Episode 212 - Sunflower by The Beach Boys (Side B)

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Whether pretending to be surfers and getting slapped with fines from the manager for swearing or cavorting with transcendental meditation and falling out with one another, The Beach Boys were never quite what people thought they were. They were often at each other’s throats, relationships were fraught a lot of the time, members of the band seemed to withdraw from the group and return whenever the mood suited them and that’s before we even mention Brian Wilson’s sometimes extreme battle with mental health. The story of the Beach Boys is weirder, sadder and madder than you could have ever imagined.

We spent a lot of last week talking about that aspect of their career. The lore is so thick, in fact, that we had to stop only half way through their career because these guys have said and done a lot in the last 61 years. So this week, we pick up where we left off – the late 80s, when the began to slow down significantly when it came to their musical output, but refused to vanish entirely, becoming a legacy touring act with a rotating line up of ex-members and studio musicians alike, all revolving around Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. 

Given the legacy of this band, we decided to offer up our own subjective interpretation of that legacy. Were The Beach Boys really at their best with Brian Wilson? Is Mike Love a bit of a dick? What about the extensive contributions of Carl and Denis Wilson, as well as Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston? Do the band deserve to be heralded as one of the greats? Can they even be Unsung? We answer all of these questions.

Then we dive into the three albums that Vicki struggled to choose from - Wild Honey, Sunflower and Surf’s Up. We do a bit of a dive into Wild Honey and Surf’s Up before giving Sunflower the full Unsung treatment. 

What do you folk think? Is Sunflower the most underrated and underappreciated Beach Boys record? Let us know what you think!

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