The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released November 9, 1964 on Capitol Records. It contains five original songs and seven standards on a Christmas theme. The album proved to be a long-running success during subsequent Christmas seasons, initially reaching No. 6 on Billboard's Christmas LP's chart in its initial release and eventually going gold. Music historian James Perone wrote that it is "regarded as one of the finest holiday albums of the rock era".
Friends is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968, through Capitol Records. 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 US Billboard charts, the group's lowest US 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.
20/20 is the 15th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released February 10, 1969 on Capitol Records. The LP was named for being their 20th overall release when factoring in live albums and compilations. Much of 20/20 consists of outtakes from earlier albums. It reached number 3 on UK record charts and number 68 in the U.S. Brian Wilson was absent during most of the album's recording after admitting himself into a psychiatric hospital, requiring brothers Carl and Dennis to retrieve several outtakes he had recorded years earlier. While Brian does not appear on the front cover, the inner gatefold of the original vinyl release features him alone, behind an eye examination chart.
"Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-themed musical comedy that would surpass the recording and artistic achievements of "Good Vibrations". The single was Brother Records' first release and failed to meet critical and commercial expectations, although it was a hit record, peaking at number 12 in the U.S. and number 8 in the UK.
"This Whole World" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1970 album Sunflower. Written by Brian Wilson, the song features his brother Carl on lead vocals and is credited as a Beach Boys production. Earlier in the year, it had been included on the Warner Brothers promotional sampler album The Big Ball, and as a single, fronted with "Slip On Through", but did not make the U.S. or UK pop charts.
"Wonderful" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song tells the story of a young girl's sexual awakening and its disruption of her devotion to God and her parents. It was the only "boy-girl" song they wrote for Smile.
"Darlin'" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Wild Honey. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was inspired by singer Danny Hutton and was originally intended to be recorded by an early version of Three Dog Night. Carl Wilson ultimately sang the lead vocal.
"Time to Get Alone" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1969 album 20/20. Written by Brian Wilson and produced by Carl Wilson, it is a baroque pop waltz. Brian originally intended the song for Redwood, the band that evolved into Three Dog Night.
"Drive-In" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1964 album All Summer Long. It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, although Love was not originally credited until after a 1990s songwriting lawsuit. The song was recorded shortly after the release of Little Deuce Coupe in October 1963.
"Vegetables" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, it was one of the last tracks recorded for the unfinished album Smile and was briefly projected to be that album's lead single. Like other tracks on Smiley Smile, the finished arrangement was more stripped-down than the version conceived for Smile.
"Aren't You Glad" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. The two also share lead vocal. It was released in 1967 as the second track on their studio album Wild Honey.
"Let the Wind Blow" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released in 1967 as the ninth track on their thirteenth studio album Wild Honey. The song is a ballad with lyrics that metaphorically relate nature to the essence of love. It is the first composition recorded by the group that is in 3
4 time from beginning to end.
"Can't Wait Too Long" is a song written by Brian Wilson for the American rock band the Beach Boys. The song dates from 1967, and remains unfinished by the group. In 2008, a newly recorded "Can't Wait Too Long" was released for Wilson's solo album That Lucky Old Sun.
"Do You Like Worms?" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their never-finished album Smile. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song is about the recolonization of the American continent and contains lyrical references to the Sandwich Islands and "Bicycle Rider Back" playing cards. None of the lyrics appear to mention worms; asked about the title, Parks said he could not remember where it came from.
"Love to Say Dada" is an unfinished song that was written by American musician Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' Smile project. It referenced the drug LSD in its initials and was one of the last tracks recorded for the album. The song subsequently evolved into "Cool, Cool Water" from Sunflower (1970).
"Sherry She Needs Me" is a song written in 1965 by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman for the American rock band the Beach Boys. The recording was not released until decades later. As a solo artist in 1998, Wilson completed the song with lyric changes by Carole Bayer Sager; it was renamed "She Says That She Needs Me" and released on his album Imagination.
Many recordings and performances by the Beach Boys have attained some level of public circulation without being available as a legal release, and several albums by the band or its individual members were fully assembled or near completion before being shelved, rejected, or revised as an entirely new project. Since the early 1980s, numerous rarities compilations and album reissues have been released with studio outtakes included as bonus tracks.
Lei'd in Hawaii is an unfinished live album by American rock band the Beach Boys that was produced shortly after the completion of their 1967 studio album Smiley Smile. It was initially planned to include the band's first live concert performances since their tour of Europe in May 1967.
"Holidays" is an instrumental by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson for their never-finished Smile album. In 2003, it was rewritten with new lyrics by Van Dyke Parks as "On a Holiday" for the project Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2004).
