Teaser // The Beach Boys: ENDLESS SUMMER with Jake & David Longstreth

Summary

Jokermen Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Teaser // The Beach Boys: ENDLESS SUMMER with Jake & David Longstreth
Hosts: Evan, Ian, Jake, and David Longstreth
Release Date: February 17, 2025

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Jokermen Podcast, host Evan welcomes returning guests Jake and David Longstreth to delve deep into one of the Beach Boys' most iconic releases, "Endless Summer." The conversation kicks off with a light-hearted banter, setting a relaxed and conversational tone for the episode.

[00:48] Ian: "It's me, Ian. And making a triumphant return several years after appearing with us on one of the historical episodes of Jokerman podcast, as it's come to be known, Jake and David Longstreth. Welcome back, fellas."

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Context of "Endless Summer"

The hosts explore the 1974 release of "Endless Summer," highlighting its impressive achievement of Triple Platinum status with 3 million units sold in the US alone. They discuss the album's content, focusing on the compilation of tracks from 1962 to 1965, and its role in revitalizing the Beach Boys' career during a period when the band was experiencing a slump.

[02:11] Evan: "We're talking about a Triple Platinum release. 3 million units sold in the US alone."

[03:46] Evan: "Number one in the charts in 1974."

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Origins and Purpose of the Album

Jake and David delve into the strategic decision by Capitol Records to repackage the Beach Boys' earlier hits under the "Endless Summer" banner instead of continuing with a numbered "Greatest Hits" series. This creative maneuver not only provided a fresh identity for the compilation but also resonated deeply with the public, cementing the album's success.

[02:39] Ian: "Brian Wilson is, like, catatonic making a fairy tale record for himself. While he's over there. And, yeah, capital decides, hey, let's repackage some of this stuff and get it out there."

[03:52] David Longstreth: "It must have been on."

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Impact and Legacy

"Endless Summer" played a pivotal role in bringing the Beach Boys back to the forefront of American pop culture. The album's nostalgic appeal tapped into the public's yearning for the quintessential 1960s California sound, offering a timeless connection that transcended the era in which it was released.

[07:06] Evan: "There's never going to be a decline in the allure of being hot and being on the beach."

[08:02] Ian: "That has kind of been key to the Beach Boys legacy and lasting cultural impact for the past 60 something years."

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Nostalgia and Cultural Resonance

The hosts draw parallels between the release of "Endless Summer" and contemporary cultural movements that embrace nostalgia. They reference the film "American Graffiti" and discuss how the album's timing coincided with a growing trend of celebrating past musical eras, effectively blending nostalgia with modern appreciation.

[04:24] David Longstreth: "It was already starting to, like, eat itself or like, the snake's starting to eat its tail."

[05:16] Evan: "American Graffiti. It takes place in the 50s, right?"

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Personal Memories and Influence

Jake and David share personal anecdotes about their formative experiences with "Endless Summer," reminiscing about listening to the album during childhood summer trips. These stories underscore the album's enduring influence across generations, highlighting its role in shaping their early musical tastes and memories.

[12:52] David Longstreth: "Picture. Summer 1986. I'm nine. Dave would be four."

[13:14] David Longstreth: "It was like a whole summer of just like every morning driving 45 minutes from Southbury to Fairfield, hanging out and driving back in the evening."

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Cover Art and Presentation

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the album's distinctive cover art, which juxtaposes whimsical 1970s visuals with the Beach Boys' classic image. The hosts analyze the artwork's impact, noting its departure from traditional Beach Boys aesthetics and its role in defining the album's unique identity.

[17:38] Jake: "Yes, I want. I want to talk about this too?"

[18:41] David Longstreth: "It looks like a lion."

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Contemporary Relevance and Reflection

In light of recent environmental challenges, particularly the fires ravaging Southern California, the hosts reflect on the timelessness and fragility of the idyllic beach image portrayed in "Endless Summer." They draw poignant connections between the album's nostalgic portrayal and the current state of California, emphasizing the album's heightened emotional resonance in today's context.

[08:23] Evan: "It's actually an insane time to be listening to this record."

