Some unreleased and unusual selections to enjoy as our house gets painted for the first time in sixteen years…

Outside of the SMiLE era, my favorite Beach Boys period is their early Reprise Records years 1970-1973, when they released Sunflower and Surf’s Up, and Carl and the Passions – So Tough and Holland. Not just because it was the era my brother Mark and I first fell in love with their music, but because the music we fell in love with was so un-Beach Boys-sounding. To that end, check out the unreleased studio version of “We Got Love”. Kind of country-soul.

An unreleased track from 1976, Michael, Row The Boat Ashore. Listen for the steel drums and the very complex “Hallelujah” backgrounds; it’s a great Brian Wilson production. They left a bunch of lesser tunes on the 15 Big Ones album while leaving this one off. It’s a puzzle. For some reason whenever I hear this song I think of my late godfather Milt. Maybe because I think he would have liked this track.

Another unreleased track from 1969, Dennis Wilson’s A Time To Live In Dreams. Very soulful.

A track from Brian Wilson’s unreleased 1989 CD “Sweet Insanity” “Someone To Love”. I’ve seen insanity and believe me, it ain’t that sweet. But this is a rockin’ track, and one of Brian’s best solo efforts.

The Beach Boys cover The Beatles: With A Little Help From My Friends. Very mellow as to almost be comatose but I’ve always liked it. Sweet and simple, nice harmonies backing Bruce Johnston’s lead.

…and finally, CRANK THIS ONE UP! because it was the Beach Boys’ closing tune during those legendary concert years of the mid-to-late 70s. Here’s a very rockin’ version of “Fun, Fun, Fun”. It didn’t get a whole lot better than that – watch how Dennis drives the beat right from the start. He was a great concert drummer. BTW, the blonde driving the hot classic T-Bird is Dennis’ 3rd (and 4th) wife, Karen Lamm-Wilson. One hot chick. One hot performance.