Beach Boys Rarities
In the summer of 1983, Capitol Records sent Brad Elliott, author of Surf’s Up! The Beach Boys on Record, the definitive Beach Boys discography, into the company's vaults to see what rare musical treasures from the group could be unearthed. There he found more than a dozen selections never included on an American album, enough to be compiled into a new album titled Beach Boys Rarities. Among the 13 tracks selected for inclusion were flip sides of singles, alternate versions, a previously overlooked concert recording and, best of all, a handful of never-before-released songs from the group's heyday.
Unfortunately for fans and collectors, the album went out of print only a few years later. In the two decades since, the album has been reissued twice on CD in Japan (fleshed out each time by several 1981-vintage medleys of the group's hits). In both instances, though, the album has gone out of print within just a couple of years.
While the original 1983 album was accompanied by liner notes Brad wrote, neither release of the Japanese CD included that material. This page remedies that situation. Included here, for the benefit of owners of the Japanese Rarities & Medley CD, as well as for other interested fans, are the original liner notes, plus track annotation, production credits for the package and various tidbits of interesting information about its preparation.
E-mail comments or questions to Brad Elliott