All Summer Long (album)

All Summer Long
Studio album by the Beach Boys
Released	July 13, 1964 (1964-07-13)
Recorded	April 2 – May 19, 1964 (except "Drive-In", October 18, 1963)
Studio	Western and Radio, Hollywood
Genre	Pop[1] rock and roll[2]
Length	25:10
Label	Capitol
Producer	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys chronology
Shut Down Volume 2 (1964) All Summer Long (1964) Four by the Beach Boys (1964)
The Beach Boys UK chronology
Beach Boys Concert (1965) All Summer Long (1965) Surfin' U.S.A. (1965)
Singles from All Summer Long
"I Get Around" Released: May 11, 1964

All Summer Long is the sixth album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released July 13, 1964 on Capitol Records. Regarded as their first artistically unified collection of songs, as well as one of the first true concept albums, it marked the Beach Boys' first LP that was not focused on themes of cars or surfing. Instead, the songs are semi-autobiographical and relate to the experiences of a typical Southern Californian teenager, a theme encapsulated by the title track, "All Summer Long", and the often-imitated front cover, a modernist style photo collage depicting the band members fraternizing with young women on a beach.

The album was recorded between April and May 1964 during the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion. It was produced and largely written by Brian Wilson, who sought to raise the quality of his group's repertoire and sound following the disappointing results of Shut Down Volume 2. Also intended as a riposte to the Beatles, All Summer Long contained the band's most complex arrangements and refined vocal performances on a record to date. Among the included songs are "Wendy", "Drive-In", "Don't Back Down", and a rendition of the Mystics' 1959 hit "Hushabye".

Heralding the album era, All Summer Long reached number 4 in the US during a 49-week chart stay and yielded one single, "I Get Around", the band's first number-one hit in the US, cementing the group's sustainability in a market then dominated by British acts. To support the album, the group embarked on their first extended tour, playing about 70 shows over the course of the summer. A version of "Little Honda" by the Hondells became a top 10 hit, while "Girls on the Beach" later served as the theme for the 1965 film of the same name. In the UK, All Summer Long was issued in June 1965 and failed to chart. By then, it had been certified gold by the RIAA, indicating 500,000 units sold.

Wilson later cited All Summer Long as "a turning point" for the band, and his first LP that could compete against Phil Spector and the Beatles. Subsequent to this album, the Beach Boys rarely recorded songs about cars or surfing, but continued to be stereotyped as a group who exclusively sang about such subject matter, even as their musical sophistication continued to grow with such releases as The Beach Boys Today! (1965) and Pet Sounds (1966).