Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3

Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3
Greatest hits album by The Beach Boys
Released August 19, 1968
Recorded October 1961 -
November 1967
Genre Rock
Length 28:11
Label Capitol
Producer Brian Wilson and
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys chronology
Friends
(1968)		 Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3
(1968)		 Stack-O-Tracks
(1968)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link 3/5 stars

Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 is the third in a series of hits compilations of music by The Beach Boys released by Capitol Records. It would prove to be the last official "best of" package by the band on their first record label.

Released in August 1968, Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 was primarily put together to compensate for the disastrous U.S. sales of The Beach Boys' Friends album. Containing another helping of hits, the album had both its good points and bad.

This album was the LP debut of the pre-Pet Sounds single "The Little Girl I Once Knew". Also featured are "She Knows Me Too Well" from Today!; their very first charted hit from 1962, "Surfin'"; and the passage of time that enabled the inclusions of "Good Vibrations", "Heroes and Villains" and "Darlin'". However, the appearance of "Frosty The Snowman" from The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is indeed puzzling and out of place. Another odd inclusion is "409", which had already been placed on Vol. 2. Among the hits that were not included in any of the original "best of" packages were: "Be True to Your School", "Shut Down", "Do You Wanna Dance?", "Sloop John B", and "Wouldn't It Be Nice". These (among many others) would appear later in several double-record compilations issued by Capitol in the 70s and 80s.

Long out of print, Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 limped to an embarrassing #153 in the U.S.. UK fans were more charitable, sending it to #9.

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "God Only Knows" (Brian Wilson/Tony Asher) – 2:49
  2. "Dance, Dance, Dance" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love) – 1:59
  3. "409" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love/Gary Usher) – 1:59
  4. "The Little Girl I Once Knew" (Brian Wilson) – 2:36
  5. "Frosty the Snowman" (Steve Nelson/Jack Rollins) – 1:54
  6. "Girl Don't Tell Me" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:19

Side 2

  1. "Surfin'" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:11
  2. "Heroes and Villains" (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks) – 3:37
  3. "She Knows Me Too Well" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:27
  4. "Darlin'" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:12
  5. "Good Vibrations" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 3:36

Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 (Capitol (D) T 2945) hit #153 in the U.S. during a 6 week chart stay. In the UK, it reached #9.

British version

The British version of Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 was released in mid-1968 with 14 songs, instead of the 12 found on American albums.

Side 1

  1. "Do It Again" – 2:18
  2. "The Warmth of the Sun" – 2:52
  3. "409" – 1:58
  4. "Catch a Wave" – 2:08
  5. "The Lonely Sea" – 2:23
  6. "Long Tall Texan" – 2:27
  7. "Wild Honey" – 2:36

Side 2

  1. "Darlin'" – 2:11
  2. "Please Let Me Wonder" – 2:44
  3. "Let Him Run Wild" – 2:21
  4. "Country Air" – 2:19
  5. "I Know There's an Answer" – 3:08
  6. "Friends" – 2:32
  7. "Heroes and Villains" – 3:36

References

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2010)
The Beach Boys
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Box Sets
Related articles