One of the greatest records of all time – and don't you forget it! Despite the countless lines of type that have been written about this record, nothing does it full justice like an all-through listen – something we're reminded of every time we put this one on the turntable, which is a heck of a lot over the years! Brian Wilson busted his ass making this little gem – and the rest of the world, and the band, were never the same again – awash in harmonies that most other groups tried to match, set to themes of young loss, longing, and frustration that really mark an emotional development – not just in the Beach Boys, but in pop music in general. And although some of the tracks are ones you've heard a million times on oldies stations, they somehow resonate together much more strongly here – taking on new meaning as the smaller elements of each song come into constellation with each other – creating a complicated tapestry of feelings set to near-godlike orchestrations. Titles include "God Only Knows", "Caroline No", "Pet Sounds", "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "You Still Believe In Me". Also includes the bonus track "Hang On To Your Ego". CD

(Cassettes, Rock) Cassette

A record with "surf" in the title, but one that's light years from the earlier Beach Boys albums of the 60s! This set is a wonderfully mature effort – hardly surf music at all, and one that moves nicely in the same territory as Sunflower and 20/20! Some of the tunes are wonderfully gentle and heartfelt, and others try for some new subject matter for the group – sometimes missing the mark a bit, but still holding our interest strongly in the way they try. Genius work include "Disney Girls" and "Til I Die" – both instant classics – and other titles include "Don't Go Near The Water", "Long Promised Road", "A Day In The Life Of A Tree", and "Surf's Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool split LP – one that features the Pet Sounds album paired with the Beach Boys' Carl & The Passions album! LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy little version of The Beach Boys' "Here Comes The Night" – updated to a clubbier style from the original version – with soaring strings, dancefloor rhythms, and a bit of keyboards too! 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Fantastic stuff! Smiley Smile is the issued version of Smile, a classic – and even though some may gripe that it's missing the 50% extra material that was supposed to be on the Smile set, it's still utterly fantastic! Titles include "Vegetables", "Heroes & Villains", "Fall", "Little Pad", "With Me Tonight", and "Wind Chimes". Wild Honey is a great lost album, too – one that has the Beach Boys going back to more stripped-down sounds, but still staying kind of odd and eerie, on tracks like "Let The Wind Blow", "I'd Love Just Once To See You", "Country Air", "Aren't You Glad", and "Here Comes The Night". CD also features 6 bonus tracks, including alternate takes from the Smile sessions! CD

An incredible fantasy of California pop – recorded too late in the 60s to really strike big, but with a perfect approach to mid-decade Beach Boys at their best! Mark Eric's clearly borrowing plenty of pages from Brian Wilson's bag for this set (and maybe Brian Hyland too) – and the original tunes have the beautiful quality of Wilson's best writing in the pre-Pet Sounds years – dealing with deeper themes, but in a very careful and sometimes guarded way that makes the tunes that much more heartfelt. The arrangements are Wilson-inspired too – but have a more mature style than the lyrics – handled by Vic Briggs with a quality that's similar to the brilliant Surf Symphony album of the same year – almost a dreamy remembrance of the sweeter side of California earlier in the decade, but undercut with some of the bluer, more adult modes of the time. Backings feature swirling strings, ringing vibes, and some groovy guitar – and Mark's vocals are often recorded in a way that harmonizes them against the lead – a one-man vocal group, with echoes of The Four Freshmen at times. Titles include "California Home", "Move With The Dawn", "Laura's Changing", "Lynn's Baby", "Just Passing By", "Sad Is The Way That I Feel", and "Take Me With You". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge record in its day and it hasn't aged a minute since! On Psychocandy the Reid brothers took all the underground Brit indie psych revival modes and filtered them through the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, then paired melodies learned from sources as sweet as 60s Wall Of Sound pop and the Beach Boys to ferociously fuzzy guitars – and stunning found a way to spring this onto to fringes of the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic! Hugely influential – a record that points the way towards sounds so many would soon follow. Titles include "In A Hole", "The Hardest Walk", "Taste The Floor", "Just Like Honey", "Never Understand", and "You Trip Me Up". DualDisc audio is advanced resolution 96khz/24 bit stereo sound and Dolby stereo sound. CD

