"Friends" is a song by American rock band
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
from their 1968 album ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''. It was written by
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Dennis Wilson and
Al Jardine. Sung by Carl, the song was recorded in waltz time.
"Friends" was the first single from the album of the same name and has since been described as a "cult favorite."
Background and recording
"Friends" was recorded on March 13, 1968. It was recorded in time for its first take. Immediately after, Brian rearranged the song after realizing that there were not many waltzes on the radio. Brian later stated, "The cut 'Friends' was, in my opinion, a good way to keep waltzes alive."
As Peter Reum, a Beach Boys historian, stated "'Friends' is a waltz, and it's been used at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
to teach students how to write in time."
"Friends" features a lead vocal performed by
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 ...
, who had been gradually assuming more lead vocal duties to this point. Brian explained, "Carl had sung '
Darlin'' and some others before and now he spearheaded this cut with a heavy vocal performance."
Brian called the song his favorite from the ''Friends'' album. In another interview, he commented, Friends' is great. I though there was a lot of humor in it and I thought, y'know, songs usually don't have that much kinda humor, but 'Friends' had a lot of humor in it. So that's why I like it."
Bruce Johnston, who otherwise disliked the "wimpy" nature of the ''Friends'' album, described the song as "fantastic" and praised its bassline.
Release and sales
"Friends" was released as a single, with "
Little Bird" as the B-side. With its gentle arrangement and simple song structure, "Friends" proved to be out of step with commercial trends and underperformed commercially.
The single peaked at number 47 in the United States, becoming their first single to miss the top 40 since "
The Man with All the Toys" in 1964.
It fared better in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, peaking at number 25.
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 ...
mix was sold as a vinyl single backed with Al Jardine's Beach Boys reunion song "
Don't Fight the Sea
"Don't Fight the Sea" is a song written by Terry Jacks and released as a single in 1976, reaching #31 on the Canadian Charts.
Al Jardine version
The song was attempted by the Beach Boys in 1976 during recording sessions for their album ''15 Bi ...
" for the charity of
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
in April 2011.
Critical reception
Upon release, ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' spoke positively of the song, writing, "
Barbershop harmonizing to a soft rock backdrop provides the Beach Boys with a departure from their '
Wild Honey'/'
Good Vibrations
"Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record c ...
' style. Easy-throbbing waltz tempo and a unique vocal sound cast a new type of magical spell for the team, one that should have them rising rapidly on the best seller charts. Outstanding track."
In its 1968 review of the ''Friends'' album, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' singled out the title track as a highlight, writing, "
t isa more mature (in that it lacks their usual immediacy) evocation of the surfer 'pack' or 'club' vision — why go out with a girl when you can go cruising with the guys on Saturday nights? It's really warm, simple, touching, saying in not so many words that friendship isn’t about words."
In ''
Disc & Music Echo
''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972).
...
'',
Penny Valentine wrote of the single, "Whither the progressive Beach Boys?
..If The Beach Boys are as bored as they sound, they should stop bothering
..They are no longer the brilliant Beach Boys. They are grey and they are making sad little grey records."
Retrospectively, biographer
David Leaf
David Leaf (born April 20, 1952) is a Peabody and WGAW award-winning writer, director, and producer, known for his associations with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys since the late 1970s.
Leaf's 1978 biography ''The Beach Boys and the California ...
praised the song's "fine melody and lovely production" and wrote, "The vocal arrangement of this track let the world know that Brian was back mixing his magical harmonic brew."
Donald Guarisco of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
commented, "This mellow, lovely track is a good example of the Beach Boys' late-'60s output: it is far less musically complex than '
California Girls' or '
Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, and Mike Love, it is distinguished for its sophisticated Wall of ...
' but possesses a homespun charm all its own."
Dave Swanson of ''
Ultimate Classic Rock
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'' noted the song's "calming nature."
Personnel
Per Craig Slowinski.
The Beach Boys
*
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 ...
- lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar
*
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 ...
- lead vocals, backing vocals
*
Dennis Wilson - backing vocals
*
Alan Jardine - backing vocals
*
Bruce Johnston - backing vocals
Session musicians
* Jim Ackley - keyboard
* Jimmy Bond - upright bass
* Norm Jeffries - drums
* Alan Estes - vibes
* Tommy Morgan - standard & bass harmonicas
* Jim Horn - sax & clarinet
* Jay Migliori - sax & clarinet
* Arnold Belnick, William Kurasch, Leonard Malarsky - violins
* Norman Botnick - viola
References
Bibliography
*
{{authority control
1968 singles
The Beach Boys songs
Songs written by Carl Wilson
Songs written by Dennis Wilson
Songs written by Al Jardine
Songs written by Brian Wilson
Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys
Capitol Records singles
1968 songs
Songs about friendship