[09:17] Evan: "There was this whole generation of people in the Palisades... their house burned down in the Palisades."

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Conclusion

The episode masterfully intertwines historical context, personal nostalgia, and contemporary reflections to provide a comprehensive exploration of the Beach Boys' "Endless Summer." Through insightful dialogue and memorable anecdotes, Jake and David Longstreth illuminate the album's enduring legacy and its profound impact on both the music industry and individual lives.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Jake [02:21]: "I was just listening to it a few hours ago in the car, and I was wondering. I was hoping you guys could kind of like set the stage for it."

• Evan [03:46]: "Number one in the charts in 1974."

• Ian [08:02]: "That has kind of been key to the Beach Boys legacy and lasting cultural impact for the past 60 something years."

• David Longstreth [12:52]: "Picture. Summer 1986. I'm nine. Dave would be four."

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This episode of the Jokermen Podcast serves as a profound tribute to "Endless Summer," celebrating its place in music history while thoughtfully considering its relevance in today's ever-changing world.

Transcript

[Jake]

This could be considered a track.

[Evan]

Not really, though.

[David Longstreth]

We don't want to do that.

[Jake]

Like, it's beautiful.

[Evan]

This is a little intro, you know.

[Jake]

All right, here we go.

[Evan]

Countdown time.

[Ian]

One, two, three, go. Okay, boys.

[Evan]

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome to the Jokerman Podcast Beach Ways Podcast. It's me, Evan.

[Ian]

It's me, Ian. And making a triumphant return several years after appearing with us on one of the historical episodes of Jokerman podcast, as it's come to be known, Jake and David Longstreth. Welcome back, fellas.

[Jake]

Great to be here.

[David Longstreth]

Thank you.

[Ian]

Please, pleasure is all ours. Can't wait to go idiot mode with you guys once again.

[David Longstreth]

So were we being idiots when we did the blood on the trash?

[Ian]

Yeah, I don't really remember. That was just the phrase that we came up with in the middle of that somehow. I think. I think it was. I think we decided that the way we were talking about the album was all of us collectively going idiot mode.

[Evan]

Which is to say that we were being humble about how smart the conversation was getting. It was getting really, really intelligent.

[Ian]

It was great. Honestly. I. Honestly. I mean, I haven't listened to that episode since it came out, but I do rec. Like, Dave, you were on some crazy stuff about, like, Apple TV screensavers for a while. It was. It was some very intellectually stimulating.

[Evan]

Yeah, I don't know if that's going to happen tonight, so I don't want to set that bar too high, but we are here to talk about something pretty. Pretty massive in terms of at least sales. It's. We're talking about a Triple Platinum release. 3 million units sold in the US alone. We're talking about Endless Summer, the Beach Boys compilation 62 to 65 is covered on it. Is that right?

[Ian]

That's right.

[Evan]

That's right. Firmly in that range. What do we feel about this 1974 release?

[Jake]

I was just listening to it a few hours ago in the car, and I was wondering. I was hoping you guys could kind of like, set the stage for it. It's 74. And what capital is like. We want to reissue. We want to make our greatest hits. What. What's the context?

[Ian]

They were at a low ebb at this moment in time. Bad vibes in Beach Boys land. Emin and I just covered on our last episode. As of our covering or as of our time speaking, they were in Holland making the Holland record.

[Jake]

Love that record.

[Ian]

Great record. Fantastic record. One of the best, but took with so much time. Radically expensive. Brian Wilson is, like, catatonic making a fairy tale record for himself. While he's over there. And, yeah, capital decides, hey, let's. Let's repackage some of this stuff and get it out there. I think this record was initially supposed to be, like, the beach boys Greatest Hits Volume 3 or something. This is the story, at least. But. But Mr. Michael Love, Commercial genius that he is, decided let's not call it Volume three of the Beach Boys Hits. Let's call it Endless Summer, because that's got a whole different vibe to it. And that's what it was called. And yes, as Evan was saying, becomes radically popular, like, I think one of the biggest records of all time at the moment, and kind of gave the Beach Boys a whole new lease on life, Brought them back to the forefront of American culture circa 1974.

