Introduction

It's been well documented that much of the pop music from the West was never considered for release in India during the 1960s and 1970s. A few labels, like EMI who had pressing plants in India, and had access to many of the bigger artists like the Beach Boys (and of course the Beatles), knew there was a strong demand for "western music" in India and because of this demand, many of the records did get issued.

But not too many surprises here, as most of the releases followed the US pairings and serials numbers for the most part. The "odd" one in this group, is the pairing of "Fun Fun Fun" b/w "Little Honda" which received it's own unique serial number (CLE. 5), and was also issued not only as a 7" vinyl, but also as a 10" 78 RPM record as well.

Also note, two different shadings on some of the Capitol releases. It's not completely evident in the scans, but the paper on the labels feels and looks different as well. We're documenting both variations, as shown.

More on the 78 RPM release: It's been said that up to the early 1970s, many people in India, were still using many 78 RPM records players, and perhaps, because of this, there was some demand for Beach Boys' releases on this format. "Fun Fun Fun" was mentioned above, but there is also some evidence suggesting "Good VIbrations" was also issued on this format. We've yet to find or see a copy.

As for other labels, ie Warners/Reprise or CBS, it's unclear if there were any Beach Boys records pressed in India from these labels. We're hoping someone will step forward and share something with our website, if something does exist.