The Beach Boys - Wild Honey (Capitol 1967) 24-bit/96kHz Vinyl Rip

It feels weird to call this a great record–it's so slight. But it's perfect and full of pleasure; it does what it sets out to do almost without a bad second (except for "Let the Wind Blow," each of the 11 tunes–total time: 24:31–ends before you wish it would). And what does it set out to do? To convey the troubled innocence of the Beach Boys through a time of attractive but perilous psychedelic sturm und drang. Its method is whimsy, candour, and carefully modulated amateurishness, all of which comes through as humour. Tell me, what other pop seer was inspired enough to cover a Stevie Wonder song in 1967? Robert Christgau

Note: This was the last Beach Boys LP to be released in both mono and stereo, or in this case duophonic quasi-stereo. Unfortunately this copy is the latter. However, the quasi-stereo consisted simply of the frequencies being split across the two stereo channels. IE. Bass on the left, middle frequencies in the centre and high frequencies on the right, with no added echo or other effects. This made it easy to obtain a reasonable sounding mono version which is what is presented here.

Track listing:

A1. Wild Honey
A2. Aren’t You Glad
A3. I Was Made To Love Her
A4. Country Air
A5. A Thing or Two

B1. Darlin’
B2. I’d Love Just Once to See You
B3. Here Comes the Night
B4. Let the Wind Blow
B5. How She Boogalooed It
B6. Mama Says

Produced by the Beach Boys