| Sunflower | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 31, 1970 (1970-8-31) | |||
| Recorded | January 9, 1969 –July 21, 1970[1] | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:55 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | The Beach Boys | |||
| The Beach Boys chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sunflower | ||||
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Sunflower is the 16th studio album by the American rock bandthe Beach Boys, released on August 31, 1970 byReprise 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.
Working titles for the album includedReverberation,Add Some Music, andThe 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 to20/20, 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 ofBrian Wilson's most complex songs, "Forever", regarded as amongDennis Wilson's finest, and "Cool, Cool Water", a song that originated from the band'sSmile sessions.
Fans generally considerSunflower to be among the Beach Boys' finest post-Pet Sounds albums.[5] It has appeared in several critics' and listeners' polls for the best albums of all time, includingRolling 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 ofdream pop. ManySunflower outtakes and leftover songs later appeared on subsequent Beach Boys releases, including the follow-upSurf's Up (1971) and the compilationFeel Flows (2021).
Sunflower is the truest group effort we'd ever had. Each of us was deeply involved in the creation of almost all the cuts. Someone would come down to the studio early and put down a basic track, and then someone else would arrive and think of a good line or overdub.
The Beach Boys were at their lowest popularity in the late 1960s, and their cultural standing was especially worsened by their public image, which remained incongruous with the "heavier" music of their peers.[7] Released byCapitol Records in February 1969, the band's newest album20/20 sold better than their previous,Friends (1968).[8][9] However, they remained encumbered by an enormous debt that had been partly the result of two disastrous tours in 1968.[10] Recording sessions for their next album began in January 1969 and were produced by the Beach Boys collectively and byBrian Wilson andCarl Wilson,Bruce Johnston,Al Jardine, andDennis Wilson individually.[11] Throughout the year, they recorded about four dozen studio tracks, with working titles for the new album includingReverberation,Sun Flower, andAdd Some Music.[12]
On April 12, the Beach Boys filed suit against Capitol for unpaid royalties and production duties in the amount of $2 million (equivalent to $17.1 million in 2024).[13] In a press statement for this news, they also announced that they would be reviving theirBrother Records imprint.[14][nb 1] On April 16, Capitol A&R director Karl Engemaan drafted a letter to band manager Nick Grillo indicating that the group and label were still interested in renewing their contract. Engemaan asked the group to be ready to deliver the new album (then known under the working titlesThe Fading Rock Group Revival orReverberation) by May 1.[15][nb 2] Only seven of the ten tracks were completed by the deadline, and so the album was not delivered.[15]
In 1969, Brian was increasingly known for his reclusiveness and eccentric behavior, which affected his reputation within the music industry.[16] Grillo struggled to find another major label interested in signing the group, as he remembered, "Brian was notorious at that point" and label executives found the band too risky to sign. Since the Beach Boys' remained highly popular in the UK, Grillo attempted to secure a foreign, worldwide contract with a European company.[13] During the first half of 1969, the Beach Boys continued to tour and increasingly engaged in benefit concerts held at hospitals and penitentiaries.[17][nb 3]
On May 27, three days before the group embarked on a four-week tour of the UK and Europe,[15] Brian told the music press that the group's funds were depleted to the point that they were considering filing forbankruptcy at the end of the year, whichDisc & Music Echo called "stunning news" and a "tremendous shock on the American pop scene".[18][nb 4] In response, Grillo told reporters that Brian's comments were untrue and that he was "just putting you on".[14][nb 5] Brian said he hoped that the success of a forthcoming single, "Break Away", would mend the band's financial issues.[18] He wrote the song with his father and ex-band managerMurry Wilson. It was released on June 16 with the B-side "Celebrate the News", a Dennis song, and peaked at number 63 in the US and number 6 in the UK.[19] During that summer, Brian focused his attention on launching theRadiant Radish, a health food store in West Hollywood.[20][nb 6]
From May 30 to June 30, the Beach Boys toured withPaul Revere & the Raiders andJoe Hicks.[22][nb 7] Their Capitol contract expired on June 30 with one more album still due,[23] after which the label deleted the Beach Boys' catalog from print, effectively cutting off their royalty flow.[13][nb 8] Studio recording resumed sporadically from July to October amid numerous promotional appearances.[25]
