Wendy - The Beach Boys

Wendy - The Beach Boys

2:22
All Summer Long, 1964

Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love

Despite being a casual fan of the Beach Boys all my life, more or less, I've never heard this one, which hit #44 on the Billboard Charts.  It's one of those songs in which the guy mopes because his girl left him.  "I never thought a guy could cry / 'Til you made it with another guy."  In the fine tradition of dumped dudes of any era, the narrator casts aspersions on Wendy's new beau: he's a liar, his future looks dim.  But as I've said before, there's never any accountability in these songs.  It's a decent early Boys track, though I find the high organ notes a little jarring.

Merry Christmas, Baby - The Beach Boys

Merry Christmas, Baby - The Beach Boys

2:26

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, 1964

Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love

The narrator of this song has just been dumped.  She doesn't think he'll be loyal to her.  But, he whines, why did she have to dump him at the height of the holiday season?  "I made my mistake but / I'm willing to wake up / And never mess around anymore / Oh why did we break up?"  Well, sire, I guess because you were a cad.  It's too late for you to plead now.  To make matters worse, he says that he'd be willing to get back together "just for Christmas."  This is a guy who likes being in a relationship more than he likes his girl.  Great vocals on this song, of course, but the instrumentation is pretty basic.

All Summer Long - The Beach Boys

All Summer Long - The Beach Boys

2:09

All Summer Long, 1964

Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

This week is all about 1964!

I'm a fan of the Beach Boys, but I'd say mostly I only know the hits.  Granted, there are a lot of hits.  So this is a popular song, but I'm not overly familiar with it.  Just what the name implies, it's an ode to all things summer if you're a California youth: cut-off, T-shirts, miniature golf, horse riding, Hondas.  The vocals are beautiful, over swinging piano and marimba.  So breezy!  Oh, and Kid Rock is a moronic, creepy, talentless loser.