Disco de The Beach Boys: “The Greatest Hits Vol. 3: Best of the Brother Year”

The Beach Boys have the unfortunate situation of having their 1962-1966 hits shamelessly recycled on oldies radio,commercials,and period films,thus their post-Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations recordings go unnoticed by the general public,making the group forever pigeonhold as a 60's relic and the music only dealing with beaches,surfing,chicks,& cars.

Once you dig a little deeper(as well as get inside of Pet Sounds)you find that alot of great music was produced in the late 60s,early 70s.GH3 represents the period where the other group members rise to the challenge of creating quality music as Brian Wilson sporadically contributed to sessions.The highlights are the tracks from 1970's criminally underrated Sunflower(Add Some Music To Your Day,Forever) and 1971's classic Surf's Up(Til I Die and the title cut are magical).Sail On,Sailor(from Holland) is an underrated piece of great pop music.Unfortunatly after the freak success of 1974's oldies repackaging Endless Summer,the group descended into a nostalgia act ( although 1977's Loves You was the last album of any great merit).Yet, this collection serves as a reminder that the group was more than the recycled oldies dictate.

THE BEACH BOYS are one of those bands that have provided the soundtrack to my life. Growing up in Southern California, their music really does become a part of one's experiences. For instance, I can't hear 'Help Me, Rhonda' or 'The Girls On The Beach' without recalling my years of bodysurfing the waves near Santa Monica's lifeguard station #26. 'Good Vibrations' automatically transports me back to Santa Monica High School - located conveniently 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. (Sometimes the sound of the surf called more insistently than the school bell did.) Samohi's official school song, 'Hymn Of Praise' written by Ken Darby from the Class of 1927, starts out, "Oh Samohi, dear old Samohi / Queen of the setting sun / For you we toil, for you our banners fly / We win for you when victory's won!" But every pep rally I attended from '74 through '77 ended more "excitationally" with...

Good, good, good, good vibrations

(oom bop bop)

I'm pickin' up good vibrations

She's giving me excitations

(oom bop bop)

'In My Room' humorously reminds me of the time in 1986 when I found it on a jukebox in a Reno lounge and drove every other patron out of the place with it. I was in the bartender's doghouse, but what are ya gonna do with a liquidated cowboy who wants to hear 'In My Room'.....18 times? And while the richly melancholic 'The Warmth Of The Sun' is my all-time favorite Beach Boys song, there is a lot to be said for many of the tracks found on this compilation.

This is the final part of Capitol's Beach Boys Greatest Hits trilogy series. This one - which features 20 of The Boys' late period minor hits and nonhits - will be ignored by the casual Beach Boys fan, and that is an unfortunate mistake. True, these "leftovers" were recorded and released after the height of the band's popularity and creative success according to the music critics, but the Beach Boys, though they had largely moved away from their gorgeous and complex trademark vocal harmony arrangements, were still making some magic music. And some of it as sensitive and more intense than anything that preceded it.

For every lightweight and silly 'SUSIE CINCINNATI' and 'PEGGY SUE' on this collection, you'll also find a brooding 'TIL I DIE', or nostalgic 'DISNEY GIRLS (1957)', or yearning 'SURF'S UP.' No, we didn't need another version of 'ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC' or 'COME GO WITH ME' and yet, I'd hate to have missed out on the world-weary, but defiant 'LONG PROMISED ROAD', or the intricate protest song, 'THE TRADER', with its catchy movements that force my toes to tap or my feet to stomp.

Some of these songs, being more melodically subtle and lacking that instantly recognizable sound of The Boys' early hits, will require a bit more patience from the listener, but with time, that open-minded patience will certainly be rewarded. Of course, 'SAIL ON, SAILOR' you probably already know (I invented my pen name while it was playing through the sound system in a Coco's Restaurant); the lovely 'GOOD TIMIN'' is reminiscent of that lush harmonizing adopted from The Four Freshmen during The Beach Boys' infancy. And the well-chosen closer, 'CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'', with its urgent tenor sax solo actually eclipses the classic Mamas And Papas version. (Yeah, I couldn't believe it either!)

If all you desire is a balanced career retrospective of some of The Beach Boys' best music on a single disc, then go with 'Classics: Selected By Brian Wilson'. But the REAL fan will want the 3-part Capitol compilation series: 'The Greatest Hits, Vol 1: 20 Good Vibrations'; 'The Greatest Hits, Vol. 2: 20 More Good Vibrations'; and this disc, 'THE GREATEST HITS, VOL. 3: BEST OF THE BROTHER YEARS, 1970 - 1986.'