The Beach Boys expected that, since they were considered a "legendary band" by this point, many other labels would approach them with contractual offers, but few did.[26][nb 9] Throughout June, the group met with the Berlin-based companyDeutsche Grammophon, who were keen to sign the band,[27] but Brian's remarks in the press ultimately thwarted the contract negotiations.[28]Polydor, Deutsche's American affiliate, also refused to sign the group because the company did not like the band's music or the members personally.[29]CBS andMGM also rejected the band.[30]
In August, theManson Family committed theTate–LaBianca murders. According to Jon Parks, the band's tour manager, it was widely suspected in the Hollywood community thatCharles Manson was responsible for the murders, and it had been known that Manson had been involved with the Beach Boys, causing the band to be viewed as pariahs for a time.[31] That same month, Carl, Dennis,Mike Love, and Jardine sought a permanent replacement for Johnston. They approached Carl's brother-in-lawBilly Hinsche, who declined the offer to focus on his college studies.[32][nb 10] In late 1969 (either reported as occurring in August[33] or November), Murry Wilson sold theSea of Tunes publishing company (including the rights to the majority of Brian's songs) toA&M Records' publishing division for $700,000 ($6 million in 2024).[34]
According to music historian Keith Badman, a breakthrough withWarner Bros. Records inspired "an immense sense of optimism" and a "remarkable amount of new material" recorded in November 1969.[35] He stated that the group, "including a temporarily rejuvenated Brian", prepared material with "as many songwriting collaborators as possible" as they regarded "the forthcoming album as a make-or-break disc."[36] On November 18, Warner executiveMo Ostin agreed to sign the band to their subsidiaryReprise Records.[37] This deal was brokered byVan Dyke Parks, a former collaborator of Brian's who was then employed as a multimedia executive atWarner Music Group.[38][nb 11] The contract dealt by Reprise stipulated Brian's proactive involvement with the band in all albums.[38] Another part of the deal was to revive Brother Records.[37][nb 12]
Shortly before signing with Reprise, the group accumulated enough material for a new album, now titledSun Flower, and assembled a provisional 14-song acetate for the label.[12][nb 13] This collection was rejected.[37] Warner Bros. executive Dave Berson remembered: "It seemed like an amazing thing to do, to say to the Beach Boys, 'This is not the kind of an album we want to pay for.' Contractually, we didn't have any right to reject albums."[39] The project was then renamedAdd Some Music with the subheadingAn Album Offering from the Beach Boys.[12]
From November 25 to December 7, the band embarked on their seventh and final annual Thanksgiving tour of the US. Badman called it "a dismal farewell" to the decade, "with audience members struggling to reach even a couple of hundred at some shows", forcing most of the dates to be cancelled.[36] In November, the Manson family were apprehended by police for the Tate–LaBianca murders, and the family's former connections with Dennis and the Beach Boys became the subject of media attention.[40]
In February 1970, the band submitted a version ofAdd Some Music, but were once again rejected.[41][12][nb 14] The company felt that the proposed LP was not strong enough, although they decided to issue two of its tracks as a single, and asked the band to write and record a new batch of songs.[42] From February to June, the group worked on overdubbing and rerecording some of their new material.[41] Another revision was rejected in late May.[43] The album's last two songs were finished in July: "Cool, Cool Water" and "It's About Time".[12] After a July 21 overdubbing session for "Cool, Cool Water" with synthesizer playerBernie Krause, the third and final master ofSunflower was delivered to Warner.[44]
"Slip On Through" was written and sung by Dennis. Brian recalled, "It was a really dynamic song. Dennis, I was very proud of, because he really rocked and rolled on that one. Dennis did really interesting energetic things on that."[12]
"This Whole World" was written by Brian, who said it was "inspired by my love of the world, how I love people, and how people should be free."[12] Carl sings lead vocals while Brian sings in the background; their voices weredouble-tracked, as was common practice for many of their recordings.[12] Brian's wifeMarilyn and her sisterDiane Rovell also contributed backing vocals. Brian later produced a version of the song for their groupAmerican Spring on the 1972 albumSpring.[30] As a solo artist, he returned to the song again for the albumI Just Wasn't Made for These Times (1995).
