NOTE: There have been more compilations of Beach Boys "hits" than original albums.  While many of these have been thoughtless, slipshod efforts by record companies to make money off the band's deep catalog, there have been recent efforts to "clean up" the superfluous best-of's and present definitive collections.  For the casual fan, these albums may be all that's necessary, or they may provide starting points for the curious.   My overall opinion?  They still haven't got it right.  These reviews are solely my own opinion.

The Warmth of the Sun
Capitol Records 44964 [CD];
Released May 22, 2007

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1. All Summer Long (new stereo remix) 2. Catch A Wave 3. Hawaii 4. Little Honda 5. 409 6. It's OK 7. You're So Good To Me (new stereo remix) 8. Then I Kissed Her (new stereo remix) 9. Kiss Me, Baby 10. Please Let Me Wonder (new stereo remix) 11. Let Him Run Wild (new stereo remix) 12. The Little Girl I Once Knew 13. Wendy (new stereo remix) 14. Disney Girls (1957) 15. Forever 16. Friends 17. Break Away 18. Why Do Fools Fall In Love 19. Surf's Up 20. Feel Flows (featured in the motion picture Almost Famous) 21. All This Is That 22. 'Til I Die 23. Sail On, Sailor (featured in the Oscar-winning motion picture The Departed) 24. Cool, Cool Water 25. Don't Go Near The Water 26. California Saga (On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a) 27. California Dreamin' 28. The Warmth Of The Sun

REVIEW:  One of the more schizophrenic greatest hits releases out there, The Warmth of the Sun seems to be trying to be all things to all people: a few new stereo mixes for long-time fans (All Summer Long, You're So Good To Me, Then I Kissed Her, Please Let Me Wonder, Let Him Run Wild, and Wendy); crowd-pleasing hits for the general populace (Catch A Wave, Little Honda, 409, and the title track); several lesser-known tracks from the early 1970s (Disney Girls, Forever, Surf's Up); and even one latter-day "hit" (the cover of the Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin'").  The band has even thrown in a couple of songs that have achieved a kind of 'indie' notoriety with the movie crowds (Feel Flows and Sail On, Sailor).  But while this might be the most diverse hits collection ever put out by the band, it's also a wildly uneven listening experience, with songs from clearly different eras rubbing shoulders with each other with no rhyme or reason - "It's OK" comes right after "409", while "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (which has no business being here) is unaccountably sandwiched between "Break Away" and "Surf's Up".   And after a stunning set of early 70's and 80's tracks, why do they choose to end the disc with the early 60s sound of "Warmth of the Sun" (I mean, couldn't they have started the disc with the title track?  It feels jarring here.)  The new stereo mixes are indeed stunning, and individually the songs are gems, but thrown together in the committee-like fashion they have been here, the album feels like a pearl necklace that's been broken apart and strewn in the sand.  In these days of sliding CD sales, I predict that this album will probably benefit from the iPod crowd mixing and matching the songs the way they want, rather than choosing the slipshod sequencing of this disc.

Covered By The Beach Boys
Sterling Entertainment Group/EMI Music Special Markets 35212 [CD];
Released February 1, 2006

1. California Dreamin' 2. Do You Wanna Dance? 3. School Days (Ring Ring...) 4. Walk On By 5. Come Go With Me 6. Johnny B Goode(Live) 7. Palisades Park 8. Then I Kissed Her 9. The Wanderer(live) 10.Summertime Blues 11.The Letter 12.With A Little Help From My Friends

