Beach Boys - Surfer Girl Shut Down Vol 2 (27 tracks) +Album Reviews

Another great cd

Lynn Correa | Kansas City, MO USA | 06/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The firsat album Surfer girl was great, i love every song on here. this is yet another great album. the only sad thing about this album is this is when david L. Marks left. Down with Al Jardine. Shut down Part 2 was a great album, there are no bad songs on here, the only bad part about this album is the fact that Al Jardine is a part of the band again."

Tremendous reissue of two Beach Boy classics

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Capitol ignored and mistreated the Beach Boys catalog for so many years, it was truly amazing when they reissued all of their albums as 2-fers with bonus tracks and extensive liner notes. Of course, it was only a matter of time until the regime changed and the 2-fers were deleted, as they now are in the USA. Rumor has it they'll be reissued, but for the time being you have to pick them up as imports.Surfer Girl and Shut Down Vol. 2 represent prime mid-period Beach Boys. It's more sophisticated than the first pair of albums, with more assured and complex productions, but retains the simpler song topics that marked the early years.Brian Wilson's arrangements and the Beach Boys singing was already beyond comparison by the time of these two LPs. Even the themes of girls and cars are lent tremendous import by their masterful touch, whether its yearning ballads like "Surfer Girl" and "Don't Worry Baby," the braggadocio and pride of "Little Deuce Coupe" or "Our Car Club," the contemplation of "In My Room," or the sheer glee of "Fun, Fun, Fun."Sleepers like "Your Summer Dream" and "The Warmth of the Sun" show the direction that Wilson would ultimately take, with sophisticated melodies and chord changes that moved away from his surf roots.Two brilliant albums, remastered in sparkling sound and augmented with three bonus tracks. Hard to imagine a more worthwhile CD purchase."

REMEDY FOR AN ENDLESS WINTER

ALAIN ROBERT | ST-HUBERT,QUEBEC | 11/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An AMERICAN under 50 without a BEACH BOYS album it's impossible is it?I know your argument;why buy an original(it's actually 2 in this case)when i can buy a two set collection?i'll tell you why, because its worth it.This one is priceless because BRIAN finds his own turf here,he is as we say coming through after the first two albums that served as his apprenticeship.Along with their masterpiece PET SOUNDS and SUMMER DAYS AND SUMMER NIGHTS(also available one 1cd)it's an essential from these guys.Each march i play that cd in the hope that winter will finally end.It helps a little to support the freezing rain."

Brian's Songwriting Matures On These Early Albums

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 06/24/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the Beach Boys' third and fifth albums Surfer Girl (September 1963) and Shut Down, Vol. 2 (March 1964), released during a two-year period which saw the release of eight albums! Because of Capitol's pressure on the band to release product to keep up with their labelmates the Beatles, these early albums would contain a certain amount of filler--songs like "South Bay Surfer" (which sounds suspiciously like "Swanee River") is corny at best, "The Rocking Surfer" is a competent but mundane instrumental (both from Surfer Girl), the studio chatter of "'Cassius' Love Vs. 'Sonny' Wilson" is only mildly interesting to hear once and what's the point of a two-minute drum solo from a solid but uninspired drummer? [Even Ringo waited until Abbey Road, and his drum solo lasted only fifteen seconds--brevity can be the esence of art.] Now with the negatives out of the way, there is much to enjoy here. For starters, Brian was now officially producing the albums. And while surfing ("Surfer Girl") and cars ("Little Deuce Coupe" and "Fun, Fun, Fun") would still provide the hits, Brian was expanding his writing subjects to include more serious subject matter like the gorgeous "In My Room," which even though it was released as the b-side to "Be True To Your School," it reached No. 23. As a bonus track you also get their German version of the song. In the same vein is one of Brian's most beautiful songs ever, "Don't Worry Baby." [Again, buried on the b-side of "I Get Around," it still managed to reach No. 24.] Then there's the melancholy "The Warmth of the Sun," which the liner notes indicate Brian wrote after the breakup with his first serious girlfriend and within hours of the JFK assassination. Brian was flexing his creative muscles and proving that there could be more to music than hot rods and surfing.Dennis turns in a terrific vocal performance on "Surfers Rule." "The Surfer Moon" in addition to featuring a lovely vocal by Brian also marks the first use of a string arrangement by the Beach Boys. There are only two non-originals (both from Shut Down, Vol. 2). There's the terrific "Wall of Sound" production of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and their take on the garage band classic "Louie Louie."Of the bonus cuts you also get the single version of "Fun, Fun, Fun" and the previously unreleased "I Do," a song Brian originally produced for the Castells. This version uses the original backing track with the Beach Boys vocals dubbed in.All told, this is amazing music from a time in the Beach Boys career when they were still growing musically, and this two-fer allows you a first-hand look at that growth. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

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