Last week’s mixtape was a discussion of the madness of post-Pet Sounds Brian Wilson. It wasn’t a pretty time for the Beach Boys, as an unreliable central figure and a fast-approaching irrelevancy put the band in a serious creative (and commercial) limbo. Without a clear creative leader (I need to define “leader” because to those just passively paying attention, Mike Love was the Beach Boys’ de facto frontman and remains so to this day), the remaining Beach Boys were forced to rely on their survival instincts to remain at least partially viable. Brian Wilson was no longer the primary creative engine; now the rest of the band – Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Love and Al Jardine along with part time members Bruce Johnston, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin – were required to carry some of the creative weight. The resulting “full band” albums are spotty, but occasionally brilliant. Here are some of the absolute best songs that came from this difficult time (a note, not every song is available on You Tube. I have pprovided Grooveshark links for the rest).

The Beach Boys: The Depth Players

“Little Bird” (from Friends, 1968)

While Friends is largely made up of Brian Wilson tracks, it marked the first time someone else from the band was given the opportunity to take sole credit for a song. The first Beach Boy to try his hand at songwriting was Dennis Wilson, who up to that point was known to be just a drummer and marginal vocalist (as well as the one Beach Boy who could actually, you know, surf). Still, this first songwriting venture by Dennis highlights the fact that there was a serious talent lurking in the shadows of the Beach Boys all along. “Little Bird” is a cool, moody song that constantly changes direction and is loaded with fascinating instrumental performances. The whole thing is made even more impressive by the realness of Dennis’ vocals. While he was often relegated to the background of the Beach Boys, it was Dennis boldness as a songwriter that opened the door for the rest of the members to ply their trade. Throughout it all, Dennis remained the most compelling songwriter, often penning songs that would challenge even his older brother’s finest.

“Slip On Through” (from Sunflower, 1970)
I swear, this thing will not be all Dennis Wilson tracks, but it really needs to be stressed how consistently impressive Wilson’s songs were. Sure, he could often be accused of writing the odd rock n’ roll boogie woogie filler (like this album’s “Got To Know The Woman”), but when he was on, which he so often was, Dennis was a force. “Slip On Through” kicks off with a groovy, almost predatory verse that opens up into a great rock gospel chorus. Once again, Dennis has the ideal vocals for the situation. Dennis’ rawer vocals give the song a real passionate thrust that the remaining members (sweetly harmonizing in the background here) simply cannot match.

“Tears In The Morning” (from Sunflower, 1970)

Now this is just a shot in the dark, but I’m guessing if you were to survey, let’s say, 100,000 people on who their favorite Beach Boy is, Bruce Johnston’s name would come up approximately zero times. Always a sort of periphery member, Johnston’s 70s songwriting compositions are comprised of a handful of really schmaltzy songs that clashed badly with the band’s more experimental approach. “Tears In The Morning” falls on the right side of the schmaltz line, however. A breakup song with some tasteful baroque pop flourishes (love those strings), “Tears” sounds like the kind of AM radio staple that you simply allow to permeate your psyche and accept as great.

“Don’t Go Near The Water” (from Surf’s Up, 1971)

For most Beach Boys fans (along with anyone who saw the Beach Boys induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame), Mike Love is pretty famous for being the biggest asshole in the history of music. The fact that so many of the songs he wrote (either alone or with Al Jardine) are absolute dreck only emboldens that view further (“He’s a prick and his art is bad!”). But I have to give the devil his due here. “Don’t Go Near The Water,” Love and Jardine’s on the nose anti-pollution ditty, is not only totally great, it’s the first post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys song I ever learned to love. I get that people like to dismiss this one as being, I don’t know, slight or something, but I’ll be damned if that wacked-out second verse vocal by Jardine doesn’t get me every time. This is a goofy song, but it’s strange enough to be exhilerating. Point one for Love, the bastard.

