The Beach Boys - Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 1

The Beach Boys – Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 1

Capitol,1966

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, Shotgun Room, 2008

Price: $1

I picked this up on a random binge in the Shotgun Room when I was trying to fill in the gaps that I SHOULD have had filled by my parents record collection, but they just have a bunch of crap. So I went in and found the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, etc. But man, there are so many cool things about this beat up old record. For instance, I didn’t know that Chuck Berry wrote Surfin U.S.A.! How cool is that? And, at the top of the spine it reads: File Under: The Beach Boys – Teen. Granted, it’s old and it skips but I’m glad I have these songs on vinyl. “Catch A Wave,” “Surfer Girl,” “Little Honda,” “In My Room,” seriously way cool. I still think Yo La Tengo’s version of “Little Honda” is way better though. Now, if only I could find an old copy of Pet Sounds. That, and a copy of Love’s Forever Changes (original pressing or second or third pressing) are two that I desperately want and search for at every record store. They are records that I would pay exorbitant prices for. Ok, maybe not exorbitant, but like, $50 bucks, which is exorbitant for me. Anyway, this is a nice little Best Of, even though Side B isn’t nearly as good as Side A. Although the cover of “Louie, Louie” is pretty hilarious, given that the guy mimicking the guitar line, going “Duh duh duh DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH duh duh” sounds like he is mimicking a person of mental handicap. And thus, I find this song incredibly insensitive. That and it’s just generally a shitty cover (except for the guitar solo in the middle, that kind of rules). That and it closes with “Wendy” and I think the line “Wendy, Wendy What Went Wrong” is easily some of the best alliteration in song history.