"Add Some Music to Your Day" is a song with lyrics that are a celebration of music and its ubiquitous presence in daily life.[45] It was written by Brian, Mike Love, and their friend Joe Knott, who was not a professional songwriter.[12] BiographerPeter Ames Carlin wrote that the song was a "pop-folk tune" that "seemed like a perfect statement of purpose to lead off the band's second decade, given the tune's shared, round-robin style lead vocal, full background harmonies, and a plainspoken lyric".[45]
"Got to Know the Woman" is an R&B song by Dennis that featured backing vocals from female session singers.[46] White noted it was "one of the few Beach Boys songs that could honestly be called funky, its tinkly Dixieland piano a perfect foil for the coarse frivolity of the verses, which contain a boorish come-on to the object of one's lowest bump-and-grind fantasies.[12]
"Deirdre" was credited to Bruce Johnston and Brian. Although Johnston has said that Brian only offered minor lyrical contributions and that he gave him a 50% share in the song as a favor,[47] music historians Andrew G. Doe and John Tobler wrote in 2004 that the song had been "developed from a musical theme first used in 'We're Together Again,'" a 1968 composition credited to Brian Wilson and singer Ron Wilson (no relation).[48] The song was named after the sister of one of Johnston's ex-girlfriends[9] and was described by White as "a stroll-tempo devotional to an idealized, red-haired goddess; its stippled use of flutes plus the spacey filtering and compression techniques in the vocal mixes giving the track a celestial grandeur."[12] In 1994, the song was sampled in the video gameEarthBound.[49]
"It's About Time" is an autobiographical rock song about the pitfalls of stardom and fame. It was primarily written by Dennis and outside writer Bob Burchman (a close friend of Dennis's second wife, Barbara), with co-writers Carl and Jardine adding various refinements during the recording process.[50][51] Jardine said: "'It's About Time'" was Carl, Dennis and I [sic]. That's a good one. I like that production. That was mostly Dennis, and I just helped with the lyrics. Dennis and Carl did the track."[52] White describes the song as a "commentary on rock indulgence and self-redemption, it was also a wishful scenario regarding both Brian and Dennis Wilson's sporadic personal troubles."[12]
"Tears in the Morning", written by Johnston, is a melodramatic song with strings, horns, and accordions.[12] He performed the song during the group's live performances without accompaniment from his bandmates. ADisc & Echo writer reviewed of a concert in December 1970, "I must admit, it went down a storm, as the song benefited from the simple piano-voice presentation. But if you'd seen the expressions and heard the mutterings of the others in the group as they were ordered off-stage, it looked decidedly as though Bruce could find himself in the doghouse!"[53]
"All I Wanna Do" is a reverb-heavy[56] B. Wilson–Love song that was originally attempted during the sessions forFriends.[57] Retrospective commentators note the song as one of the earliest examples ofchillwave, amicrogenre that emerged in the 2000s.[58][59] Discussing the song in 1995, Brian expressed: "That was one of those songs that had a nice chord pattern, but I think it was a boring song, and I thought it wasn't done right. I thought it should have been softer, withboxed guitars."[60]
"Forever" was written by Dennis and his friendGregg Jakobson. Brian praised the song as "the most harmonically beautiful thing I've ever heard. It's a rock and roll prayer."[12] Love wrote that it "was Dennis's most acclaimed ballad, as it captured the raw emotion and bluesy sensibility that he brought to his vocals."[61]
"Our Sweet Love" is a reworking of aFriends outtake, "Our New Home".[62] Brian commented: "I wrote that for Carl. After I wrote it I said, 'Hey, he could sing this good' so I gave it to Carl."[12] According to Jardine, Brian refused to complete the song: "'Our Sweet Love' was one we finished with Brian. He just didn't want to finish it. So we kind of helped. We became completers of ideas."[52]
"At My Window" is a song by Brian and Jardine about the birds in Brian's backyard.[56] It evolved from a rendition of "Raspberry, Strawberries", a Wilt Holt composition that was recorded bythe Kingston Trio.[30] The lyrics were written by Jardine.[12] He commented: "That was probably one of my first efforts at involving the other guys. ... I have this dim recollection of writing it and Bruce singing it and Brian trying to speak French in it. It had a nice tone to it. We had an accordion player come in and play some beautiful things on it."[52]
