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

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! **

“Airplane” (The Beach Boys Cover)

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!



“Soulful Old Man Sunshine” by the Beach Boys – Chords & Lyrics : Ask the Musician

By Jim Fusco:

I received an email today from Mike H., who just watched my cover song music video of the Beach Boys’ semi-unreleased song, “Soulful Old Man Sunshine”.  What a great song it is- it’s hard to believe they put so much effort into a song and then canned it for years.  Anyway, Mike was wondering what the chords to the song were.  So, I decided to post them here on the music blog for all to see!  Also make sure to check out my cover song video of “Soulful Old Man Sunshine” below the chords and lyrics.  Thanks for writing, Mike, and I hope this helps!

..........Am7..Gm7......F
In that soulful ol’ man sunshine

F................Bb6................F...............Bb6
She looks so fresh and sweet, keeps herself soft and tender
Am7.............Dm7...........Gm7............Gm7/C..C7
No wonder that I can sing a song about my baby
F................Bb6.....F..........Bb6
She looks so healthy, I feel so doggone wealthy
Am7.............Dm7...........Gm7............Gm7/C..C7
No wonder that I can sing a song about my baby

Dm.........G7........Bb......Bb/C..........Am7..Gm7......F
So happy, together love is better in that soulful ol’ man sunshine
F..Cm7..Bb..F
Do-do-do

F.................Bb6.............F..........Bb6
She wakes up singing songs, of happy everafters
Am7..............Dm7.................Gm7........Gm7/C..C7
Well let me just tell you ‘bout my ever-lovin’ lady
F.................Bb6.....F..........Bb6
One bright September, I can remember
Am7................Dm7..............Gm7.............Gm7/C..C7
The morning we walked together laughin’ in the sunshine

F.............................Cm7
Hey old man shine your love on me
F.............................Cm7
Hey old man shine your love on me
F............................................Cm7
Soulful old man sunshine shine your light divine on me
F.............................Cm7
Hey ol’ man shine your love on me
........Gm7..........Am7...........................Bb6................C6
Then suddenly the light shines through and I see you there standing before me
Gm7........Am7.............Bb6...................Gm7/C........C7..C/D
Today the world is new I feel so high and so far within you, yeah

G................C6........G.............C6
Morning and evening, my love is weaving
Bm7.............Em7...........Am7............Am7/D..D7
A magical thread of joy that joins our hearts together
Em.........A7........C.......C/D...........Bm7..Am7......G
So happy, together love is better in that soulful old man sunshine

 



“Lady (Fallin’ In Love)” (The Beach Boys Cover)

By Jim Fusco

Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco!  It’s been a long time since my last video blog post.  Before my new season of cover song videos begins, I decided to post a few leftover cover songs that I recorded a few months ago.  I guess I never got around to posting them!  Life can get busy…

Now that school is starting up again (my wife is a teacher, so she’s really busy 10 months out of the year)I should have a bit more time to focus on my musical endeavors.  I’m excited to bring The Laptop Sessions Acoustic Cover Songs Music Video Blog to new heights this year!  I just signed an agreement to promote my existing cover songs and I hope that these efforts will allow me to expand the website even further.

Tonight, I bring you an obscure song from The Beach Boys.  Well, it’s not really The Beach Boys- this is a Dennis Wilson solo project put under the Beach Boys’ name.  In the early 70s, Dennis Wilson was creating music at a very fast pace.  “Sunflower”, one of the Beach Boys’ best albums, shows a large contribution from Dennis.  In my opinion, his songwriting was second to only Brian Wilson in the band and after Brian slipped away from participating in the band, Dennis filled the void the best.  I think there was a time when the band decided to push Dennis as the front man of the band.  But, Dennis’ songs didn’t catch on commercially and eventually, they went back to the Brian Wilson formula once again (before he was ready, but that’s a whole different story).  Honestly, I’m not sure if the move away from Dennis as the face of the Beach Boys was due to his songs not receiving critical acclaim, or because of Dennis’ lifestyle.  Like Brian, it’s been said that Dennis had a hard time seeing projects through to the end.  Even though he was prolific during this period, I have a feeling he would get bored with projects very quickly and either not finish them or simply get them done and move on.

“Lady (Fallin’ In Love)” is an interesting song.  Dennis had a great way of taking a simple sounding song and making it lush and beautiful.  “Lady” isn’t the hardest song to play or sing, but the string orchestration (most likely done by Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille fame) is breathtaking.  That’s one of the reasons, though, that I wanted to do a solo acoustic cover version of “Lady”.  I wanted to show people what the song would sound like in it’s bare-bones form.  I think it’s still a really moving song.

Dennis’ voice on the original recording is so nice- it’s such a shame that he let it deteriorate so much.  I can only imagine the songs he could’ve come out with if he didn’t allow his personal demons to overtake him.

“Lady (Fallin’ In Love)” was actually the flip side of a solo Dennis Wilson single, which is fascinating to me.  “The Sound of Free” was the A-side.  Of course, the single didn’t go anywhere, but up to that point, only Brian had released a solo single in “Caroline, No” four years earlier.  I’m glad the Beach Boys and Capitol Records finally got it together to release “Lady” on their Summer Love Songs compilation.  This song deserved a new audience.

Enjoy tonight’s Dennis Wilson/Beach Boys cover song music video here on the Laptop Sessions video blog!  Stay tuned for more videos very soon with me, Jim Fusco!