THE BEACH BOYS - SHUT DOWN VOLUME 2 (BLUE WHITE VINYL LP)

2024 Beach Boys/UMG online store exclusive release on blue and white marbled vinyl. Limited to 1,964 copies. 

 

When Shut Down Volume 2 came out, the title applied this time to the Beach Boys and no one else. “Fun, Fun, Fun” was en route to a No.5 peak on the Hot 100, their second-highest showing to date after the No.3 success of “Surfin’ USA.” The group’s next single, the brilliant “I Get Around,” wasn’t on the LP, but its B-side, the gorgeous “Don’t Worry Baby,” was, and again made the Top 30 on its own strength.

The album also contained such whimsies as “In The Parkin’ Lot,” “Pom, Pom Play Girl,” and the jokey, spoken word nod to professional boxing, “‘Cassius’ Love vs. ‘Sonny’ Wilson.” As often in their early days, it also had the Beach Boys remaking rock’n’roll hits, with versions of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ 1956 staple “Why Do Fools Fall In Love,” and Richard Berry’s 1955 original “Louie Louie,” a hit for the Kingsmen even as the boys were laying down their interpretation.

Also of great note on the album is “Keep An Eye On Summer,” a charming Brian Wilson/Mike Love number that also carried a writing credit for Capitol engineer Bob Norberg. Wilson remade the song in fine style for his 1998 solo album Imagination.

Perhaps because the audience’s attention – indeed, the attention of everyone in America – was distracted by the newly all-conquering Beatles, Shut Down Volume 2 took some six weeks to make the American charts. It climbed to No.13, a modest performance by their recent standards, but had a 38-week run and was certified gold at the end of 1966.