People probably think about other Beach Boys songs, which touch on surfing, and think all their songs are about the southern California teenage lifestyle of the ‘60s.
I grew up in SO Cal during the 60s. Thus music was always playing on my AM transistor radio. Moved in 1971.
Later in life my wife and I moved to the Raleigh Durham NC area when I was hired as the GM of a large Sheraton. Everyone was talking about “Beach music “.
I thought they must like the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, etc.
It was Motown and they danced barefoot on sand.
Yep. The Beach Boys define “music” for me, and hardly any of that love comes from their earliest music.
It would be like The Beatles only being known for “She Loves You” or “I want to hold your hand.”
I’ve come to accept that the top 40, bygone airwave constraiints, and temporal commercial success kept a lot of great music from entering the public conciousness, and there is nothing I can do to change that.
Except for in my home, where- like my father before me- I will play this music around a captive audience. I stumble accross my 16 year old humming “Penny Lane,” “Sail On, Sailor,” or the like and am glad it is taking root.