REVIEW:  Despite Capitol Records attempt in recent years to clean up all of the superfluous Beach Boys compilations which have littered the market, occasionally stuff still leaks out, and this CD, (which apparently is the result of a large pharmacutical chain greasing somebody's palm), is one of the more interesting finds.  For one thing, the track listing has a wide swath of cover songs which the Beach Boys recorded during their long career - everything from two tracks from 1964's Beach Boys Concert album to 1992's recording of "California Dreamin', as well as "Come Go With Me" from 1978's MIU Album, "School Days" from 1980's Keepin' the Summer Alive, and even "Summertime Blues" from the Beach Boys Capitol debut in 1962!  But even stranger are the inclusion of one unfinished blurb, "Walk On By" which was previously released as a bonus track on the Friends/20/20 two-fer CD, and the flabbergasting return of two tracks which haven't seen the official light of day since 1983's Rarities album!  "The Letter" and "With a Little Help From My Friends" surface here again, and if you want to get your hands on these two tracks, this is the only place to find them.  The album is very short, clocking in at less than 27 minutes long, and is fiendishly hard to find, popping up in CVS and Rite-Aid pharmacies, although some sellers, like Amazon.com are selling copies online as special orders.  One of the weirder compilations to come down the pike, this one is worth searching out for the rare tracks included, and the extremely odd tracklisting.

The Very Best of The Beach Boys: Sounds Of Summer Capitol Records [CD]; Released June, 2003

For a single-disc compilation, "Sounds Of Summer" can hardly be beat.  Although released almost exactly a year after the "Classics" disc below (NOBODY needs this many 'Greatest Hits' packages), I suspect that for casual fans, this CD will fill most people's cravings for The Beach Boys.  Patterned rather obviously after the runaway success of the Beatles "1" package, "Sounds of Summer" is the first Greatest Hits CD to pull together singles from the sixties, seventies and eighties.  Every major hit single, from "Surfin' Safari" through "Kokomo" is included in brilliant remastered sound, and although the mixed chronology of the track listing is a little confusing, it manages to be a fun listening experience, perfect for putting in the car stereo and driving around with the top down.  My only complaints are the usual ones: nothing from the brilliant-but-poor-selling albums Sunflower, Surf's Up, or Love You, and not even one track from the late-blooming Dennis Wilson (I especially miss the inclusion of "Forever.")  Instead we get the single versions of "Come Go With Me" and "Rock and Roll Music."  (Am I the only one here who hates these versions?)  But never mind that; I think this is the best single-disc value out there, with thirty tracks, and the songs sounding as pure and inspired as when they were first released. 

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Also available for a limited time is a CD/DVD combination called "The Sights and Sounds Of Summer" which includes the above disc with a companion DVD including 10 videos:
1) Surfin' USA, I Get Around, Surfer Girl, and Dance, Dance, Dance from the T.A.M.I. show ('64)
5) Little Deuce Coupe from the Lost Concert
6) Sloop John B promo video from '66
7) Pet Sounds -promo film from '66
8) God Only Knows - live montage 67-68
9) Good Vibrations from Ed Sullivan '68
10) Do It Again from Ed Sullivan '68
 
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Capitol Records [CD];  Released February, 2003
 

A European version of the disc above, with some notable variations in track lineup to match the tastes of UK audiences, this very respectable 30-cut CD stuffs on most of the hits that you know and love, including "Good Vibrations," "California Girls," "I Get Around," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Surfin' Safari," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Surfin' USA," "Help Me Rhonda," "Don't Worry, Baby," and much more - in fact, the first twenty cuts are so similar to what you might find here in the States, that anyone could purchase a similar compilation.  The final ten tracks are more unusual, with "Wild Honey," "Darlin'," "I Can Hear Music," "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)," "Lady Lynda," and finally "Kokomo" rounding out the disc.  Al Jardine's compositions always had more success overseas than here, thus, their inclusion here is noteworthy.  (You can also find some of these tracks on the bonus disc of the European version of the Good Vibrations Box Set).  For collectors and UK fans, this set is an easy choice for those who want all the big hits.
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The Beach Boys Classics: Selected By Brian Wilson 
EMI/Capitol Records [CD];  Released June, 2002 

