22 August 2011

"Don't Worry Baby" (The Beach Boys, 1964)


The 1960s were my high school and college years, so the music of the Beach Boys was an integral part of my life. There was obviously no "surf culture" in Minnesota, and the car-related lyrics didn't strike a chord with me, but the tunes became earworms, and some - like the embed above - had quite impressive harmonics.  Two decades later when I was working for a living I flew to San Diego for a convention, rented a car, and as I drove out of the airport I turned on the radio to be greeted by a Beach Boys song.  It is a moment I will never forget.

Looking back at the video of the song (and the Dick Clark interview), it's incredible how unsophisticated and innocent they seem (and how badly they lip-synch).  The post below this one is my favorite Aerosmith song.  Less than a decade separates the two.  Amazing.

6 comments:

  1. I think the best part are Carl Wilson's (I think I got that right?) crossed arms and eye–rolling.

    Though I'm far too young to have enjoyed the Beach Boys in their prime, they've always been one of my favorite bands. I spent far too many hours on IRC in high school gathering up the various SMiLE bootlegs…

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  2. Thanks for posting this! I grew up in Sacramento, California and was fortunate enough to see them live that Summer when they recorded their live album here.

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  3. You should most certainly check out THIS gem: http://www.amazon.com/T-M-I-Show-Collectors/dp/B0030ATZIA

    The T.A.M.I. show:
    Amazon.com
    Filmed in 1964 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, this is arguably the very best rock-concert movie ever made, packed start to finish with nearly two hours of absolutely essential performances by an unprecedented group of American and British rock, pop, soul, and Motown legends. Dig this lineup: Marvin Gaye, the Supremes (look for Teri Garr as one of the dancers during "Where Did Our Love Go?"), Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Leslie Gore, Jan and Dean, a phenomenal James Brown and the Flames, followed (!) by the Rolling Stones rising to the occasion after Brown's legendary performance (Keith Richards has said that performing after Brown was perhaps the biggest mistake the band ever made). Never released on home video, The T.A.M.I. Show was the holy grail of rock-concert movies. Those who have had to make do with substandard and incomplete bootlegs will agree that it was worth the wait for this collector's edition that restores the long-lost Beach Boys set (listen to director Steve Binder's audio commentary for the story behind its removal). --Donald Liebenson

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  4. They remind me of German footballers having to sing along to the national anthem.

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  5. The Aerosmith video couldn't be from 1974, since MTV was created a decade after (1984). Most likely, Aerosmith's "Dream On" performance was aired 19 years after The Beach Boys video.

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  6. jetterz, you are quite correct; the song was released in 1973, but I don't know when this version was filmed.

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