Can you believe it’s been 50 Years since Capitol Records released The Beach Boys’ Summer Hits compilation “Endless Summer?”
Released at a time when the band was struggling with identity issues and in search of an audience that would accept the NEW music they were making, The Beach Boys were suddenly catapulted back in time to their striped-shirts era … as well as to the top of the charts!
It was 50 years ago this week – June 24th, 1974 – that Capitol Records released The Beach Boys’ now-legendary double-album hits collection, ENDLESS SUMMER. The album, which marked the band’s sole studio chart-topping set to date, took fans, the industry – not to mention The Beach Boys themselves – completely by surprise when on October 5th, 1974, during its sixth and final week in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart, it snagged the coveted Number One spot. Endless Summer went on to spend a total of 19 weeks in the Top 40 and, apart from 1964’s live set, Beach Boys Concert, is only the second Number One album “America’s Band” ever scored on the U.S. charts. All of a sudden, the most joyous music of a generation seemed to be exactly what America’s teens were looking for.
Despite The Beach Boys having long parted ways with Capitol Records, Capitol knew it was sitting on a monster collection of Beach Boys hits tailor made for summer and a whole new generation. In fact, Mike Love even helped sequence many of the tracks on Endless Summer, recalling, “Maybe 90 percent of the sequencing is what I hoped it would be. I wanted the listener to experience the same feeling as one would have in listening to a concert. That was just born of years of doing shows. The response to Endless Summer was stunning. Four months after hitting the stores, it reached Number One and remained on the Billboard album chart for a remarkable 155 weeks; more than three million copies were sold in the United States. Rolling Stone, which hadn’t taken us seriously in years, named us ‘Band Of The Year’ in 1974. Later, we sold out five nights at Chicago Stadium and added a sixth night.
[I was at two of those shows! – kk]
“We sold out four nights at Madison Square Garden, while packing 62,000 into Schaefer Stadium in Massachusetts. It was, at the time, the largest crowd to ever attend a concert in New England. . . I just remember it was all positive. When something turns out to that level of success, I’ve got no complaints whatsoever.”
Brian Wilson admitted to being confused, amazed, but ultimately thrilled at seeing The Beach Boys back on top of the American charts: “Endless Summer was named after a famous surf movie and it had all our early hits on it. The album started selling like crazy, and that made Capitol put out a second set of hits called Spirit Of America. Both had cool illustrated covers. Endless Summer had all our faces. Spirit of America had Mickey Mouse and a baseball glove and a girl lying down with the Playboy bunny logo on her underwear.”
Al Jardine looked back at the Endless Summer “comeback” with only good memories of a time of well-deserved success after years of hard work: "We had a resurgence when Capitol released the Endless Summer double-album compilation. It sold triple platinum. It was huge and gave us a new audience. It was a wonderful feeling; we were very fortunate. . .We were out there with a new energy and so it seemed appropriate after Endless Summer came out to really go after the older material and embrace it. Because that’s what we were – we were The Beach Boys. . . We set a standard and everybody else was trying to meet that. It takes a lot of hard work and great songwriting and, of course, great arranging and producing. So, you must have all those components together at the same time. It’s miraculous. The Beach Boys are always there underpinning pretty much everyone. So, it’s like we’re always here.”
Chart success and ticket sales aside, Carl Wilson remembered being intrigued by just how far The Beach Boys’ music now spanned in the wake of Endless Summer: “The audience had become much wider in terms of their age. When we started playing, it was mostly high school students and then through the years it evolved into college students and families, even. The audience ranged from little babies and children to middle-aged people. . . It was real clear that we had a new audience. We just surrendered to it. We’d gone through so many changes over the idea of oldies over the years, but it became obvious what people wanted us to play. . . To us, we were just us, and the music is the group. There is of course the idea of The Beach Boys in striped shirts, but when it gets down to it people really like to see the goodness of our relationship endure. I think maybe the group is comforting to people.”
For Dennis Wilson, having a bigger celebration each and every night with the band’s fans was all the success he needed: “I love singing ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ while standing on the piano. ‘Good Vibrations,’ ‘Little Deuce Coupe,’ ‘I Get Around,’ ‘Surfer Girl,’ ‘Catch A Wave’ -- there are so many songs that are relatable to my life while I was growing up. There was a time when The Beach Boys were a very big touring group. Then, after a while, there was a time when it was uncool to be into The Beach Boys. Somehow The Beach Boys didn’t fit. Now, it’s not uncool to like The Beach Boys anymore. Personally, I’ve always liked them. . . The Beach Boys are not a superstar group. The music is the superstar of the group. There will always be The Beach Boys; being a Beach Boy is like being in love.”
>>>6/26/64 – The Rolling Stones release “It’s All Over Now” as their new single (kk)
In most countries, including the UK and the US, "It's All Over Now" was backed by "Good Times, Bad Times," and "Tell Me" was a separate single release. Only in Germany were "It's All Over Now" and "Tell Me" coupled.
And "It's All Over Now" was the Stones' first single to get a true stereo release, and a great one at that (attached).
– Randy Price
Sharing with everybody today … along with the US picture sleeve for this release.
(I also found one encouraging fans to start their own Rolling Stones Fan Club!!!) kk
The Eagles have expanded their stay … again … at The Sphere in Las Vegas, adding shows in December (6th, 7th, 13th and 14th) This brings their total now to sixteen shows at The Sphere. (kk)
And Macca has added more dates to his upcoming tour as well …
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 - SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL - ALLIANZ PARQUE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 - FLORIANÓPOLIS, BRAZIL - ESTÁDIO DE RESSACADA
Talkin’ ‘bout tours, The Doobie Brothers finally kicked off their’s Sunday Night in Los Angeles.
With Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald all onboard, not to mention … John McFee, Ed Toth, Marc Russo, John Cowan and Marc Quiñones, this is shaping up as quite the concert experience. (We have ALMOST bought tickets about fifty times now! Lol) But as I’m currently reading Michael McDonald’s book … and listening to The Doobies virtually non-stop in the car, we finally caved for the August 25th show here in Tinley Park. (Hey, it’s my birthday weekend … why not!!!)
Ironically, one of the pages I just finished reading talks about their reunion … at Pat Simmons’ suggestion …
“Maybe we should do one last farewell tour to show our appreciation to the loyal fans who’d been there for us all those years.” Getting both Johnston and McDonald to agree … but once they did, off they went … and their farewell tour commenced … in 1982!!!
Now, here it is some 40+ years later and the core guys … Simmons, Johnston, McDonald and McFee … are all back on stage, fronting the band … with a brand new album also in the offering in the months to come.
Check out this set list … and then tell me how YOU could possibly pass up seeing this great show! (kk)
1. "Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little
While)"
2. "Here To Love You"
3. "Dependin' On You"
4. "Rockin' Down The Highway"
5. "You Belong To Me"
6. "Cannonball"
7. "It Keeps You Runnin'"
8. "Eyes Of Silver"
9. "One Step Closer"
10. "World Gone Crazy"
11. "Minute By Minute"
12. "Without You"
13. "Jesus Is Just Alright"
14. "What A Fool Believes"
15. "Long Train Runnin'"
16. "China Grove"
17. "Black Water"
18. "Takin' It To The Streets"
19. "Listen To The Music"
Meanwhile, Neil Young announced the cancellation of the balance of his "Love Earth" tour for health reasons. (kk)
David Salidor tells us about The End of MTV (by way of Roger Friedman) …
Boy, what a shame! (kk)
Great Book, Great Deal!
Guys, Record Research has their A+ #1 best chart book the Whitburn gang has ever brought out -- the Top Pop Singles always best of their many books. Great deal here ($39!!!), especially since it cuts off about when the 45 died and music did, too. hahaha
Top Pop Singles 1955-1989 - Record Research
Clark Besch
This very special offer expires on Sunday, June 30th, so don't miss out!
A great addition to ANY music library. (kk)
https://www.recordresearch.com/
Our FH Buddy Ken Freck guests on Dewey’s Corner tonight …
Hey Kids:
Well, it's that time again. I will be on with Dewey on WMSE 91.7 on Friday at 6 PM CST. Also available over the net.
https://wmse.org/program/1950s-1970s-rock/
We will be remembering the 60th anniversary of the "Summer of 1964." Or the Summer of the British Invasion. Although, it's not as dominant as one might think.
Anyway, tune in on Friday and get a blast from the past. Remember, we always play Records!
It's all off the cuff … and the shows are always archived as well for people who can't tune in.
Ken
I am a big fan of “stories behind the songs … in fact, I hosted a nationally syndicated radio show by that name in the 90s.
Last night at the CMA Theater in Nashville, TN, Jimmy Webb provided great insight into his creative process as well as his original intent when creating hit songs, many of which took different paths than he intended.
For example, “Galveston,” written as a moody eulogy to soldiers who died in the Viet Nam War, became an uptempo hit in the hands of Glen Campbell. Webb’s own interpretations were sometimes very similar to the hits we know, but at other times very different.
His inside stories were appreciated by the audience, which included many music industry folks.
Ed Salamon
For a VERY limited time only (it ends on Sunday, June 30th), Sirius XM has brought back The Billboard Top 500 Songs of Summer
(Unfortunately, to get to the good stuff that we all like between 1958 and 1985, you’ve got to sit thru a WHOLE lotta other stuff released between 1990 and 2023 … but hey, we’re all about The Summer Songs!)
You can find OUR list of The All-Time Summer Favorites, based on YOUR votes, here:
http://forgottenhits.com/your_top_200_all-time_summer_favorites_2020_poll
Our list only has 200 Favorites … but they’re all based on the votes we received from our readers in 2020 … and oldies radio stations all over the country have been featuring them ever since.
Check it out … give a listen to the Billboard / Sirius XM Countdown … and then swing by Me-TV-FM, too, for their annual Summer of Me! (kk)
From Timmy …
But you guys voted Mungo Jerry's 1970 Hit "In The Summertime" as your THIRD Favorite Summer Song EVER!!!) kk
Can you believe it’s been fifteen years since the passing of Michael Jackson?
My God, where does the time go?!?!
Jackson’s enormously successful hit-making career spanned 32 years …
Hard to believe that he’s now been gone for nearly half that long.
(Jackson also had a Top Ten posthumous hit “duet” with Justin Timberlake, “Love Never Felt So Good,” a song he cowrote with Paul Anka!)
In addition, a 2014 re-release of “Billie Jean” spent one week on the chart at #14 … and “Thriller,” which has charted again nearly every Halloween since 2013, making The Top 40 four of those times. (kk)
And finally, this from Chuck Buell ...
Here's something you may want to keep a Forgotten Hit Eye on as Elvis' former authenticated True Blue Blue Suede Shoes went on auction at the British Henry Aldreide and Son Auction House in the middle of our US night!
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
6/28/64 – Chicago Cubs Baseball Great Mark Grace is born