While I'm not one to begrudge Brian Wilson from shouldering the credit for the greatest songs the Beach Boys ever recorded, I am a little irked at this package.  It seems to be at its heart just another recycling of overly-familiar hits, with just enough quirkiness to remind us that yes, Brian Wilson selected these songs.  The focus seems to be on the more melancholy side of the scale, with ballads outweighing the more uptempo numbers: "Surfer Girl," "The Warmth Of The Sun," "In My Room," "God Only Knows," "Caroline No," "Wonderful," "Surf's Up," and "'Til I Die" all give this package a reflective mood that is missed on most "hits" compilations.  At the same time, Brian shows his fondness for some of his biggest hits: "Good Vibrations," "I Get Around," "California Girls," and "Sail On Sailor" are also included.  For longtime fans it will be easy to recognize that this package reflects the songs that Brian has expressed affection for over the years in countless interviews, and the sound (24-bit HDCD mastering) and some new stereo mixes will maybe be enough to lure fans into putting out once again for the same songs.  But the sticking point for me is the one "new" song that Brian recorded with his touring band to close out the album: "California Feelin'" is a sub-par song that has been floating around on various bootlegs for years, and the new recording (which is a pale shadow of the original version) has obviously been tacked on simply to entice buyers into paying full-price for one new track.  A fairly shamless gambit on the part of the record company, and a blot on an otherwise OK album. 

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Greatest Hits, Volume 1 
Capitol 72435-21860-2/0 [CD]; Released 1995. 24-bit Remaster released September 1999

It's hard to argue with the selections on this album; here are the songs which for many are the most familiar, endearing songs attributed to the Beach Boys, the ones which encapsulate their most catchy, popular, "beach party" attitudes that cause people to either love or dismiss them.  Here is "Be True To Your School," "Fun Fun Fun," "I Get Around," "Dance Dance Dance," "Do You Wanna Dance?" Help Me Ronda," "California Girls," and "Surfin' Safari," "Surfer Girl" and "Surfin' U.S.A."  The trouble with a collection like this is that it's a flat-out distortion of what the Beach Boys really sounded like.  Due to compilations like this one, and many others, The Beach Boys are served up to be merely car, surf and California Girls-like slackers, empty and shallow, when the whole truth is that the Beach Boys' truest songs had heart and soul.  You won't find the poignant, heart-rendingly beautiful sadness of "In My Room," "Don't Worry Baby," "The Warmth of the Sun" "Kiss Me, Baby" or countless others among these tracks, (although the producers wisely included the seminal double A-sided single "Wouldn't It Be Nice/God Only Knows" from Pet Sounds).  You will find instead such half-baked "hits" as "409," "Shut Down," "Catch A Wave," and "Barbara Ann."  And it's jarring to hear the modern sludge of "Kokomo" being sat down with its '60's progenitors, where it clearly doesn't belong. 

Greatest Hits, Volume 2 
Capitol 72435-20238-2/0 [CD]; Released September, 1999. 

Delving deeper into the Beach Boys catalog than the previous collection, Volume Two tends to skew the perception of the band almost 180-degrees from Volume One, leaning heavily on lesser-known album tracks and ballads. Taken alone, it tends to give as distorted a view of the Beach Boys as the previous collection, but the quality of songs here is without doubt higher than Volume One.  Here is where you'll find the gorgeous "In My Room," "The Warmth Of The Sun," Don't Worry Baby," "Please Let Me Wonder," and "Caroline, No" along with wrongly forgotten, lower-tier hits like "Little Honda," "The Little Girl I Once Knew," and "You're So Good To Me."  It also dips its finger into the post-1966 years, when the Beach Boys fortunes were on the decline in the U.S. -- "Darlin'," "Bluebirds Over The Mountain," "I Can Hear Music," "Break Away," and "Cottonfields" are probably not known to U.S. audiences, although they were hits overseas.  In fact, of all the songs here, only one cracked the Top Ten: "When I Grow Up To Be A Man" -- but that shouldn't discourage buyers from looking into this CD, since it shows the full scope of genius that the Beach Boys embraced.

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Greatest Hits, Volume 3 (Best of the Brother Years) 1970-1986
Capitol 72435-24511-2/8 [CD]; Released February, 2000. 

