The Beach Boys Album: “Sunflower/Surf's Up”

Getting these albums together is a great idea, since they're so important but also have big overlapping associations to each other. This is obvious in the good new interview with Brian included in the booklet (but, hey how come this is the only Capitol Brother reissue in which we get a Brian interview?) However, comments made by others on this page about the so-called "Landlocked" album project are incorrect. As the booklet accurately says, that name was under consideration for just a little while as a title for "Surf 's Up," but other theories about it were just fuled by dumb rumors and booklegs, the most recent in 1990. And one lineup circulated with an ad was a big hoax. As Bruce Johnston has admitted, fans have really taken some jokey remarks in interviews over the years too seriously. But the music always speaks for itself, and this music here is remastered now to a new level you couldn't hear on the vinyl copies, so it's truly fabulous to own.

What a shame this material has never before been available on CD!

If all you've got from "Sunflower" are the songs on the Good Vibrations Box Set, you're missing a few good ones - like ALL OF THEM. Seriously, "Sunflower" is a solid effort; a "lost gem" clearly among the Beach Boy's best, just as I'd heard.

Unlike the "sparse production," of prior albums, beautiful harmonies and rich vocals have returned in all their glory that is Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Joyous, uplifting, and at many times, beautifully haunting, you can't help but listen to "Sunflower," and think, "this is the Beach Boys?" No album showcases the group's diverse musical talents as "Sunflower" does.

Included from the Box Set, of course, are the fantastic, "Add Some Music To Your Day," "This Whole World, and "Our Sweet Love." Dennis as an artist REALLY shines on this album, bringing us the wonderful ballad, "Forever," the bluesy "Got to Know the Woman," and the fun rocker, "Slip on Through."

And of course, there's more magic from Brian Wilson, including the haunting, "All I Wanna Do" - a fantastic collaboration with Mike Love - and "Dierdre," - a pleasant, melodic collaboration with Bruce Johnston that just grows on you. Other highlights from the album include the high-energy, Santana-esque, "Its About Time" - a great rocking tune by Carl - and the legendary "Cool Cool Water" - more genius from Brian Wilson.

Peaking at only #138 in the States after its release, this album went right over your head, America. Too busy rocking out to the Partridge Family and Cher, I guess.

I must admit, I'm not as much of a fan of "Surf's Up" - an even more eclectic album than "Sunflower" - but one that fails to pull it off.

Definitely NOT a cohesive album, many tunes are an awkward attempt to make the Boys "socially relevant," complete with political and ecological themes and lyrics. But it just doesn't sound or feel like the Beach Boys - and even the Beach Boys know it (Brian Wilson hated the tune, "Student Demonstration Time," for example, saying, "its just not the Beach Boys.")

If only America had embraced the wonderful "Sunflower" . . .

In any event, in addition to the lows, the album does have some incredible peaks - there's a revamped version of Brian Wilson's "Surf's Up," from the aborted "SMiLE" album and "`Til I Die," - two of Brian Wilson's most introspective and stunning works, if not his finest hour as an artist and songwriter. Also included are fan favorites, "Disney Girls (1957)" - from Bruce Johnston, and "Long Promised Road," from Carl Wilson.

Although all these tunes are available on the box set, its still worth having "Surf's Up," for the sake of owning it. You MUST buy this two-fer, its a classic - you can't beat the price and you get "Sunflower," on compact disc!

Released in 1970 and 1971 respectively, at the absolute nadir of their popularity in America, SUNFLOWER and SURF'S UP were the Beach Boys' first two albums for their new record label, Warner Brothers, and the last great albums of their career. Their glory years at Capitol had come to a slow, painful close after a series of disastrous creative and business decisions and the burning out by late 1967 of their producer, main composer and creative flame, Brian Wilson, from a combination of drugs, mental illness, and incredible insecurity and immaturity on a grand scale.

After a final flash of brilliance in late 1966 with the single "Good Vibrations", the aforementioned combination proved lethal to the band's career, which was effectively dead in 1969 after four albums of varying degrees of mediocrity, following what was unanimously thought of by fans and critics alike as their masterpiece, the summer 1966 landmark album PET SOUNDS, considered by many to be one of the top five greatest albums ever recorded in the history of popular music. Brian had become a recluse, in public and more importantly for the band, he had become reclusive in the studio as well, usually showing up only if their were several bags of potato chips and onion dip to be consumed. Younger brother and lead guitarist Carl Wilson became the main driving force of the band during the 1970's, with varying degrees of success, never coming close to matching the rare but fragile genius of his brother Brian, whose influence would emerge on record only briefly from time to time over the following decade.

Although both were commercial flops, SUNFLOWER and SURF'S UP were received much better by critics than any of the Beach Boys' work since "Good Vibrations", and for good reason. Both albums show a freshness and renewed energy and positivity after the painful experience of Brian's fall from grace during the late 1960's output from the band. All three Wilson brothers get to shine in these two albums. "Forever" is a beautiful and bittersweet-sounding ballad from Dennis and is the single greatest composition of his career. The same might be said for brother Carl on "Long Promised Road", which has a bridge of swirling organ riffs that sent chills up my spine and has been used by chiropractors for curing various low back conditions.

Ultimately, Brian resurrects himself for the greatest moments on the albums, those being the final two tracks of SURF'S UP. "Til I Die" almost did not make it to the recording stage due to the objections of certain members of the band (whose last names were not Wilson) that the song was "a downer". However, the hopelessness of the lyrics is countered by the hopefulness inspired by the unusual chordal shifts and a closing segment marked by the complex vocal counterpoint that marked the best Beach Boys recordings. A similar closing marks the final track of the CD, the title track of SURF'S UP. Originally composed in 1966 with obtuse, impressionistic lyrics contributed by Van Dyke Parks, a former child actor and sporadic collaborator of Brian's, the song, like "Good Vibrations", is actually more of a suite in three parts and is far and away the finest composition Brian ever composed since "Good Vibrations".

Buyers are fortunate that SUNFLOWER and SURF'S UP are available on the same CD, as these are the only two albums of any consistent quality among the Beach Boys' otherwise mediocre studio output of the 1970's, although their 1973 live album, also available on CD, is also recommended.

A couple of highly misunderstood records that contain some of the very best of Brian Wilson -- and those other guys, too.

Over the past few years I have found many of the Brother Records releases on vinyl so the content of these two albums is familiar to me. Capitol has done an excellent remastering job with these two worthy entries into the Beach Boys catalogue (both songwriting and production wise). Sunflower has a somewhat stronger song line-up of the two but in comparison with their albums of the late 70's, Surf's Up is a masterpiece as well. If you've heard disk III of the Good Vibrations Box, you know the highlights (but the rest of the tracks are also worthwhile).

The liner notes are quite informative. Each song receives comment. I was particularly interested to learn about the songs that didn't make the final cut for Sunflower.

I believe this will ultimately turn out to be the highlight of this reissue series (although Holland and Love You are also great) so if you aren't necessarily planning to buy them all, this is the place to start.