Beach Boys Concert

Beach Boys Concert
Live album by The Beach Boys
Released	October 19, 1964
Recorded	December 21, 1963, August 1, 1964 at Civic Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA August 31, 1964 at Western Studios
Genre	Rock
Length	32:07
Label	Capitol
Producer	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys chronology
All Summer Long (1964) Beach Boys Concert (1964) The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964)

Beach Boys Concert is a live album by The Beach Boys, released in 1964. It is their seventh album in all, and their third alone in the same year. What is perhaps most notable about the album is that it provided The Beach Boys with their first #1 album in the US, remaining at the top for four weeks and becoming another gold seller.

Beach Boys Concert proves to be a timely release because leader and producer Brian Wilson was about to vacate his position in the live group, and would only perform sporadically with them over the course of the next three decades. It is also the only live document of the original five members of The Beach Boys in officially released LP form. It was recorded live at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, CA.

The album includes several songs that The Beach Boys regularly performed live but had not previously included on an album, such as "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow", "The Wanderer" and "Monster Mash". "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" was actually a Jan & Dean hit. Alongside those were a sampling of their favorites, such as "Hawaii", "In My Room", "Fun, Fun, Fun", and "I Get Around".

Studio doctoring on Beach Boys Concert is very evident, from the overdubbed vocals, and the fact that the concert also featured recordings from December 1963 (also where announcer Fred Vail's introduction comes from). Most obviously, Brian Wilson used the original music tracks for both "Fun, Fun, Fun" (which was sped up) and "I Get Around", both of which had elements removed to make them appear as though they were new performances.

Despite the shady circumstances surrounding its post-production (as is the case with many live albums), Beach Boys Concert is still an edgy live document and a missing link in their early discography, which captured The Beach Boys in a context that was about to change forever.

A truncated version was released on Pickwick Records as Wow, Great Concert!

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Track listing

Side one

1. "Fun, Fun, Fun" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:26
2. "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (Don Altfeld/Jan Berry/Roger Christian) – 3:00
3. "Little Deuce Coupe" (B. Wilson/Christian) – 2:27
4. "Long, Tall Texan" (Henry Strezlecki) – 2:32
5. "In My Room" (B. Wilson/Gary Usher) – 2:25
6. "Monster Mash" (Boris Pickett/Lenny Capizzi) – 2:27
7. "Let's Go Trippin'" (Dick Dale) – 2:34

Side two

8. "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" (Carl White/Al Frazier/Sonny Harris/Turner Wilson Jr.) – 2:18
9. "The Wanderer" (Ernest Maresca) – 2:00
10. "Hawaii" (B. Wilson/Love) – 1:51
11. "Graduation Day" (Joe Sherman/Noel Sherman) – 3:29
12. "I Get Around" (B. Wilson/Love) – 2:42
13. "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) – 1:56

Beach Boys Concert (Capitol (S)TAO 2198) is now paired on CD with Live in London, with bonus tracks from both periods.

Beach Boys Concert hit 1 in the US during a 62 week chart stay.

Sources

• Beach Boys Concert/Live in London CD booklet notes, David Leaf, c.1990.
• "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
• "Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
• "Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
• Allmusic.com