Forget everything you know about the Beach Boys. Done? Well, that didn’t take long. Now that we’re working with a clean slate here, I highly advise you to listen to the Beach Boys’ 1969 album 20/20 and start with the following songs, which are its best.
Do It Again
What a great opener for an album! This upbeat song is full of energy and gets you ready for the musical roller coaster on which you are about to embark. Co-founders Brian Wilson and Mike Love reportedly wrote this song in a mere fifteen minutes based on basic doo-wop riffs. The inspiration and lyrics of this song stem from a particularly sentimental trip to the beach where Wilson and Love reminisced on their simpler days. This song ends with the sound of hammers repeatedly striking wood and Wilson exclaiming “Ow!” This out-of-place sound byte was recorded three years prior for the song “Workshop” off of the notorious Smile, but was shelved along with the rest of the album due to complications. Its original use made a lot more sense!
All I Want To Do
Prepare yourself for the hardest rocker ever released by the Beach Boys. Its short, energetic opening guitar riff is followed by a hard-hitting vocal delivery by Mike Love – surely the raspiest of his career. Love belts out sexually suggestive lyrics over a fast-paced rock and roll banger, complete with a guitar solo! Sexual moans can be heard in the last few seconds of this song, which are sure to shatter your “good boy” image of the Beach Boys.
The Nearest Faraway Place
This instrumental is a particularly dreamy and heartfelt end to side A that will leave you feeling downright sentimental. One could assume that such a beautiful piece was written by Brian Wilson, but it is in fact one of the few notable compositions by Bruce Johnson, Brian’s fill-in when he left the touring band. Johnson even admitted that Wilson’s legendary Pet Sounds album was the inspiration and influence for “The Nearest Faraway Place.”
Cotton Fields
I’ve never been to Louisiana, but this song makes me miss my childhood in Louisiana. Originally written by 40’s blues singer Lead Belly, “Cotton Fields” was covered by many famous artists before the Beach Boys, such as Johnny Cash and Credence Clearwater Revival. The best rendition has to be Brian Wilson’s arrangement for 20/20, featuring a vigorous piano lead and Al Jardine’s smooth-as-butter lead vocals. What sets this above other artist’s versions of the same song? That unmistakable vocal harmony of the Beach Boys, which I have yet to see topped by another group!
I Went To Sleep
This breezy track paints a picture of 1969 Brian Wilson. The lyrics are a first-person description of his daily activities, casually delivered over slow clarinet and bongo tracks. Wilson croons about sleeping in a song that’s so sleepy that it’ll probably give you a nice satisfying yawn. Clocking in at a mere 1.5 minutes, it’s one of the shortest songs in the Beach Boys’ catalog.