“Feel Flows” (from Surf’s Up, 1971)

Not to be outmatched by his two brothers, Carl Wilson’s songwriting ventures also show an incredible adeptness and experimental bent. As the owner of the best voice in the Beach Boys, Carl could have written songs that leaned entirely on that fact, but “Feel Flows” is so, so much more. With flourishes of soft psychedelia and poetically focused lyrics (sample line: “Whether whistling heaven’s clouds disappear/Where the wind withers memory/Whether whiteness whisks soft shadows away”), “Feel Flows” is a sort of sister song to “Good Vibrations.” While those early post-Brian albums show tremendous songwriting growth from the remaining Beach Boys, “Feel Flows” is the first non-Brian song to be and out-and-out masterpiece.

“Hold On, Dear Brother” (from Carl & The Passions – “So Tough,” 1972)

With Brian Wilson unable to fulfill a full-time spot thanks to his *ahem* troubles and Bruce Johnston’s 1972 departure, the Beach Boys picked up Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar of the band Flame to help the band both instrumentally and with some songwriting. I find the Chaplin and Fataar era endlessly interesting, if occasionally spotty. It was during this era that the Beach Boys most went out of their way to deviate from their own finely developed perceived sound. Carl & The Passions – “So Tough” is an odd album as it finds the Beach Boys trying everything but “typical” Beach Boys. It’s an earthier album, save for Dennis’ two strangely ethereal offerings. Chaplin and Fataar actually provide two of my favorite songs on the album: the bouncing, bluesy “Here She Comes” and “Hold On, Dear Brother,” a country rock number that incorporates steel guitar and lead vocals from Chaplin. It sounds more like the Band than the Beach Boys, but it also shows how pure the traditional Beach Boy harmonies sound in a twangier setting. I’ll say it: my favorite Beach Boys song of the 70s.

“Calfiornia Saga/Big Sur” (from Holland, 1973)

That sonofabitch Mike Love sneaks another one past me. The three-part, Love and Jardine-penned “California Saga” song cycle that makes up a large part of the first side of Holland is all over the map. “California Saga” includes a kind of desperate Beach Boys throwback on the disposable “California” and the absolutely unlistenable spoken word atrocity that is “The Beaks Of Eagles,” but by the same token there is “Big Sur,” a relaxed, tasteful folk waltz. While Love’s lyrics are more hippy gobbledygook, the song is a highlight on the inconsistent Holland - proof positive that no matter how easy it is to hate Mike Love, the guy showed significant flashes of legitimate talent from time to time. The asshole.

“Only With You” (from Holland, 1973)

In this era of the Beach Boys, it was apparent that Dennis Wilson was the boldest songwriter while Carl Wilson still boasted the most crystalline voice. Those two key facets come together exquisitely on “Only With You,” a Dennis-penned, Carl-sung love song that is made up of some of the most perfect individual moments the Beach Boys had ever created. Of course, the song peaks on the bridge (or is it the coda? No idea) with Carl’s little grunts (“All I wanna do – oh – is spend my life with you – oh”) and a subtle, almost impossible to pick up muted guitar arpeggio. It all comes together so nicely.

“Angel Come Home” (from L.A. [Light Album], 1979)
No one should have cared about the Beach Boys in 1979 – even the Beach Boys themselves – but L.A. (Light Album) is made tolerable thanks to a handful of Dennis Wilson tracks that were intended for his ultimately unfinished second solo album, Bamboo. “Angel Come Home” is Dennis Wilson in fine form. His voice now gruff and weathered, Dennis was able to communicate the passion of his songs with more believabilty than his still-sweet voiced bandmates (seriously, there’s something odd about hearing a 40-something man singing falsetto intentionally). That said, “Angel Come home” sounds more like an MOR Elvis Costello (think “Alison” with a punchier chorus) and it’s all the better for it.

“Love Surrounds Me” (from L.A. [Light Album], 1979)

“Love Surrounds Me” – another Dennis Wilson track – may be a song about love and other nice things, but it’s vibe is pure 3 a.m. in Los Angeles after a night of Jack and coke (not the drink). It feels ghoulishly funky and a touch menacing. It’s a song about a guy celebrating his hanger-on junkie friends and it’s great. That closing vamp is just perfect. I can’t think of a song that better encapsulates the encroaching death of the 70s better than this one.