Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)
Sunflower is the 16th studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 31, 1970 on Reprise Records, their first for the label. It received favorable reviews, but sold poorly, reaching number 151 on the US record charts during a four-week stay and becoming the lowest-charting Beach Boys album to that point. "Add Some Music to Your Day" was the only single that charted in the US, peaking at number 64. In the UK, the album peaked at number 29.
Sunflower
August 31, 1970
January 9, 1969 – July 21, 1970[1]
Beach Boys, Gold Star, and Sunset Sound Recorders, Los Angeles
36:55
The Beach Boys
Working titles for the album included Reverberation, Add Some Music, and The Fading Rock Group Revival. The recording sessions began in January 1969, and, after a year-long search for a new record contract, completed in July 1970. In contrast to 20/20, the record featured a strong group presence with significant writing contributions from all band members.[4] About four dozen songs were written for the album, and the label rejected numerous revisions of its track listing before the band presented enough formidable material deemed satisfactory for release. It includes "This Whole World", one of Brian Wilson's most complex songs, "Forever", regarded as among Dennis Wilson's finest, and "Cool, Cool Water", a song that originated from the band's Smile sessions.
Fans generally consider Sunflower to be the Beach Boys' finest post-Pet Sounds album.[5] It has appeared in several critics' and listeners' polls for the best albums of all time, including Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The track "All I Wanna Do" was later cited as one of the earliest examples of dream pop and chillwave. Many Sunflower outtakes and leftover songs later appeared on subsequent Beach Boys releases, including the follow-up Surf's Up (1971) and the compilation Feel Flows (2021).
Packaging[edit]
The picture of the band on the front sleeve, featuring all six group members, was taken on the golf course at Dean Martin's Hidden Valley Ranch near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, California. His son Ricci Martin, a friend of the band, took the photograph, also featuring Brian's daughter Wendy, Al's first son Matthew, Mike's children Hayleigh and Christian, and Carl's son Jonah.[78][nb 17] The inner gatefold spread on the original vinyl LP featured a series of photographs taken by designer/photographer Ed Thrasher at the Warner Bros. studio backlot.
Release[edit]
On February 23, 1970, "Add Some Music to Your Day" (B-side "Susie Cincinnati") was issued as lead single.[80] Reprise was so excited about the record that they convinced retailers to carry more copies of it than that of any other artist on their roster ever.[56] This made it the fastest-selling 45rpm record in the label's history.[81] In March, Love was hospitalized after a three-week fast in which he ate only water, fruit juice, and yogurt – per the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.[80] Brian replaced Love on the road during this period. He remembered: "When Mike Love was sick, I went with the group up to Seattle and Vancouver and the Northwest for some appearances. I was scared for a few minutes in the first show—it had been a while since I was in front of so many people. But after it started to cook I really got with it. It was the best three days of my life, I guess."[82]
In April, "Add Some Music to Your Day" peaked at number 64 in the US[80] during a five-week stay.[12] DJs generally refused to play the song on the radio.[56][81] According to band promoter Fred Vail, WFIL program director Jay Cook refused to play the song even after "telling me how great the Beach Boys are and how great Brian is."[80] On April 17, the regular touring band, with Love, embarked on their first major tour of the year: a four-week trek of New Zealand and Australia.[83] Supporting musicians for this tour included bassist Ed Carter and keyboardist Daryl Dragon.[83] Murry Wilson also accompanied the group for this tour.[84][nb 18] Australian magazine Go Set reported that the band's next album was titled Cool Water and that Emerald Films would be creating a color film documentary of the tour, produced by the BBC's Steve Turner.[84]
None of the album's other singles charted in the US or UK.[85] Due to the poor response to the lead single, Warner suggested that the band refrain from calling the new album Add Some Music.[86] In late June, Brian told Melody Maker that he was thinking about composing the soundtrack to an Andy Warhol film about a "gay surfer".[44] On June 29, the second single "Slip On Through" (B-side "This Whole World") was issued in the US.[44] Love wrote in his 2016 memoir that "Warner/Reprise was adrift on how to position Sunflower" and that the band had "thought about shortening [our] name to 'Beach' but concluded that was even worse."[87]
On August 31, 1970, Sunflower was released in the US by Brother/Reprise.[88] At the time, Brian told Rolling Stone: "I think we threw away at least one good song on [Sunflower]. Overall the record is good but it doesn't please me as much as I wish. ... But all in all, with some good airplay, the record should do very well."[6] The album became the Beach Boys' worst-selling to date,[89] reaching number 151 on US record charts during a four-week stay.[12] Its failure was attributed partly to the fact that FM rock radio DJs considered the songs too conventional for their playlists.[90] Biographer David Leaf wrote that the sales numbers were greatly disappointing for the Beach Boys, and that Brian was especially affected: "That, on top of the old, unhealed scars, was a hurt he didn't really begin to get over until 1976."[91]
In the UK, Sunflower was released in November 1970, on Stateside Records, and peaked at number 29.[6] A British trade magazine reported: "The album has been out less than one week, and it already is indicated to be their most popular recording in history, according to EMI Records."[92] However, the album continued to sell poorly.[93] Two more US singles, "Tears in the Morning" (B-side "It's About Time") and "Cool, Cool Water" (B-side "Forever"), followed on October 21, 1970, and March 1971, respectively.[94] The former was released in November 1970 as their only UK single.[95]
Contemporary reviews[edit]
Despite its poor sales, Sunflower received considerable critical acclaim in the US and the UK.[56] In his review for Rolling Stone, Jim Miller called it "without doubt the best Beach Boys album in recent memory, a stylistically coherent tour de force", but mused: "It makes one wonder though whether anyone still listens to their music, or could give a shit about it."[54] Following Miller's review, several other American magazines published favorable assessments, but as Badman writes, "The damage done by their non-appearance at [the] Monterey [Pop Festival] in 1967 seem[ed] irreversible among rock's opinion-formers."[6]
The Village Voice's Robert Christgau said that as a coming-of-age record from the Beach Boys, Sunflower is "far more satisfying, I suspect, than Smile ever would have been". He added that the "same medium-honest sensibility" and Southern California ethos of their 1960s music remains, "only now they sing about broken marriages and the pleasure of life. Still a lot of fun too."[96] In the English music press, the album was favorably compared by many critics to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[97][92]
Sourced from Craig Slowinski.[1]
The Beach Boys
Touring musicians
Guest
Additional session musicians
Technical and production staff