Search - Beach Boys :: Little Deuce Coupe

The Beach Boys' fourth album found them trying to broaden their horizons--or at least move them farther inland. A "theme" album focusing on Southern California's burgeoning car culture, Little Deuce Coupe took its cue from a successful contemporary Capitol compilation (Shut Down) and gathers four of the band's previously released car songs--"409," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Shut Down," and "Our Car Club"--and surrounds them with eight new originals and a tribute to James Dean titled "A Young Man Is Gone," itself a rewrite of Bobby Troup's a cappella standard "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring." Collaborating with Los Angeles DJ-turned-lyricist Roger Christian (a key contributor to much of the band's early thematic sensibilities), Brian Wilson takes his musical growth another step forward here. And the success of the Mike Love vocal showcase "I Get Around" (the Beach Boys' first No. 1 single) began to build the band an international following as well. --Jerry McCulley