Friends (Beach Boys album)
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''Friends'' is the 14th studio album by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968, through
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. The album is characterized by its calm and peaceful atmosphere, which contrasted the prevailing music trends of the time, and for its brevity, with five of its 12 tracks running less than two minutes long. It sold poorly, peaking at number 126 on the ''Billboard'' charts, the group's lowest U.S. chart performance to date, although it reached number 13 in the UK. Fans generally came to regard the album as one of the band's finest. As with their two previous albums, ''Friends'' was recorded primarily at Brian Wilson's home with a lo-fi production style. The album's sessions lasted from February to April 1968 at a time when the band's finances were rapidly diminishing. Despite crediting production to "the Beach Boys", Wilson actively led the entire project, later referring to it as his second unofficial solo album (the first being 1966's '' Pet Sounds''). Some of the songs were inspired by the group's recent involvement with
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918
and his Transcendental Meditation practice. It was the first album to feature songs from Dennis Wilson. One single was issued from the 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 ...
", a waltz that reached number 47 in the U.S. and number 25 in the UK. Its B-side was the Dennis co-write " Little Bird". In May, the group scheduled a national tour with the Maharishi, but it was canceled after five shows due to low ticket sales and the Maharishi's subsequent withdrawal. A standalone single, " Do It Again", was released in July. It reached the U.S. top twenty, became their second number one hit in the UK, and was included on foreign pressings of ''Friends''. ''Friends'' received favorable reviews in the music press, but like their records since '' Smiley Smile'' (1967), the album's simplicity divided critics and fans. Despite the failure of a collaborative tour with the Maharishi, the group remained supporters of him and his teachings. Dennis contributed more songs on later Beach Boys albums, eventually culminating in a solo record, 1977's '' Pacific Ocean Blue''. In 2018, session highlights, outtakes, and alternate takes were released for the compilation ''Wake the World: The Friends Sessions''.


Background

In September and December 1967, the Beach Boys released '' Smiley Smile'' and '' Wild Honey'', respectively. Music fans were generally disappointed that the band twice failed to deliver on the hype surrounding their unreleased album '' Smile'', which was advertised as the follow-up to the sophistication of '' Pet Sounds'' and " Good Vibrations" (both 1966). Instead, the group were making a deliberate choice to produce music that was simpler and less refined. Commenting on '' Wild Honey'', Mike Love said the band made a conscious decision to be "completely out of the mainstream for what was going on at that time, which was all
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
/
psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...
.
he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
just didn’t have anything to do with what was going on." '' Wild Honey'' saw a reduced share of involvement from the group's producer and principal songwriter,
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 ...
. Although ''Wild Honey'' charted higher than ''Smiley Smile'' in the US, it was ultimately the group's lowest-selling album to that point. Apart from a two-week U.S. tour in November 1967, the band was not performing live during this period, and their finances were rapidly diminishing. That same month, the group stopped wearing their longtime striped-shirt stage uniforms in favor of matching white, polyester suits that were similar to a Las Vegas show band. Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, and Mike Love were among the many rock musicians who discovered the teachings of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918
following the Beatles' public endorsement of his Transcendental Meditation technique in August 1967. In December, the touring group attended a lecture by the Maharishi at a UNICEF Variety Gala in Paris and were moved by the simplicity and effectiveness of his meditation process as a means to obtaining inner peace. They were invited to meet the Maharishi in his hotel room the same day, and according to Brian, "they came back and
Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...
was] just floating. ... it got to me through him." He recalled that he had "already been initiated" beforehand, but "for some ridiculous reason I hadn't followed through with it, and when you don't follow through with something you can get all clogged up. ... we're all meditating together now." In a January 1968 interview, Brian stated that the group was unsure what their next production would be, but that "it won't be very long now until I come up with a song about meditation. It shouldn't be more than a month." He also expressed an interest in "pull ngout of conventional sound making and get inginto sounds that have never been made before ever." In early February, the group performed scattered gigs in the U.S. with Buffalo Springfield. The Beach Boys attended the Maharishi's public appearances in New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, after which he invited Love to join the Beatles at his training seminar in
Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditati ...
in northern India. Love stayed there from February 28 to March 15. In his absence, the rest of the group began recording the album that would become ''Friends''.


