Looking at the album itself, you find a pretty nice 12-track sampler of what the Beach Boys were all about. The 28-minute program consists of: "Surfin' U.S.A.," "Catch a Wave," "Surfer Girl," "Little Deuce Coupe," "In My Room," "Little Honda," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "The Warmth of the Sun," "Louie, Louie," "Kiss Me Baby," "You're So Good To Me," and "Wendy." The cover of "Louie, Louie" is a bizarre inclusion as nobody would consider that a standout track in any way. There were some obvious hits not included for whatever reason such as the #1 hit "I Get Around" and "California Girls."
Four months after the appearance of this collection in the United States, the UK version was released with a very different set of songs. You get two more cuts, so five more minutes, and the peculiar omissions from the US version are included. The UK version dropped "Catch a Wave," "Surfer Girl," "Little Honda," "The Warmth of the Sun," "Louie, Louie," "Kiss Me Baby," and "Wendy." It added "Surfin' Safari," "I Get Around," "All Summer Long," "Do You Wanna Dance," "Help Me Rhonda," "California Girls," "Barbara Ann," "Sloop John B," and "God Only Knows."
According to the January 7, 1967 issue of Billboard, the UK LP was originally compiled by EMI as a DJ sampler. EMI's album is more respectful to the band and more well-rounded than what Capitol came up with. There are still ways to improve it, but it's a satisfying spin. In the UK, the Beach Boys popularity was at an all-time high at this point. As Capitol kept embracing their older material, the bands new recordings would sell less and less stateside. Capitol would follow up with a Vol. 2 and Vol. 3. In both cases, EMI would improve on their tracklistings, just like they did here. I've got to hand it to the UK for looking out for our boys.
