By Howie Edelson
Only The Beach Boys would take what was considered a time-buying, stop-gap album release and not only score an accidental career highlight hit – but create an entirely new rock genre; a concept the world would come to call “unplugged.”
September 1965 saw the group record the majority of its 10th album, Beach Boys’ Party! at L.A.’s Western Studio. They were riding high and fresh off the heels of the band’s twin successes The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) -- which peaked at Number Two on the Billboard 200 albums chart – along with the back-to-back smashes of the top three Brian Wilson/Mike Love anthem “California Girls” and The Beach Boys’ second chart-topper, “Help Me, Rhonda.” It was at this point that the group focused on delivering their third new studio set of ’65.
Having issued a pair of LPs featuring all new material, which -- also counting the previous year’s Beach Boys Concert -- spent an astounding 38 weeks on the albums chart, even more was required of the band and producer Brian Wilson. Barring special high-profile gigs and TV appearances, Brian had effectively retired from performing live on stage to focus on writing for and producing the band. In the late summer of 1965, Brian faced a conundrum. His vision for a new project – the soon-to-be world-shifting Pet Sounds album – was still in its embryonic stages, and the tried-and-true industry shortcuts were already tapped. In late 1964, the band had issued both a live album and a holiday collection. The Beach Boys’ music had progressed at such an alarming rate that Brian Wilson desperately needed substantial time to realize his new songs – but Capitol Records needed product for the company’s all-important fourth fiscal quarter (Read: CHRISTMAS).
Brian Wilson remembered that by 1965, both he and The Beach Boys – not to mention the music business at large- were at a major creative crossroads:
“This was a very big year for The Beach Boys. I realized that the recording industry was becoming free and intelligent. We could go into new things – string quartets, auto-harps, and instruments from other cultures. I decided right then that I was going to try and make the greatest rock n’ roll album ever created.”
Frontman Mike Love understood that rushing the process needed to follow up on the significant advances the band had made from The Beach Boys Today! through to Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) would be the most foolish thing the band could do:
“The Party! album was a result of the pressure that Capitol Records was putting on us for another album. We didn't really have time to develop the type of album we really wanted to develop, which Brian was working on called Pet Sounds. We said, ‘Well, what can we do quickly and easily?’ And we decided to do this Party! album. We rented the studio for, I think, three nights.”
Carl Wilson understood completely that the new sessions were designed to tread water commercially while Brian worked on the group’s progressive new music:
“We did the Beach Boys Party! album to get Capitol off our back. We knew we were going in to make a record to get time to make the real record.”
Earlier in 1965, The Beach Boys had recorded a pair of shows in Chicago with Brian back on the boards in hopes of having a second live album in the can and available for future release. Still, Brian was disappointed with the results, leading the tapes to remain unused and on the shelf for over 50 years. Instead, the Beach Boys’ Party! album saw the band inadvertently create the beloved “Unplugged” format two-dozen years before the series premiered on MTV. Party!, despite having no new original songs, easily stands on its own, and offers up a unique and brilliant concept, with the acoustic-based backing, the ‘Boys all in fine voice, and an eclectic choice of covers including songs by The Beatles, The Ronettes, The Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Johnny Rivers -- and several nearly-forgotten one-hit wonders.
Brian Wilson’s use of dubbed-on party noises from an actual party turns this collection from being a hip campfire-like hootenanny into a “hang.” The concept is really that you’re with the band. You’re one of the attendees singing along, goofing around after hours, just like you do with your own gang. As always, The Beach Boys were about inclusiveness – everyone’s welcome in their world.
Although initially considered among the lighter of the band’s albums, Party! has plenty of music to rate among the best in The Beach Boys’ canon. Released on November 8th, 1965, the album hit Number Six in the U.S. and Number Three in Britain. Major moments include Dennis' tender version of The Beatles’ “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” Mike’s “Mountain Of Love,” and Brian and Mike’s gorgeous harmony on “Devoted To You” -- all of which have more than stood the test of time. Back in 2015, an expanded and remixed version of the album, titled Beach Boys' Party! Uncovered And Unplugged was released, spotlighting 51 additional and alternate tracks from the legendary Western sessions.
