In 1970 the Beach Boys signed to Reprise and embarked on a new path freed from some of the chains of the past. The release schedule was a bit more realistic, but the label's hopes for a Beach Boys revival were high. In fact the album was revised twice before it was finally accepted by the powers at Warners/Reprise.

On the fan front, there was much excitement and it looked like things would turn around for the long suffering band. They were now on a label that actually liked the band, and backed them with the full force of America's most progressive record companies.

Sunflower, the first release on the new contract is still considered by many to be one of the very best Beach Boy albums. While sales didn't match the high expectations and sincere praise, the music in the grooves was wonderful. Under the watchful eye of Lenny Warnorker, the album was completed to everyone's satisfaction. The production is again up to the usual timelss Beach Boys standards.

The albums opens with the great Denny Wilson track, Slip On Through, one of four songs he penned for the album. A fifth was on the short list, but eventually dropped. Brain contributed several killer songs including the original title track Add Some Music To Your Day, and the classic Cool Cool Water.

When Sunflower failed to shift copies as anticipated, some of the old pressures and friction returned to the Beach Boy's camp. The follow up, sometimes referred to as Land Locked, saw the addition of the Smile song Surf's Up at the labels request. This song had only been heard once prior to this release, when Brain played a solo version for a Leonard Bernstien TV special. A cynical, but brilliant move. The appearence of this song on a Beach Boy's album assured that it was going to sell. There were only two other Brain songs on the new album. 'Til I Die showed that he was capible of writing a song equal to the much lauded title track.

Dennis didn't contribute. Carl's songwriting was limited to a scant two songs. That said, Feel Flows is the best song he would give to the Beach Boys. A wonderful slice of West Coast psych. Complex insturmentation and more oozing vocals make this a real high light on this album. Nothing wrong with his other collaboration with Jack Rieley, Long Promised Road. It seemed that everything Carl had to offer up was a gem.

Al Jardine and Mike Love teamed up for the album's opener, Don't Go Near The Water, another quirky tune. Al worked with Gary Winfrey on his other two compostions. Take A Load Off Your Feet was a Sunflower left over. Looking At Tomorrow is another stand out track on the album

While record sales hadn't set the world alight, the Beach Boys were once again a major concert attraction.

Once again I was treated to the Beach Boys live in concert around this time. Rather than suffer the scorn of my jaded friends, I found myself at a sell out concert at Winterland, Bill Graham's venue on the corner of Post and Steiner. In a moment that still sticks in my mind, Mike Love prefaced the show with the promise "if you all listen to these new songs that we want to play for you, we'll play some of our old hits later". With that, the enlarged Beach Boys Orchestra leapt into a note perfect version of Heroes And Villains. Blondie Chapin and Ricky Fataar were an important part of the band at this time. Dennis spent most of the show playing piano and singing, only moving to the kit for the encores. The sound was not unlike the 1968 Live In London album, or the In Concert album which was recorded in '72 and '73.

By 1972, Brian Wilson's mental state was well known. With every new release, it was hoped that "this would be the one to bring him back". Carl And The Passions "So Tough" apparently didn't convince Reprise, so they added the then out of print Pet Sound to the package to boost sales.

The two strongest songs were requesitioned from Denny's first solo album attempt. These orchestra heavy numbers preview the style that would eventually be heard on his only solo release, Pacific Ocean Blue

Thirty years later, it stands up well, but maybe not as strong as the two that preceded it. Brian is only credited for co-writing three of the mere eight songs. At the same time Blondie Chapin and Ricky Fataar emerged as creative members of the band. I had discovered the album by their previous band Flame in the stacks at KSJO, when it was released on Brother Records. On "So Tough" the new memebers blend seemlessly with the now evolving Beach Boy's sound of the 70's.It's a shame that even this relitivly minor album in the Beach Boys catalog was still better than most of what was in the charts at the time. It probably says more about the preception of the band than the music they continuted to produce.

The drama that accompanied the sessions for Holland again distracted from the fine music the Beach Boys were producing at a rate nearly equal to their mid sixties output. Holland was ultimately a much stronger record, though it probably contains the highest ratio of outside writers ever. Songs like Sail On Sailor and Funky Pretty are both classics. Denny's Steamboat defies description. Along with Feel Flows from Surf's Up, it would have to be the best contribution from a brother. Still very modern sounding...

Mt Vernon & Fairway, Brain's fairy tale was originally included as a bonus EP, and gives an insight into where he really wanted to be at the time. To hear this record now, minus the emotional baggage that surrounded it's release make you wonder why the Beach Boys didn't enjoy a better sales in the early 70's. These four albums have stood the test of time, while much of the chart music of the time has merely become Time-Life fodder.