[Evan]

Number one in the charts in 74.

[Jake]

Number one in the charts in 1974.

[David Longstreth]

You know what? There's another album from 74 that was number one on the charts that we covered a few years ago, Planet Waves. I'm really your mid-70s guy. You are 74. And then BL. On the tracks in 75.

[Jake]

There's another album. There is an album from 1974. Not the one you heard about. I'm talking about a different album. Jake, I'm wondering if you're gonna say what is on my. Like, just sort of my headline, Endless Summer. I bet. I bet you're gonna say it. I'm not gonna interrupt you.

[David Longstreth]

Okay. Well, yeah, I mean, I was just gonna sort of try to piggyback on what Ian was saying, just sort of. I mean, it was this. Was this, like, the beginning of, like, acts from the sixties being oldies acts in many ways.

[Ian]

Yes.

[David Longstreth]

Kind of like, it was already the. Because I read on the Wikipedia page, it was like American Graffiti had been out, and they had, I guess, used some of those songs from this record.

[Jake]

Is that.

[David Longstreth]

No, I think it's probably 73 or 70 or I guess 74.

[Ian]

American Graffiti. 73. Yeah. Whoa.

[David Longstreth]

It's just kind of fascinating like that. It's already. It's already starting to, like, eat itself or like, the snake's starting to eat its tail. Like, let's already get nostalgic about early rock and roll music from 12 years ago or 10 years ago. That's just fascinating to me.

[Evan]

American Graffiti. It takes place in the 50s, right?

[Ian]

American Graffiti, fact check, 1962 setting. So wait, really? This is squarely surfing USA surfing safari time.

[Evan]

Is there. So let me get this straight. Is there Beach Boys music in American Graffiti? I have to admit, never seen it.

[Ian]

Not as far As I know, but, you know, it's set in 1962.

[David Longstreth]

I thought it.

[Ian]

So I thought it said.

[David Longstreth]

I thought it said that they used some of their songs.

[Ian]

Oh, did it say that?

[David Longstreth]

Hold on. We got to read the Wikipedia page.

[Ian]

That's what a podcast is, just guys reading Wikipedia pages to each other.

[Jake]

Idiot.

[Ian]

Idiot mode has started much faster than I even realized.

[Jake]

Idiot is already here.

[Evan]

This is genuine idiot mode, I think.

[Jake]

Well, what I was gonna. I was gonna say, you know. Yes, there's the. There's the. Yeah, sorry, I'm in idiot mode here. There's the. There's the zone of like. Yeah. Trying to locate the moment when a spirit of imagination and like, sort of a creative high water mark curdled into nostalgia or something, you know, less adventurous. We always try to play that game. But then also, you know, so many of those songs on Endless Summer are just like ripping off Chuck berry songs from 1955 from the position of 1962 and 1963. Like, there's maybe there's another way of looking at it than this nostalgia thing, which is just, you know, the past becomes the present becomes the future.

[Evan]

Well, I think Mike Love would say with his bid to call it Endless Summer, I'll put words in his mouth anyway. But I think that the idea to call it Endless Summer is smart on several levels, including on a creative level. Because really what the appeal of the Beach Boys is and continues to be is is that something about that music, that thing that they were able to do early on, doesn't necessarily feel like it's tied to an outdated thing. Like, it's California, it's the beach, it's California girls. Like, those things don't really go out of style. People are still today. Like, there's. There's never going to. There's never been a decline in the allure of being hot and being on the beach.

[Ian]

That's true. Totally. And I'm with you. And that, I think, has kind of been key to the Beach Boys legacy and lasting cultural impact for the past 60 something years. But at the same time, like, recently, listening to this specific set at this moment in time over the last couple weeks, I can't help but contextualize this record. Like in the midst of the fucking fires.

[Evan]

Well, yeah, it's actually an insane time to be listening to this record.

[Ian]

Exactly. Like, I really do feel like up until, if we had done this episode six weeks ago, Endless Summer, of course, it literally is the Endless Summer. Southern California is perfect. Eternal. It's always gonna be beautiful Beach Boys land. And now all of a sudden, I just, like, I can't help but feel like actually this is vanishing and this is going away and this is not going to be here, at least not in the way that we are familiar with it. Four generations down the line. And the kind of time in a bottle thing that they're able to capture on this record, I don't know, it feels like it's taken on a much more significant and frightening, in many cases, resonance just based on the world that exists here in January 2025.