The most difficult period in the Beach Boys history is chronicled again is this difficult CD.  Having heard the many arguments that went into choosing the tracks for this album, I came away frustrated.  The producers eventually decided to select only charting singles for this collection, but in doing so, they cut out some of the best music the Beach Boys recorded during this time.  Which is not to say that the music on here is bad; "Add Some Music To Your Day," "This Whole World," "Long Promised Road," "Disney Girls (1957)," "Til I Die," "Marcella," Sail On Sailor," and "Surf's Up" make the first half a powerhouse lineup of songs, most of which the public has never heard, and all of which is strangely different and wonderful and deserving of discovery.  The second half of the CD is where it becomes sticky.  In order to pack in the "hits" (which are mostly subpar compositions and covers), the producers hacked out Dennis Wilson's songs entirely, which easily are some of  the best parts of the Beach Boys recordings of the 1970s.  And I don't care how highly "Peggy Sue" "Rock and Roll Music," or "Come Go With Me" charted, they are still clammy covers that pale next to the originals, and they drag this CD down.   However, in many ways, this is a fine collection to own if you're curious about this period in the band's career; the sound is exceptional, the song selection touches on each album, and single mixes were used, which is nice for collectors.  Not as daring a collection as I might have hoped for, but not bad. 

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Essential Beach Boys: Perfect Harmony
Capitol 21277 [CD]; Released October, 1997. 

Out of all of the collections that Capitol Records has churned out, none of them interested or baffled me as much as "Perfect Harmony" did.  Part of a limited edition series on different artists, this CD chose to emphasize one of the ingredients that made the Beach Boys stand out from all of their contemporaries: their unparalleled harmony singing, which, while a tremendous idea, is flawed in its execution.  The song selection (including "Warmth Of The Sun," "God Only Knows," "And Your Dream Comes True," "Hushabye," "In My Room," and "Our Prayer") is mostly on-target (except for an errant "Do It Again"), and while the overriding theme of the package is commendable, this hadn't enough hits for the casual fan, and yet offered nothing new for hard-core collectors, since all of the material had been previously available.   So it puzzled me who Capitol thought this package would be targeted to?  (Attractive packaging collectors?)  Anyway, like most out-of-print "limited edition" what-nots, I'm certain that Perfect Harmony will someday become a hotly sought-after collector's item, even though it doesn't deserve to be.

The Beach Boys Instrumental Hits Toshiba EMI [CD Only]; Released 1994, June 2002

Okay, this disc defies explanation.  First of all, I wasn't even sure where to put it; it's not a greatest hits album, despite what the cover says, and it doesn't really fit on my "various" page, since that's mostly cover versions of Beach Boys hits.  Sigh... oh well, I'll put it here, since it does contain the word "hits" on the cover, despite the fact that the Beach Boys are primarily known as a vocal band, AND that the band never had a certified "hit" with any of their instrumentals!  But someone must be buying this stuff, or why would the Japanese ask thirty-five bucks for it?  Essentially the CD collects in rough chronological order all of the instrumental tracks from the Beach Boys Capitol years, from their barely-competent covers of "Moon-Dawg" and "Let's Go Trippin'," to the more elegant originals like "Pet Sounds" and "The Nearest Faraway Place."  Granted, the listener will hear a marked improvement in musical sophistication as the group evolved over the years, but still -- anyone with a tape deck or CD-burner could do just as well a compilation for a fraction of the cost.  But hey, if you absolutely have to have eeeeverything... (and you can't have too many copies of "Denny's Drums" in my book. heh, heh, heh.) 

The Absolute Best Vol. 1 & 2
Capitol CDP C2-96795/C2-96796 [CD]; Released 1991.

