The Beach Boys are sharing the sterling new stereo mix of their classic 1963 tune, “Shut Down,” offering up a blast of fun and sun to help soundtrack Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to summer. The new mix is featured on their forthcoming remastered and expanded edition of their career-spanning greatest hits collection, Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys, due June 17 via Capitol Records/UMe. Originally released in 2003, the album soared to No. 16 in the US and stayed on the chart for 104 weeks. Now certified 4x platinum for sales of nearly four and a half million albums, the new edition has been updated in both number of songs and sonics as it expands the original 30-track best of with 50 more of the band’s most beloved songs for a total of 80 tracks that span their earliest hits to deeper fan-favorite cuts. Boasting 26 new mixes, it includes two first-time stereo mixes, plus 24 new-and-improved stereo mixes, which in some cases feature the latest in digital stereo extraction technology, allowing for the team to separate the original mono backing tracks for the first time.
“Shut Down” was originally released as the B-side to the single “Surfin’ U.S.A.” three weeks ahead of its inclusion on The Beach Boy’s sophomore album of the same name in March 1963. Propelled by the wildly popular single, which was a smash at radio across the country and peaked at No. 23 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 34 in the UK, the album reached No. 2 in the U.S. and stayed on the charts for an incredible 78 weeks. Still riding the wave of success from their debut album the year prior, The Beach Boys were, as All Music writes, “vital to launching surf music as a national craze” and poised for even bigger waves as they continued to refine their songwriting and production skills, rapidly evolving from their early surf beginnings to create some of the most sonically exquisite and most important and beloved music ever made.
Pre-order Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys and listen to “Shut Down.” https://thebeachboys.lnk.to/SoundsOfSummer
Assembled by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, the team behind 2013’s GRAMMY® Award-winning SMiLE Sessions and last year’s acclaimed boxed set, Feel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971, Sounds Of Summer features nearly every US Top 40 hit of The Beach Boys’ incredible career, including “California Girls,” “I Get Around,” “Surfer Girl,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations,” “Be True To Your School,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Kokomo,” “Barbara Ann,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “In My Room,” and many others. Fifty additional tracks showcase the variety and diversity of the group’s deep catalog, with some of the many highlights including “All This Is That,” “Disney Girls,” “Forever,” “It’s About Time,” “Feel Flows,” “Friends,” “Let The Wind Blow,” “Roll Plymouth Rock,” “Long Promised Road,” “Sail on Sailor,” “Baby Blue,” “Surf’s Up,” “Let Us Go On This Way,” and “Wind Chimes.”
The expanded edition of Sounds Of Summer will be available in a variety of formats, including digitally, a 3CD softpack, and as a Super Deluxe Edition 6LP vinyl boxed set on 180-gram black vinyl in two options – a standard set or a numbered, limited edition version featuring a rainbow foil slipcase and four collectible lithographs. Both versions will feature color printed sleeves that replicate the original “Capitol Catalog” sleeves that highlight the entire Beach Boys discography, and all formats will include a booklet with new liner notes and updated photos. The original 30-track version will also be available in its newly remastered and upgraded form on single CD or double gatefold LP on standard weight vinyl or as a higher-end limited edition numbered version pressed on 180-gram vinyl with a tip-on jacket and a lithograph.
Additionally, all 30 tracks on disc 1 of Sounds Of Summer have been mixed in immersive Dolby Atmos, joining the group’s Christmas Album which was mixed in spatial audio and released this past holiday season, and continuing the initiative to present the group’s catalog in the enveloping and exciting new audio format.
Sixty years after first transmitting their good vibrations around the globe, The Beach Boys, the first American pop band to reach the 60-year milestone, remain one of the most legendary and influential groups to date, with their timeless music reverberating through modern culture today as strong as ever. In celebration of their 60th anniversary, UMe, the global catalog company of UMG, is pleased to be a part of some of the major initiatives planned to celebrate “America’s Band” throughout 2022-23.
The Beach Boys said: “It’s hard to believe it’s been 60 years since we signed to Capitol Records and released our first album, Surfin’ Safari. We were just kids in 1962 and could have never dreamed about where our music would take us, that it would have such a big impact on the world, still be loved, and continue to be discovered by generation after generation. This is a huge milestone that we’re all very honored to have achieved. And to our incredible fans, forever and new, we look forward to sharing even more throughout the year.”
UMe President & CEO, Bruce Resnikoff, said: “The Beach Boys have created some of the most iconic and beloved music of all time. An indelible and important part of America’s cultural fabric, their timeless music has been a ubiquitous soundtrack for generations and continues to influence, inspire, and delight. We at UMe remain honored to further The Beach Boys’ legendary catalog and look forward to celebrating them all year long along with their millions of fans around the world.”
The timeless music of The Beach Boys will be featured in several innovative official new music videos that are in the works along with a slate of lyric videos and visualizers to present these classic songs in the modern video era.
Following the release of Sounds of Summer, this fall Capitol/UMe will release the next chapter in The Beach Boys’ archival releases, which will explore the bands often overlooked but pivotal albums, 1972’s Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” and 1973’s Holland. The deluxe multi-disc set follows last year’s acclaimed boxed set Feel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 that topped many critic’s year-end lists and chronicled and explored the metamorphic and highly influential 1969-1971 period of the band’s [ career through tons of unreleased tracks, live recordings, radio promos, alternate versions, alternate mixes, isolated backing tracks and a cappella versions, culled from the album sessions. More details will be revealed at a later date.
Besides the new music releases from Capitol/UMe, The Beach Boys are also catching new waves by participating in a feature length documentary currently in the works, a tribute special, prestigious exhibitions and events, unique brand partnerships, and much more to celebrate their 60th anniversary.
