The Beach Boys SUMMER DAYS & SMILEY SMILE AP Mono Vinyl LPs Sealed

$

200

The ultimate pressings of the Beach Boys discography from Analogue Productions!

Original mono mix produced by Brian Wilson

One of 10 titles featuring 33 1/3 mono and stereo remastered editions: Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Beach Boys Party!, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile

Audio production — Mark Linett

For Brother Records — Elliott Lott

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, most from the original master tapes or best sources available

Lacquer plating by Gary Salstrom and 200-gram vinyl pressing by Quality Record Pressings!

"These are the best sounding and best-looking versions of the Beach Boys records that have ever been produced. We want everything about these to be better than the original." — Chad Kassem, owner and CEO, Acoustic Sounds

"I'll take the original mono mix and not because of the absence of digits. I just think it's fuller-sounding, more dynamic and impactful. It's also more transparent. I did not have an original to compare but based on The Beach Boys Today! comparison I'm sure the reissue smokes the original." — Michael Fremer, Analog Planet.com. Read the whole review here.

"What I can say is that Kevin Gray has been able to extract every last bit of information from whatever tape is in the box, and present it in a way that is pleasing and natural to the ear. ... in my opinion, the Analogue Productions pressings are now THE definitive issue of each Beach Boys album, and will be my reference copies until if and when something better comes along — which may be never." — Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly, Summer 2015 Edition

To meet the standards of Analogue Productions, our Beach Boys album reissues had a mission to achieve: Present the band's music the way that Brian Wilson — famed co-founder, songwriter and arranger — intended. Mono mixes created under Wilson’s supervision were how the surf rockin’ California crew rose to fame! 

For the early part of the Beach Boys career, all of their singles were mixed and mastered and released only in the mono format — they didn't release a single in stereo until 1968. In those days, hits were made on AM radio in mono. And the mono of those times worked well for Wilson, who suffers from partial deafness. Still, apart from Surfin' Safari, which was mono only, the Beach Boys did turn in stereo masters on all of their early albums up until 1965. The Beach Boys Today! was the first LP for which they only delivered a mono master.

"Brian may or may not have been present for those mixing sessions — evidence suggests that he trusted Chuck's skills enough to let him prepare those mixes on his own — but the group held onto their multitrack tapes and delivered stereo masters to Capitol, rather than allowing Capitol to prepare their own stereo versions. Later, when Brian was only delivering mono masters, Capitol would prepare the Duophonic pseudo stereo editions for the stereo market," says Alan Boyd, producer and Beach Boys' archivist.

Still, bottom line, the mono mixes were where Brian Wilson paid intense attention, and the dedication paid off!

We’ve taken 10 of the most classic, best-sounding Beach Boy titles ever and restored them to their mono glory!

But there’s no disputing that the close harmonies and one-of-a-kind rhythms of hits like “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and more lend themselves naturally to stereo. So we’ve got your 2-channel needs covered with prime stereo mix versions as well. 

Mastered by Kevin Gray, most from the original master tapes, and plated and pressed by Quality Record Pressings, the finest LP pressing facility in the world, these are awesome recordings to experience. And the look of each album befits its sonic superiority! Presented in "old school" Stoughton tip-on jackets, these time honored favorites shine brighter than the originals!

Summer Days features another Wilson world-beater production, "California Girls," and the band's second No. 1 single, "Help Me, Rhonda." Ever pressured by commercial concerns, Wilson and the band created what was in essence the true follow-up to the All Summer Long album. Still, there's a level of musical sophistication to tracks such as "Salt Lake City," the Phil Spector tribute "Then I Kissed Her," "Summer Means New Love" and "Let Him Run Wild."