From a photo shoot at Brian Wilson's Bel-Air Studio, Halloween 1969.
It’s well documented that the story of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys is a dark one, filled with horrors both real and imagined. Child abuse, mental health issues, familial bickering all, in some strange way contributed to some of the most beautiful music of the modern era.
And although The Beach Boys will always be remembered for their sunny pop melodies, there have been a few occasions on which they have dabbled in the macabre.
They included a cover of “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt Keepers on their 1964 live album, Beach Boys Concert.
Here they are performing the song live on the December 23, 1964 episode of the ABC variety series, Shindig!. Whatever your personal feelings towards Mike Love are in regards to the legacy of The Beach Boys, you have to admit it’s entertaining as hell to watch him ham it up in this clip.
And although The Beach Boys will always be remembered for their sunny pop melodies, there have been a few occasions on which they have dabbled in the macabre.
They included a cover of “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt Keepers on their 1964 live album, Beach Boys Concert.
Here they are performing the song live on the December 23, 1964 episode of the ABC variety series, Shindig!. Whatever your personal feelings towards Mike Love are in regards to the legacy of The Beach Boys, you have to admit it’s entertaining as hell to watch him ham it up in this clip.
It turns out The Beach Boys have a more than a passing association with “Monster Mash.” According to this 2014 Noisey article, before they broke big themselves, they backed Bobby “Boris” Pickett on one of his first live performances of the song.
And apparently it still holds a special place Brian Wilson’s heat, as he has used the song to sound check with his band at least as recently as 2009.
Brian Wilson has often been described as a mad scientist in terms songwriting and studio production, and nowhere does he embrace that persona more than in this 1970 demo recording. Intended be his spin on the concept of a Halloween novelty song, “My Solution” features a trippy spoken-word rap over a bed of Gothic synthesizers, laboratory sound effects, and some signature Beach Boys harmonies thrown in for good measure.
And apparently it still holds a special place Brian Wilson’s heat, as he has used the song to sound check with his band at least as recently as 2009.
Brian Wilson has often been described as a mad scientist in terms songwriting and studio production, and nowhere does he embrace that persona more than in this 1970 demo recording. Intended be his spin on the concept of a Halloween novelty song, “My Solution” features a trippy spoken-word rap over a bed of Gothic synthesizers, laboratory sound effects, and some signature Beach Boys harmonies thrown in for good measure.
On the surface, “Never Learn to Love” the B-Side to The Beach Boys’ 1968 single “Bluebirds over the Mountain” wouldn’t seem to have any association with anything horrific, but it does have the dubious honor of being a rewrite by Dennis Wilson of a song by infamous murder conspirator and guru, Charles Manson called “Cease to Exist.” Manson was allegedly furious that his not only did Dennis change the lyrics to his song, he also failed to credit him as a writer on the album, and as a result, threatened him with murder after its release.
It's clear that while much of the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys was about having fun in the sun, they were no strangers to the creepy, crawling things that come out long after the sun has set.
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