Recording history

''Friends'' was recorded primarily at the Beach Boys' private studio, located within Brian's Bel Air home, from late February to early April 1968. It was written, performed, or produced mainly by the Wilson brothers with what Stebbins terms "a strong assist" from Al Jardine. Jardine remembered how he still "felt that rianhad a lot to offer. ... We wrote ost of the ''Friends'' musicat his house right under that beautiful stained glass ''Wild Honey'' cover window." He added: "We'd get together in the morning. A lot of activity took place in the kitchen. ... We were in there as much as in the studio. God, we ate well." It was the first Beach Boys album not to consistently have Brian as primary composer, and the first to feature significant songwriting contributions from other group members. Asked as to the level of Wilson's input, band archivists Mark Linett and
Alan Boyd Alan Boyd is an American musician, sound engineer, record producer, and filmmaker who is best known for his work with the Beach Boys. Since the 1980s, he has been an archive manager for the band's Brother Records. Since 2000, he has worked alongs ...
said that Wilson led the entire project, even on the songs that he did not compose. In a 1976 interview, Wilson referred to ''Friends'' as his second "solo album", the first being ''Pet Sounds''.
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 ...
was recruited as the band's recording engineer, a role he would keep until 1972. He was recently contacted to convert Brian's semi-portable home recording set-up to a more permanent "full-fledged recording studio with the capacity of any other".
Session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s were used more than on ''Smiley Smile'' and ''Wild Honey'', but in smaller configurations than on the Beach Boys' records from 1962 through 1966. From February 20 or 27 to March 15, the band tracked " Little Bird", "Be Here in the Mornin", and "Friends". After Love returned from his retreat, they began recording "When a Man Needs a Woman", "Passing By", "
Busy Doin' Nothin' "Busy Doin' Nothin'" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1968 album ''Friends''. Written by Brian Wilson, the lyrics reflect the minutiae of his daily social and business life, while the music, Wilson said, was inspired ...
", "
Wake the World "Wake the World" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1968 album ''Friends''. It was written by Brian Wilson and Al Jardine about getting up in the morning for work. In addition to appearing on ''Friends'', "Wake the World" w ...
", "Meant for You", "Anna Lee, the Healer", and "Be Still". By the spring of 1968, the Beach Boys were overdue to submit an album to Capitol, and so Brian rushed to finish the ''Friends'' album while his bandmates were on tour. Sessions concluded with "Diamond Head" on April 12. Desper mixed the album for
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
. It was the band's first album to be mixed and released exclusively in true stereo, as the band's releases since '' The Beach Boys Today!'' (1965) had only been available in mono or Duophonic.


Music and lyrics

The LP has a relatively short length; only two of its 12 tracks last longer than three minutes, and five run short of two minutes. In author
Jon Stebbins Jon Stebbins is a Los Osos, California-based musician, songwriter, documentary producer and author of four books about The Beach Boys, as well as two other books. Music career Stebbins was a member of a music band called 'The Point' which was ac ...
' description, the album "reflects the peaceful and quietly centered aura" that the band had gained from their introduction to Transcendental Meditation. Bruce Johnston described the album as a conscious attempt to make something "really subtle ... that wasn't concerned with radio". Retrospectively, the album may be viewed as the final installment in a consecutive three-part series of lo-fi Beach Boys albums. Columnist Joel Goldenburg believes the lightly produced album was the closest the group ever came to sunshine pop, a genre they had influenced but never fully embraced. For the album's 1990 CD liner notes, Brian recalled that he "had a good thing rollin' in my head. The bad things that had happened to me had taken their toll and I was free to find out just how much I had grown through the emotional pain that had come my way. ... I think that the Beach Boys’ sound was evolving right along." The few tracks where he served as primary author contained his usual composing trademarks, such as unexpected harmonic changes, descending stepwise progressions, and unusually structured musical phrases. As on much of his compositions of the period, there was a heavy influence drawn from
Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...
. Subject matter ranges from Transcendental Meditation to bearing children and "doin' nothin'". '' Rolling Stone''s Jim Miller characterized ''Friends'' as a "return to ''Smiley''s dryness, minus the weirdness". Musicologist Daniel Harrison said Miller's observation was only true of "Meant for You", and that the remaining songs "have few of the formal or harmonic quirks of the earlier album, though there is no lack of clever and interesting effects, such as the bass harmonica line in 'Passing By' or the repetitive monophonic organ line in the break of 'Be Here in the Morning.'" The group's influences, according to rock critic
Gene Sculatti Eugene Paul Sculatti (born January 30, 1947) is an American music journalist who compiled and edited the book ''The Catalog of Cool'' (1982). In 1966, he became the first journalist to write about the nascent San Francisco music scene in a nati ...
, seemed to derive "primarily from ''Pet Sounds'', ''Smiley Smile'', ''Wild Honey'', and little else. The characteristic innocence and somewhat childlike visions imparted to their music are applied directly to the theme of the album: friendships. As usual, the lyrics tend to be basic, yet as expressive as they need to be; words, like individual voices or instruments, are all part of the larger whole of music". Johnston was unhappy with the group's "wimpy" songs and opined that the new material—with the sole exception of the title track—did not represent Brian "at full strength". When asked why the band did not pursue harder rock styles, Jardine responded that "for Carl and me, we were painting a canvas. Jimi endrixwas one of the best in the world, but they were more of a performance phenomenon, representing an era. ... We didn't have that need, because I think it’s a need." Brian similarly felt no pressure to make "heavy" music: "We never needed to. It's already been done."


