The Beach Boys - Shut Down Volume 2

The ultimate pressings of the Beach Boys discography from Analogue Productions!

Original mono mix produced by Brian Wilson

Original stereo mixes created in 1964 under Brian Wilson's supervision

Audio production — Mark Linett

For Brother Records — Elliott Lott

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, most from the original master tapes or best sources available

Hybrid Stereo/Mono SACD plays in both CD and SACD players, as well as all SACD-compatible DVD players

"These are the best sounding and best-looking versions of the Beach Boys records that have ever been produced. We want everything about these to be better than the original." — Chad Kassem, owner and CEO, Acoustic Sounds

"What I can say is that Kevin Gray has been able to extract every last bit of information from whatever tape is in the box, and present it in a way that is pleasing and natural to the ear. ... in my opinion, the Analogue Productions pressings are now THE definitive issue of each Beach Boys album, and will be my reference copies until if and when something better comes along — which may be never." — Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly, Summer 2015 Edition

A musical legacy that began in Hawthorne, California and went on to conquer the world. Analogue Productions presents the ultimate pressings of 14 essential Beach Boys albums! Mastered by Kevin Gray, most from the original master tapes, now presented on Hybrid Stereo/Mono SACD, these are awesome recordings to experience. 

For the early part of the Beach Boys career, all of their singles were mixed and mastered and released only in the mono format. Hits were made on AM radio in mono. And the mono of those times worked well for Brian Wilson — famed co-founder, songwriter and arranger — who suffers from partial deafness. The mono mixes were where Wilson paid intense attention, and the dedication paid off!

We’ve taken 10 of the most classic, best-sounding Beach Boy titles ever and restored them to their mono glory!

But there’s no disputing that the close harmonies and one-of-a-kind rhythms of hits like “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and more lend themselves naturally to stereo. So we’ve got your 2-channel needs covered with prime stereo mix versions as well.

The stereo editions of Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Beach Boys Christmas Album and Beach Boys Concert were all mixed in stereo by their own preferred engineer, Chuck Britz, ostensibly under the group's supervision.

"Brian may or may not have been present for those mixing sessions — evidence suggests that he trusted Chuck's skills enough to let him prepare those mixes on his own - but the group held onto their multitrack tapes and delivered stereo masters to Capitol, rather than allowing Capitol to prepare their own stereo versions. Later, when Brian was only delivering mono masters, Capitol would prepare the Duophonic pseudo stereo editions for the stereo market," says Alan Boyd, producer and Beach Boys' archivist.

The Beach Boys' practice of double-tracking their vocals really lends itself to stereo mixes. Split left and right, as they are on a lot of those early stereo versions, those doubled vocal parts can really envelop the listener, surrounding them with Wilsons, Loves and Jardines!

All of the newer stereo mixes on these remastered albums (The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), The Beach Boys' Party, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile) were done by Mark Linett on behalf of the Beach Boys.

The first Shut Down was a hugely successful Capitol Records Various Artists compilation LP that had included a pair of Beach Boys tracks. Whereas their previous album Little Deuce Coupe had been a full-on car themed concept album, the Beach Boys' Shut Down Volume 2 was pretty much evenly split between songs with car themes and various high school and summertime-themed tunes. The album sought to further the Beach Boys beyond its ironic sea-and-sun fetish (none but Dennis Wilson ever surfed) into the burgeoning hot-rod subculture. "... the high points remain nothing short of spectacular, including the Mike Love-propelled 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' Wilson's knowing nod to Phil Spector, 'Don't Worry Baby,' and the (hit) 'The Warmth of the Sun.'" — Amazon.com

 

1. Fun, Fun, Fun

2. Don’t Worry Baby

3. In The Parkin’ Lot

4. “Cassius” Love Vs “Sonny” Wilson

5. The Warmth Of The Sun

6. This Car Is Mine

7. Why Do Fools Fall In Love

8. Pom, Pom Play Girl

9. Keep An Eye On Summer

10. Shut Down, Part II

11. Louie, Louie

12. Denny’s Drums

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