Beach Boys

The Beach Boys: “Sounds Of Summer – The Very Best Of The Beach Boys” (3xcd, Capitol, 2022)

As part of the celebrations for the sixtieth anniversary of the Beach Boys, Capitol has recently released, on both cd and vinyl, a newly remastered and expanded version of the compilation “Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys”.

Originally released in 2003, the compilation sold almost four and a half million copies. It featured 30 tracks, compared to the 80 on the new edition, all fully remastered and restored to their ideal splendor across 3 cds or 6 Lps.

The masterminds behind this new venture focused on the Hawthorne group are Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, whose work we were recently able to admire on the unmissable box set “Feel Flows – The Sunflower And Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971”.

“Sounds Of Summer” includes almost all the hits that made the top forty on the US charts, such as “California Girls”, “I Get Around”, “Surfer Girl”, “Surfin U.S.A.”, “Fun Fun Fun”, “God Only Knows”, “Good Vibrations”, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “Kokomo”, “Barbara Ann”, “Help Me Rhonda”, “In My Room” and countless others that, although an integral part of the Beach Boys' saga, never achieved the same commercial success.

The collection boasts 24 new mixes, including two previously unreleased stereo mixes, and 22 stereo mixes created for the first time by separating the old mono tracks.

Rounding it all out is an enjoyable twenty-page booklet featuring a brief history of the band written by musicologist Howie Edelson, along with a full track listing complete with valuable details such as year of release, writer, lead vocalist, the album (or single) each track was taken from, and mix credits.

A necessary note must be made about the unforgivable absence of “Catch A Wave”, “The Little Girl I Once Knew” and “Caroline No”, among the most significant episodes of Brian Wilson's genius, inexplicably overlooked here. On the plus side, credit is due for including “Little Bird”, Dennis Wilson's masterpiece originally featured on the excellent “Friends” (1968), and Brian Wilson's eternal, visionary elegy “Til I Die”, found on “Surf's Up” (1971), both usually relegated to the margins of the story. You can't have everything, that's true, but you can get closer to perfection by choosing, instead of this collection, the far more substantial and better-assembled “Made In America” from 2013 (though it's now not so easy to find).

At the time of writing, “Sounds Of Summer – The Very Best Of The Beach Boys” is available on Amazon for €24.72 in the 3-cd version or €160.02 in the 6-Lp version.

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07/05/2026