Content


Side one

"Meant for You" is a 38-second introduction to the album and the shortest song in the group's catalog. It was originally conceived as "You'll Find it Too", with a longer runtime of about two minutes, and featured additional lyrics about a pony and a puppy. "Friends" is a waltz that was originally composed in 4/4 time. The song was arranged and co-written by Brian, who described it as his favorite on the album. "
Wake the World "Wake the World" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1968 album ''Friends''. It was written by Brian Wilson and Al Jardine about getting up in the morning for work. In addition to appearing on ''Friends'', "Wake the World" w ...
" was the first original songwriting collaboration between Brian and Jardine. It was another song that Brian said was "my favorite cut
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It was so descriptive to how I felt about the dramatic change over from day to night." The song is the first on the album that demonstrates his then-recent "a-day-in-a-life-of" songwriting habit. "Be Here in the Mornin'" and "When a Man Needs a Woman" were written about some particular comforts of Brian's daily life. The former is another waltz and features the Wilsons' father Murry contributing a bass vocal. The song makes a passing lyrical reference to the Wilsons' cousin Steve Korthof, road manager Jon Parks, and Beach Boys manager Nick Grillo. Parks and Korthof themselves shared a writing credit on "When a Man Needs a Woman". The song was inspired by
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 ...
's pregnancy with her and Brian's first child
Carnie Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper" or "floss wagon"), or ride ...
, although the lyric suggests that Brian thought it would be a boy. "Passing By" is wordless, with the melody hummed by Brian. The piece had discarded lyrics written for it: "While walking down the avenue / I stopped to have a look at you / And then I saw / You were just passing by".


