The Beach Boys - Summer Love Songs (HDCD 2009) [New Mixes & Rarities] RESTORED

The Beach Boys have long been the world's leading, harmonious voice of summer fun, with an ocean's swell of universally-loved songs about the beach, surfing, hot rods, and in no small measure, girls and sun-kissed romance. 20 of The Beach Boys' best love songs, from tender ballads to boisterous romps, have been gathered for Summer Love Songs, a new 20-track CD and digital collection. Three classic tracks have been mixed in stereo for the first time, exclusively for this release, and three others have received new stereo mixes. Two of the new stereo mixes have been created from long lost, newly-recovered analog multi-track masters. A rare track, previously unreleased in the U.S. and long out-of-print in the U.K., is also included.

Another wonderful compilation with "audio production" in HDCD by Mark Linett. This one has a Love Songs theme, and therefore repeats some tunes from previous comps, although there are several new treasures here. Every track here is in stereo, except Help Me Rhonda (single version).

First time in Stereo:
Why Do Fools Fall In Love (album version)
I'm So Young
Good To My Baby

New stereo mixes were also made for:
Don't Worry Baby, Hushabye, and Time To Get Alone, which were already available in stereo on previous CD releases.

Don't Worry Baby and Why Do Fools Fall In Love were mixed from newly-discovered multi-track master tapes.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love has a never-before-heard 26-second intro that features piano along with drums, bass, and celeste; then goes into the familiar album version (although now it's in stereo). Maybe Brian on piano? It sounds a lot like Brian doing a Phil Spector-type intro, and I wonder if it was actually a part of Why Do Fools Fall In Love originally…

Girls On The Beach doesn't have an "outro", as indicated on the track listing, but there is a hidden track - a 30-second except of Don't Worry Baby (vocals only) after a few seconds of silence.

Fallin In Love (a.k.a. Lady) is a Dennis Wilson tune, recorded circa 1970 during the Sunflower sessions, that has not been previously released in the USA. (Dennis made a new version of the song with Daryl Dragon and released it as a solo single in the UK in December 1970)

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The Beach Boys - Summer Love Songs (HDCD 2009) [New Mixes & Rarities] RESTORED

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A slightly different gloss on an often-seen theme for Beach Boys compilations, Summer Love Songs compiles beach hits and ballads alike from the act that translated sun and sand onto vinyl better than any other. Included are virtually all of the band's greatest summer hits, from "Surfer Girl" to "California Girls". It definitely skimps on the surfing hits and hot-rod hits, but allows more room for less popular but thematically perfect choices like "Keep an Eye on Summer" or "Girls on the Beach". It's also a mite short for digital-era compilations (at only 20 tracks), but it does contain a boon for serious Beach Boys fans – who tend to be fans of Brian Wilson's productions – in one previously unreleased song and six new stereo mixes of Beach Boys classics. The unreleased song is "Fallin' in Love (aka Lady)", a typically eccentric Dennis Wilson original from 1970. (Eccentric in that it's spare in spots but lush in others, as well as romantic but a little haunted, making it perfect for those who fell in love with his solo recordings via the 2008 reissue of Pacific Ocean Blue). The new stereo mixes are great choices, including "Don't Worry, Baby", "Good to My Baby", and "I'm So Young", three of the most brilliant gems of vocal harmony from their 1964-1965 prime. The omissions of plentiful group classics that don't fit the summer theme – and a few that would have fit the theme – make this a step short of classic territory, but listeners who want to hear the absolute best-sounding versions of 20 great Beach Boys songs will appreciate this collection.

~ John Bush, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Don't Worry Baby [New Stereo Mix 2009]
02. Why Do Fools Fall In Love (with Intro) [New Stereo Mix 2009]
03. Wouldn't It Be Nice [The Stereo Mix, Digital Remaster 1996]
04. God Only Knows [The Stereo Mix, Digital Remaster 1996]
05. Surfer Girl [U.S. Version, Digital Remaster 2001]
06. California Girls [Stereo Remix 2002]
07. Please Let Me Wonder [Stereo, Digital Remaster 2005]
08. In The Parkin' Lot [Digital Remaster 2009]
09. Your Summer Dream [Digital Remaster 2009]
10. Kiss Me, Baby [Stereo, Digital Remaster 2000]
11. Hushabye [New Stereo Mix 2009]
12. I'm So Young [New Stereo Mix 2009]
13. Good To My Baby [New Stereo Mix 2009]
14. Fallin' In Love (A.K.A. Lady) [Previously Unreleased]
15. Time To Get Alone [New Stereo Mix 2009]
16. Our Sweet Love [Digital Remaster 2009]
17. Help Me, Rhonda [Mono, Digital Remaster 2001]
18. Keep An Eye On Summer [Digital Remaster 2009]
19. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) [The Stereo Mix, Digital Remaster 1996]
20. Girls On The Beach (with "Don't Worry Baby" Outro) [Digital Remaster 2009]


Compilation Produced by Dennis Wolfe, Mark Linett and Alan Boyd
Tracks "1,2,11-15" Mixed by Mark Linett at Your Place Or Mine Recording in March 2009
Tracks "4,6-8,10,19" Produced and Mixed by Mark Linett at Your Place Or Mine Recording (1996-2005)

Release Date: May 19, 2009
Format: HDCD, Original Recording Remastered
Label: Capitol Records
Catalog No.: 99299-2