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The Beach Boys (album)

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The Beach Boys
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 10, 1985
RecordedJune 1984[1]–March 23, 1985[2]
Studio
  • Red Bus Recording Studios
  • CBS Studios (London)
  • Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)
Length37:52 (LP)
40:31 (CD)
LabelBrother/Caribou/CBS
ProducerSteve Levine
The Beach Boys chronology
Rarities
(1983)
The Beach Boys
(1985)
Made in U.S.A.
(1986)
Singles from The Beach Boys
  1. "Getcha Back"/"Male Ego"
    Released: May 8, 1985
  2. "It's Gettin' Late"
    Released: July 17, 1985
  3. "She Believes in Love Again"/"It's Just a Matter of Time"
    Released: October 1985

The Beach Boys is the 25th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 10, 1985. Produced by Steve Levine, the album is the band's first after the drowning of founding member Dennis Wilson.[3] It was also the band's first album to be recorded digitally and the last released by James William Guercio's Caribou Records.[4] The record sold poorly, charting at number 52 in the U.S. and number 60 in the UK.

Production

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Brian Wilson's psychologist Eugene Landy, who was originally awarded co-writing credits on Wilson's songs, stated in a contemporary interview, "I'm practically a member of the band [...] Brian's got the talent to make the music. [...] He's the creator. The other band members are just performers. So I'm the one who's making the album."[5]

Among the guest musicians, Ringo Starr played drums on "California Calling", while Stevie Wonder played most of the instruments on "I Do Love You".[6]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Blender[8]
Christgau's Record GuideC[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]

Critical reaction was mixed.[12] Writing in Rolling Stone, Parke Puterbaugh called the album 'pretty entertaining', adding 'though not a world-beating act of artistic reassertion, the LP does serve to showcase those amazing voices, and to remind the world that nobody does it better—still.'[13]

Legacy

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Levine reflected that he had remained "immensely proud" of the album and lamented its poor sales.[12]

Track listing

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Eugene Landy originally received co-writer's credit for all Brian Wilson compositions. This credit was omitted starting with the album's 2000 CD reissue.[14]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."Getcha Back"Mike Love and Brian Wilson3:02
2."It's Gettin' Late"Carl Wilson3:27
3."Crack at Your Love"Al Jardine and B. Wilson3:40
4."Maybe I Don't Know"
C. Wilson3:54
5."She Believes in Love Again"Bruce JohnstonBruce Johnston and C. Wilson3:29
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."California Calling"
  • Jardine
  • B. Wilson
Love and Jardine2:50
2."Passing Friend"C. Wilson5:00
3."I'm So Lonely"B. WilsonB. Wilson and C. Wilson2:52
4."Where I Belong"
  • C. Wilson
  • Johnson
C. Wilson and Jardine2:58
5."I Do Love You"Stevie WonderC. Wilson with Jardine4:20
6."It's Just a Matter of Time"B. WilsonB. Wilson and Love2:23
CD bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
12."Male Ego"B. Wilson, LoveB. Wilson and Love2:32

Personnel

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Credits sourced from Craig Slowinski, John Brode, Will Crerar and Joshilyn Hoisington.[15] Track numbers refer to the CD release.

The Beach Boys

Additional players

  • John Alder – electric (1, 6, 8) and acoustic guitars (1), guitar synthesizer (4), dobros (11)
  • Graham Broad – drums (4), drums with brushes (11), jingle stick (1), castanets (1), maracas (1), bongos (1), hi-hat (2, 5), cowbell (4), congas (5), shaker (5), tom-tom (11), tambourine (1, 11)
  • Jeffrey Foskett – backing vocals (5)
  • Stuart Gordon – violins (5), violas (5), cellos (5)
  • Steve Grainger – baritone saxophone (1, 2), tenor saxophone (7)
  • Roy Hay – electric guitars (7), Yamaha DX1 (7), PPG Wave 2.3 (7), Oberheim OB-8 (7), Oberheim Xpander (7), Prophet-5 (7)
  • Simon Humphrey – bass guitar (6)
  • Judd Lander – harmonica (11)
  • Steve LevineFairlight CMI programming (all tracks), LinnDrum programming (1–4, 7, 8, 12), Simmons hi-hat (3)
  • Julian Lindsay – Kurzweil K250 (1, 9, 11), PPG Wave 2.3 (1–3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12), Oberheim OB-8 (2, 4, 6, 9, 11), Yamaha DX1 (1, 2, 4, 5, 9), Oberheim Xpander (5), Prophet-5 (2), Roland Jupiter-8 (4), E-mu Emulator (9), bass guitar (1, 2, 4), organ (6, 11), acoustic piano (10)
  • Marcus Miller – bass guitar (3)
  • Kenneth McGregor – trombone (2, 5)
  • Terry Melcher – Kurzweil K250 and backing vocals (1)
  • Gary Moore – electric guitars (4, 5), Synthaxe (5)
  • Ian Ritchie – tenor saxophone (2, 8), Lyricon (3), baritone saxophone (12)
  • Dave Spence – trumpet (2)
  • Ringo Starr – drums and timpani (6)
  • Stevie WonderFender Rhodes electric piano (10), harmonica (10), bass guitar (10), Linn 9000 drum machine (10), tambourine (10)

Charts

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Chart (1985) Peak
Position
U.S. Billboard 200[12] 52
UK Top 40 Albums[16] 60

References

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  1. ^ Doe, Andrew G.; et al. "Gigs & Sessions: 1984". Bellagio10452.com. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Doe, Andrew G.; et al. "Gigs & Sessions: 1985". Bellagio10452.com. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  3. ^ Dillon 2012, p. 249.
  4. ^ Dillon 2012, pp. 249, 254.
  5. ^ White 1996, p. 339.
  6. ^ Doe & Tobler 2004, p. 108.
  7. ^ Ruhlmann, William. The Beach Boys at AllMusic
  8. ^ Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Keepin the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  11. ^ Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  12. ^ a b c Dillon 2012, p. 254.
  13. ^ "The Beach Boys". Rolling Stone. 15 August 1985. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  14. ^ Doe & Tobler 2004, p. 107.
  15. ^ Slowinski, Craig (Summer 2023). Beard, David (ed.). "The Beach Boys 1985". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. Vol. 36, no. 142. Charlotte, North Carolina.
  16. ^ The Beach Boys The Beach Boys

Bibliography

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