Best of the Beach Boys

Updated on Nov 18, 2023

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Released July 5, 1966 Artist The Beach Boys Label Capitol Records Genre Rock music		Length 28:00 Release date 5 July 1966 Producer Brian Wilson

Recorded January 5, 1963 – May 24, 1965 Best of the Beach Boys (1966) Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 2 (1967) Similar The Beach Boys albums, Rock music albums

Best of the Beach Boys is the first compilation album released by American rock band the Beach Boys through Capitol Records in 1966. The first version was released in the United States on July 5, 1966, two months after Pet Sounds. Another version of Best of The Beach Boys was issued in the United Kingdom on November 11, 1966 with a track listing that differed from the American release.

North American release

The American release of Best of The Beach Boys includes a selection of 12 songs the band had recorded from 1963 to 1965, many of them singles or B-sides. The album reached number eight on the US charts and was certified gold by the RIAA on April 12, 1967 and double platinum on December 1, 1991. Best of The Beach Boys is currently out of print. It has been reported that Brian Wilson was irritated by the label's decision to release a compilation of the group's older material at a time when the group's music was taking a different stylistic direction.

British release

The British version of Best of The Beach Boys was released with songs that differed to its American counterpart. This version, initially compiled as a DJ sampler by EMI, sold close to 200,000 copies by September 1967 and spent a total of 142 weeks on the UK album charts, peaking at number two.