Ranking every Beach Boys album and song: “Surfin’ USA” LP (by Songwriter Jim Fusco)

By Jim Fusco:

ALBUM – SURFIN’ USA

Farmer’s Daughter – 6 (early promising song)
Surfin’ USA – 6 (catchy, but also a stolen melody, so it loses some points)
Lana – 5
Lonely Sea – 7
Shut Down – 7
(this is a great bluesy song)
Finders Keepers – 6 (endearing)
Let’s Go Trippin’ – 4 (filler)
Stoked – 3 (see last song)
Misirlou – 2 (because at this point in the album, I am sick of instrumentals!)
Noble Surfer – 6
Honky Tonk – 1 (why all the instrumentals!!)
*The Baker Man – 1 (probably the most ridiculous song they did next to Ding Dang)
Surf Jam – 1 (we get the idea)

** Here’s another album I like, but I think it’s a step back from their first. I know they were trying to make music people could dance to at parties, but the instrumentals don’t stand up now. They come across as a lack of effort. They have so much vocal talent- it’s a shame there’s not more songs with vocals! **

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

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“Santa’s Beard” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 13 of 14

By Jim Fusco:

Let’s pretend for a moment that it’s still Friday night, shall we? 🙂

Day 13 is here and I’ve got my last Christmas cover song for you!  It’s a tune I’ve been singing to my 4-month old son since he was born.  For some reason, I got it in my head that he would like it, so I started singing it to him.  Now, it seems like he recognizes it and likes to hear it.  So, I may sing it year-round!

“Santa’s Beard” by the Beach Boys is one of those songs you’ve probably heard in passing here and there over the years.  It’s a cute tune and I really like the vocals, as always.  This ended up being one of the hardest songs to record because of the awesome walking bass line in it.  What a project!  It really took me a long time to get that down, but now that I did, it’s pretty spot-on to the original, if I do say so myself.

Enjoy “Santa’s Beard” and remember to download all of the rest of the Christmas songs.  The last song in Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas 2015 is next!

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“The Man With All The Toys” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 8 of 14

By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone!  We begin week number two of free Christmas songs with another favorite of mine: “The Man With All The Toys” by the Beach Boys.  It sounds like a simple song on the surface, but there are some cool changes that Brian Wilson created for the chords.  The vocals, especially the cool “low harmonies” on the bridges, are difficult and really cool.

I tried to stay as close as possible to the original with the instruments, too.  I used my Fender Stratocaster on the neck pickup, just like Carl and Al did on the original recording.  For the lead guitar part, I actually had to re-record it because I didn’t originally put the echo effect on it, like the original had.  I also ended up recording two bass lines with slightly different sounds.  If you listen on headphones, you can hear one in each ear.  I never knew that there were two bass lines recorded for this song, but that’s how they got that cool “oomph” to the recording.  As always, the more I find out about the Beach Boys, the more I love them!

I hope this track adds to your enjoyment of the holidays (paraphrased from Christmas Vacation) and that you’ve taken the time to download the other seven tracks so far.  Stay tuned — Day 9 is next in the series!

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“Little Saint Nick” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 3 of 14

By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 3 of Jim Fusco’s 14 Day of Rock’n’Roll Christmas!  We keep it rolling tonight with my favorite Christmas song- “Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys!  This song is one of the few Christmas songs that I think holds up as one of the band’s better early songs.  It’s tough to describe, but think of any other artist and think of their Christmas hit.  Like “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney.  That’s not a great song, really.  But, I like “Little Saint Nick” right up there with the rest of the Beach Boys’ early hits.  Maybe it’s just me, but then again, I’m a superman!

The complete 14-song series is in the archive — enjoy the free downloads!

Enjoy “Little Saint Nick”!

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