A really lost chapter in the career of Brian Wilson – an album produced by the famous Beach Boy for poet Stephen John Kalinich, done with a bit of music and vocals by Wilson himself! The record's quite odd – spare, thoughtful poetry – often recorded with slight production touches that make the vocals sound nicely weird – and occasional bits of music or other Wilson-like touches, but all in ways that are quite different from any Beach Boys work. Kalinich's words had an impact on the Friends album by the Beach Boys, but the feel here is a lot darker – and at the few points when Brian's background vocals come into play, it creates a great sense of contrast that hints at the darker corners of the late 60s world of pop in SoCal. Titles include "The Deer The Elk The Raven", "Candy Face Lane", "Lonely Man", "A World Of Peace Must Come", "If You Knew", and "America I Know You". Also features a bonus demo of "Leaves Of Grass". CD

A great group from the 70s AOR scene – one that never fully got its due, but which never let that stop them from doing their best! Silver have this great harmony style that's somewhere in the territory of America – kind of a post-Beach Boys version of male group pop that's years beyond the modes of the 60s, and wrapped up here with near-perfect production that makes the harmonies sound even more heavenly they might have a few years before! All group members sing – John Batdorf, Brent Mydland, Greg Collier, Tom Leadon, and Harry Stinson – and most write tunes on the record, too. Titles include "Musician", "All I Wanna Do", "Memory", "Right On Time", "Goodbye So Long", "Wham Bam", and "Trust In Somebody". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost bit of Sunshine pop – and one of our favorite indie sides from the late 60s! The Yellow Balloon may not have been a household name, but they've got a heck of a talent for harmonizing in the best sunny style of the time – matching The Association or The Beach Boys for sheer sweet vocal approach, and working with some nice Left Banke-ish touches that bring a baroque edge to the set. The tunes are all pretty darn catchy – sitting nicely between Pet Sounds and Pretty Ballerina for sheer charm – and although the set's an indie effort at heart, it comes across like the best from the bigger labels of the time! Titles include "Yellow Balloon", "Junk Maker Shoppe", "Springtime Girl", "Stained Glass Window", "How Can I Be Down", and "I've Got A Feeling For Love". CD

Includes tracks by Fontella Bass, Otis Redding, Supremes, Shangri-La's, Joe Tex, Byrds, Yardbirds, Marvin Gaye, Kinks, Martha & The Vandellas, Beach Boys, Miracles, and more. (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

This deluxe box set includes loads & loads of memorabillia, a hardbound book, and the complete music from the motion picture spread across 8 LPs, 5 CDs, and a bonus 7"! Original score is performed by Nancy Wilson. Original soundtrack includes tracks by Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, MC5, Seeds, Neil Young, Allman Brothers Band, Iggy & The Stooges, Yes, Jethro Tull, Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Little Feat, and many more! Also includes the complete recordings of fictitious band from the movie, Stillwater! LP, Vinyl record album

Music from The Beach Boys, Dick Dale & His Del-Tones, Duane Eddy, Jorgen Ingmann, The Sandals, The Marketts, The Ventures, Jack Nitzsche, The Chantays, The Bel-Airs, and more - 18 tracks in all. CD

Music from Manfred Mann, The Zombies, The Tams, Chuck Berry, The Newbeats, The Supremes, The Searchers, The Beach Boys, Gerry And The Pacemakers, The Premiers, and more - 24 tracks in all. CD

Nice 50 track compilation with music from the Byrds, the Turtles, Vanilla Fudge, the Electric Prunes, Spirit, the Leaves, Love, the Beach Boys, Moby Grape, Donovan, Cream, July, the Move, and much more. CD

20 tracks over 2 records – Gene Vincent, Sam Cooke, Peggy Lee, Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Johnny Otis, Cilla Black, Nelson Riddle, Beau Brummels, Gene Chandler, Billy Bland, Bobby Freeman, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

