The Beach Boys Album: “Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1”

The fact that they got Brian out to sing is worth the price alone. This CD is a DDD production (all digital). The best songs belong to the women Lorrie Morgan and Kathy Troccoli in fact there should have been more women lead vocalists. Which brings me to the question what happened to Volume 2. The liner notes indicate that Tammy Wynette had a version of "In My Room". Either it never got released due to poor sales of Vol. 1 or it never got completed. Too bad.

Heard about it, bought it, loved it. Yes it's different and it's not TRUE Beach Boys, but it revives and puts a fun spin on some tracks and a beautiful spin on others. But will there be a volume 2? With all the recent changes and passings, I would hope that it can be released. The combination of Tammy Wynette and Brian Wilson (In My Room) cannot be missed out on.

This is a great CD of The Beach Boys music. The Beach Boys provide back-up vocals while various country artists sing lead vocals. Anyone who likes The Beach Boys and/or country singers like Vince Gill, Lorrie Morgan, Willie Nelson or Steve Warner will enjoy this CD.

But for those of you who are looking for Volume 2... stop looking. Volume 2 was never released due to low volume of sales for Volume 1. That's just a shame.

My dad bought this when it first came out and loved it. I was fortunate enough to find a like new copy without too much effort. He absolutely loves this CD. I have provided a website address below where you can listen to samples of the different songs on the CD (courtesy of Tower Records). My favorites are "Don't Worry Baby" with Lorrie Morgan and "I Can Hear Music" with Kathy Troccoli, although all of the songs are great. Enjoy!

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Classic hits given new life by major artists. Most notable is the Brian Wilson feel to the music. I can't wait for Volume II!

For a short time in 1995 there was a slight chance that the Beach Boys were really going to make another Brian Wilson produced disc. The band demoed fairly strong Brian Wilson - Andy Paley tracks, such as "Soul Searchin'" and "Still A Mystery". Brian and Mike Love told Entertainment Weekly that they were writing new music. It was a time of hope for the devoted.

Unfortunately, The Beach Boys opted for the safe route: instead of taking a risk and creating something new, they lent themselves out as backing vocalists for this sanitized and unsatisfying country effort.

Obvious song selection and merely average production are only two of the problems that I have with STARS & STRIPES. The sad fact is that The Beach Boys are simply better vocalists than many of the cookie-cutter country artists that they back on this lackluster affair. Sure, some tracks are listenable, but they could be the work of any competent cover band. Certainly, The Beach Boys had their share of flawed moments throughout their checkered recording career, but there was always still something of their intrinsic character in these noble (and occasionally, ignoble) failures.

This is not the case on STARS & STRIPES. For me, there is nothing distinctive on this disc that makes these bland tracks worthy of a place in the Beach Boys canon. It's sad, but STARS & STRIPES comes across not as a fully realized Beach Boys release, but more as Beach Boys' related product.

Note: I do savor the full group vocals on Timothy B. Schmidt's (and Jimmy Webb's) "Caroline, No" - the stunning coda to this version always makes me wonder if I would actually enjoy this CD more w/o the lead vocals.

Note 2: Seek out the "making of" video documentary for the wonderful and spontaneous moments that showed the Boys (especially Brian and Mike) with their guard down.