AMG REVIEW: Although their vocal harmonies make most people think of the Beach Boys as purely pop, they've often displayed a solid knack for rockers. One of their best is "Fun Fun Fun," a relentlessly propulsive track that gave the Beach Boys a Top Five hit in 1964. The witty story song lyric tells of a girl who lies to get "her daddy's car" so she can go hot-rodding. Of course, the father catches on and takes it away so the song throws in a final twist where its narrator comes to the girl's rescue with his own car. The melody that backs up this story-song is one of the hardest-hitting in the Beach Boys canon: the verse melodies pile on notes at an amphetamine pace to keep up with the wordy lyrics, stopping periodically for a brief but lovely multi-harmony chorus. The song's exciting pace is accelerated even further on the Beach Boys recording, which plays like an encyclopedia of pop/rock arrangement tricks: the guitar riff that opens the song has a Chuck Berry feel, surf rock is given a nod with a wild organ solo, and the insistent drum tattoos that punctuate the song come right out of the Phil Spector playbook. However, "Fun Fun Fun" never sounds derivative because Wilson synthesizes these elements into a cohesive whole and adds a glistening layer of vocal harmonies that are strictly his own domain. The end result is a perfect balance of sweet pop harmonies and rock & roll muscle and this blend made "Fun Fun Fun" an enduring staple of the Beach Boys live show and a popular cover choice for everyone from the Carpenters to Joan Jett. "Fun, Fun, Fun" later earned new fame when it was used for a romantic fantasy scene in American Graffiti, transforming it from a pop/rock tune to a piece of pure Americana. ? Donald A. Guarisco