Concert - Live

Concert is a snapshot of a long-gone era when live acts had nowhere near the equipment necessary to overpower enthusiastic, screaming audiences. Released in 1964 and representing the end of the era when Brian Wilson performed regularly with the band, Concert has shadowy origins. Said to have been recorded live at a show at Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, Calif., the album was allegedly fixed a bit in the studio afterward (a common practice to this day for many live albums). More importantly, the album features several tunes The Beach Boys hadn't recorded in the studio at that point, including a spirited cover of Jan & Dean's "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena," Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," The Four Freshmen's "Graduation Day," and The Rivingtons' "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow." The instrumentation is spare, but the vocals are in focus and capture the early-'60s spirit, with several classic Beach Boys songs—"Fun, Fun, Fun," "Little Deuce Coupe," "In My Room," and "I Get Around"—along for the wild ride.