Set that just came out in 1992. Now, you have an 8 year old kid listening to Smile!! But, I do think that listening to, and really getting into, such deep and complex music at the age of 8 helped me to grow into a musician and songwriter at an early age. And, thus, is the reason why Brian Wilson will always be my musical idol.

Well, enough about me- this album’s great, and it’s only gonna get better for me, as I’m such a fan of the other band members’ compositions that I can’t wait for the “Sunflower” days! **

“Passing Friend” by the Beach Boys – Chords, Tabs, & How to Play

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To see how this cover song is played, CLICK HERE!

“Passing Friend”
Beach Boys – Written by Culture Club’s George O’Dowd & Roy Hay

Intro: Gm – F  (x4)

F                    Eb                             Bb
Well, there’s nothing worse than a passing friend
Bb          Eb                        Bb
Who will die on you till the bitter end.
Bb          Eb                            Bb
There’s nothing worse than a burning heart
Bb    Eb                          Bb                                             Gm – F (x2)
Or a past that tears the world apart.

F              Gm                             F
I’ve been thinking about my situation,
Nothing ventured, nothing left to lose.
When it’s easier to just say nothing,
I had thought about what I might lose.

F                        Cm7
But through the child’s eyes,
Cm7
There were feelings
Dm7
Touching my violet skin.
Dm7         Cm7
When the love games start appealing,
Dm7
You better get out and move on in…

‘Cause there’s nothing worse than a passing friend
Or a pioneer of a dying trend,
Nothing worse than a silent ghost
Or to lose your head at the starting post.

Ain’t it always just a short vacation?
When it’s love it always has to end.
Under the sheets of life it’s just frustration,
While the body goes in search again.

But through the child’s eyes,
There were feelings
Touching my violet skin.
When the love games start appealing,
You better get out and move on in…

‘Cause there’s nothing worse than a passing friend
Who will die on you till the bitter end.
There’s nothing worse than a burning heart
Or a past that tears the world apart.

Eb                Dm7                Cm7                               Bb
Why do you love someone who wants to break your heart?
Why do you need someone who wants to tear your world apart?
No; no, not again…

SOLO

I was packing up my life in cases
For a hundred years or maybe more.
I’ve been talking to a million people,
Don’t you think I should have known the score?

But in the child’s eyes,
There were feelings
Touching my violet skin.
When the love games start appealing,
You better get out and move on in…

‘Cause there’s nothing worse than a passing friend
Who will die on you till the bitter end.
There’s nothing worse than a burning heart
Or a past that tears the world apart.

‘Cause there’s nothing worse than a passing friend
Or a pioneer of a dying trend,
Nothing worse than a silent ghost
Or to lose your head at the starting post.

No; no, not again…

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

“Airplane” (The Beach Boys Cover)

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Guest Sessions here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!  The Guest Sessions is a chance for our loyal viewers to try their hand at an acoustic cover song music video.  If we like it, we post it here on the music blog for all to see!

Tonight’s entry comes from Mustomix on YouTube.  He wrote to me a few months ago (sorry, I’ve been a bit slow on the uptake here) and sent me his channel of Beach Boys cover songs.  I’m very impressed with his selection of Beach Boys cover videos, but I’m most impressed with his incredible guitar selection!  He’s got some great stuff going on there!  I chose “Airplane” because it’s a unique song off of the Beach Boys “love it or hate it” 1977 album “Love You” and because he uses a great 12-string acoustic guitar, which is perfect for this song.  He does a great job playing it, as well.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Guest Sessions entry and congrats to Mustomix for getting on the music blog!  Enjoy “Airplane” by the Beach Boys- a really cool tune!



“California Callling” (The Beach Boys cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco!  Today I go back to my ol’ stomping grounds to give you another Beach Boys cover song.

“California Calling” is from their self-titled album from 1985.  It’s the only track on the whole album that features real drums…and as an added bonus, they’re played by Ringo Starr!  Of course, Dennis Wilson, the band’s drummer since they began, passed away in 1983.  I think Ringo is just about the only drummer fitting enough to be the first person to play drums on a Beach Boys song after Dennis’ passing.  And the drumming on “California Calling” is very similar to what Dennis would’ve played.  I like to think they did that as a tribute to Dennis.  Supposedly, the sequenced drum track on the hit “Getcha Back” was done in the style of Dennis Wilson as a tribute.  I hope that’s true because it would be a great tribute.

To be honest, this really wasn’t one of my favorite songs on the album for many years.  I think I was just irked by the fact that it’s another Love/Jardine “Don’t F with the formula” song that didn’t fit in with the rest of the album.  But I’ve changed my mind on that recently.  I mean, when you’re looking for a Beach Boys song, you’re looking for a song just like “California Calling”!  Plus, it’s a good tune and I’m a sucker for that classic Beach Boys sound.

Onto some personal business: “The Easy Ways”, my new album, is coming out very, very soon- on September 20th, in fact!  It’s an album full of 16 original songs that are assembled into a true “album” instead of just a collection of songs.  You’ll just have to check back soon and grab a copy of the album on CD or digitally to hear what I mean!  I’ve been practicing non-stop for my album release party, so I hope everyone in the Connecticut area will come check it out!  It’s at 5:30 on Saturday, September 20th at Silver City Restaurant in Meriden, CT.

I’ll be back next week with another original song in anticipation of my new album’s release.  I hope everyone enjoys tonight’s Laptop Sessions cover song music video of The Beach Boys’ “California Calling”!