The Beach Boys Album: “Lost and Found! (1961-62)”

In its wisdom, RCA bought Elvis' original Sun recordings -- masters, alternates, outtakes, etc. and compiled them on the SUN SESSIONS CD. Likewise, the greatest American pop band has this offering, in two different sets of artwork. Tho' the group photo cover is shown above, it's inaccurate by about two years and the absence of guitarist David Marks. The material consists of early versions, working demos, & final masters of the dozen or so songs the young Beach Boys record- ed with Hite & Dorinda Morgan, publishers/producers. This is an historical CD, and not really meant to be put on at a party (try the PARTY! or 20/20 or SUMMER IN PARADISE CDs for that). It's also an excellent insight for young musicians to see how teenagers can put together demos, which in this case, impressed Capitol Records enough for a contract.

This CD features the pre-Capitol recordings of the Beach Boys. Before signing with Capitol Records, the Beach Boys recorded six songs for producer Hite Morgan. Six songs would make a pretty short CD, so the CD is padded out with alternate takes, audition demos and two songs by "Kenny and the Cadets" with Brian Wilson on lead vocals. "Surfin'", their first single, got to #75 on the Hot 100 and got them signed to Capitol Records. And the rest is history. The recordings on this CD aren't bad, but they aren't nearly as good as the Beach Boys later recordings. And it's a bit repetitive hearing "Surfin'", "Luau" and "Surfin' Safari" three times each. Still, this is a historically important CD that should be of interest to Beach Boys fans.

You won't have heard any of these on your local "oldies" station. What this collects is very early material the group recorded with producer Hite Morgan and his wife.

It's interesting for the group's biggest fans to hear the demos of "Luau" and "surfin'" (the songs from their very first single ever released on Candix records). You'll also get a rare recording of Brian Wilson and his mother performing together as "Kenny and the Cadets", a rare instrumental ("Karate", also sometimes referred to as "Beach Boy Stomp"), an ode to Brian Wilson's girlfriend ("Judy") and a previously unissued demo from 1961 ("Lavender")

High Points: Track 6 "Surfin'" is the template for the earliest hits the band would have in their "sun and fun" period. It doesn't stand alongside finer material like "Surfin' U.S.A." but it points the way toward what they would become. "What is a Young Girl Made of?" is the better of the Kenny and the Cadets songs, an uptempo tune that sounds like a lost 50s track. An early version of "Surfin' Safari" has some minor lyric differences. (Track 14) The Candix rendition of "Surfer Girl" shows a much more garage band influence as Dennis Wilson struggles to hold the brushed snare rhythm. The guitars are also mixed much lower here than the more familiar hit. "Judy" is a nicely sloppy lovesong with a chugging bassline.

Lows:

"Barbie" suffers from horrid background tracks, a treacly lyric, and a poor falsetto from Brian. "Beach Boy Stomp" is an interesting instrumental but the band isn't tight enough to really pull it off. An early overdub attempt on "Surfin' Safari" (Track 20) was wisely left in the can at the time. (Brian attempted to paste a Duane Eddyish guitar into one channel). "Lavender" is a Four Freshmen styled acappella tune that shows the band's harmonies are close to full bloom but it's just a demo. With full production, it might have been as special as "Their Hearts were Full of Spring" in the Beach Boys canon.

Bottom Line:

Mostly useful as a historical document. It's hard to hear some of these tracks and realize that they would go on to become one of the (THE?) most influential and creative pop groups ever.

(Note: This review refers to the 1991 release, which is the one that I own. The 1995 issue --- which has the group photo on the front --- is, as far as I know, is the same except that it's missing four "studio chatter" tracks.) Before The Beach Boys signed with Capitol Records in 1962, they recorded for producer Hite Morgan, and this CD is a document of that formative period of the group. However, the group didn't record many songs for Morgan; thus, the only way to present a reasonable-length "collection" was by padding the disc very heavily. So, DCC threw in a load of demo/early/alternate versions and a few clips of "studio chatter," thereby creating a 21-track CD from nine songs. Like most other CDs, it has its good points and its not-so-good ones. The best thing about it is the sound quality --- the tracks were taken from the original masters, and not from poor-quality dubs, like the ones used on so many other compilations featuring Morgan-era material by the group. Only three of these recordings were originally released. The "master" takes of "Surfin'" and "Luau" were released as the group's first single --- after their name was changed to The Beach Boys from The Surfers. (By the way, before they were The Surfers, they were the Pendeltones. Also, the fact that they were briefly The Surfers is not mentioned in the notes; it is pointed out in the notes of Varese's "Surfin'" comp.) Capitol later licensed "Surfin'" and included it on the group's first album, Surfin' Safari (after they sped it up a tone), but "Luau" never appeared on any of the albums. (According to the notes of this CD, Capitol has falsely claimed that it was a re-recording of "Surfin'" that they included on the Surfin' Safari album!) The other recording to be released was "Barbie," which appears in stereo here and was released as a single backed with "What Is A Young Girl Made Of," both songs credited to "Kenny & The Cadets." "Judy" is a good, rocking love song (the alternate take is actually even better than the "master" one, in my opinion). The versions of "Surfin' Safari" are all very different from the "Capitol" version, but are still good. The stereo "alternate" version, on which Brian experimented with overdubbing, is particularly interesting. The demo of "Lavender" showcases the Beach Boys' (or the Pendeltones') harmony singing. Although the song itself isn't that good, the track proves that even at this stage, the guys could harmonize with the best of 'em. However, not all of the tracks are so impressive. "What Is A Young Girl Made Of" is an inferior (in my opinion) alternate take from the released one. Likewise, the unreleased "long" version of "Beach Boy Stomp (a.k.a. Karate)" isn't as good as the other "long" version, which seems to me to be the "standard" version. "Surfer Girl," which the group later re-recorded for Capitol, is O.K. but not nearly as good as the more "produced" Capitol version. The other alternate takes and demos (which are of the songs "Surfin'" and "Luau") aren't bad but aren't particularly good. Also, the CD could have done without the five tracks of studio chatter, which really don't "reveal" much if anything, at least not to me. The disc would only have been slightly shorter without them, as most of them are very brief. The worst thing about the CD --- or the 1995 issue, anyway --- is that it's out of print and kind of pricey if you can find it, at least at Amazon (the 1991 issue to which this review refers is probably even more expensive). Still, despite the CD's flaws, it is still one of the best, if not THE best, compilations of the group's Morgan-era recordings (not counting CDs that also include material by other people) --- and there doesn't seem to be many of them. Those are a couple of the reasons I think it deserves five stars. It also serves, or the exhaustive liner notes do, anyway (I assume the 1995 release also has these), as a good reminder of the fact that while the Beach Boys had most of their success at Capitol, that was not where the group started. (Note: I've seen both versions of this CD for some better prices since I first posted this review.)

A rare collector's piece. One recording, Lavender, shows how excellent the Pendletones (Beach Boys) could harmonize a capella even at this early stage. You can hear the potential of the group which became world famous as America's favourite band. There are also some comical sections of studio chatter.