Rating: 3/5
Review:
Not a great live album
Hmmm. This is a
recording of the Beach Boys playing live in 1965, so it's definitely worth
having just as a record of one of the great groups of the 60s in concert, but
as an album to play and enjoy regularly it's not that great, I'm afraid.
This is a recording of two concerts given on successive
nights with a very similar set-list although the order varies a little – and I'm
pleased to say that they added 409 on the second night which has always been a
favourite of mine. There's lots of
familiar stuff and some great songs like Surfer Girl, I Get Around, Fun, Fun,
Fun and so on, and some covers including The Monster Mash which are quite
fun…once or twice. The boys give a good
show, but the sound is very variable and it has to be said that at times the
vocals are a bit dodgy, with some slightly iffy tuning and a bit of a chaotic
feel in places. You expect a bit of this
in a live album and it's fair enough, but the overall sound and impression
isn't that good.
Apparently Capitol had to issue these recordings in some
form to retain copyright and to be honest I'm not sure they'd have seen the
light of day otherwise. For ardent fans
of the early Beach Boys (like me) this definitely worth having, but as an album
it's average at best, I'd say, and I can only give it a very qualified
recommendation.
No comments:
Post a Comment