With Brain's failing condition the next two albums had an awful air of desperation surrounding them. Sixteen Big Ones was preceded by a fantastic cover of Chuck Berry's Rock And Roll Music. The music was a hybrid of synth sounds and traditional instruments. This was at the same time that Stevie Wonder was winning Grammies every year for his own ground breaking creations. Half the songs were covers, surrounded by another sturdy set of originals.

The Beach Boys Love You came at a time there seemed to be an effort to push Brian right to the front hoping he would snap back to reality, or at least return to the days of writing hits. This probably wasn't the album the rest of the band and the label were hoping for. What you got was fourteen minimalist songs from Brain, with Al, Mike, and Roger McGuinn each co writing one song. To imagine what this record sounds like is to wonder what an album made by Jonathan Richman and The Young Marble Giants might be. This one has started appearing on peoples favorite list including Peter Buck. Worth the price of admission just for Johnny Carson. These records came at the height of the Endless Summer ground swell. There was an attempt at a "Brain's Back" tour, but more often than not, he was a shadow of himself on stage. The Beach Boys were doing the 70's stadium circuit, which to me didn't seem like the best forum to hear their music. I stayed home.

By 1978, the Beach Boys seemed to have exhausted the fans hope for a major comeback album. With the shows still selling out they were able to soldier on, producing three more "real" albums, a fourth, 1985's Beach Boys suffered from the death of Dennis and heavy handed production. MIU-1978 and L.A. (Light Album)-1979 are ok, but seem a little under ambitious. Al produced MIU and Bruce Johnston returned to handle the chores on L.A. and Keeping The Summer Alive-1980.

Denny sings the best track on MIU, Brian's "My Diane". The balance of the songs are fine, but there is none of the rhythmic intricacies one should expect. Brian only contributed two songs to L.A as did Dennis Wilson. His contributions Love Surround Me and Baby Blue again are the standout tracks.

Keeping The Summer Alive is a real surprise, and the last album recorded by the original line up. The title track revisits the same yearning for simpler times as Do It Again, and is another one of the grossly overlooked Beach Boy classics. For this album, Brain and Mike team up again as the primary song writers. Carl and Randy Bachman (BTO) co-wrote two songs including the fabulous Keeping The Summer Alive. This album is a real pleasure. It would be five more years before there was another Beach Boys album. Producer Steve Levine was brought in to make a contemporary sounding album simply called Beach Boys. While there may be some good songs on this record, the drum machines and Fairlight productions suck all the life out of the music.

By my count, that's 23 studio albums, at least three live records, a Christmas record and Stack O' Tracks. While re-listening to all these in chronological order, I was amazed at the relative consistency of the Beach Boys catalog. They had their vocal chops down from the very start, and the music and production caught up by the second or third album. Even after all these years I discovered a few songs I'd missed which added to the pleasure of playing one album after another. A few were so good they deserved repeated plays.

At the present time, the Beach Boys catalog is all back in print. The CD reissues are almost all two albums on one disc. The original Capitol albums are all supplemented with extra track: essential alternate versions and unreleased recordings. In addition there is the 1981 Glenn A. Baker compiled Brian Wilson/Beach Boys Rarities and the 1983 Capitol Rarities album. There are tracks on both of these that are unique to these releases. Neither have been issued on CD. The Good Vibrations box set from 1991 is a massive hits collection that sports over two dozen unreleased tracks. Of most interest are several original Smile recordings and extended Heroes And Villains session out takes.

The Endless Harmony DVD was accompanied by a soundtrack cd, with another generous helping of unreleased tracks and new stereo mixes. A year later the Hawthorn, CA double cd dished up even more unreleased material, interviews and new mixes. While new stereo mixes, vocal only and instrumental tracks may be for the serious fans only, there is enough new Beach Boy songs on these to make them fairly essential.

Pet Sounds has relieved the most lavish treatment in the form of a four disc box set. This is patterned after the Sea Of Tunes bootlegs, with numerous takes, alternate lyrics, vocal only versions, and the first stereo mix of Pet Sounds. The most interesting of these would have made for essential bonus tracks on the single cd release.

With virtually all the various solo albums currently out of print, with the exception of Brian's recent live outings, they have been come highly sought after. Dennis Pacific Ocean Blue being the most desirable of the lot. Recent interest in this may result in some sort of expanded reissue. It's hoped tracks from the unreleased Bamboo also see the light of day.

So what is the best method to approach this extensive catalog of music from America's favorite sons? Having bought them in sequence as they were released myself, these would seem the most logical way to hear the band's development. This would be a huge endeavor and require submersing yourself in the history and popular culture of three decades. Easiest might be to start with Pet Sounds and work your way out in concentric circles. Ultimately every album would be of interest to even a casual Beach Boy fan, and essential to the serious student.