Customer Reviews

Little Deuce Coupe / All Summer Long

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beach Boys music wasn't made for the purpose of analysis by 21st century music critics. It was made to dance to, to sing along with, to serve as the soundtrack for your backyard "beach party". It was made for 1963-64.

In 1963-64 these Beach Boys cuts were by far the finest pop music America had to offer. Attempting to critique the merits of these teenage odes to Southern California culture as one would a 2005 CD is pointless. Brian Wilson didn't write these tunes for the critics, and The Beach Boys weren't singing for them.

They were singing for other kids about the things that really mattered in 1963-64: Hotrods, Surfing, School, Drive-ins...and Girls on the Beach!

The fact that radio is still playing these songs 40 years later is proof of their timelessness. Truth is - you can't have summer without them. These songs ARE summer.

You don't need to know all the minutia of which "take" is best, which songs to skip over, and which ones are true art. Just play them all. You don't need a reason to love The Beach Boys.

For centuries alchemists have fruitlessly sought the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, when what they should have done is listen to early Beach Boys' albums. The two collected on this CD, 'Little Deuce Coupe' and 'All Summer Long', are surely the purest, most invigorating distillation of testosterone there is, life-affirming hymns to cars, girls, cars, beaches, cars, surfing, cars, and, er, school. I've never really been interested in any of these things, but I recognise the passion and the fantasy, and feel years younger listening to them.

Though essentially innocent, there is a choppy, ear-slicing guitar racket in most of these songs, presumably in imitation of powerful engines, that have the violent energy of punk and later surf-inspired noiseniks.

there is something sweet about five boys singing love songs to automobiles, but something slightly perverse too, especially in 'Ballad of Ol' Betsy', where a tribute to a knackered car sounds like an elegy to an aging, sexually experienced woman, reminding me of Flann O'Brien's 'The Third Policeman' (about a bicycle), edging on to the world of Ballard and Cronenberg.

The emphasis is on short sharp spurts of spirited exuberance, but there are grace notes: the warm lush tingle of 'Hushabye', the kind of enveloping lullaby that makes you want to wrap up in it all night; the late-50s pastiche ballad 'We'll Run Away'; the sun-lazy rapture of 'Girls on the beach'; the gloriously seedy 'All dressed up for school'; the mysterious 'Wendy', complete with eerie organ break; the hushed a capella 'A young man is gone', apparently a tribute to James Dean, poised between tragedy and comedy.

Best of all, though, is one of pop's beacons: 'I Get Around', its miraculous circular vocals, propulsive movement, weird verse breaks and general exhiliration embodying youthful masculinity in all its zest, good faith, and, well, strangeness.

Little Duece Coupe is the ultimate car concept record and plays great even though a few tracks are a few years old and already released.
All Summer Long is highly recommended and Brian's first peak. These 7 songs listed here are ESSENTIAL listening.

Hushabye
Little Honda
We'll Run Away
Wendy
Girls On The Beach
Don't Back Down
All Dressed Up For School

The first of 2 albums here, LITTLE DEUCE COUPE, was the Beach Boys' 4th and was issued in October 1963. Almost a song cycle on cars and the people who drive them, the album could be considered the first concept album, before that term even existed. Earlier in the year, Capitol Records issued a "car" compliation (SHUT DOWN) without the Beach Boys' permission and included 4 of their already issued songs on it ("Little Deuce Coupe", "409", "Shut Down", and "Our Car Club"). In retaliation, Brian Wilson, the producer (and only 21) included those 4 songs here to protect the band, not to be cheap. There are many highlights here, the title track, the original version of "Be True To Your School" (the single version appears as a bonus track at the end of this CD), a stunning a cappella version of "A Young Man Is Gone" (using "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring"'s melody), and the complex harmonizings of "No-Go Showboat" and "Custom Machine". The Beach Boys were progressing quickly. ALL SUMMER LONG, the 6th album, was issued in July 1964 (the 5th, SHUT DOWN VOL. 2, was coupled with 1963's SURFER GIRL the 3rd album) and it's evident that Brian Wilson took a quantum leap here. From the opening "I Get Around" (their first # 1 hit) to the closing "Don't Back Down" the album is consistent in its greatness. The songs are brilliant and brilliantly arranged and produced and sung. All of them are winners (the title track, "Little Honda", "Wendy" are major highlights and "Girls On The Beach" is out-of-this-world!). Bonus tracks are quite revealing too. Don't let the disgruntled reviewer, Kevin, change your mind. This CD sounds outstanding and Brian personally authorised them (he wrote notes for each album). You're not just buying music, you're buying a piece of history. Enjoy.

These two albums has got to be the best work the Beach Boys did in the early sixties. It contains music by genius Brian Wilson that no other band has ever done. I would sincwerly go out and by these two albums on one CD. It is cheaper and the bonus tracks on it are brilliant. I would give these two albums 10/10.

This two-fer, with bonus tracks included, is a tremendous value! While not as great as Today!/Summer Days..(the best BB's 2-fer), it still rates 5 stars for classic tracks like "Little Deuce Coupe", "I Get Around", "All Summer Long", "Little Honda", "Wendy", "Girls On The Beach", and two versions of the sublime "Don't Back Down" (which was the group's last surfing song). Both albums were concept albums. LDC (with many lyrics written by radio d.j. and car enthusiast Roger Christian) is about the car culture of early-1960's L.A. while ASL chronicles the Southern Cal summer scene. The fun-in-the-sun lyrical themes of ASL came to represent how people would view the Beach Boys.

