All Summer Long (album)
All Summer Long is the sixth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on July 13, 1964. It rose to number 4 in the US during a 49-week chart stay, and was certified gold by the RIAA. Lead single "I Get Around" was issued in May and became the band's first number one hit in the U.S. The album also had a UK Top 10 debut with a number peak.
| All Summer Long | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 13, 1964 | |||
| Recorded |
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| Studio | United Western Recorders, Hollywood | |||
| Length | 25:10 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys chronology | ||||
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| The Beach Boys UK chronology | ||||
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| Singles from All Summer Long | ||||
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Background
It was the first LP the group recorded since the British Invasion, and the last where their music reveled in California beach culture until the 1968 single "Do It Again".[1] Only one song explicitly references surfing: "Don't Back Down"; there are no hot rod songs at all for the first time, since "Little Honda" is about a motorcycle.[2]
"Drive-In" was recorded shortly after the release of Little Deuce Coupe in October 1963.[3] Beginning in February 1964, Bandleader Brian Wilson engaged in a rigorous period of songwriting, emerging some weeks afterwards with songs including "I Get Around", "All Summer Long", "Wendy" and "Girls on the Beach".
That April, during the recording sessions of "I Get Around" and "Little Honda", Brian relieved his father Murry Wilson of his managerial duties after three years.[3] An attempt at reconciliation on Murry's part, much of it captured on the tapes for the 1965 recording sessions of "Help Me, Rhonda", cemented the break.[4] In an interview with Hit Parader, Brian later recalled, "We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up."[5]
Artwork
Photography was credited to both Kenneth Veeder and George Jerman (who had taken the photographs for the band's earlier albums) but it remains unclear as to who took the color pictures in the montage on the front of the sleeve, or the black and white studio shots on the reverse. The location for the shoot was once again Paradise Cove, north of Malibu, the same location used for the Surfin' Safari sleeve. However, whilst it appears that all five band members were present for the session only Love and the Wilson brothers were photographed on the sand (along with the two women, in various outfits); Jardine was unable to participate in the session due to illness, and his images were added later.
On first pressings of the LP, the song "Don't Back Down" is misprinted as "Don't Break Down" on the front cover. This version of the LP sleeve also has the song titles printed in the same mustard-colored ink as the album title. Subsequent printings with the typo corrected have the song titles printed in black.
Reception
| Retrospective reviews | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| MusicHound | 3.5/5[8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
The album has received very positive reviews from critics. Biographer Jon Stebbins commented that "The Beach Boys were still a garage band playing most of the instruments, but the production and vocal arrangements were getting more sophisticated... The album represents Brian on the cusp of greatness, with all of the potential for greater things still ahead of him."[10]
The Girls on the Beach
The Beach Boys were later featured in the 1965 film The Girls on the Beach, performing "Girls on the Beach", "Lonely Sea", and "Little Honda". Their appearance was filmed in April 1964, a month before All Summer Long was completed.[11]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love except where noted. Love's writing credits on the tracks marked with a (*) were only awarded after a 1994 court case.[12].
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Get Around" (*) | 2:14 | ||
| 2. | "All Summer Long" (*) | Love | 2:08 | |
| 3. | "Hushabye" |
| 2:41 | |
| 4. | "Little Honda" |
| 1:52 | |
| 5. | "We'll Run Away" |
| B. Wilson | 2:02 |
| 6. | "Carl's Big Chance" |
| instrumental | 2:03 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wendy" (*) |
| 2:21 | |
| 2. | "Do You Remember?" (*) |
| 1:40 | |
| 3. | "Girls on the Beach" |
| 2:28 | |
| 4. | "Drive-In" (*) | Love | 1:49 | |
| 5. | "Our Favorite Recording Sessions" |
| spoken word | 2:00 |
| 6. | "Don't Back Down" (*) |
| 1:52 | |
| Total length: | 25:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Be True to Your School (single version)" (*) |
| Love | 2:10 |
| 14. | "All Dressed Up for School" | Carl Wilson | 2:24 | |
| 15. | "Little Honda (Alternate take)" |
| Love | 2:13 |
| 16. | "Don't Back Down (Alternate take)" (*) |
| Love | 1:39 |
- Unlike the rest of the album, "I Get Around" and "All Summer Long" were never mixed in stereo for the original album release for unknown reasons. Due to multitrack session tapes for the second vocal and guitar solo overdub for "I Get Around" being missing, a stereo mix was created by utilizing new DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo) technology to isolate instruments and vocals directly from the mono master, appearing alongside the 2007 true stereo mix of "All Summer Long", on the 2012 stereo LP and stereo-mono CD reissues.
- Some reissues of the album omit "Carl's Big Chance" and "Our Favorite Recording Sessions".[12]
Personnel
Partial credits courtesy of session archivist Craig Slowinski. They are amalgamated from all tracks except "We'll Run Away", "Do You Remember?", "Drive-In", and "Our Favorite Recording Sessions'.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
The Beach Boys
- Al Jardine – harmony and backing vocals; bass guitar; electric rhythm guitar
- Mike Love – lead, harmony and backing vocals; tenor saxophone on "Carl's Big Chance"
- Brian Wilson – lead, harmony and backing vocals; piano; electric piano, harpsichord; Hammond B3 organ; marimba
- Carl Wilson – harmony and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars
- Dennis Wilson – lead, harmony and backing vocals; drums; brushed drums; percussion; opening voice on "Little Honda"
Session musicians and technical staff
- Hal Blaine – drums; timbales with brush, rim with thin stick
- Bob (surname unknown) – engineer on "Girls On the Beach"
- Chuck Britz – engineer
- Glen Campbell – 6-string electric bass guitar
- Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
- Jay Migliori – baritone saxophone; piccolo or fife
- Ray Pohlman – 6-string electric bass guitar
Charts
Weekly charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | US Billboard 200 Albums Chart | 4[1] |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | "I Get Around" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 1 |
| 1964 | "Little Honda" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 65 |
| 1964 | "Wendy" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 44 |
References
- Unterberger, Richie. "All Summer Long – The Beach Boys | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- Holmes, Chris (October 25, 2011). "The Popdose Guide to the Beach Boys". Popdose.
- Doe, Andrew Grayham. "GIGS64". Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- White 1996, pp. 230–238.
- ""The Beach Boy Empire" Taylor, Derek. October 5, 1966. Hit Parader, p13". photobucket.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
- Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Concise (4th Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2002, ed. Larkin, Colin.
- Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 83. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 46. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Roberts, Jeremy (15 December 2017). "The Beach Boys expedition of word slinger Jon Stebbins". medium.com.
- Stebbins 2011.
- Doe, Andrew G. "Album Archiveq". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
- Boyd, Alan; Linette, Mark; Slowinski, Craig (2014). Keep an Eye On Summer 1964 (Digital Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. Mirror
- http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,4496.msg73652.html#msg73652
- http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,3827.msg63734.html#msg63734
- http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,1507.msg34253.html#msg34253
- http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,4188.0.html
- http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,19106.msg487549.html#msg487549
Sources
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: All Summer Long (album) |
- Stebbins, Jon (2011). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-4584-2914-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- White, Timothy (1996). The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience. Henry Holt (P). ISBN 978-0-8050-4702-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
