Dan,

That is an interesting thought. As far as their recognizable songs, I just don't see the universal and timeless appeal of the Beach Boys catalog as opposed to many of the Beatles classics. Since this topic has come up on more than one occasion on this forum I have considered this quite a bit. My wife and I flew to Vegas to see Cirque's "Love" which is a magnificent theatrical/circus piece featuring a storyline derived entirely from Beatles music. I have often since wondered how a similar piece featuring Beach Boys music would play out and I can't really imagine it having nearly the impact.

I am not saying that the Beach Boys were not good or great or that Brian Wilson wasn't gifted; instead I am saying that, based simply on the recognizable catalogue, the Beatles appeal was far more wide ranging and while that is only my opinion, it does seem to be clearly evidenced by the general population.

Music, like any art, will touch the soul, the interest or intellect of different people and that is how it should be. Watching those performances, I was not particularly impacted but I do respect what they did. I have also often wondered how difficult it was to pull off singing falsetto live over a band back in the days when audio monitoring was poor or non existent.

Oddball, I also thought the Wilson's were sisters!

Even today's various incarnations of the Beach Boys have difficulties performing the more melodic ballads penned by Brian Wilson. Brian and Carl had the "pretty' voices in the group Bruce, Dennis, and Al pulled off great harmony parts. And, Mike.....well.....he could deliver the nasally up-tempo leads and the dip-da-dip-dip pseudo bass line fillers. There is no way that I'll rate the Beach Boys and Beatles in any head to head comparison. They were both among the best at what they did by performing songs that they wrote, and also interpreting the songs written by others. Many things that I've read and heard say that Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney have enormous respect and appreciation for the works of each other. Beatles songs are covered by more bands because they are roots rock and R&B spawned much the same as the earlier surf type up-tempo Beach Boys tunes that are the most likely to be covered. The songs (especially ballads) in which Brian delves into more jazz influenced or Four Freshman/Hi-Lo's territory are rarely attempted by bands who perform cover tunes because of their many intricacies.

Let me just say that you wouldn't want to develop the opinion that I don't recognize either the impact or appeal of the Beatles from what I have said about the Beach Boys. It was enormous at the time. It even shook my interest in the Beach Boys off the map for a while and I still love a lot of their music.

Nevertheless, when Pet Sounds came out, there were tunes in it that affected me a good deal, hitting upon emotion after emotion both musically and in terms of an awareness of some of the less simple elements of life. Brian had revealed himself in an uncommon way and I could identify a good deal of what he was saying in my own life. But my contemporaries weren't listening. As most of you know, Pet Sounds was not initially well received though it has been over the years.

Eventually, that became the case with the Beatles too, though at the outset it was more difficult to discern which of them was offering the emotions. With the Beach Boys, you were certain from day one that it was Brian Wilson and you appreciated that he was willing to put it all on the table. You could dismiss the thought that you were the only one feeling some of what he was talking about.

Now, I had heard Help in '65! And it was fine. But it didn't cut to the soul even though it was intended to reveal where John Lennon was at that moment in his life. For me, the music just didn't deliver. I got it as a rockin' tune and that was that. A year later, something like 'I Just Wasn't Made for These Times' did because the music supported the emotion in a way I could understand it and in a way nobody else was addressing it.

Now if I'm drumming, I'd far rather play Help! But when I needed help, I found more of it in Pet Sounds.

As for the clip at the beginning of this thread; Well, it was mostly about them pulling off the live harmonies, the falsetto as someone has pointed out; the incidence of a false start, and of course those beautiful Camco drums with Swivomatic hardware.

Inferior? Why cuz every band was jealous that they had the best singing and songs

The beach boys vs beatles can easily be summed up as quality vs quantity- the beach boys were FAR superior vocalists, just as good if not better musicians and made overral catchier more appealing music period/ from their early records to pet sounds to their progressive era of smiley smile thru holland ALL phenomenal records, Id never exclude til I die, one of brians last great tunes. And in regards to a group covering the beatles over BBs it makes sense cuz the BBs had WAY more complex arrangements and its very.hard to replicate those flawless harmonies, period.

Side question - favorite vocalist of the boys? I love Carl best. Especially on surf's up. Nice quiet and restrained. I love Beatles and the boys equally.

Ahhh,no.While I love the Beach Boys and the harmonies,the writing of Brian Wilson and Vandyke Parks,their singing style was VERY barbershop quartet stuff.There's lots of quartets around that use the same harmony structure as the Beach Boys did.

As far as musicanship goes,the Beatles played their own instruments,and Brian Wilson used The Wrecking Crew on most BB recordings.There is photographic,and written ,documented evidence of that in the form of signed contracts,and studio log books.

Listem to Abbey Road "Because" ,as an example of excellent Beatle Harmonies.The Beatles harmonies are also,taught at Berkley and Julliard and are case studies in harmony structure.

You can say the Beach Boys are the best all you want,but that dosen't make it so.It's mearly your.....opinion....and opinions(though some are more informed than others) are neither right or wrong,they just are.

As far as overall,catchier,and more appealing music.....really?The Beatles are STILL selling records,and everything Beatles is golden.You can say,that's because McCartney and Ringo still tour,but ....so do the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson,in some form or other.Take alook at overall record sales and name recognition,and the Beach Boys don't even come close to the Beatles.It just is what it is.

But,they were fans of Brian Wilson writing and harmonies.And why not?Some of the best stuff ever written....period.

Steve B

I have to say Carl also,with a younger Brian Wilson a close second.Mike Love also has a signature voice in tunes like "Do It Again".

But Carls singing on the Surfs Up album is just haunting,like most of the record.I have a Brian Wilson live CD,where his band does "Till I Die" and it's just amazing that they actually do that tune live.

Steve B

Carl was the best singer/ the BBs were and are the greatest rock band of all time, them and the ramones. The music speaks for itself .

As someone pointed out to me, "opinions are like acrolites".