And The 2nd Greatest Rock and Roll Song Ever - The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations

Beach Boys mid 70s publicity photo
The band was never the same after the passing of Dennis Wilson (top right)
And his brother Carl Wilson (bottom right)

I knew exactlty the time and place I heard that President John F, Kennedy was shot, I knew exactly where I was when man landed on the moon.  I knew where I was and what I was doing on the morning of 9/11. It's funny how the mind works when it is touched by a memorable event

And I new exactly where, when, and what I was doing the first time I heard gentle opening chords of Brian Wilson's and the Beach Boy's Good Vibrations, a song that at the time, was the most expensive recording ever made at some $100,000 in 1966.

I heard it laying in a bathtub with my faithful transistor am radio nearby (somehow ignoring the fact that electrical devices and water do not make a good combination but hey - I survived). To this day, the haunting lyrics (which are surprisingly about a dog) and swirling musical accompaniment make me stand up and take notice. It is a song of rock and roll royalty.

It's a pity that the Beach Boys couldn't remain a consistent viable musical force through the years though they certainly had their moments of greatness, Egos, insanity, drugs, and even death plagued the band from the get go but when they hit things just right, man......  they were really, really, good.

What Is Rock and Roll's Greatest Song?- #1 By A Landslide

They've been getting after it for more than 50 years with more substance and style than you can shake a stick at. Someone once asked Keith Richards how he would like to die. "Just let me play Jumping Jack Flash one more time and I be a happy man." was the paraphrase. Yep. The classic Jumping Jack Flash is the best rock song ever and even the disputes would be minor and a stretch.

What a better way to start a song than "I was born in a cross-fire hurricane"

Jim Morrison - Hey... Smile a Little Bit

Sure the L.A. based band The Doors have about 10 great classic songs but that doesn't stop my own personal opinion that Jim Morrison was probably the most pompous, overrated, self-indulgent performer in rock history. Anyone ever seen him smile just once? He seems to have thought a lot of himself and little about the world going on around him.

Force Multiplied's High Octane Video

So Mrs. DisneylandTraveler's son plays in a band. How good are they?  I've heard them play Led Zeppelin and Ted Nugent covers and thought they were pretty good.  I have also heard them play and I turned to Mrs DLT and said, "can we get out of here now?"  That's kind of how it goes.  Playing in a band is his dream.  My dream is for him to get a job.  But who knows, maybe he'll get lightning in a bottle, hit it big, and allow me to retire to a quiet villa in Granite Bay or something like that.  

Below is I think their second video.  It is well produced whether you like the music or not.

This is the cover from their first CD they released.  I think we bought a copy.  Not sure.

They're big on graphics and logos.  Actual sales, not so much although they have played at venues like the Sunset Strip Music Festival, the Roxy in L.A. along with the infamous Whiskey A-Go-Go. Tonight they are summer in Stockton helping a biker group with their holiday canned food drive. There could be a lot worse ways to waste your time.