The Beach Boys Album: “Greatest Surfing Songs!”

I'm not here to review the Beach Boys' music. Their "records" speak for themselves. I bought this CD hoping to get a "cleaner" version of "All Summer Long" than the one I have on the American Graffiti soundtrack. Well, the sound on this CD is worse. It's terrible on all tracks. Yes, I know these aren't remastered or anything, but there is static, wild fluctuations in volume, and that popping noise you hear when playing phonograph records all through this CD. Frankly, I think I could make a better recording myself if I had the vinyl records! This CD may be all right for a small boombox you play in your garage or while you're doing something else noisy, but look elsewhere for listenable tracks.

I originally got this on cassette because the other cassette of the Beach Boys I had did not have "Surfin' USA" on it. I loved the songs on here, but one of my favorites is the different version of "Help Me Rhonda" on this album. This is a hesds up for people expecting originals, but outside of Help Me Rhonda, all the other songs are original. I just bought this on CD and love it.

I'm a longtime fan of the Beach Boys. I got "Greatest Surfing Songs!" as a birthday present and I've been playing it for nearly two weeks. It's a great basic collection, and I would recommend it, but I've noticed some quirky things about this CD. "Greatest Surfing Songs!" is a strange choice for the title, since only a few of the tracks really have a "surfing" theme. The track listing is not exactly accurate either. Hard-core Beach Boys fans know that in 1965 Brian Wilson produced two basic versions of track #4: the first version "Help Me Ronda" which begins with an opening guitar, and the second version ("Help Me, Rhonda", re-recorded and released as a single a few months later and went to #1), that begins immediately with the vocal. Track #4 here is listed as the hit version, but is actually the non-hit version. Not a big deal to most folks, but if you want the HIT version, you may want to buy another CD (or digital download). Another interesting item on this collection is track #7 ("All Summer Long"), which seems to be a rare fake-stereo "Duo-Phonic" mix. I haven't found this version available on any other collection. This rare mix makes "Greatest Surfing Songs!" a worthwhile buy for Beach Boys freaks (myself included), who like to have different versions of the recordings. Anyway whether you just want to spin some Beach Boys summer tunes or want to complete your collection, this CD is a good pick.

I absolutely love this album! They have the greatest songs on here! I love the beach boys and They have wonderful songs on this album. My favorite song is Surfing USA.