[Evan]

Yeah, the line about the Pacific Palisade Scott made this time, I was just like, oh, right, it doesn't exist anymore. I mean, just driving down pca, my parents live over there and it's like my girlfriend's grandparents, their house burned down in the Palisades. They lived there. They lived there 60 years. So they are in their late 80s and 90s. And there was this whole generation of people in the Palisades which was like, you know, it's not just rich people. It was like there are. Were still people living there who moved there, you know, decades and decades ago, who moved there at a time when it was a place you could afford to live on, like a professor's salary at, like a state college or whatever. So there's. I don't know where exactly I'm going with this, but also just fun fact, while I'm rambling, I didn't realize, but the Palisades, like some crazy. Some literary giants lived in the Palisades. Like, did you know that Henry Miller lived in the Palisades? Thomas Mann lived in the Palisades.

[Jake]

Wow.

[Evan]

That's not what Mike Love was singing about. I just want to be very clear about that. But it all goes away with recent events.

[David Longstreth]

I mean, I remember listening to your first Beach Boys episode, guys, many, many years ago, many months ago last summer or whatever. And I remember, Ian, you were like, you're like this world of like 1962, SoCal feels as far, far away to me as like the Roman Empire or something. That sort of like, you know, mid century, you know, American Empire dream. Yeah, Just sort of that Empire vision. So it's interesting. Yeah. I don't know. It didn't occur to me with the fires. That's so funny. I mean, I guess on the flip side of the fires, I Learned about the 1961 Bel Air conflagration. You guys know about that?

[Evan]

That's what they used to call fires, right?

[David Longstreth]

Yes, conflagration. But there was a giant wildfire that Burned down bel Air in 1961.

[Jake]

Wow.

[Evan]

Right. I think I saw some pictures of that. In the wake of the recent fires. There was a picture of, I don't remember which movie stars going to survey the rubble.

[Ian]

Oh, I think I saw that picture too. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Yeah.

[David Longstreth]

And the LA Fire Department in 1962 produced like a 20 minute doc that you can watch on YouTube about the Bel Air conflagration. Richard Nixon lost his house and was staying and like fighting the fire with like his hose. And then the fire department was like, sir.

[Evan]

Oh, wow. If the fire department hadn't stepped in, he would have been one of those guys.

[Jake]

Drop the hose.

[Evan]

You know, goes that way with a hose in his hand.

[Ian]

Tricky Dick.

[David Longstreth]

Yep, Tricky Dick.

[Ian]

Well, you guys, I feel like we've talked about this a little bit. You know, just, you know, any points. We've been hanging out over the last however long. But Jake, Dave, you guys like grew up with this record, right? Or were listening to this record. Let's get. Let's get a little bit of long stretch history surrounding this album.

[David Longstreth]

Yeah, that's how we ended up deciding to do this episode altogether because.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[David Longstreth]

Picture. Summer 1986. I'm nine. Dave would be four. We are cruising in my dad's red 1986 Honda Civic hatchback.

[Ian]

Beautiful.

[David Longstreth]

And he's driving us down to his mom's house to drop us off for the day while he works. And then he picks us and we go to the Beach Club, the Fairfield Beach Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, on Long Island Sound with Grandma for the day. And then our dad would pick us up and drive us back home at the end of his work day. So it was like a whole summer of just like every morning driving 45 minutes from Southbury to Fairfield, hanging out and driving back in the evening. And it was Beach Boys endless summer to and fro pretty much every day.

[Ian]

Wow. You guys had the cassette? Cassette, yes.

[David Longstreth]

Hell yeah. And it was like. Yeah, it was like an early. For me, it was like an early musical, you know, formative experience. Wait, Jake, is that.

[Jake]

It was a specific summer?

[David Longstreth]

Yeah, because in 87, I would have gone to summer camp when I was 10.