Side two

"Anna Lee, the Healer" is about a masseuse Mike Love encountered in Rishikesh. The arrangement consists only of vocals, piano, bass, and hand drumming. "Little Bird" was composed by Dennis Wilson with poet
Stephen Kalinich Stephen John Kalinich ( ; born 1942) is an American poet mostly known for his songwriting collaborations with Brian and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. In 1969, he recorded his only album, '' A World of Peace Must Come'', with production by Bri ...
, which Brian said "blew my mind because it was so full of spiritualness. He was a late bloomer as a music maker. He lived hard and rough but his music was as sensitive as anyone's." The bridge section incorporates elements of "
Child Is Father of the Man "Child Is Father of the Man" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys that was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It was originally recorded for the band's never-finished album ''Smile''. In 2004, Wilson rerecorded the song for ' ...
", a then-unreleased song from ''Smile''. According to Kalinich, Brian composed virtually the entirety of "Little Bird", but chose not to receive an official writing credit. "Be Still", another Dennis/Kalinich song, only features Dennis' singing and Brian playing organ. Biographer Peter Ames Carlin compared the song to a " Unitarian hymn" and interpreted the lyrics to be a description of "the sacred essence of life and the human potential to interact with God." The final three tracks are genre experiments that break stylistically from the rest of the album. "
Busy Doin' Nothin' "Busy Doin' Nothin'" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1968 album ''Friends''. Written by Brian Wilson, the lyrics reflect the minutiae of his daily social and business life, while the music, Wilson said, was inspired ...
" is a flirtation with
bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
, one of several autobiographic slice-of-life songs written by Brian during this era, and one of the only tracks on the album where he exclusively used session musicians. The lyrics contain step-by-step instructions on how to find his house, albeit without mentioning where to start: "Drive for a couple miles / You'll see a sign and turn left / For a couple blocks ... " "Diamond Head" is an instrumental exotica
lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...
jam that echoed the use of extended forms from ''Smile'', and is the album's longest piece at 3 minutes and 39 seconds. Biographer Mark Dillon surmised that it was likely inspired by the group's visit to Hawaii during the previous year. "Transcendental Meditation" contrasts all that comes before it with its raucous tone. Asked about the song, Dennis explained that the group "wanted to get away from anything that sounded too pompous, too religious. It would have been easy to do something peaceful, very Eastern, but we were trying to reach listeners on all levels." Jardine viewed it as a weak effort.


Leftover

Leftover tracks from the sessions include "Untitled #1", "Away", "Our New Home" (or "Our Happy Home"), "New Song" (unofficially known as "Spanish Guitar"), "You're As Cool As Can Be", covers of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "
My Little Red Book "My Little Red Book" (occasionally subtitled "(All I Do Is Talk About You)") is a song composed by American songwriter Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Bacharach's songwriting partner Hal David. The duo were enlisted by Charles K. Feldman to compose ...
" and Buffalo Springfield's " Rock & Roll Woman", a demo for " Time to Get Alone", and an early version of " All I Wanna Do". "Our Happy Home" was described by music journalist Brian Chidester as "a short, bouncy riff that maintains the gentle air of the ''Friends'' sessions". It was later reworked as " Our Sweet Love" for 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 ...
''. "All I Wanna Do" was also reworked for ''Sunflower''. "New Song" contains a melody that was recycled for "Transcendental Meditation". "You're As Cool As Can Be" is an instrumental of unknown authorship that features an upbeat piano melody played by Brian. "Away" was a song Dennis wrote with touring musician
Billy Hinsche William Hinsche (June 29, 1951 – November 20, 2021) was an American musician who was a co-founding member of the singing trio Dino, Desi & Billy and a keyboardist for the Beach Boys' backing band. Background Hinsche was born in Manila, the Phi ...
in December 1967.


Maharishi tour

On April 5, 1968, the band began "the Million Dollar Tour", a series of self-financed concerts across the American south. Featuring Buffalo Springfield and Strawberry Alarm Clock as supporting acts, these shows were poorly attended due in part to the political mood following the assassination of Martin Luther King that April. Six of the 35 dates were canceled, while two were rescheduled. They lost $350,000 in expected revenue (equivalent to $ in ). Mike Love arranged that the group tour the U.S. with the Maharishi in May. According to Nick Grillo, the band hoped that touring with the Maharishi would recuperate some of their financial losses. The Beatles also became disenchanted with the Maharishi and the Spiritual Regeneration Movement and publicly expressed their concerns around this time, which had a detrimental effect on the guru's standing among music fans. In Stebbins' description, the Maharishi became a pariah. The shows with the Maharishi were advertised as "The Most Exciting Event of the Decade!" and comprised a set of songs by the Beach Boys followed by the Maharishi's lecture on the benefits of meditation. The tour started on May 3 and ended abruptly after five shows. A performance at the Singer Bowl in Queens, New York was canceled twenty minutes before the group were scheduled to perform when only 800 people showed up to the 16,000-capacity venue. Writing in ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
'' magazine, Loraine Alterman reported on the hostile audience reaction to the Maharishi but said that the songs the band included from ''Friends'' worked well beside the group's previous hits "because they were happy and full of love". She added that, unlike the Maharishi's lecture, the song "Transcendental Meditation" "did not tax anyone's brain. It just repeated how transcendental meditation 'makes you feel grand' against a moving beat." Because of the disappointing audience numbers and the Maharishi's subsequent withdrawal to fulfill film contracts, the remaining 24 tour dates were canceled at a cost estimated at $250,000 for the band (equivalent to $ in ). Afterward, Love and Carl told journalists that the racial violence following King's assassination was to blame for the tour's demise. Carl said: "A lot of people just would not let their children out. Nobody wants to get hurt." He added that the group's goal was to appeal mainly to young people, "but not the
teeny-bopper A teenybopper is an early teenage girl who follows adolescent trends in music, fashion, and culture. The term may have been coined by marketing professionals and psychologists, later becoming a subculture of its own. The term was introduced in ...
s", while Love commented that the shows were "not put together for commercial purposes". In his 2016 autobiography, Love wrote: "I take responsibility for an idea that didn't work. But I don't regret it. I thought I could do some good for people who were lost, confused, or troubled, particularly those who were young and idealistic but also vulnerable, and I thought that was true for a whole bunch of us."


