1964 was a banner year for The Beach Boys, as the legendary surf-rock band scored a slew of hit singles, including their first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, “I Get Around.” As the end of 1964 approached, the group also notched its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. The band’s first-ever live album, Beach Boys Concert, reached the top of the chart 60 years ago today (December 5), and remained at No. 1 for four straight weeks.
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Beach Boys Concert replaced Barbra Streisand’s People at the top of the tally, and was supplanted at the beginning of 1965 by the soundtrack to the Elvis Presley film Roustabout.
The Beach Boys Concert album features performances from two shows that the band played at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, on December 21, 1963, and August 1, 1964. The 13-track album boasts a mix of classic Beach Boys originals and select songs by other artists.
The album included several cover songs that the band regularly performed live but hadn’t recorded for any of their previous releases. Among them were Jan and Dean’s “The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena),” The Four Flickers’ “Long Tall Texan,” Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash,” Dion’s “The Wanderer,” The Four Freshmen’s “Graduation Day,” and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
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The hit Beach Boys songs featured on the album included “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “In My Room,” and “I Get Around.”
Beach Boys Concert was released shortly before Brian Wilson decided to retire from touring to focus on working on the band’s studio recordings. Because of that, the album offers one of the few full-length documents of The Beach Boys’ classic lineup performing live during the band’s heyday.
More About the Beach Boys Concert Album
Beach Boys Concert was the band’s seventh album overall. The record’s cover features a tag line under the title that reads, “This is The Beach Boys’ first “live” album. Here are the great songs, the unbelievable excitement of an actual concert—before thousands of shouting, screaming Beach Boys fans!”
As is common with many live albums, the performances on Beach Boys Concert received some heavy post-production enhancements. In 1965, the album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of more than 500,000 copies in the U.S.
Beach Boys Concert was one of only two albums by the band to top the Billboard 200. The second was the 1974 compilation Endless Summer, which spent a week at No. 1 in October of that year.
The Beach Boys’ Upcoming Tour Plans
The Beach Boys’ current lineup, which has long been led by founding frontman Mike Love, has more than 20 concerts scheduled for 2025.
The band’s itinerary kicks off with a January 24 show in Thackerville, Oklahoma, with several other concerts lined up in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Florida in late February and early March. The Beach Boys also will play a series of dates in Canada in late March and early April.
In addition, the group has a run of European gigs scheduled in July.
Tickets for The Beach Boys’ forthcoming concerts can be purchased now via a variety of outlets, including StubHub.
Beach Boys Concert Track List:
Side One
- “Fun, Fun, Fun”
- “The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)”
- “Little Deuce Coupe”
- “Long, Tall Texan”
- “In My Room”
- “Monster Mash”
- “Let’s Go Trippin’“
Side Two
- “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow”
- “The Wanderer”
- “Hawaii”
- “Graduation Day”
- “I Get Around”
- “Johnny B. Goode”
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