Shut Down Volume 2 (March 1964)
Album History (Released March 1964)
The name for this album is strange.
“Shut Down” was a compilation Hot Rod album featuring songs from The Beach Boys
and some other Bozos singing about cars. “Shut Down Volume 2” is just a regular
Beach Boys album.
This album was the Boys’ first of
1964. The Beatles had come to America, and the bar for pop music was rising.
Brian Wilson is the only credited producer, and at this point, he is embarking
upon the most productive and creative part of his career.
Tracklist
Thanks Wikipedia.
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Song Analysis
1. Fun, Fun, Fun
This is such a good pop song. They lyrics are so stupid
and amazing. The first verse:
“Well she got her daddy’s car and she cruise through the
hamburger stand now! Seems she forgot all about the library like she told her
old man now! And with the radio blastin’ goes cruisin’ just as fast as she can
now! And she’ll have FUN FUN FUN til’ her daddy takes the T-Bird away!”
This song is very fast. There are vocals for almost
every second of the song. There is one small junk organ breakdown, a staple of
great early Beach Boys hits. This one went to number 5 on the billboard charts.
2. Don’t Worry Baby
Brian Wilson has been completely obsessed over most of
his life with the Phil Spector produced “Be My Baby” performed by the Ronettes.
Reportedly, he spent almost a year in bed doing nothing but listening to “Be My
Baby”, eating cheeseburgers, and snorting cocaine. While this surely must be an
exaggeration, it is close enough to reality to be extraordinary.
“Don’t Worry Baby” is clearly influenced by “Be My
Baby”. I mean Hell, the names are even similar. Brian’s infusion of Spector’s
style with the Beach Boys’ sound is brilliant. He starts with Phil Spector’s
drum intro, then quickly launches into a beautiful “Aahhh” with all the Boys in
harmony. He is emulating the music of his idol, but injecting the Beach Boys
signature harmonies into it. Brian sets out to copy Phil Spector and in my
opinion absolutely outdoes him. While “Be My Baby” is an outstanding pop song,
to me, “Don’t Worry Baby” is one of the most beautiful ballads of all time.
Brian’s vocals are gorgeous, the harmonies are perfect,
the percussion is classic, and this is the best use of the surf guitar sound
they’ve used thus far. The lyrics are wonderful. The singer is in love with his
girlfriend. He knows he’s a dumb-ass sometimes, bragging about his car and
getting into dangerous races. All this is unimportant compared to the comfort
and love this young woman brings him. “Don’t worry baby, everything will turn
out all right.”
This is my favorite pop song. I sing this song at
karaoke every chance I get. It is a beautiful, perfect, and wonderful creation.
For comparison, I have included a video of The Ronettes
“Be My Baby”.
3. In the Parkin’ Lot
The rhythm of this song has become familiar at this
point in the Boys’ career. It’s a fast-paced song about cars and girls. This
song does some interesting stuff with its key changes though. The refrain
sounds as if it shifts to a minor key. Also, the song stops short and ends with
some lovely “Oohs” for about 30 seconds. This song exemplifies how the Beach
Boys formula is being refined in more creative ways by Brian.
4. “Cassius” Love vs. “Sonny” Wilson
So here we have a skit. Yes, a skit. In 2017, I really
appreciate that this track exists, I feel like in 1964, I would have been very
confused at why the Beach Boys are staging a goofy skit in the studio. The
title, if you are not a boxing aficionado, comes from the fight between
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and Sonny Liston.
Brian makes fun of Mike’s voice, comparing him to Mickey
Mouse, which is accurate and comical. This track is interesting just to get an
idea of the Boys’ personalities in 64’.
5. The Warmth of the Sun
We have here another classic Beach Boys’ ballad. This
song is set apart by the sweeping melody of the vocals. This track has a very
slow tempo, and the lyrics are drawn out. This gives Brian Wilson a chance to
add more emotion to every word in the song. The harmonies are perfect and some
of the tightest the Boys’ have done. The instrumentation is completely
secondary in this track to the excellent lead by Brian and the vibrant backing
vocals by the Boys’.
6. This Car of Mine
Dennis Wilson vocals! Always something to get excited
about. His voice has a great earnestness to it. It contrasts quite well with
Brian’s angelic high-pitched vocals. We go from the haunting “Warmth of the Sun”
to a much more-down-to-Earth “This Car of Mine”. This is a simple song, but it
works just fine and is a nice snappy track, running about a minute and a half.
7. Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
This is a very straight cover of Frankie Lymon & The
Teenagers original version. My guess is that Brian is a great admirer of the
original and also wanted to pit his voice against Frankie Lymon. I wouldn’t
usually say this, but in this case, Frankie’s voice is superior.
Frankie Lymon sang this song in 1956, when he was 14.
The original is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded. This straight
cover is just fine, but completely unnecessary. If you are interested in some
further reading, check out the Wikipedia page on Frankie Lymon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Lymon?scrlybrkr=fec27372.
He’s a pretty interesting character who died of a heroin
overdose at the age of 25. The original Frankie Lymon version is included below
for reference.
8. Pom Pom Play Girl
Now, I enjoy the early Beach Boys albums. There is some
excellent music here. However, there are songs that have titles like “Pom Pom
Play Girl”. In these titles, we get to enjoy meaningful lyrics like “RAH RAH
Pom Pom Play Girl!” This is a stupid song, the topic is stupid, the music is
fine but uninspiring. I guess this is supposed to be in the style of “Be True
to Your School”. While that song was delightfully cheesy, this one is just
cheesy, with no adverb to elevate it.
9. Keep an Eye on Summer
Another very nice ballad. This is a love letter to a
Summer Love. The song has an interesting part in the middle where a ukulele kicks
in and the melody is sung an octave down by Mike. It’s an interesting touch that
gives the song a little more personality than just “another pleasant Brian
ballad”.
10. Shut Down, Part II
A forgettable instrumental track written by Carl. It won’t
hurt your ears, but there’s nothing extraordinary about it.
11. Louie, Louie
Another 50’s R&B cover. This song is a close cover
of Richard Berry’s original version, not the version popularized by the
Kingsmen in 1963. The Kingsmen version is better. This Beach Boys version does
not improve on the original and compared to the inventive take of the Kingsmen,
pales in comparison. I have included videos of Berry’s original and The
Kingsmen version below.
12. Denny’s Drums
Here might be the most fillery filler track of The Beach Boys’
career. In this song, Dennis Wilson plays some drums. He doesn’t play them
particularly fast, or slow, or well. He just plays them. There are thousands of
high school students who could put together a better track right now. I couldn’t tell you why this exists, and it is an extraordinarily weak way
to end this album.
Overall Album Impressions:
This
album has high points ("Don’t Worry Baby", "Fun, Fun, Fun"), low points ("Denny’s
Drums", "Pom Pom Play Girl"), and weird points ("Cassius Love Vs. Sonny Wilson"). My
love for “Don’t Worry Baby” is such that this entire album is elevated. If it
weren’t for the weakness of the second side, this would easily be the boys best
record. As it stands, it’s about on par with “Surfer Girl”.
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