Sleeve design

''Friends'' was packaged with a cover artwork, designed by David McMacken, that depicted the band members in a psychedelic visual style. Love remembered that the group lacked "savvy marketing and design", and that while in Rishikesh, Paul McCartney had urged him "to take more care of what you put on your album covers". Johnston opined that the ''Friends'' cover ultimately ranked second to ''Pet Sounds'' for being the worst "in the history of the music business". Matijas-Mecca said the artwork "did nothing to convince anyone that the Beach Boys were in touch with anything in particular".


Release

Lead single "Friends" was issued on April 8 and reached number 47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it their lowest-charting single in six years. On June 4, the Beach Boys appeared on ''
The Les Crane Show Les Crane (born Lesley Stein; December 3, 1933 – July 13, 2008) was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem ''Desiderata'', w ...
'' and discussed their support of the Maharishi. The ''Friends'' album followed on June 24. On July 2, the group embarked on a three-week U.S. tour with further dates continuing throughout August, including some stops in Canada. Their setlists included "Friends", "Little Bird", and "Wake the World". Several supporting musicians accompanied the group (keyboardist Daryl Dragon, bassist Ed Carter, percussionist
Mike Kowalski Mike Kowalski (born July 28, 1944) is an American drummer, percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as a longtime touring and session drummer for the rock band the Beach Boys. Early career Mike Kowalski was born in Hollywood, Los Angele ...
, and a brass section). Johnston remembered that performing the ''Friends'' songs caused him to "wince", and that it was difficult to maintain the "subtle" nature of the songs in a live setting. On July 6, ''Friends'' debuted on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart at number 179 and subsequently peaked at number 126 while artists such as the Doors and Cream occupied the top positions. On July 8, the band released " Do It Again" as a standalone single backed with "Wake the World". "Do It Again" was recorded within the prior two months as a self-conscious throwback to the group's early surf songs, and the first time they had embraced the subject matter since 1964. It reached the top twenty in the U.S. and was a number one hit in the UK. When ''Friends'' was issued in Japan, the song was included in the album's track list. Love recalled that the album's commercial failure caused Capitol to "panic". On August 5, the label issued the greatest hits album ''
Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 3 ''The Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 3'' is the third in a series of compilations of hits by the Beach Boys, released on August 5, 1968, through Capitol Records. The album was primarily assembled to compensate for the poor U.S. sales of the group's ' ...
'' to recuperate from the LP's poor sales. Matijas-Mecca wrote that this was a sign that the label had "given up" on the group, repeating a tactic they used after the release of ''Pet Sounds'' and again with ''Smiley Smile''. While the first two volumes were quickly certified as gold records, biographer David Leaf said that the label was "more than a little horrified to watch
he third volume He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
sink like a stone, unable to even outperform ''Friends''." A collection of Beach Boys backing tracks, '' Stack-o-Tracks'', was issued by Capitol on August 19. The album became the first Beach Boys LP that failed to chart in the U.S. and UK. ''Friends'' ended its 10-week stay on the ''Billboard'' charts on September 7. Ultimately, the album's record sales in the U.S. (estimated at 18,000 units) were the group's worst to date. In the UK, the album fared better, reaching number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.


