"Forever" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1970 album ''

Sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

''. It was written by Dennis Wilson and

Gregg Jakobson Gregg Jakobson (born August 2, 1939) is an American songwriter who was a friend and songwriting partner of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and a prosecution witness in the murder trials of members of the Manson Family. Beach Boys Jakobson and W ...

. Dennis sang lead vocal. His brother Brian assisted with the arrangement.

Reception

Brian Wilson declared of the song, "'Forever' has to be the most harmonically beautiful thing I've ever heard. It's a rock and roll prayer." AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwalk wrote,

Other releases

* In 1972,

American Spring American Spring (known as simply Spring before 1972) was an American pop music duo formed in Los Angeles, California. It consisted of sisters Marilyn Wilson and Diane Rovell, who had earlier been members of girl group the Honeys. As with the H ...

, a duo consisting of Brian Wilson's then-wife Marilyn and her sister Diane Rovell released a version on their sole album, produced by Wilson. * In 2003, an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

version of the song was included on the Beach Boys' compilation '' Hawthorne, CA''. * In 2021, session highlights, instrumental, and a cappella versions were included on the band's box set ''

Feel Flows "Feel Flows" is a song recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album '' Surf's Up''. It was written by guitarist Carl Wilson and band manager Jack Rieley, and was one of Wilson's first songs. Background and recording The ...

''.

Jesse and the Rippers version

A newly recorded version of the song, featuring lead vocals from actor and Beach Boys sideman

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the Da ...

, appeared on the band's 1992 album ''

Summer in Paradise ''Summer in Paradise'' is the twenty-seventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 3, 1992, by Brother Records. Produced by Terry Melcher, it is the only album not to feature any new contributions from Brian Wilso ...

''. Stamos performed the song on at least three episodes of his sitcom '' Full House''. On the first episode of '' Fuller House'' in 2016, "Forever" was once again performed by Jesse and the Rippers with other characters from the show singing as well.

Charts

Personnel

Sourced from Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys * Mike Love – harmony and backing vocals *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

– harmony and backing vocals *

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

– harmony and backing vocals, acoustic guitar,

Rocksichord Rocky Mount Instruments (RMI) was a subsidiary of the Allen Organ Company, based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, active from 1966 to 1982. The company was formed to produce portable musical instruments, and manufactured several electronic pianos ...

* Dennis Wilson – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, piano, tambourine, production * Bruce Johnston – piano Additional musicians * Mike Anthony – electric guitar *

Jimmy Bond Jimmy Bond is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows ''The Lone Gunmen'' and ''The X-Files'', two science fiction shows about government conspiracies to hide or deny the truth from the people. Portrayed by American actor ...

– arco double bass * Lyle Ritz – bass * Daryl Dragon – vibraphone * Gene Estes – drums * Frank Capp – tympani * Orville “Red” Rhodes –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

Paul Beaver Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– Moog synthesizer * Spiro Stamos, Roy Tanabe, Shari Zippert, Jay Rosen – violins Additional production staff *

Stephen Desper Stephen W. Desper is an American audio engineer who is best known for his work with the Beach Boys during the early 1970s and for inventing the Spatializer. The Spatializer is an effects unit which employs psychoacoustic techniques that emulate th ...

– engineer * Doc Siegel – additional engineer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forever (Beach Boys Song) 1970 songs The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Dennis Wilson Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys Reprise Records singles Songs written by Gregg Jakobson