Released shortly after the celebrated Beach Boys box set, the two-volume "Absolute Best" discs put all previous best-of's to shame.  Correct mixes, a plethora of tracks, best-ever sound (at the time - since surpassed), and chronological order to the tracks made these discs the best double-disc representation of their Capitol years to date.  Disc one is pretty standard in its selections,  but disc two gets adventuresome by including several post-"Good Vibrations" songs including "Wild Honey," "Darlin'," "Friends," "Do It Again," "Cabinessense," and "Cotton Fields."  These discs were clearly put together by people who understood the myth that had grown up around the Beach Boys' music.  As such, these compilations were like a breath of fresh air to fans who had to weather the embarrassing torrent of worthless collections that had been shoveled out like trash in previous years.  The current crop of greatest hits discs notwithstanding, these two out-of-print discs may be the best place to initiate you or your friends into the music of The Beach Boys.

Made In U.S.A.
Capitol STBK-12396 [LP], CDP 7 46324 2 [CD]; Released 1986. 

Yet another two LP set, this one compiled and released to mark the Beach Boys' 25th anniversary, and also as a place to bury two minor singles that the Beach Boys had that year, "Rock and Roll To The Rescue" and "California Dreamin'" (the latter can now be found on GH Vol. 3).  For a single collection, this one wasn't bad, although it ploughed mostly the same ground as previous collections, it had a somewhat broader scope, including in its 25 tracks four selections from Pet Sounds, one song from the late sixties ("Do It Again") two songs from the seventies ("Rock and Roll Music" and "Come Go With Me") and their one hit single from 1985, "Getcha Back."  It also squeezed in a concise tribute from author David Leaf (although when compressed to CD size, his notes become a  real eye strain).  This album has become yet another "collectors item" (sigh...) since this is the only place to hear the aforementioned "Rock and Roll to the Rescue" which is the sort of programmed, soulless, manufactered "hit" that does absolutely nothing for the Beach Boys' catalog except make me appreciate the classics all the more. 

The Beach Boys: 1962 - 1967
Time-Life (The Rock "n" Roll Series Vol 3) [LP] ?; Digital Remaster [LP,CD] 1986 

Time-Life usually can be counted on to present well thought-out packages, with excellent remastering and hard-to-find tracks de rigeur on other, similar series.  Here, the Beach Boys are given a retrospective treatment that takes no chances (except in their art department, which chooses to present the Beach Boys with Adonis-like physiques that only Dennis ever posessed).  A pretty routine 22-track collection of familiar cuts [including: Fun, Fun, Fun; 409; Surfer Girl; Be True To Your School; In My Room; I Get Around; Shut Down; When I Grow Up (To Be A Man); Little Deuce Coupe; Wendy; Don't Worry Baby; California Girls; Dance, Dance, Dance; Barbara Ann; The Little Girl I Once Knew; Do You Wanna Dance?; Help Me, Rhonda; Good Vibrations; Sloop John B.; Wouldn't It Be Nice?; God Only Knows; and Heroes and Villains.  Great sound, but skimpy notes, and again, that ludicrous cover make this disc worth passing by.

Sunshine Dream
Capitol SVBB 1220 [LP Only]; Released 1980

One of the odder collections of Beach Boys "hits" that was ever released, the double-LP Sunshine Dream focused its sights on the latter Capitol years tracks which I daresay most casual fans would never have heard.  Veering from excellent choices ("I Can Hear Music," "Darlin'," "Good Vibrations," "Heroes and Villains") to baffling ("How She Boogalood It," "There's No Other (Like You [sp] Baby") the choices are mostly very good, including "Caroline No," multiple selections from Wild Honey, 20/20, Friends and Pet Sounds, and even "The Beach Boys Medley" tacked on as the final track (the success of which was obviously the calling card for this collection).  It's really not a bad group of songs for what was undoubtedly another stab at capturing the post Endless Summer audience - but there are so many tracks here that would be unfamiliar with the casual fan, and such a convergence of styles and sounds that the Beach Boys were attempting during this period of critical and commercial decline, that this album could only serve to make consumers arch their eyebrows and move on.  I mean, what's the rosy, nostalgic "Keep An Eye On Summer" doing cuddling up to the stinging guitars of "Bluebirds Over The Mountains"?  It's sheer, musical psychedelia!  Still, you gotta admire the daring that places both "I'm Waiting For The Day," "Caroline No" and "Sloop John B" on the same platter with "Vegetables."  Another wonderfully warped entry from the marketing chimps at Capitol Records.

