Background: 1964 starts as busily for Brian Wilson as 1963 ended. Still playing at most of the live shows, writing and producing for the Honeys and other artists, he and the group start recording the next album, the process of which is interrupted by a two week tour of Australia and New Zealand. Before the recording is completed Brian is hit with the overwhelming and immediate effect of the Beatles impact on the US music scene. Although Brian is not fully satisfied with the end product because of the rush to respond to the Beatles ‘threat’, Capitol insists on an early release of the album.

Review: Fun Fun Fun is an electric high-octane car song. The musicianship from the group and the ace session players drive the song on with an energy that excites on every listen. The classic Mike Love lead vocal and trademark block group harmonies with the soaring Brian Wilson falsetto on top makes this the quintessential Beach Boys fast song, and it has a guaranteed place in every live concert encore. Don’t Worry Baby is ostensibly a slow Beach Boys car song, but every aspect of the recording lifts it to a different level. The chord changes are sublime, the instrumentation sympathetic, the harmonies were never more dense and Brian Wilson delivers one of his most beautiful lead vocals ever. Western Studio 3 never sounded so good. In The Parking Lot has the unenviable task of following Don’t Worry Baby and yet somehow, the first eight bars of dense harmonies seem a natural follow-up and transition to a more light-hearted romp around a... parking lot. There may have been a good reason to include "Cassius" Love vs "Sonny" Wilson on the album, but it escapes the writer. The Warmth of The Sun however, takes us back to the dizzy heights of Brian Wilson’s art and ambition. A heart-felt rendition of a brilliant Mike Love lyric about personal loss by Brian seems to perfectly capture the melancholy of the time following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Once again the exquisite chord structure and harmonic textures from the group vocals elevate this song to truly classic status. Dennis Wilson has not been properly recognised for the contribution the richness of his voice made to the Beach Boys vocal blend. With his lead vocal on This Car of Mine, he managed to show that even then he could impart his soul into a relatively simple car song.
Recorded in Phil Spector’s temple to the ‘Wall of Sound’, Gold Star Studios, Why Do Fools Fall In Love shows that Brian has not just learned from ‘the master’, but has more than matched him in production technique on this cover of Frankie Lymon’s 1956 hit. The trademark Spector instrumentation sound is present, but the group vocals (and the track in general) possess a cleaner, shimmering quality not heard in Spector’s work. The vocal break at the end of the bridge is one of those unique Brian Wilson ‘moments’. Notwithstanding the huge contribution Mike Love made to the Beach Boys success in other areas he was also the owner of a fine resonant bass voice which was a highlight on Pom Pom Play Girl, a catchy tune which offered another snapshot of young American school sports culture. Although unremarkable when set against his greatest works, Keep An Eye On Summer displays Brian Wilson’s superior musical craft skills. It is a simple but perfectly executed paean to summer love. The instrumental Shut Down, Part II is similar to the groups early surf guitar offerings and features the rare saxophone of Mike Love and some nice Carl Wilson guitar licks. Louie Louie had been a recent hit for both the Kingsmen and Paul Revere & The Raiders (and also the subject of an FBI investigation due to the supposedly controversial lyrics). It is one of the most covered songs ever written, and the Beach Boys make a fair fist of it. Denny’s Drums was almost certainly just included as a ‘filler’ track, but may just have been the first ‘drum solo’ track recorded by a pop group.

Summary: On the whole, Shut Down Volume 2 is a rushed effort necessitated by the need to react promptly to the onslaught of the Beatles, but contains some absolute gems. Brian Wilson and Mike Love were under pressure for the first time because of the Beatles, and were about to respond.

Highlights: Fun Fun Fun, Don’t Worry Baby, The Warmth of The Sun, Why Do Fools Fall In Love.

Three bonus tracks are presented on the Surfer Girl/Shut Down Volume 2 CD Twofer which offer a slightly different version of Fun, Fun, Fun released as a single, a German version of In My Room (Ganz Allein) which although unreleased at the time was presumably recorded in response to the Beatles’ similar initiative, and the previously unreleased I Do. Brian wrote and recorded I Do for the Castells group but it was not successful for them © The GV web Team 2007 - All Rights Reserved