A deep deep dive into the farther reaches of the California scene in the late 60s – music that's completely wonderful all the way through, and presented with a level that really blows away some of the less-official collections on the market! If you know the hit sounds of the time, you'll know a bit of what to expect here – but the selection of cuts goes way way deeper, put together by Alec Palao, a guy we'd already trust with anything Cali from the 60s – and who really knocks himself out with this set! If you dig Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas, and the Byrds, you'll find plenty of new sounds here to fall in love with – and as usual with Ace, the whole thing comes with superb notes, and even features a few unreleased tracks – including two rare cuts by Third Wave, who recorded one album for MPS! Titles include "Niki" and "Three Kingfishers Ferris Wheel" by Third Wave, "Go Try & Put Out The Sun" by The Forum, "Soul Sunrise" by JP Rags, "A Thousand Faces" by The Thousand Faces, "Out In The Open" by The Justice League, "Meadows & Flowers" by Curt Boettcher, "Richard & Me" by Evergreen Tangerine, "Someday Sunday" by The Gettysburg Address, "Lazy Bones" by The Tricycle, "Sugar Stone" by The Candy Company, "The Life You Lead" by A Small World, "Summer Flower" by Crystal Set, and "Until Now" by Augie Moreno. CD

An unusual Beach Boys offshoot project – a soundtrack that features work by a group led by Mike Love with Charles Lloyd on sax and flute, Ron Altbach on piano, Dave Robinson on bass and vocals, Mike Kowalski on drums and percussion, Ed Carter on guitar and bass, Wells Kelly on bass, and Gary Griffin on synthesizers and electric piano – with some songs written by Brian Wilson too! (Soundtracks, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Chicago's second album – not as familiar as the first, and with some really great moments! The group is working here in the same extended-length format as on their debut, going for some more complicated tunes spread across the album's double length – jazzy riffing still firmly in place, and going for some vocal moments that almost have a nice Brother-era Beach Boys sound to them. Includes the great "Make Me Smile", plus the cuts "Poem For The People", "In The Country", "Wake Up Sunshine", "25 Or 6 To 4", "To Be Free", "Fancy Colours", "West Virginia Fantasies", "Where Do We Go From Here", and "Memories Of Love". More grooves than you might remember, too! LP, Vinyl record album

A huge record in its day and it hasn't aged a minute since! On Psychocandy the Reid brothers took all the underground Brit indie psych revival modes and filtered them through the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, then paired melodies learned from sources as sweet as 60s Wall Of Sound pop and the Beach Boys to ferociously fuzzy guitars – and stunning found a way to spring this onto to fringes of the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic! Hugely influential – a record that points the way towards sounds so many would soon follow. Titles include "In A Hole", "The Hardest Walk", "Taste The Floor", "Just Like Honey", "Never Understand", and "You Trip Me Up". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album by Three Dog Night – cut back when they were a hip LA combo getting a lot of help and inspiration from The Beach Boys! The set's got a bit of a harder rocking sound than you might expect from some of their later hits – heavy drums and lots of guitars, mixed in with the sweeter and trippy harmony styles of the group. Titles include "Heaven Is In Your Mind", "It's For You", "One", "Chest Fever", "Let Me Go", "Find Someone To Love", and "The Loner". CD

A surprisingly sweet solo effort from Beach Boy Dennis Wilson – a record of surprising depth and darkness, and arguably stronger than most of the albums at the time from the larger group! Dennis produced the album himself, with some executive help from James William Guerico – whose guidance here seems key, given the overall quality of the set. There's some echoes of Beach Boys' styles in the music, but the sound is much more personal as well – Wilson's ragged vocals in the lead on all numbers, sometimes upfront and fragile, sometimes given a bit more umph through the use of processing – at that level that the whole group would often experience in the studio during the 70s. The album's as much of a showcase for Dennis' writing skills as it is for his vocals – and songs are co-written with co-producer Gregg Jakobson, as well as Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Karen Lamm-Wilson. Titles include "River Song", "Friday Night", "Thoughts Of You", "Dreamer", "Time", "You And I", and "What's Wrong". This limited version of the expanded Legacy edition is really amazing – with a huge booklet of notes and photos, as well as essays on Dennis' music – plus session bonus tracks that include "Mexico", "Holy Man", "Only With You", and "Tug Of Love". Also features a full bonus CD with the sessions for the unreleased Bambu album – with tracks that include "School Girl", "It's Not Too Late", "Under The Moonlight", "Are You Real", "He's A Bum", "Cocktails", "I Love You", "Constant Companion", and "Time For Bed". CD

