In 1968, just two months after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
was killed, and only weeks after RFK was shot, The Beach Boys released their
fourteenth studio album FRIENDS on Capitol Records. It only reached No 126 on the US chart and
only stayed on the chart for ten weeks.
At one time though, Brian Wilson said it was his favorite Beach Boys
record. Brian: “The song writing cycle
for the FRIENDS album project came quickly to me. I was, by then, an experienced song writer
and I knew what each basic key meant to me.
By this time I had a good thing rollin’ in my head...The album took
shape mostly in my studio in one room in my Bel Air mansion”.
FRIENDS opens with ‘Meant For You’ with Mike Love on
lead. It is a mellow song of reflection:
“As I sit and close my eyes/There’s peace in my mind/And I’m hoping that you’ll
find it too/And these feelings in my heart/I know are meant for you”. The title track hit No 47 on the charts. It is a waltz that has been used at the
Berklee College of Music for teaching purposes.
It is also a pretty pop song about friendship and uses harmonica: “We’ve
been friends now for so many years/We’ve been together through the good times
and the tears/Turned each other on to the good things that life has to give/We
drift apart for a little bit of a spell/One night I get a call and I know that
you’re well/And days I was down, you would help me get out of my hole/Ohh/Let’s
be friends (3X)”.
‘Wake The World’ was penned by Brian Wilson and Al Jardine
and uses the tuba. It is a cheerful,
optimistic song: “One by one the stars appear/The light of day is no longer
here/One by one the stars disappear/The sky grows brighter every minute of the
sunrise/Wake the world with a brand new morning/Say hello to another fine
morning/Got my face in the running water/Making my life so much brighter”. ‘Be Here in the Morning’ uses the
glockenspiel and is a song of longing: “It’s been such a long day so you better
hurry home/Lit all my incense and I wish you were home/Only five minutes and
you walk through my door/Be here in the morning/Be here in the evening/Be here
and make my life full”.
By 1968 all six of The Beach Boys were married and five had
or were having kids. ‘When a Man Needs a
Woman’ finds Brian Wilson on lead and is a great light pop song even if the
lyrics are silly: “When a man needs a woman/They make things like you, my son/A
man needs a woman/Like a woman needs a man/When the two get together, oh, oh,
oh/Pretty soon we’ll be a family of three/Then it’s not gonna be just you and
me/We’ll share all the goodies/With the one we bring in the world”. ‘Passing By’ is a nice musical interlude that
includes an organ and bass harmonica.
’Anna Lee, The Healer’ is a melodic, easy listening
tune. It is a tribute to a masseuse:
“Anna Lee, Anna Lee, the healer/Healer with the healing hands/Makes you well as
quick as she can/You’d love to see those smiling eyes of Anna Lee/From the Himalayan
mountain side/Of the nishigesh/To a California beach house/Facing towards the
sea/Goes a gal who got her fame/By going round healing folks”. Dennis Wilson co-wrote ‘Little Bird’. He and Brian share the lead on this track
that uses a muted trumpet. It contains
these lyrics dealing with nature: “Tree in my own backyard/Stands all
alone/Bears fruit for me/And it tastes so good/Where’s my pretty bird?/He must
have flown away/If I keep singing/He’ll come back someday/Dawn, bird’s still
gone/Guess I’ll go mow the lawn/What a day, what a day/Oooo, what a beautiful
day this is”.
‘Be Still’ is a quiet song with Dennis on the lead with
Carl. This one has hippie-like lyrics:
“Now is the time life begins/Take that simple path/And love will set you
free/Live in harmony/And love will set you free, oh/You know, you know you
are/Be still and know you are/You know, you know you are/Be still and know you
are”. ‘Busy Doin’ Nothin’’ is an
ambitious track with a bossa nova beat.
It is about a day in the life of Brian Wilson in 1968 and includes these
humorous lyrics: “I wrote a number down, but I lost it/So I searched through my
pocket book/I couldn’t find it/So I sat and concentrated on the number/And
slowly it came to me/So I dialed it/And I let it ring a few times/There was no
answer/So I let it ring a little more/Still no answer/So I hung up the
telephone/Got some paper and sharpened up a pencil/And wrote a letter to my
friend”.
‘Diamond Head’ is about a Hawaiian landmark. It doesn’t use any words, but includes lots
of interesting sounds. In late 1967 The
Beach Boys met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and learned how to meditate. By the Spring of 1968 they toured
together. The tour cost the group
several hundred thousand dollars. As a
Christian I only support Biblical meditation, but this funky rock song called
‘Transcendental Meditation’ includes these words: “Transcendental
Meditation/Can emancipate the man/And get you feeling grand/Fusion of/The never
changing wind/The ever changing wind/The never changing world/It’s good”.
FRIENDS is a vast improvement over 1967’s WILD HONEY. It is creative, artistic, and
innovative. It sounds like a Beach Boys
record with some harmonies. This sounds
like a group full of maturity and with a desire to make meaningful music for
their audience. I’m rating FRIENDS 90%.
In 1969 The Beach Boys released 20/20. This album fulfilled their contract with
Capitol Records. David Leaf writes: “The
title 20/20 refers to both the eye chart Brian’s hiding behind on the inside of
the gatefold cover and the fact that this was the Beach Boys 20th
album (in less than seven years) for Capitol”.
