BEST OF DIGITAL: The Beach Boys

BEST OF DIGITAL: THE BEACH BOYS
(Examining Americas Favorite Band on CD)


The Beach Boys catalog (from 62-65) shows us that no real care was paid to having a complete mono/stereo selection for each song. Some tracks were only mixed to mono (usually singles), while others were only mixed to stereo (god only knows why, in an era of the mono lp).

I’ve tried my best here to compile the best digital sources for each LP or 45 released Beach Boys studio song. No live stuff, no booted material…no duophonic, no fold-downs…and let’s save the wealth of unreleased “bonus” stuff for another time.

The following CDs were used for comparison purposes: the Japanese Pastmasters, 2001 two-fers, DCC Endless Summer, DCC Spirit of America, Good Vibrations Box Set, The Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 & 2, Best of the Beach Boys, and Made In USA. Additionally I used Endless Harmony and Hawthorne, CA for a few of the later stereo remixes.


I generally tried to stay away from the heavily EQed “two-fers” and although I enjoy “The Greatest Hits” comps I don’t like the extra compression or whatever it is that’s making the songs a little too bright and loud. So for non-LP tracks and mono mixes I generally stuck with “Best of the Beach Boys” and “Made In USA”. In comparing the two CDs I found that in most cases “Made In USA” won.

In cases of comparing LP tracks the “Japanese Pastmasters” almost always won…PROS: No NR, no crazy EQing…CONS: 2nd gen sources, basically un-mastered, small tape dropouts on certain tracks. At the end of the day the pros outweighed the cons.

As you can see, some things I’m still not sure about so I’ll need the forum’s help to fill in those empty spaces. Regardless, I hope this helps people compile the best digital Beach Boys sources they can get their hands on…because it’s a real hodgepodge.

Keep in mind that mixes of some songs have not been released on CD (like some of the mono stuff) or no stereo/mono mix existed at all…so there’s a few empty spaces.

Here we go!
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Surfin’ Safari
Mono

Surfin’ Safari (DCC Endless Summer)
County Fair (Pastmasters)
Ten Little Indians (Pastmasters)
Chug-A-Lug (Pastmasters)
Little Miss America (Pastmasters)
409 (DCC Spirit of America)
Surfin’ (Pastmasters)
Heads You Win-Tails I Lose (Pastmasters)
Summertime Blues (Pastmasters)
Cuckoo Clock (Pastmasters)
Moon Dawg (Pastmasters)
The Shift (Pastmasters)

NOTE: The “Surfin’ Safari” album was NOT mixed to stereo.

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Surfin’ USA
Stereo


Surfin' USA (DCC Endless Summer)
Farmer’s Daughter (Pastmasters)
Misirlou (Pastmasters)
Stoked (Pastmasters)
Lonely Sea (Pastmasters)
Shut Down (DCC Endless Summer)
Noble Surfer (Pastmasters)
Honky Tonk (Pastmasters)
Lana (Pastmasters)
Surf Jam (Pastmasters)
Let’s Go Trippin’ (Pastmasters)
Finders Keepers (Pastmasters)


Surfin’ Safari
Mono


Surfin' USA (Made In USA)
Farmer’s Daughter
Misirlou
Stoked
Lonely Sea
Shut Down (Good Vibrations Box Set)
Noble Surfer
Honky Tonk
Lana
Surf Jam
Let’s Go Trippin’
Finders Keepers

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Surfer Girl
Stereo

Surfer Girl (DCC Endless Summer)
Catch A Wave (DCC Endless Summer)
The Surfer Moon (Pastmasters)
South Bay Surfer (Pastmasters)
The Rocking Surfer (Pastmasters)
Little Deuce Coupe (DCC Endless Summer)
In My Room (DCC Endless Summer)
Hawaii (DCC Spirit of America)
Surfer’s Rule (Pastmasters)
Our Car Club (Pastmasters)
Your Summer Dream (Pastmasters)
Boogie Woodie (Pastmasters)

NOTE: Does the Pastmaster have the ‘68 stereo remix of Surfer Girl or the original stereo mix? Also, have most Beach Boys comps contained the original MONO mix of Surfer Girl or the remix? It could be possible that “Best of the Beach Boys” has the original mono mix while “Made In USA” contains the remix? I noticed a bit less compression on the “Made In USA” version.


