Customer Reviews

Friends / 20/20

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What happened to the Beach Boys after the ill-fated SMILE project went bust is common knowledge to any music fan, so I won't recount too much of it here. But when SMILE refused to appear, and it had been more than a year since the Beach Boys' last hit song "Good Vibrations" (already a tough act to follow), what had once been the biggest pop group in the world had now been reduced to just another band. With pop music more and more based on experimentation, the Beach Boys' approach to recording was looked at as quaint and out of step with the times. Even if it was good music after all, it wasn't risk-taking enough to truly win over even their longtime fans. As a result albums like FRIENDS (1968) & 20/20 (1969) remain cult classics in the Beach Boys' recorded history, and only now have been rediscovered and looked at for what they have been all along: just more great music from an even greater band.

FRIENDS is simply one of the most soothing, evocative albums ever released in pop music, and I can certainly understand why it was a failure when it was first released. With America in turmoil both politically and socially at the time, FRIENDS really was an inappropriate album for the moment. Good as it was, it just didn't fit in with the "bombs-bursting-in-air" mentality that the U.S. was adopting at the time. The failure was un-called for, but still very much understood. Now that time has passed, and the world is pretty much at peace, a soft album like FRIENDS deserves to be re-examined. After the complicated plans that the Beach Boys (mainly Brian Wilson) had for SMILE, the back-to-basics sound of FRIENDS was quite refreshing, for it also meant that the other Boys were again active contributors to their music, and not just leaving it up to Brian and some crack studio musicians. The album only lasts a paltry 25 minutes, but there's not a second wasted. Even the 40-second intro "Meant For You" will stick in your mind after it ends. The title track "Friends" is finally being considered as one of the Beach Boys' all-time best songs, for it certainly is one of the prettiest waltzes ever composed (eat your heart out, Strauss!). Also, the fact that it missed the top 40 for the first time since the Beach Boys' early days shows once again how far they had fallen on the totem pole of pop music. But without making concessions to the popular taste, the Beach Boys could simply create music as they pleased, and FRIENDS is certainly pleasing to this reviewer's ears. Songs like "Wake The World" and "Be Here In The Mornin'" are short ditties that, in spite of their length, simply do their intended job and then fade out. But their impression left lasts longer than the original song itself. At first I thought "When A Man Needs A Woman" was the Beach Boys' rewrite of the soul classic "When A Man LOVES A Woman". But once again, it's something different entirely. By 1968, all of the Boys were married and starting families, so this song was an appropriate one for the time. And true to Brian Wilson's ever-so-childlike personality, the simple words of the song are easily understood by children and adults alike. "Passing By" is reminiscent of the instrumental "Let's Go Away For Awhile" on PET SOUNDS, only a lot simpler, and even more soothing. With the relaxing mood of the times, Beach Boy Mike Love was probably the biggest convert to the whole meditation thing, and his song "Anna Lee, The Healer" a tribute to a masseuse sounds natural coming from him. Of all the Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson took the longest to gain his own creative voice, and FRIENDS found him discover it for the first time. Songs like "Little Bird" and "Be Still" are well-crafted songs that would hint at more impressive things to come. While the Beach Boys may have been taking back their band from Brian Wilson and the studio musicians, that didn't mean Brian was totally out of the picture. As mentally scarred as he had become at the time, he was still an active contributor to the music. Sure enough, songs like "Busy Doin' Nothin'" (I can't tell how you many days I've had like that) and another grandiose instrumental "Diamond Head" prove that Brian's genius was still very much intact, and the genius is (at least in "Busy") its relative simplicity. The relaxing feel of the album is brought to a loud, raucous end by the rocking closer "Transcendental Meditiation". This is also a tribute to Brian Wilson's warped sense of humor by making a tribute to one of the most soothing activities sound positively wild. The free atmosphere would certainly make free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman proud.

For an album that was rejected by virtually everyone, FRIENDS certainly had a lot of things to offer the listener who did take the time to buy it. And thanks to the 2-for-1 deal that Capitol Records cooked up, we have another overlooked masterpiece to go along with it, 20/20. More on that later...

