The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 576

Number 576

Beach Boys

"I Get Around"

(1964)

Genre:Surf Rock

I am one of those sadistic bastiches that loves storms, pelting rain & cyclonic weather. To be honest if i could chose my career i would be, with no doubt, a storm chaser. What would i give to see a hurricane or a tornado, not to mention severe thunder & lightning storm ....... nothing would make me happier. Most people would say once you had seen one of the above, you wish you never did. With me, i highly doubt it.

I have heard there are holiday packages to US of A to follow severe tornado's & ilk and to me, if i ever come into lottery finger pointing ... I'm off to do such that.

What led me to all of that is the fact the best time to surf is during a storm in summer. One, its electric 2ndly, the swells are more of a challenge & 3rdly, your not given a sex change like, in the winter time storms.

Oh and while i remember, my brother owes me a surfboard, he broke mine in a head on collision where he had borrowed my beloved surfboard sticking out both windows in the back seat of a jappa car. Cough up buddy, or i will tell everyone your name is Andrew West.

The best pre-1965 Beach Boys album featured their brilliant number one single "I Get Around," as well as other standout cuts in the beautifully sad "Wendy," "Little Honda" (one of their best hot rod tunes, covered by the Hondells for a hit), and their remake of the late-'50s doo wop classic "Hushabye." The nostalgic "All Summer Long," another great production, seemed (whether intentionally or not) like a sort of farewell to the frivolous California beach culture that had supplied the lyrical grist for most of their music up to this point, with a longing, regretful chorus that was totally at odds with the bouncy arrangement. Other relatively little-known treasures are the sumptuous ballad "Girls on the Beach," with some of their best early harmonizing, and "Don't Back Down," with uncommonly anxious lyrics.

You can't give a high rating, however, to an album that also contained such disposable filler as the "Our Favorite Recording Sessions" comedy bit and "Do You Remember?" and a "let's-pay-tribute-to-rock's-early-days" number with a sh*t-eating grin wide enough to qualify as an oldies radio ID jingle. [Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long, a Capitol two-fer CD, combines this and Little Deuce Coupe onto one disc, adding the 45 version of "Be True to Your School," alternate takes of "Little Honda" and "Don't Back Down," and the previously unreleased "All Dressed Up for School." ~ [Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide]

For more Beach Boys see Number 714 & Number 641

What does Rolling Stone think about the Beach Boys?

Nothing, but wait... an outsiders review oooooh ....'I Get Around' was a one number single, a massive hit and one of their all time most perfect songs. The musical backing rolls along but what really makes it is the attention to percussive detail and especially the singing and vocal arrangements. The vocals make this song what it is! Nobody else could touch singing and harmony arrangements of this complexity other than The Beach Boys. Nobody. Brian's falsetto part in the chorus, too! 'All Summer Long' the title song follows with wonderfully evocative lyrics. These lyrics really put images in your mind. The sound of summer! In many ways this is the quintessential early Beach Boys album, and the good songs just flow and flow. 'Hushabye' benefits from the peerless harmony vocals. 'We'll Run Away' is another soft romantic song that really reaches out to you. It's not a great song as such in terms of writing, but the performance is so convincing and otherworldly that it really doesn't seem to matter at all. 'Carls Big Chance' is a surf instrumental, the last one they'd ever do. 'Wendy' has a strange rhythm to it and is hard to pin down exactly, if still being extremely enjoyable. 'Little Honda' is a great underrated Beach Boys song - turn it up loud! Wonderful guitar, a short song perfectly structured and designed and structured to make you smile. I love the little 'honda honda faster faster' vocal parts, too.

This being an early Beach Boys record, not all the songs are of such high standards, of course. 'Drive In' and 'Our Favourite Recording Sessions' are obvious pieces of filler, although really only the latter of those two is forgettable. 'Do You Remember' could be seen as filler but it's so well played and performed, you really don't mind too much if the composition is relatively straightforward. The song still raises a smile and keeps you entertained. In addition to all of this, in addition to 'I Get Around', 'Little Honda' and the rest, we have the closing 'Don' Back Down'. Like 'Little Honda' this is one of those Beach Boys songs sometimes overlooked - it was never a single and rarely played on the radio. But, it's 90 seconds of perfection for me. It's so hard to explain, the track builds up in on itself, the singing is as wonderful as usual. It's just so happy and guaranteed to cure anybodies depression. A good end to a fantastic album that should be in everybody’s collection, Beach Boys fan or not. ~ Adrian Denning @ www.adriandenning.co.uk

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We decide what was best for people) and the Album ranked at Number (& we felt anything after 1965, we are the law)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 72.7 out of 108 pts