Surfer Girl
Mono

Surfer Girl (Made In USA)
Catch A Wave (Best of the Beach Boys)
The Surfer Moon (Good Vibrations Box Set)
South Bay Surfer
The Rocking Surfer
Little Deuce Coupe (Best of the Beach Boys)
In My Room (Best of the Beach Boys)
Hawaii
Surfer’s Rule
Our Car Club
Your Summer Dream
Boogie Woodie

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Little Deuce Coupe
Stereo

Ballad of Ole’ Betsy (Pastmasters)
Be True To Your School (LP Version) (Pastmasters)
Car Crazy Cutie (Pastmasters)
Cherry, Cherry Coupe (Pastmasters)
Spirit of America (DCC Spirit of America)
No-Go Showboat (Pastmasters)
A Young Man Is Gone (Pastmasters)
Custom Machine (DCC Spirit of America)

NOTE: Duplicate “Surfer Girl” tracks have been omitted. Is “A Young Man Is Gone” true stereo? I can’t tell. If so, why would the DCC “Spirit” use the mono mix when they used stereo for most of the album cuts?


Little Deuce Coupe
Mono

Ballad of Ole’ Betsy
Be True To Your School (LP Version)
Car Crazy Cutie
Cherry, Cherry Coupe
Spirit of America (Good Vibrations Box Set)
No-Go Showboat
A Young Man Is Gone (DCC Spirit of America)
Custom Machine

Be True To Your School (Single Version) (DCC Endless Summer)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shut Down, Vol. II
Stereo

Fun Fun Fun (DCC Endless Summer)
Don’t Worry Baby (DCC Endless Summer)
In The Parkin’ Lot (Pastmasters)
“Cassius” Love Vs. “Sonny” Wilson (Pastmasters)
The Warmth of the Sun (DCC Endless Summer)
This Car Of Mine (DCC Spirit of America)
Why Do Fools Fall In Love
Pom Pom Playgirl (Pastmasters)
Keep An Eye On Summer (Pastmasters)
Shut Down, Vol. II (Pastmasters)
Louie Louie
Denny’s Drums (Pastmasters)

NOTE: The “Shut Down, Vol. II” CD seems to have the most tape flaws of all the Pastmasters. Tape snags on the intros of “In The Parkin’ Lot” and “Pom Pom Playgirl”, but still they’re better than the 2001 two-fers. No stereo mixes of “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” and “Louie, Louie”.


Shut Down, Vol. II
Mono

Fun Fun Fun (Single Mix) (Best of the Beach Boys…has “3” count off)
Don’t Worry Baby (Made In USA)
In The Parkin’ Lot
“Cassius” Love Vs. “Sonny” Wilson
The Warmth of the Sun (Best of the Beach Boys)
This Car Of Mine
Why Do Fools Fall In Love (DCC Spirit of America)
Pom Pom Playgirl
Keep An Eye On Summer
Shut Down, Vol. II
Louie Louie (Best of the Beach Boys)
Denny’s Drums

Fun Fun Fun (“Guitar Up” Mix) (Made In USA?...has NO “3” count off)

NOTE: Can anyone shed some light on what comps have the “guitar up” mix of “Fun, Fun Fun”? The mono mix on “Made In USA” differs from “Best of the Beach Boys” (No “3” count off), but is that it?

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All Summer Long
Stereo

I Get Around
All Summer Long
Hushabye (DCC Spirit of America)
Little Honda (DCC Spirit of America)
We’ll Run Away (Pastmasters)
Carl’s Big Chance (Pastmasters)
Wendy (DCC Endless Summer)
Do You Remember? (DCC Spirit of America)
Girls On The Beach (DCC Endless Summer)
Drive-In (DCC Spirit of America)
Our Favorite Recording Sessions
Don’t Back Down (DCC Spirit of America)