Critical reception


Contemporary

''Friends'' received a number of positive reviews, but according to historian Keith Badman, most were published "too late to influence sales". According to a ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...
'' retrospective, the band's remaining fanbase reacted to the album with the abandonment of "any hope that Brian Wilson would deliver a true successor to his 1966 masterwork", ''Pet Sounds''. Stebbins noted that its "quirky gentleness in the context of political protests, race riots, and the war-torn social landscape of 1968 adeit about as square a peg as one can imagine". Music critic Richie Unterberger said that the group lost most of their audience by being "less experimental" with their music. Upon release, a ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' reviewer predicted that "the group should score high on the charts" with the album and highlighted "Anna Lee, the Healer" and "Transcendental Meditation" as "catchy numbers". ''Rolling Stone''s Arthur Schmidt wrote in his review of the album: "Everything on the first side is great. ... Listen once and you might think this album is nowhere. But it's really just at a very special place, and after a half-dozen listenings, you can be there." ''
Jazz & Pop ''Jazz & Pop'' was an American music magazine that operated from 1962 to 1971. It was launched as ''Jazz'' and managed by Pauline Rivelli, with finance provided by Bob Thiele, the producer of jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Lou ...
''s Gene Sculatti reported that there were detractors of the Beach Boys who most frequently took issue with the band's "apparently excessive immersion in and identification with mass culture and 'commercialism'". In spite of such criticisms, he deemed ''Friends'' " erhapstheir best" work yet, calling it "the culmination of the efforts and the results of their last three LPs. ... It is another showcase for what is the most original and perhaps the most consistently satisfying rock music being created today." In his review for '' NME'', Allen Evans commented on the brevity of several of the tracks and described "Transcendental Meditation" as "a weirdo piece" and "Passing By" as "quite delightful" in its use of "voices … as instruments". He concluded: "Varied and interesting, though maybe not their best LP." Writing in the same publication's annual for 1968, Keith Altham reported that "Do It Again" "seemed like two steps backwards" but had nevertheless re-established the Beach Boys as hit-makers, while ''Friends'' received "considerable criticism from critics who complained that one entire side of the album lasted just a few minutes longer than the hit single ' MacArthur Park'". 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 "Friends" 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." '' Record Mirror''s David Griffiths referred to "Transcendental Meditation" as "the most disappointing Beach Boys track of the year".


Retrospective

In its 1990 liner notes, David Leaf wrote that ''Friends'' was since reevaluated as "one of the Beach Boys' finest artistic efforts," whereas critic Will Hermes wrote in 2019: "The music from this period has generally been considered subpar by the impossible-to-match standards set by ''Pet Sounds''". AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco described the album as a "cult favorite" among hardcore fans and highlighted the title track as "mellow", "lovely", and "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' but possesses a homespun charm all its own." An uncredited writer for ''Mojo'' opined that "Given distance and hindsight ... ''Friends'' is a uniquely rewarding Beach Boys album that, excepting ''Pet Sounds'', is the group's most sonically and thematically unified." Music journalist and Saint Etienne co-founder Bob Stanley called the album a "lost gem" with a "timeless quality in its simplicity, underlined by the basic instrumentation". '' The A.V. Club'' contributor Noel Murray said the album was "lovely" and one of the group's "warmest and most spiritual records". ''
Brooklyn Vegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...
''s Andrew Sacher characterized it as "the most underrated Beach Boys album", "prettier and less quirky" than ''Smiley Smile'' and ''Wild Honey'', and lamented that it is not as widely praised as the Byrds' contemporary effort '' The Notorious Byrd Brothers''. Jason Fine wrote in the 2004 edition of '' The Rolling Stone Album Guide'': "If you can get past sappy wannabe-hippie tracks such as 'Wake the World' and 'Transcendental Meditation', the album is gorgeous, with standout moments including 'Meant for You', one of Mike Love’s finest vocals, and Brian’s 'Busy Doin' Nothin'". In his review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger said that, relative to its unveiling in 1968, "Today
he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
sounds better, but it's certainly one of the group's more minor efforts", adding that the production and harmonies "remained pleasantly idiosyncratic, but there was little substance at the heart of most of the songs." In 1971,
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 ...
dismissed ''Friends'' as the band's "worstever" work. Biographer
Steven Gaines Steven Gaines (born 1946) is an American author, journalist, and radio show host. His 13 books include ''Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons''; ''The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan''; '' The Love ...
described the LP as "boring" and "emotionless". It was voted number 662 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...
's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).