Most early-60's albums were a hit or two and then a bunch of hastily recorded garbage, or "filler." However, due to Brian Wilson's dedication to quality, there are only a few of these present here: "Carl's Big Chance" (a boring instrumental), "Do You Remember" (a lame ode to early rock & roll stars), and "Our Favorite Recording Sessions (the group goofing off while recording)." Everything else is good to great. ASL is especially inspired, being Brian's answer to the challenge of The Beatles. Although issued less than a year after LDC, the production is much more lush and complex, and the songs are much more creatively written.

I agree with Kevin of Belleville that this music should've been re-issued in Brian Wilson's original mono mixes (or in remixed modern stereo), since the original stereo mixes have been out on the cd market since 1990. To keep on upgrading and reissuing the same old lame 1960's 3-track stereo remixes (done by some unknown hack at Capitol Records) is the aural equivalent of keeping on futilely applying more lipstick to a pig. Yes, the pig looks better, but it's still always going to be a pig. The chief crime of the original stereo mixes is that they often significantly boosted the volume of the vocals at the expense of the volume and power of the instrument track ("Little Deuce Coupe", "The Little Saint Nick" & "Fun, Fun, Fun"), and giving Brian the undeserved rap of producing "wafer-thin" backing tracks. They tended to also add echo and be shorter than Brian's mixes (for example, the great ending of "Fun, Fun, Fun" gets lopped off). However, for the average listener who isn't a BB's nut like I am, the music is so special, so well-done, that it transcends even primitive stereo mixes. (Also, although not listed as such, "I Get Around" and "All Summer Long" are in mono. For some reason, they were never remixed into stereo. And some of the other best songs on this two-fer can be found in their superior mono mixes on the G.V. box set and the Greatest Hits cds.)

The Beach Boys' first few albums were definitely great, but the group really hit its stride on the two albums on this CD, "Little Deuce Coupe" (1963) and "All Summer Long" (1964). The first album is devoted to car songs, while the second looks at teenage life in Southern California in that era.

The albums contain some of the group's most famous songs, but the reason fans might want to pick up this CD is that it contains some of the best of the band's songs you may have never heard, such as "Ballad of Ole' Betsy", "Cherry Cherry Coupe", "No-Go Showboat", "Custom Machine", "Drive-In", and "Don't Back Down".

Fans of the Beach Boys or of Sixties surf rock in general would definitely find this a worthwhile purchase.

This two-fer is outstanding, but the real jewel here is "All Summer Long", which was a Spector-esque response to the hype of Beatlemania. Simply put, this album took the Beach Boys to the next level. Unlike the first four albums, there's no filler here (and I don't count "Our Favorite Recording Sessions").

"I Get Around" was the Beach Boys' first #1 hit in the U.S., but the other songs here are equally breathtaking -- like "Little Honda" and "Hushabye", two of the more overlooked tunes in the Beach Boys' catalogue.

The vocals on "Hushabye" are classic Brian Wilson. If you listen to this song with headphones, it's guaranteed to get those goose bumps at strict attention. The same goes for "Little Honda" -- if you can get past the lyrics.

Truly, there isn't a bad cut on "All Summer Long", and it is the first Beach Boys album that established the group as a worthy pop rival to the Fab Four. The classic rivalry continued until the unfortunate demise of "Smile" -- and with it the Beach Boys' careers.

As for "Little Deuce Coupe", it's a fine album and a worthy successor to "Surfer Girl". "Cherry Cherry Coupe", "Ballad of Ol' Betsy", and "Custom Machine" are all fantastic. But "All Summer Long" is the seed that would flower into "Today" -- and eventually "Pet Sounds".

This CD features two Beach Boys albums.

Little Deuce Coupe was the Beach Boys' fourth album. It features a bunch of their car songs. Four of the songs had been on previous Beach Boys albums. Most of the songs are very good. One of the highlights is the moving a capella tribute to James Dean, "A Young Man is Gone".

All Summer Long was the Beach Boys sixth album. It also has a "theme", of sorts, that being "fun in the summertime". It was the Beach Boys best album at that point. It features their first #1 hit, "I Get Around". Other than that, it features a number of other songs that are considered to be Beach Boys classics; including "All Summer Long", "Little Honda", "Wendy" and "Girls on the Beach". No bad songs, although "Our Favorite Recording Sessions", which features outtakes of the Beach Boys messing up, is definitely "filler".

There are four bonus tracks; including the superior single version of "Be True To Your School", the previously unreleased "All Dressed Up For School", and alternate takes of "Little Honda" and "Don't Back Down". Any Beach Boys fan should enjoy this CD.

The Beach Boys/ Little Deuce Coupe & All Summer Long (Capitol - 2 albums on one CD)

The first album on this CD is `Little Deuce Coupe', which is a Great album. There are lots of familiar hits here but the whole album is great. "A young man is gone" is still one of the most stunning songs in Beach Boys history. A five-star album.

The second album of this CD is `All Summer Long', which is also a Great album. My only complaint is their inclusion of "our favorite recording sessions" which is just another useless and irritating `behind the scenes' track that subtracts from the enjoyment of the album. Despite that small irritant, this is also a five-star album.

Be sure you get this CD with the bonus tracks which includes "All dressed up for school".

Overall, this CD is worthy of a Sixth star. Highly Recommended.