All Summer Long
Mono

I Get Around (DCC Endless Summer)
All Summer Long (DCC Endless Summer, SH remix)
Hushabye
Little Honda (Best of the Beach Boys)
We’ll Run Away
Carl’s Big Chance
Wendy (Best of the Beach Boys)
Do You Remember?
Girls On The Beach
Drive-In
Our Favorite Recording Sessions (Pastmasters)
Don’t Back Down (Good Vibrations Box Set, we all know this song has problems though)

NOTE: There are no stereo mixes for “I Get Around” and “All Summer Long”. No mono “Drive In” exists, they have all been fold-downs. “Don’t Back Down” is fine in stereo but is missing top and bottom end on the mono mix. “Our Favorite Recording Sessions” has no stereo mix. Phew!

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Today
Mono

Do You Wanna Dance? (DCC Spirit of America)
Good To My Baby (DCC Spirit of America)
Don’t Hurt My Little Sister (Pastmasters)
When I Grow Up (DCC Spirit of America)
Help Me, Ronda (LP version) (Pastmasters)
Dance, Dance, Dance (DCC Spirit of America)
Please Let Me Wonder (DCC Spirit of America)
I’m So Young (Pastmasters)
Kiss Me, Baby (Pastmasters)
She Knows Me Too Well (Good Vibrations Box Set)
In The Back of My Mind (Pastmasters)
Bull Session With The “Big Daddy” (Pastmasters)

NOTE: On Pastmasters “Today!” there are no duophonic tracks, but “She Knows Me Too Well” sounds awful. I opted for the Good Vibrations Box set mastering (I’ll take a little bit of NR to radical EQ anyway.


Today
Stereo

Dance, Dance, Dance (Hawthorne, CA)
Kiss Me, Baby (Endless Harmony)

NOTE: No stereo version was made. Both remixes

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Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Mono

Girl From New York City (Pastmasters)
Amusement Parks USA (Two-fer)
Then I Kissed Her (Pastmasters)
Salt Lake City (DCC Spirit of America)
Girl Don’t Tell Me (DCC Endless Summer)
Help Me, Rhonda (Hit Version) (DCC Endless Summer)
California Girls (DCC Endless Summer)
Let Him Run Wild (DCC Endless Summer)
You’re So Good To Me (DCC Endless Summer)
Summer Means New Love (Pastmasters)
I’m Bugged At My Ol’ Man (Two-fer)
And Your Dream Comes True (Pastmasters)

Little Girl I Once Knew (DCC Spirit of America)
Graduation Day (DCC Spirit of America)

NOTE: Two duophonic tracks on “SD(ASN!!)” Pastmaster: “Aumsement Parks USA” and “I’m Bugged At My Old Man”. I have regrettably used the “two-fers” for these, whether you choose the old two-fers or new two-fers is up to you. Pick your poison: NR or EQ.


Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Stereo

Salt Lake City (Hawthorne, CA)
California Girls (Endless Harmony)
And Your Dream Comes True (Hawthorne, CA)

NOTE: No stereo version was made. All remixes.

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Party!
Mono

Hully Gully (Pastmasters)
I Should Have Known Better (Pastmasters)
Tell Me Why (DCC Spirit of America)
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow (Pastmasters)
Mountain of Love (Pastmasters)
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Pastmasters)
Devoted To You (Pastmasters)
Alley Oop (Pastmasters)
There’s No Other (Pastmasters)
Medley: I Get Around/Little Deuce Coupe (Pastmasters)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Pastmasters)
Barbara Ann (DCC Spirit of America)

Barbara Ann (Single Version) (Made In USA)

NOTE: No stereo version was made.

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And there you have it. Hopefully this will be a nice database for people getting into the Beach Boys who are looking for a little more than what the remasters have to offer in terms of SQ. Feel free to disagree and discuss!

 

bump

 

Great job! I basically agree with each of your choices with very few exceptions.

I prefer "Best Of The Beach Boys" over "Made In USA" for the mono mixes in the following three cases:
Surfin U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Fun, Fun, Fun

Note: Fun, Fun, Fun is the album mono mix on both "Best Of The Beach Boys" and on "Made In USA". For the actual singles mix, you have to use the GV box set or the bonus track on the twofer. I personally prefer the mono album mix.

