Today/ Summer Days (and Summer Nights) [EXTRA TRACKS] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

The Beach Boys

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: June 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00005A1N2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,511 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Surf Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Put simply, this is the Beach Boys at their mid-'60s prime. Ironically, the band's greatest evolutionary leap was spurred by its leader, Brian Wilson, who decided to drop out of the band's live performances after a December 1964 nervous breakdown to concentrate on honing the Beach Boys' studio sound. With Wilson's productions gaining a significant new depth and confidence (note the innovative modulations on "Dance, Dance, Dance"), the first half of Today seems a logical, upbeat step forward from its predecessors. But it's the album's second act that steals the show, setting the stage for the triumph of Pet Sounds. Indeed, it's easy to imagine gorgeous, introspective tracks such as "Please Let Me Wonder," "She Knows Me Too Well," and "In the Back of My Mind" intertwined with the best of Sounds. Set against that standard, the follow-up, Summer Days, feels like a step backward, despite the presence of another Wilson world-beater production, "California Girls," and the band's second No. 1 single, "Help Me, Rhonda." Ever pressured by commercial concerns, Wilson and the band created what was in essence the true follow-up to the All Summer Long album. Still, there's a level of musical sophistication to tracks such as "The Girl from New York City," the Phil Spector tribute "Then I Kissed Her," and especially "Girl Don't Tell Me" and "Let Him Run Wild." Reissued (with 24-bit digital remastering) in a long out-of-print twofer edition to mark the band's 40th anniversary and Lifetime Achievement Grammy, this set features several bonus tracks as well as the insightful notes of David Leaf (The Beach Boys and the California Myth). Bonus cuts include the spectacular "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and revealing outtakes of "Dance, Dance, Dance," "I'm So Young," and "Let Him Run Wild," along with a studio version of a song previously only available on the Beach Boys Concert collection, "Graduation Day." --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And Your Dreams Come True, July 15, 2004

By	Tony L. Spera (New Milford, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I grew up in a strict, no nonsense Italian household in rural Connecticut. You just can't get any farther from the warm California sunshine, surfing, and the quest for the California dream than that. Our family summertime treks to the beach consisted of my brother and me loaded into back seat of the family Chevy wagon on a bumpy trip to " Long Island Sound " filled with mirky, seaweed laden water and rocky( read: ouch ) beaches. But then one summer, out of the blue, a song issued from my small transistor AM radio. The song was
" Surfin' Safari " and hence my dream of sunny California became closer to reality. I was no longer trapped in rural Connecticut. I was mesmerized by the song, and with maybe two quarters to my name, pedaled my way to the local department store and bought the 45 RPM record. The flip side was " 409 " and boy was I ever in heaven, having already been a full fledged greaser by age 12.
I bought everything the boys of summer put out,the Surfin' Safari Album, Little Deuce Coupe, Surfer Girl, Concert, and Surfin U.S.A.
What struck me profoundly were the harmonies and the melodies, which in my young mind made every other record put out by others seem amateurish and rudimentary in comparison. And the themes of the songs were right up my alley. Four decades later I feel the same way. By the time the Today album and Summer Days and Summer Nights album were released, I was in high school, and these songs took on new meanings to me, ( READ: Girl Crazy ). My father was a tyrant at times, he'd scream and yell at my brother and me, and would make me " go to my room " ( to study ) whenever my report card came- I always brought home poor grades. It was from lack of interest in school, and my great interest in cars and girls that killed my grades. I prided myself in never bringing home a school book to study. I would really dread the last report card before summer- because he'd usually " ground " me to my room to study all summer long. ( no pun intended. ) I never understood this, because I had no books to study for summer. When I'd remind him of this fact, he'd scream and say, " Then you'll go to the library and find the books for next year and bring them home and study them! "
So when I heard " I'm Bugged at My Old Man. " I felt a true allegiance to BIG BROTHER Brian. I felt that he knew some of the stuff I'd been going through. And I think that is what endures with respect to the Beach Boys and their music. Our relation ships, desires, fears, and longings are reflected in their music. More than once I've gotten shivers up my spine upon first hearing a new Beach Boys song,( that's what real harmony will do to you ) that's the kind of emotion it evokes. Just think of the turmoil we felt as teenagers. Who could we talk to? Who would listen and understand our deepest fears, our longing to be loved? You guessed it. Brian and the Boys. They were beyond hip as far as I was concerned, and while others turned their attention to the Rolling Stones, Jimmie Hendrix, and the British invasion groups ( especially the Beatles. ) my loyalty never wavered from " The Boys. " While everyone was cranking up " I wanna Hold your Hand " and " She Loves You ", I was cranking up " I get Around " and " When I Grow Up to Be a Man. " I often times wonder what my adolescent years would have been like if the Beach Boys never existed. We've been through a lot together, the Boys and me. They were there when I obtained my driver's license. They stood by me when I'd get a crush on a girl, ( and the subsequent heartache of unrequited love. ) They were there when my mom died of a heart attack at age 45 ( I was 17 ). And when my BIG brother Ted lost his battle with Cancer at age 27. They were there, holding me up, allowing the tears, and the pain, and the sorrow to issue from me, and then to be replaced by joyousness, the joyousness of being alive. They never failed me, those Boys of Summer. And they will not fail you.

Regards,

Tony

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Darn my Dad!, September 3, 2005

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This CD contains two (count 'em) Beach Boys albums from 1965. Both albums are great, with several hits like "Do You Wanna Dance", "When I Grow Up", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Help Me, Rhonda" and "California Girls". And there are plenty of great songs that weren't hits, like "Please Let Me Wonder" and "Let Him Run Wild". And "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man" is the funniest song the Beach Boys ever recorded. But the interview "Bull Session With the 'Big Daddy'" isn't something that most people will want to listen to more than once. Other than that obvious low point, Beach Boys fans should enjoy this CD a lot.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I actually like this stuff better than "Pet Sounds", September 27, 2006

By	James C. Darling (Burbank, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like many Beach Boys fans who's full-on "discovery" of the band began when "Pet Sounds" was re-issued on CD in the early 90's(?), I found that album to be hard to beat - as far as Beach Boys ALBUMS are concerned. Being a Beatles fan, first and foremost, the whole "influence on Sgt. Peppers" thing took hold, and - like the afore-mentioned Bealtes LP - took on legendary status for me.

Yet, I KNEW there had to be more out there. Of course I had heard other Beach Boys songs on the radio, but mostly the slightly goofy "surf-themed" early stuff which I didn't really like all that much. So, when I found this 2-CD-in-1 collection of "Today/Summer Days (and Summer Nights)" several years ago, and saw a few of my non-Pet Sounds faves on it ("Help Me Rhonda" and "California Girls"), I figured it was worth a shot.

It turned out that I got more than I had anticipated. The music the Beach Boys were recording right before "Pet Sounds" is my favorite stuff of theirs. These are two beautiful albums... full of fun-loving romps like "Do You Wanna Dance", "Good To My Baby", "Girl From New York City", "Salt Lake City", and gorgeous harmony-laden tracks like, "Kiss Me Baby", "Let Him Run Wild", "Please Let Me Wander", and "She Knows Me To Well".... as well as the more well-known "Help Me Rhonda" and "California Girls"... the latter of which I think is probably 2 of the most joyous minutes of music ever recorded.

These two albums represent Brian Wilson at a point where he had grown tired of touring and began devoting all his energies to the studio. He'd not yet heard The Beatles' "Rubber Soul"... his music still had that California-surf feel going on, but it was getting more sophisticated. Incredible music that signalled the end of a certain era before a new, more uncertain, one began.