SOUNDS OF SUMMER: Even Surfers Get the Blues

The weekly theme format is my own beastly creation, and I am at its mercy. I always knew certain bands and artists, namely my favorites, would show up more frequently than, say, Tiny Tim. (Ukulele week is something I'm saving for when I'm really out of ideas.) I do try to mix it up a little, but hey, if the theme makes a demand, I have to comply. I actually skipped over the Beach Boys during Brothers in Arms Week just because I wanted to give some other bands a chance. But there's no way the Boys are going to sit this one out, as they are the undisputed Kings of Summer.

In fact, it was Endless Summer, a 1974 hits collection, that returned the Beach Boys to the hit parade after a long absence. It climbed the charts again during the summers of 1975 and 1976, establishing Brian Wilson and company as America's hot weather band of choice. It's a pristine 21-song ode to youth, cars and sunshine. With all this fun to be had, it's not surprising that the most underrated song is also the saddest.

"The Warmth of the Sun" aches with unrequited love. Mike Love's lyrics put it simply:

The love of my life
She left me one day
I cried when she said
"I don't feel the same way"
Still I have the warmth of the sun
Within me tonight

Love and Brian Wilson composed the song the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Brian has suggested a connection between the romantic loss of the lyrics and the nation's loss that day in 1963. Brian's lead vocal, one of his most tender, foreshadows the deeply personal tone of the band's 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds.

The song first appeared on 1964's Shut Down: Volume 2. It was a time when the band was smack dab in between their early Chuck Berry knockoffs and their lush mid-'60s peak. Though songs like "The Warmth of the Sun" hint at a growing melodic complexity, Capitol Records still hyped their act as surfing, drag racing boys of summer. The original LP's outer sleeve reads, "The Beach Boys blazed to national championship in the hot rod song field... Pull up a bucket seat and aim an ear at The Beach Boys and SHUT DOWN, VOL. II!" Musically, they were maturing, but it would take a couple more years for their image to catch up.

As a result, the album feels oddly lopsided. Side 2 begins with the frivolous "Fun Fun Fun," immediately followed by the teen heartbreak of "Don't Worry Baby." The side ends with the jarring combination of "The Warmth of the Sun," their most pensive and deeply felt ballad up to that point, and the lazy, juvenile "This Car of Mine."

Soon afterwards, the Beach Boys would abandon songs about cars in favor of romance and introspection, then psychedelia, then self-parody. They went through a lot of phases in their long career, but summer was a topic they always returned to. Of all their songs, though, only "The Warmth of the Sun" eloquently explains just why we need to keep a little summer in our hearts all year round.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "The Warmth of the Sun" by the Beach Boys
AVAILABLE ON: Shut Down- Volume 2; iTunes