From age seven to 10, I loved, loved, loved The Beach Boys. They were by far my favorite group. I loved their harmonies, how catchy the songs were, and how much their music was about having fun, meeting girls, and surfing. I only had one record by them in the family record collection (a greatest hits package called “Spirit of America”), and my best friend at the time had another compilation record (“Endless Summer”). Between the two albums, we had a pretty good collection of songs to sing to. Thinking back about those childhood years, The Beach Boys’ music certainly adds to the nostalgia of those memories. But that’s kind of the group’s appeal. Nostalgia for surfing, high school, girls, cars, and falling in love are powerful things, and Brian Wilson was a master at blending those themes into vocal harmonies that most rock and pop groups would kill for.
But that was then, and this is now.
Now, we have a strange addition to The Beach Boys catalog: “The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.” The first question one may have upon seeing this CD is, “Why?” Why does the music buying public need this? The answer, of course, is we don’t. Nowadays, recording with an orchestra is kind of a ho-hum affair. Many bands have gone down this road for decades with varying results — and rarely have the songs transcended a gloss of self-importance that comes with the process. The exception is The Moody Blues when they recorded “Days of Future Passed” — but that’s because they were the first to do it with a batch of new songs. With The Beach Boys’ music, however, symphonic support just seems like a money-grab. It probably is since very little of what’s added offers the listener anything new. But new isn’t what’s being sold here. What’s being sold is the patina of legacy, of timelessness, and importance. The Beach Boys’ music is many things, but high-brow ain’t one of them. That’s why I looked at this record with a very skeptical eye before listening to the first note. I thought it was pretty silly to drape a band that’s known for fun in the weighty garb of orchestral music and expect us to nod intently as we ponder the deeper meaning of a hamburger stand, why California girls are the cutest in the world, and are the vibrations Brian Wilson is picking up actually good?
But you know what? I kind of like what Steve Sidwell, Sally Herbert, Nick Patrick and Don Reedman have done to these songs. The orchestral parts were recorded at Abbey Road Studios and the producers used the original Beach Boys recordings when mixing the album. The result is uneven, but many of the songs do sound fuller with the symphony adding another layer to these songs. Ironically for me, the two songs by The Beach Boys that I don’t like work very well with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. “Sloop John B” and “Kokomo” sound better than the original mixes. “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” and “Good Vibrations” seem either pointless or overwrought when filtered through the sieve of a symphony. What I do appreciate, though, is how subtle the orchestra is used in song after song, and how clean and present the vocals are in the mix. I don’t think I’ve heard a production of The Beach Boys’ music that’s sounded as warm, lush, and full as it does on this recording. Granted, the format these songs have imprinted on my brain has come from vinyl — and I’m talking about crappy vinyl from the 1970s. However, I can’t get over how there’s something that’s been brought out from the Abbey Road recording and mixing process that has made listening to this record very enjoyable at times.
“The Beach Boys and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” may have “money-grab” stitched into its DNA, but it’s well worth a listen (on good speakers or headphones) to hear the clarity of voices, the separation of the instruments, and even the (at times) tasteful addition of symphonic music.