Legacy

In his book '' Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius'',
Gary Lachman Gary Joseph Lachman (born December 24, 1955), also known as Gary Valentine, is an American writer and musician. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s as the bass guitarist for rock band Blondie. Since the 1990s, Lachman has written full-time ...
describes ''Friends'' as "the Beach Boys TM album" and considers their public association with the Maharishi to have been a "disastrous flirtation" that, for Dennis Wilson, was soon superseded by a more damaging personal association with the Manson Family cult. Despite the ignominy of the tour, the Beach Boys remained ardent supporters of the Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation. They continued to record songs inspired by the Maharishi or his teachings, including both "He Come Down" and "
All This Is That "All This Is That" is a song by American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys from their 1972 album ''Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"''. Written by Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, and Mike Love, the song was inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Tr ...
" on 1972's ''
Carl and the Passions Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...
'', and both "Everyone's in Love with You" and "T M Song" on 1976's ''
15 Big Ones ''15 Big Ones'' is the 20th studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released July 5, 1976 on Brother/Reprise. It includes a mix of original songs and renditions of rock 'n' roll and R&B standards. The LP was the band's first albu ...
''. Subsequent albums would also see Dennis contribute more songs, eventually culminating in a solo record, 1977's '' Pacific Ocean Blue''. Stebbins recognizes ''Friends'' as marking "the true beginning of the Beach Boys as a group of six relatively equal creative partners". It was the last Beach Boys album where Brian held most of the writing or co-writing credits until 1977's '' The Beach Boys Love You''. The band's following album ''
20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...
'' was released in February 1969, with a substantial portion of the LP consisting of leftover singles recorded in 1968 and outtakes from earlier albums. Brian produced virtually none of the newer recordings. In the summer of 1969, Brian worked with Stephen Kalinich to produce a spoken-word LP, ''
A World of Peace Must Come ''A World of Peace Must Come'' is the debut album by American poet Stephen Kalinich. It was produced by Brian Wilson in August and September 1969. The album's release was delayed for several decades before being issued by Light in the Attic Recor ...
'', which included an extended run-through of "Be Still". The album was not released until 2008. Shortly after the sale of
Sea of Tunes Sea of Tunes was a Music publisher (popular music), music publishing company founded in 1962 by Murry Wilson, Murry and Brian Wilson. Murry was the first manager of the Beach Boys, the father of Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis and Carl Wilson and the ...
, friend Stanley Shapiro persuaded Brian to rewrite and rerecord a number of Beach Boys songs to restore his public and industry reputation. After contacting fellow songwriter Tandyn Almer for support, the trio spent a month reworking cuts from ''Friends'', including "Passing By", "Wake the World", "Be Still", and the album's title track. As Shapiro handed demo tapes to A&M Records executives, they found the product favorable before they learned of Wilson and Almer's involvement, and refused to support the project. Most of these recordings remain unreleased. In November 1974, a double album reissue that paired ''Friends'' and ''Smiley Smile'' hit number 125 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Brian cited ''Friends'' as his favorite Beach Boys album, and said that while ''Smile'' "had potential ... ''Friends'' has been good listening no matter what mood I'm in." He rerecorded "Meant for You" for his 1995 solo album '' I Just Wasn't Made for These Times'' and performed songs from the ''Friends'' album live with Jardine in 2019. Among cover versions of the ''Friends'' tracks: Pizzicato Five recorded "Passing By" for their album ''Sister Freedom Tapes'' (1996), and the High Llamas contributed a version of "Anna Lee, the Healer" to the tribute album '' Caroline Now!: The Songs of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys'' (2000). Noel Murray remarked that without ''Friends'', "the High Llamas probably wouldn't exist." Lo-fi musician
R. Stevie Moore Robert Steven Moore (born January 18, 1952) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who pioneered lo-fi (or "DIY") music. Often called the "godfather of home recording", he is one of the most recognized artists of the cas ...
based his 1975 song "Wayne Wayne (Go Away)" on ''Friends''.