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"Cool, Cool Water" evolved from theSmile track "Love to Say Dada" and was initially attempted during the 1967 sessions forSmiley Smile andWild Honey.[63]Lenny Waronker, then an A&R executive at Warner Music Group, heard the unfinished tape, and convinced Wilson to finish the track forSunflower. Waronker was so impressed with the song's inspired simplicity, that he noted, "If I ever get the opportunity to produce Brian, I'd encourage him to do something that combined the vividness of 'Good Vibrations' with the non-commercial gentleness of 'Cool, Cool Water.'"[12][nb 15] Wilson later said: "In 'Cool, Cool Water' there's a chant I wish we hadn't used. It fits all right, but there's just something I don't think is quite right with it."[6]
Around three dozen songs were left offSunflower.[12] Each member of the band, including Brian, wrote numerous songs for the album. Brian alone had about a full-length album's worth of material that he had written by himself or with collaborators.[45] Among these, "Where Is She?" is a Brian song that, according to band archivistAlan Boyd, resemblesthe Beatles' "She's Leaving Home". He said: "It's one of those times that the band's engineer Steve Desper recalls Brian simply getting an idea and he built this song from the ground up."[64][nb 16]In 2013, "Where Is She" was released on the box setMade In California. "Take a Load Off Your Feet (Pete)", written by Brian and Jardine with schoolfriend Gary Winfrey, was included on the band's next albumSurf's Up (1971).[65] "Loop de Loop", written by Brian, Carl, and Jardine, was the latter's rearrangement of "Sail Plane Song", a20/20 Brian/Carl outtake.[66] In 1998, Jardine completed the song for theEndless Harmony Soundtrack[67] with the original 1969 mix seeing release on the 2021 box setFeel Flows. The former compilation also included "Soulful Old Man Sunshine", a collaboration between Brian, Rick Henn (former leader ofthe Sunrays) and veteran arranger/producerDon Ralke.[30]
"Lady" was written by Dennis and featured a string arrangement by keyboardistDaryl Dragon.[12] The song was later considered forSurf's Up but passed for inclusion.[68] Instead, in December 1970, Wilson released it as the B-side of the "Sound of Free" single, credited to "Dennis Wilson & Rumbo".[69] "Good Time" was a collaboration between Brian and Jardine. In 1972, American Spring recorded versions of "Lady" (with the new title "Fallin' in Love") and "Good Time", the latter with new vocals overdubbed onto the Beach Boys' original backing track, for their albumSpring. In 1977, the originalSunflower version of "Good Time" was placed onThe Beach Boys Love You.[70] In 1981, "San Miguel", a collaboration between Dennis and Gregg Jakobson,[71] was released for the compilationTen Years of Harmony.[71] Jardine's "Susie Cincinnati" was released as the B-side of the "Add Some Music to Your Day" single and as a track on the 1976 album15 Big Ones.[72]
"I Just Got My Pay" is a song that contains a reworked melody from the 1964 outtake "All Dressed Up for School",[73] with both songs being released on the 1993 box setGood Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys. "I'm Going Your Way" is a Dennis song about picking up hitchhikers and the sexual intercourse that might follow[20] while "Carnival" (aka "Over the Waves")[74] is a wordless vocal rendition of the standard "When You Are in Love (It's the Loveliest Night of the Year)".[75] Both songs were released on the 2021 box set Feel Flows. Also recorded was "When Girls Get Together" (released on the 1980 albumKeepin' the Summer Alive),[12] "Games Two Can Play" (released on the 1993 box setGood Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys),[76] "Back Home" (a version different from the one released on15 Big Ones),[75] a rehearsal of theWild Honey song "Let the Wind Blow" (a song that was added to the band's setlists in this era), a solo piano demo of "Til I Die" with no vocals (later completed forSurf's Up), and a keyboard-only version of the Beatles' "You Never Give Me Your Money".[77] The latter two recordings were released on the 2021 box setFeel Flows.
