Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long [Remaster] (CD - 1990)

The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine.

Additional personnel includes: The Honeys (background vocals).

Producer: Brian Wilson.

Reissue producer: Mark Linett.

Recorded at Western Studios, Hollywood, California between January 31, 1963 &

September 16, 1964.

Originally released on Capitol (1998/2110).

Includes liner notes by David Leaf & Mark Linett.

This two-on-one CD reissue offers a pair of "firsts" -- the group's first concept album (in the Sinatra sense of the term, referring to an LP built on a specific theme or subject) and their first long-player to overlap with the British Invasion. The interesting thing about the group's albums up to All Summer Long, including Little Deuce Coupe, was that they were among the better albums of their period; perhaps not quiet as strong as the best of Elvis Presley's non-soundtrack releases, but competitive with them and equal or superior to the work of the Four Seasons, Chuck Berry, or Bo Diddley from that time. Little Deuce Coupe's baker's dozen of car songs shows considerable inspiration on Brian Wilson's part -- cars, like girls, were something he knew and liked, where surfing was personally alien to him as a pastime. The sound, ranging from Four Freshmen-inspired harmony showcases ("A Young Man Is Gone") to romantic doo wop ("Car Crazy Cutie") and rocking anthems to fast cars ("Spirit of America"), speed ("I Get Around"), and school spirit ("Be True to Your School"). All Summer Long is a more sophisticated album that comes from more than a year later, resplendent in ethereal harmonies, unusual tempo and key changes, and a richer set of songs overall, including a ravishing cover of "Hushabye" and one of the great musical representations of summer ever heard, in "All Summer Long." This was to be the last album that the group would make as a largely self-contained unit, with the five members -- as opposed to a brace of session musicians -- at the core of the sound, and it has a simple, urgent immediacy that their subsequent LPs, though more finely crafted, sacrificed to some extent. The bonus cuts include the superior single version of "Be True to Your School," alternate takes of "Little Honda" and "Don't Back Down," and one previously unissued cut, the surprisingly lusty "All Dressed Up for School," which failed to make it onto All Summer Long. This pairing of albums was first issued on CD in 1991 and upgraded in early 2001 -- the latter is superior to any prior CD of either album or the material contained within. ~ Bruce Eder

LITTLE DEUCE COUPE is arguably the first rock & roll concept album. Combining car songs from the Beach Boys' previous three albums with several new car-related numbers, it celebrates the simple joys of being a teenage automobile owner. Hit singles "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Be True To Your School" showed that Brian Wilson was becoming a remarkably sophisticated producer, songwriter, and arranger. He had mastered the art of vocal arrangements, as shown by the spectacular five-part harmonies on "Spirit of America" and "A Young Man Is Gone," their touching tribute to James Dean. This is a fun, unpretentious evocation of a California summer.

On this disc, DEUCE COUPE is coupled with ALL SUMMER LONG. The sustained Number One success of the latter's "I Get Around" established the group as America's best hope against the Beatles' continued dominance of the airwaves. The already-elaborate vocal harmonies grow more lush, the melodies more far-ranging, as Brian's rich falsetto dominates the vocal mix on beauties like "Girls On The Beach" and a hymn-like cover of the doo-wop classic "Hushabye." Wilson also masterfully streamlined his Phil Spector/Wall Of Sound influence so that a large multi-track L.A. studio production still sounds as if it's being produced by a small combo. minimize