Amazingly, for an album that was designed as a means to an end rather than reinventing the hit parade, Beach Boys’ Party! featured a song that has spanned generations and has been featured onstage thousands of times in the ensuing years. An edited cover version of The Regents’ 1961 hit “Barbara Ann” took on a life of its own and soared to Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100, spending an impressive nine weeks in the Top 40. Mike Love remembered that the song being taped was almost an accident:
“We invited friends to come (to the session) and Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean) came by and sang on ‘Barbara Ann,’ which became a big hit from that album. But we had no intention of it being a hit.”
Brian Wilson admitted,
“’Barbara Ann’ wasn’t even a produced record. We were just goofing around for a party-type album, and that was just an old rock n’ roll hit. Somebody in Boston started playing the track from the album (on the radio) and that started it all off, so then (Capitol) had to put it out as a single. I don’t know how to explain it. That kind of rock n’ roll is timeless, I guess. Mike was asking, ‘Why not a party album? We can act like we are and just be ourselves on tape, have a spontaneous album.’ And that’s what happened, it was very spontaneous. (Artistically), it wasn’t where we were at. Personally, I thought the group had evolved another 800 percent in that year. We had a more conscious, arty production that was more polished. It was all like an explosion for us.”
Carl Wilson, who shines throughout the Party! album on both six and 12-string guitar as well as lead and backing vocals, added:
“To us, it was a source of amusement and surprise that ‘Barbara Ann’ became such a big hit. We had enjoyed the feel of the song, but then we had to sing it every night. It became the bane of my existence. Party! was the fastest and easiest record to make, but it wasn’t what we wanted to do (creatively).”
Mike Love admitted he has wonderful memories of the band grooving in the studio – a place that usually called for long hours, intense musical scrutiny, not to mention backbreaking vocal performances:
“What we did was record this very loose party album. It was just a very informal record of cover versions of favorite songs. And then that would give us time to do a better, more highly polished production album. We brought our girlfriends, wives, and friends over, drank stacks and stacks of beers and we just got it on. Some songs we did in one take, others we did a couple of times to make them right.”
Among the many highlights on the original Party! collection is The Beach Boys tackling no less than three songs by their Capitol Records labelmates, The Beatles -- "I Should Have Known Better," "Tell Me Why," and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away." Co-founder Al Jardine recalled being able to appreciate the differences and similarities between the two bands:
“The Beach Boys were very smooth and lush – and The Beatles were like an explosion of raw energy – that’s really what the difference was. It was a whole different approach to music from ours. They just got better and better and learned how to write truly great songs. The Beach Boys had Number One hits right on through that whole period, but we were somewhat overshadowed by this invasion. It was quite a challenge to all of us."
Bruce Johnston, the most recent member of the band at the time, sang and played bass on the sessions, marking his second album as a Beach Boy. He still credits the band’s label for mining gold that kept the band on top of the charts well into 1966:
“Capitol had some great wisdom, they released ‘Barbara Ann.’ We would have never put that out (as a single). And it was huge, but it did buy Brian time and it reminded people The Beach Boys can still make hits, while Brian's getting this wonderful Pet Sounds album put together.”
Beach Boys’ Party! marks the end of an era. The group’s music grew by leaps and bounds in the next two years, and it was only after the rush of inspiration and brilliance of Pet Sounds, the chart-topping “Good Vibrations,” and the SMiLE saga that the band regrouped to end the decade as a truly self-contained unit.
For one album, The Beach Boys invited you to chill out with them – to goof around, to tear open a bag of chips, and just SING.
Just being yourself with The Beach Boys.
(What a concept. . .)