Endless Summer 
Capitol SVBB-11307 [LP]; Released 1974
C2-46467 [CD]; Released 1987
DCC 1076 [Gold CD]; Released 1995

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1. Surfin' Safari 2. Surfer Girl 3. Catch A Wave 4. The Warmth Of The Sun 5. Surfin' U.S.A. 6. Be True To Your School 7. Little Deuce Coupe 8. In My Room 9. Shut Down 10. Fun, Fun, Fun 11. I Get Around 12. The Girls On The Beach 13. Wendy 14. Let Him Run Wild 15. Don't Worry Baby 16. California Girls 17. Girl Don't Tell Me 18. Help Me, Rhonda 19. You're So Good To Me 20. All Summer Long 21. Good Vibrations

Endless Summer could arguably be the most important album in the Beach Boys' career.  Not only did it spark a firestorm of interest in the band and it's catalog, it also ignited a reevaluation of the Beach Boys as cultural icons, with their music being recognized as the finest that rock music had to offer.  It many ways, this is a superior collection to the current greatest hits, since it chooses not only chart hits, but popular album cuts as well, incorporating them all together into a whole of effortless appeal.  Although the original effort was yet another slip-shod effort by Capitol Records to repackage the Beach Boys to make yet another buck, (the original sound quality was poor, and the wrong mixes were used for several hits, although the DCC gold disc rectified these flaws) the timing and the sentiment on this double-album clicked with the public psyche in an unpredictable way, and quite frankly, it's by listening to this album (and the subsequent Spirit Of America) that I first fell in love with their music.  So, I have a personal warm space in my heart for Endless Summer.

Spirit of America
Capitol 11384 [LP] 1975; C2-46618 [CD] 1987; DCC 1089 [Gold CD] 1996 

If Endless Summer was the big, bad beach bully of the summer of '74, then Spirit of America was it's scrawnier younger sibling, looking for scraps.  Which isn't to say that I enjoyed it any less than Endless Summer, since in many ways it introduced me to the depth of the Beach Boys catalog; to me, even these weaker numbers were miles beyond anything on the radio then.  And it's not like they're all schlock either: "Dance Dance Dance," "Break Away," "The Little Girl I Once Knew," "Little Honda," "Hushabye," "Hawaii," "Drive-In," "Good To My Baby" "Don't Back Down," "When I Grow Up To Be A Man," and "Do You Wanna Dance" are all to be found in its grooves.  I remember loving the lush harmonies of "Graduation Day" with its funny ending, the chiming guitars of "Salt Lake City," and even the sing-along swagger of "Barbara Ann" were a pleasure to me.  That, and the fact that I had to steal this and Endless Summer from my brothers room to listen to them are an indelible part of my childhood, and I suspect, many others as well.

Ten Years of Harmony 
Epic 37445 [LP] 2 ZK 37445 [CD];  Released November, 1981

Beginning the new decade of the eighties with a look back at the recently past one, this double-disc set was a flawed document of the Beach Boys in the 1970's.  The track selection leans mostly on the released singles, but also throwing in some rare tracks in the form of "San Miguel" (a fine, previously unreleased Dennis Wilson song, currently available on the "Good Vibrations" box set), the memorable rocker "It's A Beautiful Day" taken from the "Americathon" soundtrack, and a flat version of "Sea Cruise" (which could have stayed in the can).  The producers also fly in "River Song" from Dennis Wilson's acclaimed solo album, "Pacific Ocean Blue."  What makes this ironically-titled collection weak is the snubbing of several key tracks from the luminent "Sunflower" (a major oversight) and the alternately decadent "Love You" albums, in favor of weaker stuff from "MIU" and "15 Big Ones."  What is even sadder is that this collection, like the rest of the Beach Boys 70's output, is out of print, except for outtakes included on the exceptional, yet pricey "Good Vibrations" box set.