Please allow me to summarize in a different way:
1. The DCC releases rule, they are the best source for each song (in the respective mix).
2. Best Of The Beach Boys provides the mono mixes of Surfin U.S.A., Catch a Wave, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, In My Room, Little Honda, Fun, Fun, Fun (mono album mix), Warmth of the Sun, Louie, Louie, You're So Good to Me and Wendy. (Kiss Me Baby sounds like **** on that CD; you have to use the Pastmasters Today! CD for that song).
3. Made In USA provides the mono mix of Don't Worry Baby, plus the best versions of Heroes And Villains and Do It Again. (Two rare 1980s singles come as a bonus).
4. The GV box set is the best source for She Knows Me Too Well because the song is screwed up on the Pastmasters Today! CD. It is also the only CD source for the mono mixes of Shut Down, The Surfer Moon, Don't Back Down and Spirit Of America.
5. The twofers provide the best versions of Amusement Parks USA and I'm Bugged At My Old Man (since they are in fake stereo on the Pastmasters CD).
6. For the rest, the Pastmasters CDs are preferrable.
7. About 35 songs from the albums Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol.2 and All Summer Long have never been released in mono on CD.

 

Well, it takes time to respond to a post like that!

Only one major omission - "The Beach Boys Christmas Album" from 1964!

Oh, and there's a typo - you've put the title as "Surfin' Safari" instead of "Surfin' USA" for the mono entry.

Apart from that it's a great post

I've posted about the Japanese "Beach Boys Single Collection" (Capitol TOCP-7771~3) many times - it's a fantastic set and has a number of mono mixes not available on CD anywhere else as far as I am aware (click the "" icon in the quotation box to go to the original thread - includes pictures of this lovely box set ):

This will fill in a few holes in your list - it is also quite possible that the "Single Collection" is the best source for many of the other mono tracks on CD - I haven't compared them all. Once my kids grow up and leave home I may get time to do that - check back with me in 20 years .

"Shut Down" is on the standard CD release of Endless Summer in mono.

It also appears on the Japanese "Single Collection" in mono along with "The Surfer Moon" and "Don't Back Down".

As far as I know "Spirit Of America" is the only one that is only available on the GV box.

 

Mal, I've seen a few BBs Christmas albums over the years: one that looks like it's from the 80s, one that looks like it's from the early 90s (when they issued each album seperately), the Ultimate Christmas comp (which is the only one I have) and...maybe some comp that came out after that? I'm not sure. Any ideas on which is the best one? My Ultimate Christmas comp sounds pretty good and all the tracks are in stereo but it's missing the original mono "Little Saint Nick" 45 mix with the sleighbells. WTF?!

 

What about Steve's 2-CD Razor & Tie collection for "Heroes and Villains" and "Do it Again"? (It is true that copies of Made in USA are cheap and plentiful, while the Razor & Tie set is neither, but still ...)

 

Is Best of the Beach Boys the same as the Greatest Hits Vol 1?

 

I think these two songs sound about the same on Made In USA and on the Razor&Tie set.

 

No. "Best Of The Beach Boys" is a 12 track CD that came out in 1988 on Capitol with this front cover:

 

Jason, what a fantastic post. You have more fortitiude than I could muster. I am copying that post down as a keeper. It just makes me realize that I should have bought the past masters series in the '90s when I had the chance. Heck, Midnight Records in NYC had them all for the longest time for only $11.99 each.

Again, thanks for the post. Very well done!

Bob F.

 

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Hopefully it can answer the usual questions for neophytes and possibly raise some new ones for Beach Boys nuts.

Like...

Does anyone know for sure about the Surfer Girl (song, not album) '68 remix? Where is it found on digital? And what about the original mix?

 

That's true. I forgot about the Razor & Tie comp. I'm sure Steve's masterings of H&V and DIA would be great to include on this list.

 

I'd also include Steve's mastering of "Surfin'" from the DCC Lost and Found disc.

 

It's funny, I just spent the past few weeks putting together "expanded editions" of the group's Sixties catalog for my own enjoyment - original mono mixes of an album, followed by stereo mixes (where applicable), followed by bonus tracks from a variety of sources.