Track listing


Original release

Track information per David Leaf.


''Wake the World''

On December 7, 2018, Capitol released ''Wake the World: The Friends Sessions'', a digital-only compilation. Included are session highlights, outtakes, and alternate versions of ''Friends'' tracks, as well as some unreleased material by Dennis and Brian Wilson. It is the successor to ''
1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow ''1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow'' is an expanded reissue of the 1967 album ''Wild Honey (album), Wild Honey'' by American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released by Capitol Records on June 30, 2017 and consists largely of previously unreleased mate ...
'' from the previous year. Along with '' I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions'', ''Wake the World'' was not issued on physical media due to the record company's wish not to interfere with the release of ''
The Beach Boys with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ''The Beach Boys with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'' is a 2018 album of remixed Beach Boys recordings with new orchestral arrangements performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was produced by Nick Patrick and Don Reedman, who condu ...
''.


Personnel

Per band archivist Craig Slowinski.Endless Summer Quarterly, Spring 2018 Edition The Beach Boys * Al Jardine – vocals, electric bass (on "Passing By" ncertain credit * Bruce Johnston – vocals, keyboard (on "Passing By"), piano (on "Meant for You") * Mike Love – 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 ...
– vocals, organ (on "Meant for You", "When a Man Needs a Woman", "Passing By", "Be Here in the Mornin", and "Be Still"), piano (on "Wake the World" and "Anna Lee the Healer"), percussion (on "Diamond Head" ncertain credit *
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 ...
– vocals, guitar (on "Friends", "When a Man Needs a Woman", and "Passing By"), bass (on "Anna Lee the Healer") * Dennis Wilson – vocals, harmonium (on "Little Bird"), congas (on "Anna Lee the Healer" ncertain credit Guests *
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 ...
– vocals (on "Busy Doin' Nothin'" and "Be Here in the Mornin), wordless vocals (on "Passing By" ncertain credit * Murry Wilson – vocals (on "Be Here in the Mornin") Session musicians * Jim Ackley - keyboard, guitar * Arnold Belnick - violin * Jimmy Bond – upright bass * Norman Botnick - viola * David Burk – viola * David Cohen – guitar * Roy Caton – trumpet * John DeVoogt – violin * Bonnie Douglas – violin * Don Englert -
clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
, saxophone * Alan Estes – vibraphone, woodblocks, chimes * Dick Forrest – trumpet * Jim Gordon - drums, woodblocks, bell, congas, timbales * Bill Green – saxophone * Jim Horn - saxophone, clarinet * Dick Hyde – tuba,
flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
* Norm Jeffries - drums * Robert T. Jung – saxophone * Meyer Hirsch J. Kenneth Jensen – saxophone * Raymond Kelley – cello * William Kurasch - violin * Jacqueline Lustgarden - cello *
Tommy Morgan Thomas Morgan Edwards (December 4, 1932 – June 23, 2022) was an American harmonicist and session musician, who had been active since the 1950s. He was considered one of the most heard harmonica players in the world, playing in over 500 fea ...
- harmonica, bass harmonica * Leonard Malarsky - violin *
Jay Migliori Jay Migliori (November 14, 1930 – September 2, 2001) was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Biography Migliori started playing the saxophone after he received one as a birthday ...
- saxophone, clarinet,
bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
* Ollie Mitchell – trumpet * Gene Pello – drums * Bill Perkins – saxophone * Lyle Ritz - electric bass, upright bass, ukulele * Jay Rosen – violin * Ralph Schaeffer – violin * Tom Scott –
bass flute The bass flute is a member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Despite its name, its playing range makes it the tenor member of the flute family. Because of the length of its tube (approximate ...
, saxophone * David Sherr – oboe, saxophone * Paul Shure – violin * Tony Terran – trumpet * Al Vescovo – banjo, guitar, lap steel guitar Technical staff * Jim Lockert – engineer


Charts


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control The Beach Boys albums Capitol Records albums 1968 albums Lo-fi music albums Albums produced by the Beach Boys Albums recorded in a home studio