The Best of The Beach Boys (Ten Best Series)
EMI-Capitol Special Markets 19707 [CD]; 1997 

The Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe - Greatest Car Songs
EMI-Capitol Special Markets 57682 [CD]; 1996

The Beach Boys Greatest Surfing Songs
CEMA Special Markets 57240 [CD]; 1995 

Here they are, the sludge of Capitol's efforts to make a quick buck off of the Beach boys.  Ever since 1966, when the company rush-released the original "Best Of The Beach Boys" (quickly followed by two other collections in two years), Capitol Records strip-mined the band's catalog, rechurning and repackaging the same songs, to a degree that other label artists, such as the Beatles, never had to endure.  At best, albums like these kept the Beach Boys in the public's eye, since there was rarely a time when this music wasn't out there for purchase, but at worst, it also stained the public perception of the artistry of the Beach Boys, wiping out the individual albums that were so good: "Surfer Girl," "All Summer Long," "Today!" "Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)" all got short-shrifted, and several of the fine album cuts that were on them.  But let's face it, the folks who buy these budget CD's aren't so much Beach Boys fans as the curious fringe, looking to have a little Beach Boys in their collections, but ignorant as to the depth of their music.  Of The three discs shown here, "Little Deuce Coupe" works the best, with cars being an overriding theme throughout.  These collections were supposed to have been superceded by the new Greatest Hits 1 & 2, but are still readily available. To order these albums, click on the covers.

The Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 3
Capitol 2945 [LP]; August, 1968

There's simply no excuse for shoddy packaging like this.  By 1968, the Beach Boys were passe with the general public, and their record company just kept pounding nails in their coffin.  Vol. 3 in the original series of Best Of's is decidedly schizophrenic.  It careens all over the map; from the earliest hit ("Surfin") to their then-most-recent ("Darlin"), from their most sublime ("She Knows Me Too Well")  to their most inane ("409"), there is no rhyme or reason to this set.  It might have been programmed by apes... how else can you explain the presence of both "God Only Knows" and "Frosty the Snowman" on a single LP?  Did the album producers use a dartboard to choose?  We may never know.  And the public apparently couldn't muster enough energy to care by this time, since Vol. 3 quickly slipped off the charts and became an instant collectors item.  Other tracks included Dance Dance Dance, The Little Girl I Once Knew, Girl Don't Tell Me, Heroes and Villains, and Good Vibrations.

Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 2
Capitol 2706 [LP]; July 1967

The pillaging continues unabated in this 1967 release that was such a mish-mash of styles and accomplishment that it could only serve to confuse the public as to what the Beach Boys were all about.  At a time when the band was struggling with its public image, Capitol Records "wunderkinds" decided to swing out blindly in hopes of hitting a target.  Coupling gems such as "Please Let Me Wonder," "Let Him Run Wild," "California Girls," and "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)"  with throwaways like "409," "Little Saint Nick," and (WHAT where they thinking?!?) "Long Tall Texan" the Beach Boys could only appear to be hopelessly dated by the standards of the Summer of Love.  Strangely, the huge hit "Good Vibrations" is absent, the inclusion of which might have pushed this collection a little higher on the charts.  As it was, Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 2 was the highest charting album the Beach Boys would have for several years.

Best of the Beach Boys
Capitol DT- 502545 [LP]; July 1966, Capitol C2-91318 [CD]; 1989

This is where the whole sordid affair started.  Released eight weeks after Pet Sounds had come out, it immediately became a best seller, and set the pattern for future releases; a good dollop of hits, a handful of near misses, and at least one head scratcher (Louie, Louie?)  What is so amazing is how long this inferior collection stayed in print.  Not only was it kept in circulation even after the far more complete Endless Summer/Spirit Of America packages had been released, it also made it into CD format! (where it timed in at less than 30 minutes -- how's that for your money!)  I suppose this collection might have some sentimental value, since for many it might have been the only Beach Boys album they owned, but there's really no reason for it to be in print now (and no, it's not in print), with so many collections offering better track selections, better sound, and nary a "Louie, Louie" to be found, this one has wisely been put out to pasture.