Do it again (The Beach Boys) (LP 4190 - 4196)

The Beach Boys  Beach Boys Concert (CD, Capitol Records, 1964) ****  

The Beach Boys  Live in Japan '66 (CD, RoxVoxRecords, 2016) *  

The Beach Boys  Live in London (CD, Capitol Records, 1970) ****  

The Beach Boys  Beach Boys In Concert (Vinyl, Reprise Records, 1973) *****  

The Beach Boys  Transmission Impossible: Legendary radio broadcasts from the 1960s, 1979s, & 1980s (3CD, Eat to the Beat Records, 2019) * to ***  

The Beach Boys  Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (CD, Capitol Records, 1970) **** 

The Beach Boys  The Beach Boys Live 50th Anniversary Tour (CD, Capitol Records, 2013) **** 

Genre: Rock, pop 

Places I remember: HMV, JB Fi Hi, Marbecks Records, Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Sail on, Sailor, Marcella (In Concert)

Gear costume: Their Hearts Were Full of Spring (Live in London)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: It's interesting to hear The Beach Boys deliver and develop their live sets throughout the years, from a quite tentative and naive sounding band in 1963, with screaming teenage girls almost drowning them out, to the reunion tour celebrating their 50th anniversary. It was a long and winding road.

Beach Boys Concert is a cohesive live album - showcasing the screaming girls and their 1964 show. It's a fun collection of their hits and covers, as the guys display commendable energy and enthusiasm. Mike Love reigns in his goofiness and the band are pretty tight.

Live in Japan is a poorly recorded concert from 1966. It's a radio broadcast so it has little atmosphere and perfunctory performances. Therefore, it has limited appeal. The whole concert crops up again on Transmission Impossible. One for rabid completists only.

Live in London is a 1968 show that includes a few songs from Pet Sounds. Mike is more expansive with his stage patter and that's not always a good thing. The performances are good though. The standout song is the acapella Their Hearts Were Full of Spring. They deliver a spine-tingling performance.

By 1973 the band had changed a lot from those sixties sounds - influenced in part by the successful integration of Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar. The confidence levels were high and In Concert is a superb double live album.

The set includes older material, plus new stuff off Holland and 20/20. Marcella live is a big improvement from the studio version and that version was good. There are deep cuts and even an unreleased song (We Got Love) from the Holland sessions. This is a vital, enthusiastic, energetic rock'n'roll band caught at their best.

Transmission Impossible is a 3 disc set. Disc One focuses on the early years, featuring 3 shows from the 62-66 period, all of which were recorded for broadcast on TV and FM Radio. The sound quality is okay to poor (Live in Japan).

Disc Two focuses on The Beach Boys in their early 1970s formation, with another concert recorded for transmission, performed at Manley Field House in Syracuse, NY, on 1st May 1971. This one is much better quality and fascinating to hear as the early seventies band is loose as a goose - trying hard to be relevant and current. They name check Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead twice.

Disc Three contains their 4th July gig from 1985, recorded at the Ben Franklin Museum Of Art in Philadelphia. We're deep into Mike Love's version of The Beach Boys by the mid-eighties, and that means the accent is on those really early years with him as lead vocalist.

The sound is average - this is like the other discs - a radio broadcast. The highlight is a good version of Getcha Back, their comeback single.

Live at Knebworth England 1980 is a live album to accompany the DVD of the show. It's notable for the inclusion of Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston together. They were touring behind their 1980 album Keepin' the Summer Alive at the time. AllMusic says it 'ranks as a great look at a band still vital on-stage'.

Dennis is more of a presence on this one too. He even has a solo spot with his heartfelt performance of You Are So Beautiful. You can feel his love for people, and for The Beach Boys.

Final live album in my list is their 50th anniversary tour memento: The Beach Boys Live from 2012. It's a bit weird hearing the band announcements and not hearing Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson's name.

The surviving Beach Boys (with David Marks back in the band) run through all of the hits over two CDs. That's a lot of hits! As a final hurrah, it works out okay (it's lacking in love and inspiration), but I'll stick with Concert, Live in London and In Concert as the best Beach Boys live albums.

Where do they all belong? The final post on America's band - the compilation albums.