I don't own the Pastmasters discs ( ), so I can't really compare the sound quality of a lot of the stuff you've listed here. A few comments, though:

No, it only exists in mono at this point.

Actually, "Louie, Louie" has a stereo mix - it's "Denny's Drums" that's only in mono.

Also, the single version of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (never issued on CD, as far as I know - only available as the b-side to "Fun, Fun, Fun") has a slightly different (mono) mix than the album version (most notable at the opening - in fact, the rest of the mix might be the same as the album version, as far as I know).

I can't recall which is which, off the top of my head. I do know the album version (whichever that one is) was mistakenly used for the 2000 Greatest Hits disc. The (real) single version is on two-fer, if I recall.

Well, technically, there's a "stereo" (or, more precisely, "binaural") mix of "All Summer Long" on the bonus disc of the Good Vibrations box set...

You sure about this? My vinyl mono copy certainly does sound crappy, as if it were a multiple-generation dub (unlike the rest of the album), but I'm pretty sure it's a unique mix - Mike's vocal is single-tracked during the spoken-word bits, whereas it's double-tracked on the stereo version.

Again, there's a "binaural" stereo mix on the GV box set of this one...

Curious, which mixes do you prefer - the original ones or the Linett remixes? I prefer the originals in both cases for these two, if only because I feel Linett washed them in way too much reverb. The only "plus" side to the Linett mix of "California Girls" is that he split Mike's lead left/right, whereas the earlier mix has them centered.

 

It's on the 3CD Japanese "Single Collection" released on Capitol in 1993 - sounds pretty bad like it was maybe a vinyl dub. How does the original 7" sound?

In a previous thread we concluded it was simply the LP mono mix with the vocal break in the middle edited onto the front of the track .

 

There is a mono version of Drive In. It was issued on the GV boxset and is not a fold down. It is Brian's original mono mix. Not quite sure if the version that appears on the Capitol (not DCC) version of Spirit Of America is a fold down or not. And yes, all mono versions of Drive In sound like crap. I think protection masters are used.

Bob F.

 

Why Do Fools Fall In Love mono 45 mix is missing from the vaults. It was looked for as a bonus track for Shut Down Vol. 2 and the GV Boxset. Don't know where the Japanese got it unless they had a master from the 1964 vinyl release.

I know I took my best copy (a re-issue from the '70s) and put it on CD back in the '90s. Glad I did as I now can't find by "good copy". But the CD sounds great, no clicks or pops.

Bob F.

 

Are you sure you're thinking of "Drive-In" and not, say, "Don't Back Down"? There's no "Drive-In" on the GV box, and as far as I know, the mono mix of that has never appeared on CD.

 

I recall Steve mentioning that "Drive In" was a fold down. I'm gonna go find the quote right now...

 

If it's a fold-down, then the engineer took the effort to pan down one of the channels during the spoken parts, as they are clearly single-tracked vocals. The stereo mix is double-tracked, with Mike's very badly synched performance. And if that's the case, I think it's a fine line between calling it a "fold down" vs. a "remix."

 

Dave,
Here is what Steve said from another thread:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=85672

 

Dave are you sure? My Pastmaster has it in duo. Is it in stereo on the two-fer?

IIRC, that mix was not done by Brian. I think actually that it's the same mix but with the acapella part where the boys sing "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" copied to the beginning of the track.

Would you also happen to know about Best Of The Beach Boys & Made In USA? One has the "3" count off, the other doesn't.

The original mono? Or the original Linett remixes (as opposed to the second version of EH remixes? God, being a BB fan is confusing.

 

Nice work! I guess if one has the Pastmasters and the DCC's, you're pretty much good to go.

 

Yes but don't forget Best Of The Beach Boys and Made In USA for those elusive flat transfer mono mixes with no NR or EQing.

 

99% certain. I'll check when I get home.

I don't have the Best Of disc, but I'll compare the ones I do have and let you know what's on what.

The original EH stereo mixes (which, if I recall, Linett didn't do - he did the second version of the disc, remixing nearly everything from scratch).