After FRIENDS (1968) failed to set the charts on fire, the Beach Boys shook off that setback and moved on to the next project. The 20/20 album (1969) was more a patchwork of hit (and non-hit) singles and some really good Beach Boys originals, but even with the slapdash atmosphere, it was still a finely-crafted album that deserved far better than the reception it first received on release. For those fans who hadn't yet moved on from the Beach Boys' classic fun-in-the-sun early days, a song like "Do It Again" was really a diamond in the rough. The Boys look back at their youthful innocence was just what the public ordered, and became the band's first top 20 hit in several years. While the Boys may have wanted to move forward as musicians, they certainly hadn't forgotten how they got started, and "Do It Again" works because, and not in spite of, its flashback approach. Unfortunately, that was the only real big hit on 20/20, but that's not to say the Boys weren't trying. With the Beach Boys now officially a band again and not guest stars on their own albums, Carl Wilson took over from his older brother Brian as a producer on the Spector classic "I Can Hear Music". The fact that this song only reached #24 certainly is not a measure of the song's overall importance, for it does indeed show that the Beach Boys were more than just "The Brian Wilson Show". In fact with Brian pretty much a supporting act on 20/20, we must look at the album from this viewpoint. Carl Wilson had probably the most beautiful of all the Beach Boys' voices, and building on his heartbreaking performance on PET SOUNDS' "God Only Knows", he contributes even more beautiful vocals on the folk standard "Bluebirds Over The Mountain" (check out that electric guitar!), "Time To Get Alone" and the SMILE outtake "Cabinessence". Not only are the vocals something to sing about, but the instrumentation a wonder to behold, especially on "Cabinessence". While the full scope of the SMILE project may never be fully realized, judging from the heavily-layered production of "Cabinessence", it must have certainly been a thing of sonic beauty. Your jaw will literally drop at the sound of the airy beauty of the vocals, the instrumentation, and the lyrical genius of SMILE lyricist Van Dyke Parks. If only Brian Wilson could have kept it together throughout SMILE! While Mike Love may have been the biggest meditation buff of the group, his vocal performances are anything but soothing on 20/20. His lead vocals on "Do It Again", "Bluebirds" and the ballsy rocker "All I Want To Do" show that meditation hadn't totally mellowed out Mr. Love. A huge folk music fan, Al Jardine had convinced Brian Wilson to record "Sloop John B" on PET SOUNDS, and his performance of another folk classic, Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields" shows that Al really does have a folkie heart, and once again the other Beach Boys' turn yet another outside song into one of their own. After discovering his own creative voice on FRIENDS, Dennis Wilson keeps the streak alive on 20/20 with the beautiful "Be With Me" and the infamous "Never Learn Not To Love" (if you don't know the story behind this song, you don't know the Beach Boys). Brian Wilson's onstage replacement after he retired from performing, Bruce Johnston, had just been made a part of the studio recordings, and his first crack at making his own music is the instrumental "The Nearest Faraway Place". It was clear that Bruce wasn't just concentrating on stage activity, for he masters the art of the studio recording quite well on this song that demonstrates his love of PET SOUNDS. With the other Beach Boys throwing their hats into the creative ring, their former guiding light Brian Wilson stood on the sidelines for the most part. But his spirit was not only with the other Boys, he did get a chance to make his own contributions to 20/20. "I Went To Sleep" is the only song on 20/20 where he's running the show, and this short little song once again compresses his lyrical and musical genius into only 1:42. Like "Busy Doin' Nothin'" off FRIENDS, "Sleep" is another song about an ordinary day in the life of post-SMILE Brian Wilson. He also contributes vocals to "Time To Get Alone" and is featured with all the other Beach Boys on the SMILE cast-off "Our Prayer". This minute-long a cappella number was intended to be the first track on the SMILE album, and it would have made a great one, for the mood is set for what might have been one of the most beautiful pop records ever recorded. With the short lengths of FRIENDS & 20/20, Capitol Records' 2-for-1 deal was a good idea, for an album lasting less than half an hour costing about 10 to 12 dollars would be highway robbery for some people. Not only that, but there's more bonus tracks to demonstrate why on earth the Beach Boys decided not to include these with the original albums. "Break Away" was another non-hit that should have been, and it proved that lyrically, the Beach Boys could sing the praises of more than just girls and cars. Too bad their fans didn't want it that way. "Celebrate The News" was another great song from Dennis Wilson, showing that his burgeoning musical talent was no fluke. "We're Together Again" once again demonstrates the "back-to-basics" approach of 20/20 with the other Beach Boys actively contributing to the music for the first time since before PET SOUNDS. While the Beach Boys would soon be typed as an oldies act, they show their ability to turn any song into their own with covers of the Burt Bacharach classic "Walk On By" and a medley of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks At Home" and SHOW BOAT's "Ol' Man River". After 20/20, the Beach Boys left Capitol Records after a tense 7-year history. They would soon sign to Warner Brothers for more great underrated albums.

"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.

I've long been a Beach Boys snob -- that is to say, I've looked down my nose at all post-"Smile" (basically "post-full-time, post-'genius' Brian" projects). They have the stank of damaged goods and everybody knows they all point the way to "Kokomo."

But, on a whim, I checked out this album and was pleasantly surprised (and vaguely obsessed) by its loopy, gentle, infectious vibe, its tossed-off lyrics and its sink-under-your-skin harmonies.