It sold better than FRIENDS, hitting No 68 on the US chart. Brian Wilson: “The key word for this album
is-refinement. I was still growin’
musically and we as a group wanted to sound more subtle and tighter. I felt strongly about making an album that
would also appeal to older audiences as well”.
The album beings with ‘Do It Again’, with Mike Love on
lead. It hit No 20, making it the
group’s 17th Top 20 hit of the 1960’s. It has the classic Beach Boys sound complete
with harmonies and a danceable beat. It
finds the guys reminiscing about the good times: “It’s automatic when I talk
with old friends/The conversation turns to girls we knew/When their hair was
soft and long/And the beach was the place to go/With sun tanned bodies and the
waves of sunshine/The California girls and a beautiful coastline/And warmed up
weather/Let’s get together and do it again”.
Next up is a cover of The Ronettes’ ‘I Can Hear Music’. The Beach Boys version finds Carl Wilson on
lead. He produced it and it went to No
24. This great pop song uses sleighbells. These words may make some listeners blush: “I
never had a love of my own/Maybe that’s why when we’re all alone/I can hear
music/I can hear music/The sound of the city baby, seems to disappear/I can
hear music/Sweet, sweet music/Whenever you touch me baby/Whenever you’re near”.
This is followed by Ersel Hickey’s ‘Bluebirds Over The
Mountain’. Ed Carter plays lead
guitar. This is a pulsating song of
longing that also uses horns and strings: “Oh everyone in every land/Please
give me a helping hand/If you see her all alone/Oh, tell my baby/’Won’t you
please come home?’/Bluebirds over the mountain/Seagulls over the
sea-ea-ea/Bluebirds over the mountain/Bring my baby to me”. Dennis Wilson wrote and sings lead on ‘Be
With Me’. It finds him desiring closeness
with a gal: “Go walking round at night/The wind’s really blowing/It’s too cold
to talk/I wonder if she’s knowing/She should be with me/It could set her
free/Come with me/Be with me/A part of me”.
‘All I Want to Do’ is an energetic rock ‘n’ roll song
written and produced by Dennis, but Mike Love sings it. These words would be fine if in the context
of matrimony: “Well, I don’t care where you wanna go/Just so you go with me/And
I don’t care what you want to do/But make sure you do it with me/All I wanna do
with you/Well, I just wanna make some love to you”. ‘The Nearest Faraway Place’ is a lovely,
meditative instrumental composed, performed, and produced by group member Bruce
Johnston. Its title is from an article
by Shana Alexander in LIFE magazine.
Carrying on, ‘Cotton Fields (The
Cotton Song)’ is a cover of a folk classic by Huddie (Leadbelly)
Ledbetter. Al Jardine takes the lead.
Here are some of the words: “Don’t care if them cotton balls get rotten/When I got
you baby, who needs cotton/In them old cotton fields back home/Brother only one
thing more that’s gonna warm you/A summer’s day out in California/It’s gonna be
the cotton fields back home”. ‘I Went to
Sleep’ has a barbershop feel to it vocally.
It is a song about dozing off peacefully: “Ten thirty, I turned my radio
on/Some group was playing a musical song/It wasn’t too long and I went to
sleep/Again at the park on a nice summer day/High up above me the trees gently
sway/A bird flew away and I went to sleep”.
‘Time to Get Alone’ was originally
produced by Brian for Redwood who later became Three Dog Night. The song is one of romance and The Beach Boys
version uses harpsichord and strings: ”The pine scented air/Smells so good in
the snow/In our toboggan we’ll go/Screaming down the mountain side/The touch of
your cheeks/When they’re rosy and cold/Feels so cozy to hold/Just to take you
close and make you warm/It’s time to get alone/To get alone/And just be
together/We’ll only be together”.
Believe it or not, Dennis’ ‘Never Learn Not to Love’ was originally a
Charles Manson composition called ‘Cease to Exist’! Dennis’ decent light rock reworking of it,
includes these words: “Cease to resist, come on say you love me/Give up your
world, come on and be with me.../Submission is a gift, give it to your
lover/Love and understanding is for one another/I’m your kind, I’m your kind,
and I see”.
‘Our Prayer’ was originally
recorded in October of 1966 for SMILE which was shelved. The Beach Boys recorded additional vocals for
the song in the Fall of 1968. The song
has no words, but features the group harmonizing acappella style. The album ends with the Brian Wilson/Van Dyke
Parks composition ‘Cabinessence’ which was also meant for SMILE. It is an experimental number that includes
these far out lyrics: “Have you seen the grand coolie workin’ on the
railroad?/Workin’ on the railroad?/Workin’ on the railroad?/Over and over/The
crow cries, uncover the cornfield/Over and over/The thresher and hover the
wheat field”.
20/20 is a strong album that
still sounds good after all these years.
Here we have a group with lots of energy, fine vocals, and effective
instrumentation. We have a group full of
promise, even after all their earlier hits about surfing and cars. I’m rating 20/20 87%.
The 2001 double album re-release
of FRIENDS and 20/20 on one CD includes five bonus tracks you will want to
check out. The Beach Boys would sign
with Warner Brothers in 1970 starting a new chapter in the group’s
history. For more info visit: www.thebeachboys.com.