Analogue Productions
The ultimate pressings of the Beach Boys discography from Analogue Productions!
Original mono mix created in 1963 under Brian Wilson´s supervision
One of 10 titles featuring 33 1/3 mono and stereo remastered editions: Surfin´ USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Beach Boys Party!, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile
Audio production — Mark Linett
For Brother Records — Elliott Lott
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, most from the original master tapes or best sources available
Lacquer plating by Gary Salstrom and 200-gram vinyl pressing by Quality Record Pressings!
To meet the standards of Analogue Productions, our Beach Boys album reissues had a mission to achieve: Present the band´s music the way that Brian Wilson — famed co-founder, songwriter and arranger — intended. Mono mixes created under Wilson’s supervision were how the surf rockin’ California crew rose to fame! And we’ve got ‘em!
For the early part of the Beach Boys career, all of their singles were mixed and mastered and released only in the mono format — they didn´t release a single in stereo until 1968. In those days, hits were made on AM radio in mono. And the mono of those times worked well for Wilson, who suffers from partial deafness. Still, apart from Surfin´ Safari, which was mono only, the Beach Boys did turn in stereo masters on all of their early albums up until 1965. The Beach Boys Today! was the first LP for which they only delivered a mono master.
The stereo editions of Surfin´ USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Beach Boys Christmas Album and Beach Boys Concert were all mixed in stereo by their own preferred engineer, Chuck Britz, ostensibly under the group´s supervision.
"Brian may or may not have been present for those mixing sessions - evidence suggests that he trusted Chuck´s skills enough to let him prepare those mixes on his own - but the group held onto their multitrack tapes and delivered stereo masters to Capitol, rather than allowing Capitol to prepare their own stereo versions. Later, when Brian was only delivering mono masters, Capitol would prepare the Duophonic pseudo stereo editions for the stereo market," says Alan Boyd, producer and Beach Boys´ archivist.
All of the newer stereo mixes on these remastered albums (The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), The Beach Boys´ Party, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile) were done by Mark Linett on behalf of the Beach Boys. Still, bottom line, the mono mixes were where Brian Wilson paid intense attention, and the dedication paid off!
We’ve taken 10 of the most classic, best-sounding Beach Boy titles ever and restored them to their mono glory!
But there’s no disputiing that the close harmonies and one-of-a-kind rhythms of hits like “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and more lend themseleves naturally to stereo. So we’ve got your 2-channel needs covered with prime stereo mix versions as well.
Mastered by Kevin Gray, most from the original master tapes, and plated and pressed by Quality Record Pressings, the finest LP pressing facility in the world, these are awesome recordings to experience. And the look of each album befits its sonic superiority! Presented in "old school" Stoughton tip-on jackets, these time honored favorites shine brighter than the originals!
Surfin´ USA was the Beach Boys´ real breakthough album, showing Brian Wilson asserting himself in the studio as both a premier songwriter and arranger.
Besides the hit title track and its popular drag-racing flip side ("Shut Down"), AllMusic.com notes that Surfin´ USA has a lovely, heartbreaking ballad ("Lonely Sea") and a couple of strong Brian Wilson originals ("The Noble Surfer" and "Farmer´s Daughter").