A surprisingly sweet solo effort from Beach Boy Dennis Wilson – a record of surprising depth and darkness, and arguably stronger than most of the albums at the time from the larger group! Dennis produced the album himself, with some executive help from James William Guerico – whose guidance here seems key, given the overall quality of the set. There's some echoes of Beach Boys' styles in the music, but the sound is much more personal as well – Wilson's ragged vocals in the lead on all numbers, sometimes upfront and fragile, sometimes given a bit more umph through the use of processing – at that level that the whole group would often experience in the studio during the 70s. The album's as much of a showcase for Dennis' writing skills as it is for his vocals – and songs are co-written with co-producer Gregg Jakobson, as well as Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Karen Lamm-Wilson. Titles include "River Song", "Friday Night", "Thoughts Of You", "Dreamer", "Time", "You And I", and "What's Wrong". This expanded Legacy edition is really amazing – with a 24-page booklet with notes and photos – plus session bonus tracks that include "Mexico", "Holy Man", "Only With You", and "Tug Of Love". Also features a full bonus CD with the sessions for the unreleased Bambu album – with tracks that include "School Girl", "It's Not Too Late", "Under The Moonlight", "Are You Real", "He's A Bum", "Cocktails", "I Love You", "Constant Companion", and "Time For Bed". CD

Includes performances by Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Country Joe McDonald, the Beach Boys, Merry Clayton, and Linda Ronstadt. LP, Vinyl record album

A deep dive into the sound of Los Angeles in the middle of the 60s – a really well-done box that somehow manages to mix together all the different strains of music that were going on in the city of angels at the time – sunshine pop, garage rock, psych, pop, and even more experimental modes – served up here in a set list that's full of some of the coolest, hippest groups of the time! The box takes its title from a Beach Boys tune, but this isn't a set of well-played oldies from AM radio – and instead, the selection demonstrates the continued appreciation of this period of music over the decades, and the shift in interest to some of the more groundbreaking, obscure groups of the period – served up here with bigger names as well – all with the detailed notes and overflowing amount of tracks that we love from these boxes on the Grapefruit label! There's a massive 90 tracks in all – with work from Mark Eric, Jim & The Lords, The Heroes, Candy Company, Odds & Ends, Spirit, The Misunderstood, Urban Renewal Project, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Captain Beefheart, Ruthann Friedman, The Rogues, Music Machine, Whatt Four, Velvet Illusions, Merrell & The Xiles, Sanctions, Grass Roots, New Wave, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Grains Of Sand, Merry Go Round, Human Expression, Love, Laughing Wind, Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends, Boystown, Gene Clark, and many others! CD

That's not a typo in the title – the compilation's a collection of tracks that all bear the mark of Phil Spector – Spector's Spectres, if you will! It's a well known fact that Phil had a monumental impact on 60s rock, pop, and soul music – as his "wall of sound" production style forever transformed the sound of the single back in the sixties. And although there's been lots of compilations that focus on Phil's own work, this is the first one we've seen to showcase his proteges and contemporaries – a surprisingly wide range of studio talents who all picked up on Phil's tricks and twists! The tunes on the set include some great 60s soul and pop numbers, and a bunch of the tracks are reissued legally here for the first time. Plus, the set's got some wonderful liner notes – really taking you through the tracks, and explaining the connection to Spector and the overall sound of the music. Features production work by Nick DeCaro, Van McCoy, Jan Davis, Abner Spector, Brian Holland & Lamont Dozier, Brian Wilson, Sonny Bono, and Jack Nitszche – and titles that include "When You Walk In The Room" by Jackie DeShannon, "When The Boy's Happy" by The Four Pennies, "Hang On" by The Wall Of Sound, "Tremblin" by Gene Pitney, "A Little Love" by Alder Ray, "On The Spanish Side" by The Corsairs & Landy McNeil, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" by The Beach Boys, "Just You" by Sonny & Cher, "I Can't Make It Alone" by PJ Proby, "And That Reminds Me" by The Dolls, "You're So Fine" by Dorothy Berry, "Missing My Baby" by Clydie King, and "I Just Couldn't Say" by Lorraine & The Delights. CD

