Friends (The Beach Boys album)
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| Friends | |||||
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| Studio album by The Beach Boys | |||||
| Released | 24 June 1968 | ||||
| Recorded | February-April 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 25:30 | ||||
| Label | Capitol Records | ||||
| Producer | The Beach Boys | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| The Beach Boys chronology | |||||
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Friends was the only studio album released by The Beach Boys in 1968.
As work on the album began in February 1968, Mike Love, a recent convert to transcendental meditation, departed on a two week trip to India (alongside The Beatles and Donovan) to study TM further with his new master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In his absence, the remaining Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Al Jardine and - now an official member - Bruce Johnston recorded the bulk of Friends along with selected members of The Wrecking Crew.
Friends was the first Beach Boys album to feature significant songwriting contributions from Dennis Wilson, "Little Bird" and "Be Still"; the former's bridge incorporated elements of "Child Is The Father Of The Man", a then-unreleased song from the aborted Smile. Although production was credited to the group as a whole, this was the band's last album until 1977's Love You to feature Brian Wilson as a dominant creative force, writing or co-writing every song with the exception of his younger brother's contributions and actively participating in recording sessions.
In mid-March, Mike Love returned from his TM retreat and contributed to the subsequent vocal sessions, with leads on the brief "Meant for You", which opens the album, and the understated "Anna Lee, the Healer", who was in reality a spiritual healer and not a masseuse as has been claimed (that was Marcella, on a later album). Almost immediately, The Beach Boys embarked on two US tours, one with the Strawberry Alarm Clock, and another with, most controversially, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi himself (as a lecturer). Both were commercial failures, and were swiftly canceled (after they famously drew only 200 people in New York City).
The first Beach Boys album to be released only in stereo, Friends was issued in June. It reached only #126 on American charts, as an indication of the band's depleted commercial fortunes at the time, but its later UK release was more popular, reaching #13.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Meant for You" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 0:38
- Features Mike Love on lead vocals
- "Friends" (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Dennis Wilson/Al Jardine) – 2:30
- Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals
- "Wake the World" (Brian Wilson/Al Jardine) – 1:28
- Features Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson on lead vocals
- "Be Here in the Mornin' " (Brian Wilson/Carl Wilson/Mike Love/Dennis Wilson/Al Jardine) – 2:16
- Features Alan Jardine [sped-up], Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson on lead vocals
- "When a Man Needs a Woman" (Brian Wilson/Dennis Wilson/Carl Wilson/Al Jardine/Steve Korthof/Jon Parks) – 2:06
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
- "Passing By" (Brian Wilson) – 2:23
- Features Brian Wilson and Al Jardine on lead vocals
- "Anna Lee, the Healer" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 1:51
- Features Mike Love on lead vocals
- "Little Bird" (Dennis Wilson/Steve Kalinich) – 1:57
- Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
- "Be Still" (Dennis Wilson/Steve Kalinich) – 1:22
- Features Dennis Wilson on lead vocals
- "Busy Doin' Nothin'" (Brian Wilson) – 3:04
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
- "Diamond Head" (Al Vescovo/Lyle Ritz/Jim Ackley/Brian Wilson) – 3:37
- Instrumental
- "Transcendental Meditation" (Brian Wilson/Mike Love/Al Jardine) – 1:49
- Features Brian Wilson and Alan Jardine on lead vocals
[edit] Foreign Editions
The Australian release of Friends had "Good Vibrations" replace "Diamond Head" on Side 2.
The Japanese release of Friends added "Do It Again" as the first song on Side 2.
[edit] Singles
- "Friends" b/w "Little Bird" (Capitol 2160), 8 April 1968 US #47; UK #25
- "Wake the World" featured as the B-side of "Do It Again"
Friends is now paired on CD with 20/20, with bonus tracks from that period.
[edit] Sources
- Friends/20/20 CD booklet notes, David Leaf, c.1990.
- "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
- "Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
- "Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
- "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
- All Music Guide.com
[edit] External links
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