[Jake]

It was summer of 86.

[David Longstreth]

So it was 86. And I remember dad's car was an 86 Honda Civic, so it was a brand new car.

[Evan]

Wow.

[Jake]

Yeah, I remember that. I just. I thought it was like a sort of like, shard, you know, like just a fragment of a memory or like a screen memory. Like just, you know, whenever we would go to Gigi's house. I'm imagining that we were listening to Endless Summer, but maybe it happened once or twice or something.

[David Longstreth]

No, dude, it was. That's why you remember it. It was. I was four months. It was like you were four, sitting in the back seat.

[Evan]

By four, you've got the consciousness kind of kicked into gear, right? That's like. Three is when that sort of snaps into place for most people. So, yeah, this might have been, I guess. Yeah, yeah. You.

[David Longstreth]

Our kids are almost four, Dave. I mean, they. They definitely know.

[Jake]

They know music and they remember stuff, but I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I. I thought that I started remembering things kind of like this. This would represent an early memory for me, you know, the summer.

[Evan]

And you. You do remember it now, of course, that we've jogged your memory.

[Jake]

No, no, like.

[David Longstreth]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jake]

Like, this is. No, I remember this. I remember the. The cassette, you know, the J fold.

[David Longstreth]

Yeah.

[Jake]

In the. In the little cassette box. In the glove. In the. In the. Whatever the thing is between the two front seats. The console.

[David Longstreth]

Console.

[Evan]

I've got a question for you both. Do you remember this, the version you had? You remember it having Good Vibrations on it? Because that's a good. That.

[David Longstreth]

I don't remember.

[Evan]

Vibrations was added in an 80s reissue as a bonus track. That it actually wasn't on the original version.

[David Longstreth]

I think we did have that 80s reissue tape. Because I remember. I don't remember vibrations in 1986, but I remember that tape being around and then in the 90s at some point when we were getting more interested in the Beach Boys and the Pet Sound stuff. I remember looking at this tape and being like, huh? Because I associated. Maybe my chronology at the time was a little buzzy, but I associated Good Vibrations with like. Like the Jump. The Pet Sounds, you know?

[Ian]

Yeah.

[David Longstreth]

And I was like, that's weird.

[Ian]

That.

[David Longstreth]

So. So it must have been on.

[Jake]

I remember it being on there. I remember it.

[Evan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense if it was, I suppose, the 80s reissue on cassette. Right. But that is kind of an issue that is interesting to contemplate. Maybe the most interesting thing about this record as an object and everything about it is that the presentation is like a. A weird hybrid thing. Like it is. And it is images of them with full, like, hippie beards, except for this noticeably beardless and very odd looking, very severe Brian. And everything about it kind of screams 70s and if anything, looks more like, I guess, smiley smile than any of their other records. And yet zero material from that era.

[Jake]

Yes, I want. I want to talk about this too? Yeah.

[David Longstreth]

Because even at the time, even at age 9, I was like. I remember, like, being tripped out by that cover and being like, whoa, beards. And like, this weird drawing. And like, I think even in. At the time, I intuited, like, this is a weird mishmash. And, like, shouldn't it be a photograph of these, like, clean cut guys with, like, the barbershop quartet shirts or something? Like, that's what. And I remember just being, like, really tripped out by the COVID and, like, loving the way they drew the leaves and, like, loving the color palette of it.

[Jake]

I loved the COVID so much, and I can remember just, like, looking at it for a really long time. And. Yeah, it's like those guys are kind of, like, scary.

[Ian]

Who was the guy in the top left? Is that. It's Brian on the bottom left, and it's. I think it's Al on the right. Is the guy in the top left Mike?

[Jake]

I think it is.

[Evan]

Top left.

[David Longstreth]

Is that Dennis?

[Ian]

Yeah, like the middle.

[Evan]

Rick Rubin.

[Ian]

That's basically what it looks like. Honestly, I could not tell you who that is.

[David Longstreth]

It looks like a lion.

[Jake]

I think it's. I think it's Mike.

[Ian]

Mike.

[Jake]

I think it's Mike.

[Ian]

I think that's probably the best guess out of all of them.