Girl Don't Tell Me

My turntable is once again front and center in my living room. After nearly two years in the attic, my neglected vinyl is getting its well-deserved play. I've been very methodical about listening to the records. I'm averaging two albums a week - feeling the warmth, tuning into the classic sounds, dissecting the arrangements. At this rate it'll take me well over a year to get through them all, but that's fine. It helps balance out all of the mucho-hyped indie rock that I listen to while at work or traveling. My home is my nest, and in my nest I like the warm sounds of vinyl.

The first record I put on was the fantastic Beach Boys double LP compilation Endless Summer. Released in 1974, Endless Summer features their 1963-1966 material and was their first album since 1967. It sat at number one on the charts for two subsequent summers and spent a total of three years on the charts, the longest of any of the group's albums.

I've never been the largest Beach Boys fan, but I appreciate Pet Sounds and SMiLE. My main motivation for putting on the album was so that my 20-month year old son and I could dance - plus I thought he'd enjoy the artwork.

While dancing in the sunlit room to the classic oldie tunes - Surfin' USA, Help Me Rhonda, and the like - I came across a track on side four that totally blew me away. Girl Don't Tell Me is unlike any Beach Boys song I'd heard before - it lacks vocal harmonies, has a Motown breakdown, and the overall production is fairly simple. The solo lead vocal is performed beautifully by Carl Wilson, which marks his debut as a lead vocalist.

I find this track to be a gem. It's different enough then most of the "classics" that we all know, but it's still catchy as hell and very well written. If only the content wasn't so Lolita-ish, but I guess that's how things were done back in the mid 60s.

Beach Boys - Girl Don't Tell Me.mp3 Link Removed