Customer Reviews

Party & Stack O'Tracks

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

 

 

I love this album. First half is an informal unplugged session of beautiful harmonies on Beatles, Dylan, etc.. You can hear all the recording studio chatter and goofing around and small talk as their wives/girlfriends were present and even sing background on a couple songs. A very informal party-like atmosphere and even Al and Dennis get to sing! Just to hear Brian really having a good time with Papa ooo mow mow makes it worth it. Second half is all instrumental without vocals. You will find yourself holding back from jumping in on the vocals. To hear these arrangements without vocals makes one realize why people call Brian a musical 'genius'. Flawless!

When this was originally issued as part of Capitol's two-fer series, it was perhaps the biggest surprise of all. After the run up to Pet Sounds, it seemed as if this would be a big disappointment, but Party! turns out to be a real treat.

Recorded "live" in the studio with acoustic guitars, harmonica, bongos and vocals, there is an element of spontaneity here that was missing from the increasingly serious Brian Wilson studio productions. Even Mike Love's clowning around is enjoyable - which is quite an accomplishment.

The sound is excellent, and the track selection is quite interesting. Besides the requisite covers of hit pop tracks (e.g., "Hully Gully" "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" "Alley Oop"), there are also some more contemporary covers ("I Should Have Known Better" "Tell Me Why" "The Times They Are A-Changin'"), and some nice, goofy acoustic versions of Beach Boys classics ("I Get Around / Little Deuce Coupe", and the hit single of "Barbara Ann").

Stax-O-Tracks is another story entirely. This disc is absolutely maddening to listen to. Hearing such familiar recordings with the central vocal element removed is incredibly frustrating. It turns out that it's a lot more fun to sing-a-long when you have the Beach Boys to back you up (and keep you honest).

Still, Brian Wilson's arrangements are fascinating to hear stripped of lead and harmony vocals. It's mystifying how he could come up with these sounds for the instrumentalists to play, knowing - in his head - just how the vocals would fit. This is probably of interest mostly to budding musicians and producers who want to pick apart Brian Wilson's work. For pleasant Beach Boys listening, you're better off with the original recordings.

Mastering and packaging is top-notch, as with all the other Capitol Beach Boy reissues in this series. The only thing missing is the original Stax-O-Trax insert that gave the chord charts and sheet music. The liner notes claim that they simply couldn't be reproduced in the CD-format booklet. Too bad Capitol didn't see fit to make the insert available some other way....

Currently out of print in the US, but rumored to be returning.

"Party" is a fun album to listen to and it gave the Beach Boys a hit single "Barbara Ann". It also includes a medley of their own songs "I Get Around" and "Little Deuce Coupe". It also features 2 Beatles songs, a Bob Dylan song (done so charmingly bad you forgive them). But this was put out merely to satisfy their contract. 3 stars for this one, but listen only on rainy days.

Now for one I prefer: "Stack-O-Tracks". This is more for collectors but it's fun to listen to. In one speaker, you have the music instrumentally and in the other, you have the vocals. You can sing along or play along if you can play the guitar or piano. 4 stars for this one, but only for those who like to play with their speakers.

Stack of Tracks is one of the most interesting Beach Boys records. You can hear how Brian Wilson put things together and get fascinating insights on how his creativity works. This should be made available again domestically but this import is more than adequate.

In late 1965, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was working on his masterpiece, Pet Sounds. Capitol Records was pressuring him for a new Beach Boys album in time for Christmas, but Brian wasn't about to rush to finish Pet Sounds. So, a compromise of sorts was reached. The Beach Boys went into the recording studio and quickly banged out the Party album. It features the boys playing acoustic instruments and singing cover versions of some of their favorite songs. No new songs were written for the album. The performances are pretty sloppy, with forgotten lyrics, missed notes and lots of clowning around. The band's wives, girlfriends, relatives and friends were brought in to hang out and talk in the background, to make it sound like a real party was going on. In fact, friend of the band Dean Torrence shares lead vocals with Brian on the hit "Barbara Ann". It's a fun album, but not really one of the band's best.

Stack-O-Tracks featured just the instrumental tracks to 15 Beach Boys songs. That's right, a Beach Boys album without the Beach Boys on it! Well, I suppose that's not technically true, because they did play some of the instruments on their albums, but most of the instruments were played by session musicians. Anyway, hearing just the instruments theoretically allows Beach Boys fans to study how Brian Wilson put together the backing tracks to some of the bands classic songs. It's somewhat interesting to hear, but the songs definitely sound better with the vocals. The CD adds three bonus track instrumental backgrounds, the hits "Help Me Rhonda" and "California Girls", and the obscure "Our Car Club".