Have you seen this superstar celebration for one of the most beautiful songs ever written? Here is the music video!
God Only Knows” How Brilliant This Music Video Is!
A great moment in music history was just released…
To celebrate the launch of BBC Music, the British broadcaster has released a star-studded “God Only Knows” music video! And it is full of some of the biggest music stars in the world, all singing this classic Beach Boys song along with Brian Wilson!
Thanks to “Gossipcop.com” for sharing this story! Here is how they describe the video:
“The clip features Brian Wilson, who composed the Beach Boys classic, along with an incredible list of performers including Pharrell, Chris Martin, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lorde, Dave Grohl, Sam Smith and… One Direction.”
It’s a gorgeously produced music video of one of the most beautiful songs of all time –
and here it is!
The Beach Boys Rule The Waves!
I love this video – voices such as Stevie Wonder, Chris Martin, and so many more bringing a new sound to this timeless song. This is a long overdue acknowledgement of the brilliance of The Beach Boys…and a great time to look at how they began, and how they just wrapped up…
First, read these lyrics…
Summer’s gone
I’m gonna sit and watch the waves
We laugh, we cry
We live then die
And dream about our yesterdays…
Beautiful lyrics are for the song “Summer’s Gone”, which could be the last Beach Boys song ever!
Surf’s Up! Summer’s Gone!
California beaches, girls in bikinis, surfboards, hot rods and lots of sunshine…these classic images capture the innocence of 60’s Southern California…
For the iconic music group The Beach Boys, those images also capture the beauty of their best music: sun-drenched melodies and endless surf…
It’s hard to imagine a world without such pop classics as “California Girls”, “Good Vibrations” and of course, what many consider to be southern California’s unofficial theme song “Surfin’ USA”…
The lyrics spoke to a generation that wanted out of the cold war and into the warmth of the sun…
“If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody’d be surfing
Like California
You’d see ’em wearin’ their baggies
Huarache sandals, too
A bushy, bushy blond hairdo
Surfin’ U.S.A…”
It’s been fifty years since brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, along with their cousins Mike Love and Al Jardine, created a whole new style of music, and their “southern California sound” inspired such Artists as The Mamas & The Papas, The Eagles and The Byrds…
The remaining members of band did a 50th anniversary tour, which resulted in a double live CD…and a new album suggested they were returning to their former glory…but that may not be the case…
Let’s begin by looking at a song that promised a sun that would never set…one of the band’s first big hits captured the innocence of the times…coated with the Beach Boys harmonies….
“All Summer Long!”
“Sittin’ in my car outside your house
‘Member when you spilled coke all over you blouse
T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs
We’ve been having fun all summer long…”
Look at the images on the album cover: moments of fun in the sun…not a care in the world. The song “All Summer Long” was featured in the 1973 film “American Graffiti” as the closing credits roll, although the movie is set in the summer of 1962, two years before the song’s release!
Here is a video posted by a fan that utilizes images from the film…a perfect way to end this brilliant film from Director George Lucas…
This is just one example of how the unique sounds of The Beach Boys helped to capture a moment in time…
“Almost Famous” Beach Boys Credit Roll!
A classic Beach Boys song was used memorably in the closing credit sequence for “Almost Famous”, Cameron Crowe’s brilliant look a the early days of rock…here is the gorgeous song “Feel Flows”:
“Feel Flows” was released in the early ’70’s, when Carl Wilson had taken over lead songwriting and singing duties at that time due to his brother Brian’s withdrawal from music…sadly, Carl died of cancer in 1998…and brother and fellow Beach Boy Dennis Wilson also died tragically…leaving Brian as the last remaining brother in the band…
On his solo album “Love & Mercy”, Brian offered up this gorgeous acapella tribute to his former bandmates and brothers, called “One For The Boys”…
FYI, a new film called “Love & Mercy” will be released soon, starring Paul Dano and John Cusack, both playing Brian Wilson at different times in his life; the early reviews have been terrific!
The Beach Boys At 50!
The Beach Boys returned in 2012 with a new album, and then embarked on a 50th anniversary tour to celebrate. The album got great reviews, too!
Here is the official music video released for “That’s Why God Made The Radio”:
The latest Beach Boys album got many great reviews, including this one from “biggbambop.com”, which looked at record track by track, including the mini-suite at the end of the record:
“The Suite (Strange World ->From There To Back Again->Pacific Coast Highway->Summer’s Gone): The highlight of the entire album, these 13-minutes are as gorgeous as anything the band has ever created. Melancholy lyrics, mournful voices – it’s what made so much of Pet Sounds a masterpiece. No longer boys, and with more days behind them rather than in front, this is grown men looking at mortality and the lives they’ve lived, couched in sonic ear candy. Special mention to Al Jardine’s vocals on From There To Back Again and Paul Mertens orchestration.”
You can read their entire review here:
“Summer’s Gone”!
As upbeat and fun as that song is, the CD ends on a note that seems to say goodbye to the fans…this mini-suite that ends the album has a melancholy feel, with lyrics that speak to something bigger…
“Summer’s Gone!”
It’s a beautiful song, with great harmonies and Brian Wilson’s gentle voice, showing more depth and emotion with age…here is a video from youtube…
“Summer’s gone
Summer’s gone away
Gone away
With yesterday
Old friends have gone
They’ve gone their separate ways
Our dreams hold on
For those who still have more to say
Summer’s gone
Gone like yesterday
The nights grow cold
It’s time to go
I’m thinking maybe I’ll just stay
Another summer gone
Summer’s gone
It’s finally sinking in
One day begins
Another ends
I live them all and back again
Summer’s gone
I’m gonna sit and watch the waves
We laugh, we cry
We live then die
And dream about our yesterday”
It is a beautiful, heartfelt song, and what feels to be a coda to the band…here is the band performing “Summer’s Gone” live At Wembley Stadium in London on 29/09/12:
Thanks to Graham Clews for posting this on youtube…
Mike Love Roars!
Unfortunately, it seems that the 50th anniversary reunion tour and album did little to bring the band back together. This Billboard article shows the division that exists in the group, with Mike Love expressing much frustration at how this album and tour came about…read all about it by clicking here:
It is very possible that we have heard the last new music from The Beach Boys. If so, they certainly left us on a high note….
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johnrieber 
Great stuff, John. And a nice selection of tracks too.
Heavy rain and dark here today, so I hope summer hasn’t gone just yet…
Best wishes, Pete.
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Indeed Pete, you deserve some sun and warm temps not scorching!
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GREAT post. I’m a huge Beach Boys fan – embarrassed to say I had not heard “Summer’s Gone” – what a sublime and beautiful song…
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Thanks for your comment – I think it may be the last official Beach Boys song ever, and it’s a beautiful farewell….
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Agreed. Summer’s Gone will someday be recognized as the capstone to the Beach Boys recording career and the perfect bookend to the surfing records. But not if Mike Love has anything to say about it. Did you see his comment on the last 3 tracks on the album as “songs from the hospice.”
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Thanks for your comment. Completely agree how beautiful “Summer’s Gone” is, and it is the last Beach Boys song…Mike Love is just trying to sell books and should be ashamed of himself, those last 3 songs were a suite done by Brian
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