The picture of the band on the front sleeve, featuring all six group members, was taken on the golf course atDean Martin's Hidden Valley Ranch nearThousand Oaks inVentura County, California. His son Ricci Martin, a friend of the band, took the photograph, also featuring Brian's daughterWendy, Al's first son Matthew, Mike's children Hayleigh and Christian, and Carl's son Jonah.[78][full citation needed][nb 17] The inner gatefold spread on the original vinyl LP featured a series of photographs taken by designer/photographerEd Thrasher at theWarner Bros. studio backlot.[citation needed]
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 ofMaharishi 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 magazineGo Set reported that the band's next album was titledCool Water and thatEmerald Films would be creating a color film documentary of the tour, produced by theBBC'sSteve 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 albumAdd Some Music.[86] In late June, Brian toldMelody Maker that he was thinking about composing the soundtrack to anAndy 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 positionSunflower" 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 toldRolling 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] BiographerDavid 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, onStateside 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 toEMI 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]
Despite its poor sales,Sunflower received considerable critical acclaim in the US and the UK.[56] In his review forRolling Stone, Jim Miller called it "without doubt the best Beach Boys album in recent memory, a stylistically coherenttour 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'sRobert Christgau said that as a coming-of-age record from the Beach Boys,Sunflower is "far more satisfying, I suspect, thanSmile ever would have been". He added that the "same medium-honest sensibility" andSouthern 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]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [98] |
| Blender |  [99] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A−[100] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[101] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [102] |
| MusicHound Rock | 3.5/5[103] |
| Pitchfork(Sunflower/Surf's Up reissue) | 8.9/10[55] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [104] |
| Sputnikmusic | 5/5[105] |
Fans generally regardSunflower as the Beach Boys' finest post-Pet Sounds album.[5]Pitchfork's Hefner Macauley deemedSunflower "perhaps the strongest album they released post-Pet Sounds",[106] while Chris Holmes ofPopdose declared that "it stands as the definitive post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys album".[107]Paste's Brian Chidester wrote that the album "was, in many respects, theirAbbey Road—a lush production that signaled an end to the 1960s, the decade that gave them creative flight."[57] Music theoristDaniel Harrison referred toSunflower as the end of an experimental songwriting and production epoch for the group, one that had begun with 1967'sSmiley Smile.[108]
In his 2016 memoir, Love acknowledged thatSunflower was "damn good ... I also know that we have fans who cherish that album like none other."[109] Wilson biographer Christian Matijas-Mecca stated that the album was the band's best effort sincePet Sounds and said that it "demonstrated, more than any other Beach Boys album before or since, that the six members could work democratically and deliver songs of real depth."[110] Writing inThe Beach Boys and the California Myth (1978), David Leaf summarized the work as "the first album that could come close toPet Sounds on a production level, partly the result of studio engineer Steve Desper's fine work. The Beach Boys' harmonies were present in a way they hadn't been sinceSummer Days... and it was probably the truest group effort ever in that it was a showcase for all the individuals in the band."[92] Peter Ames Carlin summarized:
Despite the fact that they were emerging from the darkest years of their commercial and personal lives, the group had produced a collection of songs that projected their utopian fantasies into a modern, adult context. The band's individual voices were more distinct than ever, but the rainbow of personalities still folded together into a sound that was sweet, surprisingly sexy, and, as ever, musically inventive.[46]
Sunflower was voted number 380 inRolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003),[111] number 66 inThe Guardian's "100 Best Albums Ever" (1997),[112] and number 449 inColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[113] In his review of the album's 2000 remaster, Keith Phipps fromThe A.V. Club said thatSunflower "features one of The Beach Boys' most coherent and lovely selections of music", with the best songs penned by Brian.[79]The A.V. Club's Noel Murray wrote that the album could be interpreted as the band's response to "the wave of 'sunshine pop' and 'bubblegum' acts that had emerged over the previous couple of years, showing that no one could write and record slick, melodic, harmony-drenched songs quite like The Beach Boys."[114]
Among the band members, Bruce Johnston later namedSunflower his favorite Beach Boys album.[6] In the 1970s, he considered it to be the last true Beach Boys album because it was the last to feature Brian's input and active involvement.[92] He nonetheless regretted the inclusion of his two songs, saying that "Tears in the Morning" was "too pop" and that "I wish I hadn't recorded ['Deirdre'] with the group."[6] Conversely, Brian said that "Deirdre" was "one of my very favorites" and that "Tears in the Morning" was "lovely". For the album's 2000 liner notes, it was written that he "attributes the staying power ofSunflower ... to the 'spiritual love' of the music".[12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Slip On Through" | Dennis Wilson | 2:17 | |
| 2. | "This Whole World" | Brian Wilson | Carl Wilson | 1:56 |
| 3. | "Add Some Music to Your Day" |
| Mike Love,Bruce Johnston, C. Wilson, Brian Wilson, and Al Jardine | 3:34 |
| 4. | "Got to Know the Woman" |
| D. Wilson | 2:41 |
| 5. | "Deirdre" |
| Johnston with B. Wilson | 3:27 |
| 6. | "It's About Time" |
| C. Wilson with Love | 2:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tears in the Morning" | Johnston | Johnston | 4:07 |
| 2. | "All I Wanna Do" |
| Love | 2:34 |
| 3. | "Forever" |
| D. Wilson | 2:40 |
| 4. | "Our Sweet Love" |
| C. Wilson | 2:38 |
| 5. | "At My Window" |
| