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Little Deuce Coupe - Notes

The Beach Boys 4th US album and their 7th UK album release. A CEMA version of Little Deuce Coupe on CD was released in 1992 (Canada) prior to the 1994 Capitol releases and may(unknown) be part of a broader series release by CEMA in Canada.
In the US, the album was released in October 1963, and entered the US chart the following month - it reached the no.4 spot in 1964, and spent 46 weeks on the chart. The Beach Boys' 7th Gold album, it would eventually become the Beach boys 2nd US platinum selling album as certified by the RIAA in Feb. 1992.
Released in the UK in October 1965, the album did not chart. Once again, only one album track was released as a double A-Side single. In the US, Be True To Your School (a complete re-recording for the single) reached no.6 , while the flip side, In My Room , reached no.23 - The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire) was topping the US charts at the time.

Little Deuce Coupe - The Beach Boys
CD release date:June 28th 1994
Record label:Capitol
CD code:CDP 724382966128
Media format:CD (remastered, 16 bit)
Audio:mono/stereo
Album History
First Release Date:US:10/63 -- UK:10/65
Serial No:US - T/ST 1998
Chart #pos(weeks):US - #4(46) UK - DNC
Little Deuce Coupe - track listing
TrackTitleTime
1.Little Deuce Coupe1.42
2.Ballad Of Ole' Betsy2.14
3.Be True To Your School2.06
4.Car Crazy Cutie2.47
5.Cherry, Cherry Coupe1.47
6.4091.57
7.Shut Down1.49
8.Spirit Of America2.22
9.Our Car Club2.20
10.No-Go Showboat2.20
11.A Young Man Is Gone2.18
12.Custom Machine1.41
Little Deuce Coupe - Chords coming soon
Little Deuce Coupe - Review

Background: In the Autumn (Fall) of 1963 and even before the release of the Surfer Girl album, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were back in the studio to record the next album which would be released within a few weeks. This hastily assembled offering included four previously released Beach Boy tracks and was in response to the Shut Down compilation album released by Capitol Records which featured other groups and included two Beach Boys' cuts: 409 and Shut Down

The Shut Down album was release on CD in Japan by Toshiba-EMI (1997) ref. TOCP-3313
This relentless pace was bound to take its toll on Brian who, in addition to his writing and producing responsibilities, was once again having to tour extensively due to the departure of David Marks. David had had enough of the domineering Murry Wilson and set out to build his own career. Al Jardine had already returned to help out and now became a permanent fixture. Brian’s workload included continuing to write and produce for the Honeys throughout this period. Having fully exploited the surfing theme, Brian (with Roger Christian’s help) started to capitalise on the car craze the

Review: Little Deuce Coupe (already released on the Surfer Girl album) is another of the automotive classics written with Roger Christian and covers just about every aspect of the Californian car culture at the time. Ballad Of Ole’ Betsy is a beautiful ballad to an old car - very Brian Wilson; maybe only Brian Wilson! Be True To Your School incorporated part of the high school cheerleader chant in the song. The opening vocals to Car Crazy Cutie set the scene for a typical Brian Wilson shuffle-beat and a simple song lifted up by THAT vocal blend. It seems that Cherry, Cherry Coupe owes much to the then unreleased track Land Ahoy and has some great Mike Love bass vocals. 409 (previously released on the Surfin’ Safari album) sounds smoother here as if Brian had ‘sweetened’ or re-mixed the track. Shut Down (released on the Surfin’ U.S.A. album) has fast paced lyrics full of hot-rod jargon, a great melody and the Beach Boys ‘sound’, you could be right there on Sunset Strip! Spirit Of America is Brian’s tribute to Craig Breedlove’s land speed record car. As with many of his potentially ‘trite’ songs, Brian pulls it off because of his sincerity. Although just released a few weeks previously on the Surfer Girl album Our Car Club obviously fit perfectly on this car-themed album. No-Go Showboat is one of the two standout tracks on the album. There are some really inventive chord changes and very modern harmonies under a wailing Brian falsetto and Mike’s self-depreciating lyrics. The Bobby Troup standard Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring had long been a popular party-piece of the young Wilsons and their cousin Mike which allowed them to show off their a cappella prowess. Here the lyrics have been re-worked as a tribute to James Dean entitled A Young Man Is Gone. Customisation of hot rod cars was a huge part of the American car culture scene and again the song Custom Machine has cool chord changes, a great melody, solid block harmonies from the group with Brian soaring on the top and a spot-on Mike Love narrative lyric and lead vocal.

Summary: Little Deuce Coupe is certainly a formulaic response to the exploitative Capitol Compilation record, but the collection of car-themed song stands up and helped the Beach Boys retain their place in the charts. The quality of some of the new material Brian came up with for the album in the light of the workload pressures he suffered was testimony to his gift and his energy.

Highlights: Be True To Your School, No-Go Showboat, Custom Machine

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