Disco de The Beach Boys: “Friends/20-20 [Remaster]”

"Friends" and "20/20" were the two last albums the Beach Boys recorded for Capitol before moving to Brother/Reprise Records.

Casual Beach Boys listeners probably know little about these two albums that did not do very well in the charts in 1968-69. At the time the Beach Boys had lost a lot of their popularity and leader Brian Wilson played only a minor role in the group compared to the days, when their were on top of their career.

None the less, both albums contain terrific material.

"Friends" is an album with no hit single ( the title track made it to # 47), and most of the songs are very short. But there is a charm to most tracks that make you think of the best material on "Pet Sounds" and "Smile". The production and instrumentation on most songs is sparse, almost minimalistic, and the structure relatively simple; but still mostly great. The title track is probably the most complex song, with great lead vocals from Brian and Carl. "Wake the World", "Meant For You", "When a Man Needs a Woman" and "Little Bird" are other highlights. Remarkable that all members contribute first class material and lead vocals.

"20/20" is a little more uneven. This album contains some fine singles like "Do It Again", "I Can Hear Music", "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" and "Cotton Fields". Other highlights are the two "Smile" leftovers "Our Prayer" and "Cabinessence". "I Went to Sleep" was recorded during the "Friends" sessions and probably should have been included there since it's a good song and the playing time on that album is very short. Another highlight is "Time to Get Alone" with beautiful vocals from Carl and Brian.

The bonus-tracks are all great. "Break Away" is probably their strongest post "Smile" single. Some of the lesser known tracks like "Celebrate the News" and "We're Together" are also fine.

Friends is the best BB album. It's 25 minutes of peace, positivity and the lost hippy masterpiece of 1968. The real fans best kept secret. If you're not a fan you'll hate it, if you're a real BB fan, it is meant for you.

20/20 is worth it for the lost Smile track Cabinessence.

By the time the Beach Boys went into their home studio to record Friends in 1968, they were about as down on their luck as a band can get. Their main song writer/producer (Brian Wilson) had almost completely withdrawn into a drug induced haze, their last two albums had stiffed miserably on the charts, and their record label continued to demand new material at a ridiculous speed which no modern group could live up to. Understandably, the band was under a lot of pressure. Yet this pressure is no where in evidence in the final product of their well spent studio time. To put it as simply as possible, Friends is Pet Sounds turned inside out. Whereas Pet Sounds used its instrumentation to blow the listener out of their seat, Friends uses it to achieve the smallest, most unintrusive sound possible. It is not an album which garners immediate fanatic devotion, but a much more subtle kind of admiration as one listens. In fact, Friends managed to present the illusion of being low key so well that it actually fooled the majority of music critics in its day. Fortunately, we know better now. Furthermore, the music is extremely experimental, with the band injecting all sorts of unusual instrumentation such as the tuba backing of "Wake the World", the skating rink organ of "Passing By", and the high pitched, bird like guitar playing of "Diamond Head". All in all, a fantastic album and a true group effort. Meanwhile, 20/20 ain't bad either. Despite what the large majority of music critics will tell you, this is actually a pretty good album and an excellent career retrospective documenting everything from The Beach Boys' early surf period ("Do It Again"), to Brian's love of Phil Spector ("I Can Hear Music"), to their tendency to cover american folk songs ("Cotton Fields"), to Wild Honey's rocking R&B ("All I Wanna Do"), to Friends' relaxation ("I Went To Sleep"), to SMiLE era experimentation ("Our Prayer" and "Cabinessence"). As if all this excellent music weren't enough, Capitol's bonus tracks present yet more great stuff, particularly the lost classic single which ended the Beach Boys time with Capitol records "Break Away/Celebrate the News". If you ask me, this is a disk which no Beach Boys fan should be without. Happy listening!

Brian's stepping back from songwriting left the Beach Boys unsure of what to do, and these albums show it. While these two records are pretty uneven, there's extraordinary material on both of them.

"Friends" opens with perhaps the best Mike Love vocal delivery on record, "Meant For You", less than a minute, with a great organ and incredible harmonies, its one of the best Beach Boys opening. For the most part after this, the album moves along through mid-tempo numbers, most of them composed by Brian with help from the band. Some of the material, beyond the opener, is brilliant, such as Brian's brief flirtation with bossa nova sounds, "Busy Doin' Nothin'", the title track, and "Wake the World", a great, energetic little piece. And Dennis' first songwriting efforts, the Brian-influenced "Little Bird" and the organ-and-vocal "Be Still" are both great, but beyond that, there's quite a bit of filler-- an insincere pseudo r&b piece ("Be Here in the Mornin'), a couple lifeless instrumentals ("Passing By", "Diamond Head"), and a bunch of goofy lyrics ("When a Man Needs a Woman", "Anna Lee, the Healer", and the first in many awful songs about Mike Love's new obsession, "Transcendental Meditation"). The good outweighs the bad, but there's enough bad to be distracting.

Brian nearly completely abdicated on the next album, "20/20", and what we have is the best the Boys could do without him (note Brian's lack of appearance on the cover). Remarkably, the album stands up pretty well upon later listening, in part because of two leftover Smile pieces. Brian's contributions are all really, really good-- "Do It Again", a retro-surf song and one of the later Beach Boys hits, a great meditative little piece with soft harmonies called "I Went to Sleep" and the totally brilliant and energetic "Time to Get Alone" all stand at the peak of Brian's songwriting. Also from Brian and leftover from Smile are the a capella "Our Prayer" and the stunning mini-suite, "Cabinessence". Both are among the best of the Smile material.

Beyond that, the album features three songs by Dennis-- "All I want To Do" is a throwaway rocker, but "Be With Me" and "Never Learn Not to Love" are both great: haunting, sensual and mysterious. The latter is most famous for being cowritten by Charles Manson, although having heard his version of it, Dennis' arrangement is what makes the piece. Also on record are a rocking (and great, although a bit out of place) cover of "Bluebirds Over the Mountain", Carl's take on "I can Hear Music" (the arrangement is a little weak, but the lead vocal holds the piece up), a lifeless Pet Sounds instrumental from Bruce ("The Nearest Faraway Place"), and a weak "Sloop John B"-styled rearranging of "Cotton Fields" by Al.

Bonus tracks are notable for the A and B-side pair, "Break Away" (composed by Brian and father Murry Wilson) and Dennis' "Celebrate the News". Both are incredible, among the best of the era, and "Break Away" is one of the great post-Smile Beach Boys songs.

Its funny, as I write this, I realize I like this album a lot more than I thought-- the balance of good material far outweighs the filler (although admitteldy much of the filler is pretty bad). Recommended.

The Beach Boys/ Friends / 20-20 (two albums on one CD with bonus tracks): This CD (with both of these albums) is enjoyable. They are not classics but they certainly are NOT horrible. These are subdued, introspective albums and as such, they are a pleasure to hear. These are not essential recordings but there is nothing wrong with light entertainment. Amazon defines the 3-star rating as "It's ok", and that is exactly how I feel about this CD...It's ok.