[*This review is dedicated to my new friend, the surf-riding, beach bike path-riding, and book-writing, MYSTICAL MARY. Evidently she was too shy to approach me on the beach bike path in 1989 to ask, "Riding my way?" She waited seventeen years and until I was living in Airheadzona, and she in Joisey, before saying anything to me. However, Mystical Mary is one of my favorite living writers, and I think you're going to be hearing about her before too long.]

The Beach Boys have the unfortunate situation of having their 1962-1966 hits shamelessly recycled on oldies radio,commercials,and period films,thus their post-Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations recordings go unnoticed by the general public.Hence the group is forever pigeonhold as a 60's relic and their music only deals with beaches,surfing,chicks,& cars.Once you dig a little deeper(as well as get inside of Pet Sounds)you find that alot of great music was produced in the late 60s,early 70s.GH3 represents the period where the other group members rise to the challenge of creating quality music as Brian Wilson sporadically contributed to sessions.The highlights are the tracks from 1970's Sunflower(Add Some Music To Your Day) and 1971's classic Surf's Up(Til I Die and the title cut are magical).Sail On,Sailor(from Holland) is an underrated piece of great pop music.Unfortunatly after the freak success of Endless Summer,the group descended into a nostalgia act (although there were great songs on 15 Big Ones and Loves You).Yet, this collection serves as a reminder that the group was more than the recycled oldies dictate.

Greatest Hits Volume 3 : The Best Of The Brother Years documents The Beach Boys' 16 years on their own Brother record label, and unlike Greatest Hits volumes 1 and 2, volume 3 showcases the band as maturing musicians less concerned with the fantasy world of girls, cars and surfing and more concerned with every day real life.

The 16 years of classic music contains songs from such wonderful albums as Holland, Surf's Up, Sunflower and Love You. Among the many classics are Bruce Johnston's lovely ballad Disney Girls, Surf's Up, Sail On Sailor, Marcella and Getcha Back, the latter of which is one of my favorite Beach Boys tunes ever.

There is also a nice amount of cover versions. First there's a scorching version of Chuck Berry's Rock And Roll Music that is the only song here to crack the top 10, reaching a very grand number 5. Next is a rollicking cover of the Buddy Holly classic Peggy Sue. The boys from Hawthorne, CA do not try to trump their hero, and their version is somewhat like the original version. Next is a perfect cover of the Del - Vikings hit Come Go With Me, featuring a lovely Al Jardine lead vocal and trademark harmonies. Finally, there is the album's closer, a dark, brooding cover of California Dreamin'. Featuring haunting harmonies and a brilliantly played 12 - string guitar, this versions almost beats the original.

Volume 3 is not for the casual Beach Boys fan. If you are interested in the early days of Surfin' USA and Fun Fun Fun, then this is not for you. But if you want to hear a mature and orginal group, then this is definitely your album.

Nothing wrong with Capitol taking an interest in re-releasing the Beach Boys' overlooked Brother Records catalog, but whoever compiled this disc needs to be hung out to dry...

During the so called Brother Years (1970-85) no Beach Boy, not even Brian himself, matched the creative output of Dennis Wilson. Though defamed by the history books (and non-sympathetic bandmembers to boot) Dennis cleary WAS the writing talent of the band during this era. It is offensive that Capitol didn't think enough of this misunderstood artist to even include his signature song "Forever", much less classic songs such as "Cuddle Up", "Love Surrounds Me" or "Slip On Through"...

Instead we are forced to sit through a bunch of tired oldies like "Rock'n'Roll Music", "Come Go with Me" and "California Dreaming", not to mention fluff like "Disney Girls" and "Suzie Cincinatti".

Someone who was unfamiliar with the later work of the Beach Boys would assume from this collection that Al Jardine and Carl Wilson handled most of the band's writing, with Bruce and Mike also contributing heavily.

The honest truth is that Dennis wrote many more SUPERIOR songs that the others during this time. Obviously someone is doing a little creative myth making here. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of Dennis Wilson's fantastic (sadly out-of-print) 1977 debut album PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE instead of this lame excuse for a "greatest hits".