"We've been havin' fun all summer long..."

Salutations, and welcome. Today, I'm covering All Summer Long, The Beach Boys' second album of 1964.

HISTORY:

All Summer Long was released on July 13, 1964. All original songs are written by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Mike Love, with the exceptions of We'll Run Away, which had lyrics by Gary Usher, and Girls On The Beach, which was written solely by Brian. The album was produced by Brian Wilson.

TRACK-BY-TRACK BREAKDOWN:

I Get Around: This album's big hit, and The Boys' first number one. This song deserved it, because it's a great, fun summer song. It's not amazingly beautiful or anything, but it's a great song, though it doesn't really fit on this album. 4/5

All Summer Long: Another great, fun song, which I prefer to I Get Around. I Get Around always sounded really condensed and boxed up to me, while this song has more breathing room. Great vocals, production, and music make for a great song. 4/5

Hushabye - A cover of the classic doo-wop tune by The Mystics that greatly improves upon the original, with utterly gorgeous vocals and production. In a word, stunning. Though I'd feel bad giving it a 5/5 since it's a cover. So, 4/5.

Little Honda - Another great song, and more great vocals. I running out of adjectives! 4/5

We'll Run Away - A beautiful song. A gorgeous melody at it's base, lifting by stunning vocals and production. Amazing. 5/5

Carl's Big Chance:...and he blew it. A boring instrumental, though it's ultimately harmless, and not quite bad. Just boring. 2/5

Wendy - A pretty good, standard Beach Boys tune. Not great, but enjoyable. 3/5

Do You Remember - A lame song that namechecks rock n roll stars of the past. Not much here. 2/5

Girls On The Beach - Another beautiful song, with amazing vocals and equally great production. A pleasure to the ears. 5/5

Drive-In - This song has baffled me since I first heard it. The vocals and production are really good; but the lyrics are mind-numbingly stupid. I don't normally care about lyrics, but these detract from my enjoyment. 3/5

Our Favorite Recording Sessions - A spoken word track of The Boys goofing of in the studio. And I don't really mind it. It's a genuinley fun, good time. I usually skip it, though. 2/5

Don't Back Down - The last surfing song The Boys did until 1992, and it's quite a good song. It's cool, and a good surfing song. 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS

All Summer Long is a fun pop album, and it's where things start getting really good. It's the best pre-1965 Beach Boys album, and is great in terms of production and vocals.

RATING

4.5 STARS