A huge look at the Liverpool scene in the UK – but one that doesn't focus on the generation of the Beatles and Brit Invasion groups – and instead brings some great attention to the city's contribution to the post-punk years and beyond! The package is tremendous – 100 songs in a huge booklet of notes – tracing an evolution from the late 70s years, when Liverpool was as creative and fervent of a scene as other North England territories, like Manchester and Sheffield – but also one that could quickly develop some tuneful aspects too, which no doubt helped the rest of the UK music scene of the 80s find a way to expand in some great global directions! Throughout the whole time covered here, there's a great tension between experimentation and commercial success – one that's covered beautifully by the many tracks in the collection, and also documented in the hefty notes within. There's far too many tracks here for us to list – but let us say that the package is overflowing with work by artists as diverse as Dalek I, The Wild Swans, China Crisis, Pink Industry, Care, Box Of Toys, Deaf School, Big In Japan, Pale Fountains, Icicle Works, Dead Or Alive, The Lotus Eaters, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Mr Amir, Brenda & The Beach Balls, Jegsy Dodd & The Sons Of Harry Cross, The La's, Jactars, Magic Carpets, Barbel, The Walking Seeds, Thomas Lang, Ministry Of Love, Nightmares In Wax, OMD, The Planets, Spitfire Boys, Geisha Girls, Royal Family & The Poor, Public Disgrace, It's Immaterial, The Balcony, The Yachts, Teardrop Explodes, Original Mirrors, The Press Gang, Moderates, Egypt For Now, Those Naughty Lumps, Flock Of Seagulls, Freeze Frame, Echo & The Bunnymen, and many more! CD

Fantastic dreamy pop from one of the greatest harmony groups of the 60s – a set that really has The Association hitting their stride, and finding a way to really let their vocals soar! The sound here really sets the group apart from some of the more old-school harmony acts of the decade – and the shift is almost like that in the Beach Boys at mid 60s, the way that things got more complicated and sophisticated, but more powerful too – even when the tunes have some really sing-song charms that made them hits! Production is by Bones Howe, who really gets the sound right – and the album features the giant hits "Windy" and "Never My Love" – plus "Happiness Is", "On A Quiet Night", "We Love Us", "Reputation", and "Requiem For The Masses". This great expanded mono edition has 11 bonus tracks – including "Autumn Afternoon", "Windy (Mono 45)", "Requiem For The Masses (Mono 45)", "Sometime (Instrumental)", "We Love Us (Instrumental)" and more. CD

Skate or die! Ten novelty tracks in the style of early Beach Boys. Titles include "Skateboard King", "Skateboard Party", "Skateboard Queen", "Skateboard Dancing", "Skateboard Surfing", and "Skateboard Racing". LP, Vinyl record album

Drag strip rockers to more vocals based surf and otherwise pop numbers by The Rip Chords! Hey Little Cobra has a wealth of numbers, with the vocals kind of floating over the arrangements and a surreal way – be they duo harmonies or more layered Beach Boys & 4 Seasons style – with seedy & pulpy rockers and sweeter numbers. Includes "Hey Little Cobra","409", Shut Down", "Drag City" and many more. LP, Vinyl record album

The first album by Three Dog Night – cut back when they were a hip LA combo getting a lot of help and inspiration from The Beach Boys! The set's got a bit of a harder rocking sound than you might expect from some of their later hits – heavy drums and lots of guitars, mixed in with the sweeter and trippy harmony styles of the group. Titles include "Heaven Is In Your Mind", "It's For You", "One", "Chest Fever", "Let Me Go", "Find Someone To Love", and "The Loner". LP, Vinyl record album

A weird and wonderful collection from Warner Brothers – with tracks that include "War Song" by Neil Young with Graham Nash, "Strutter" by Kiss, "Vegetables" by The Beach Boys, "The 68 Nixon" by Denver Boise & Johnson, "Sweet Revenge" by Ted Nugent, "Cosmic Debris" by Frank Zappa, "A 200" by Deep Purple, "Atlantic Liner" by Chunky Novi & Ernie, "We've Been Waiting" by Graham Central Station, and "Dr Horowitz" by Terry Melcher. LP, Vinyl record album