''Spring'' is the only album by American pop duo
Spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
, released in July 1972 on
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
. It contains
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of popular songs as well as original material written or co-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 ...
of
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 ...
. Although Brian is the album's only credited producer, most of the production was actually handled by his collaborator at the time, David Sandler, alongside engineer
Stephen Desper.
The album sold poorly, and in later years, became a valuable collector's item.
The record was soon renamed ''American Spring'', along with the band, to avoid confusion with the English band
Spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
. In 1977, the Beach Boys included their version of the album's second single, "
Good Time", on their album ''
The Beach Boys Love You
''The Beach Boys Love You'' is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released April 11, 1977 on Brother/Reprise. Sometimes referred to as the band's "punk" or "synth pop" album, ''Love You'' is distinguished for its pioneer ...
''. In 1998, ''Spring'' was reissued on CD with four bonus tracks.
Background and recording
![Brian Wilson 1971](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Brian_Wilson_1971.png)
Thanks to a mutual connection with
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...
, Brian Wilson met David Sandler, a Minnesota-based songwriter/producer, at a session for "
Good Time". The song was intended for what became
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 ...
' 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 left off the record, and the backing track (produced on January 7, 1970) was ultimately used for ''Spring''. Wilson and Sandler kept in touch, and a few months later, Wilson asked Sandler to co-produce what became the ''Spring'' album.
''Spring'' was largely tracked in Wilson's home studio in
Bel Air, California
Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...
from October 8, 1971 to May 1972. The album was produced by Wilson, Sandler, and engineer
Stephen Desper. According to Sandler, Wilson's actual role in the project "ebbed and flowed". Wilson was occasionally absent during sessions, leaving Sandler and Desper to produce the record by themselves, sometimes with assistance from
Sunrays member
Rick Henn.
Sessions coincided with the Beach Boys' recording of ''
Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"
''Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"'' is the 18th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released May 15, 1972 on Brother/Reprise. The album is a significant musical departure for the band and is the first to feature the Fl ...
'', an album that featured less involvement from Wilson than ''Spring''. According to Sandler, Wilson "was definitely trying to establish some independence from the group, and the Spring album was part of that. He still had a lot of music in him, but I think he was depressed. And maybe some of the people who were supposed to be helping him were hacking away but not helping him that much."
One of the album's outtakes was a medley of
the Four Tops
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
' "
Baby I Need Your Loving
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top ...
" and
the Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...
's "
Gimme Some Lovin
"Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest Son ...
"; the track was abandoned after Wilson received a lukewarm reaction from his bandmates. There were also plans for Sandler to co-produce the Beach Boys' next album. Explaining why it never happened, Sandler commented, "There were personality things, family things, going on." In 2021, the Beach Boys' unfinished recording of Sandler's "It's Natural", produced by Wilson and Sandler, was released on the 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 ...
''.
Release and reception
''Spring'' was released in the US by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
in July 1972. Elsewhere, and on later reissues of the album, the record was renamed "American Spring" to avoid confusion with the English band
of the same name. The album was critically acclaimed but sold poorly.
Reviewing in ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote of the album: "In which Brian Wilson produces his old female backup group—
the Honeys
The Honeys (originally the Rovell Sisters) were an American girl group, formed in Los Angeles in 1958, that initially comprised sisters Marilyn, Diane, and Barbara Rovell. Barbara was later replaced by their cousin, Ginger Blake. After 1962, ...
, featuring his wife
Marilyn—in what sounds like the best and is certainly the most charming Beach Boys album since ''
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 ...
''. The old combination of ingenuousness and sophistication works as well as ever, only this time the vocals rather than the lyrics are naive—direct, pretty, effortless, thoughtless. And Wilson's studio work is as precise and humorous as ever."
Track listing
Personnel
American Spring
* Diane Rovell
*
Marilyn Wilson
Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford (née Rovell; born February 6, 1948) is an American singer who is best known as the first wife of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Raised in Los Angeles, she started her singing career in the late 1950s, initially as part ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
1972 albums
Albums produced by Brian Wilson
United Artists Records albums