Decades before R. Kelly's so-terrible-it's-funny comeback tune "Trapped in the Closet," the Boys had already cornered the market on mundane-stories-told-through-stream-of-consciousness with "Busy Doin' Nothing" and lines like: "I wrote a number down/But I lost it/So I searched through my pocket book/I couldn't find it/So I sat and concentrated on the number/And slowly it came to me/So I dialed it/And I let it ring a few times/There was no answer/So I let it ring a little more/Still no answer/So I hung up the telephone/
Got some paper and sharpened up a pencil/And wrote a letter to my friend."

And what can one make of a group that would, in 1968, at the peak of the Vietnam war, put out "Anna Lee" an ode to their massuesse with lyrics such as, "When she gets a chance to help someone/She's really happy/If you trust her with your ill/She'll quickly make you see/She can fix things up for you/Just like she did for me."

What can we learn from songs like the bracing "Transcendental Medition" with its screeching horns and high-pitched shouts of, "It's good!"

I'm not sure. But this summer of 2005 I've gotten a surprising amount of enjoyment from this disc and the songs I mentioned, and also cuts like "I Can Hear Music," "Our Prayer," the sublime and way-too-short "Passing By" and the instrumental, "Diamond Head."

I don't understand it at all. I just know I dig it.

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!

This isn't your mother's "Fun, fun, fun" sun-boys. You have a mature and reflective band. Yes, "Friends" feels like it is in a coma, but after the rough and ready "Wild Honey," the Beach Boys correctly guessed the direction of music in 1970's.

Forget disco, the '70 music was more Carpenters, more Osmonds, more Bread, more Cat Stevens than the disco-fix that may people of Generations X and Y believe. This is the real '70's--I remebr. I was alive then! The Beach Boys caught that '70's spirit early on and recorded it quickly.

"20/20" is a patchwork album colledcted from loose odds and ends, some peices from "Smile," and foretastes of the post-Brian Wilson beach Boys that would become one of the greatest concert attractions ever. Despite being a patchwork album, this albun stands up well in technique and talnet.

This is a relaxing, late Sunday eveing album where you pull out the incence and contemplate! Play "Our Prayer," a SMile outtake, and ponder the meaning of "Cabinessence."

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.

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.

This is a pleasant two-fer of the final two albums for Capitol, although neither one are as strong as their next two albums (Sunflower and Surf's Up) in my opinion. Still, this CD grows on you, and with Brian Wilson's tragic withdrawl becoming a liability, it's nice to see the other band members beginning to blossom as songwriters.

And yes, that's Charles Manson's song "Cease To Exist", here titled "Never Learn Not To Love" sung by Dennis Wilson with reworked lyrics; even with the Beach Boys' clean, perfect harmonies it's still spooky as hell.

The notoriety aside, these are good albums considering what must have been a unbelievably tough transitional period for the group (the debacle of "Smile", falling out of favor with the press (in the States, anyway), Manson trying to cause armageddon (I don't blame Brian staying in his room; I would too, with that nutcase running around), and strained relations with Capitol to boot.

If you're want to build a Beach Boys collection (which I recommend), this isn't the place to start. However, if you want to go beyond the hits and "Pet Sounds" check it out. And don't forget to check out the "Sunflower/Surf's Up" two-fer; it's worth the effort!

I really love 'friends'. 'Meant for you' is possibly one of the best openers to an album I have ever heard. The album just passes by with mellow and captivating harmonies. The ascending crescendo in 'friends' is captivating and there are no clunkers, except maybe 'be still', which is so simplistic and could have been composed by a child and, 'transcedental meditation', which is very out of tune. A lovely little album, that doesn't try too hard and succeeds for that reason.
20/20 is a different kettle of fish altogether. As soon as 'Do it again' started, I thought 'oh no, unmelodic, nasally Mike Love.' I further don't like 'bluebirds over the mountain', just tuneless. 'Cotton fields' has no melody whatsoever. 'All I wanna do' is the nadir of the whole of the Beach boys' career. I can't believe they'd record such nonsense as this.
There are beautiful songs here also. The best track on the album is the Bruce Johnston composed instrumental ballad 'the nearest faraway place' it is so atmospheric and lush. Other highlights include 'I went to sleep', sounding exactly like a track off 'friends'. Nice counter point woodwind instruments compliment Brian's lead vocal. 'Time to get alone' has some very nice harmonies and a waltzing beat.
'Never learn not to love' has a very nice backing, although I'm never convinced by Dennis's vocals. 'Our prayer' is enchanting and shows how well the voice of the Beach Boys blended together. I wonder if Dennis is in the mix? One of the loveliest sounding songs ever.
Friends is barely 25 minutes, I think this could have been a five star album, if they cut 'be still', 'transcendental meditation', and added all tracks from 20/20, except the aforementioned four abysmal tracks. 'Breakaway' should also be included and it is a wonder this never made the album in the first place.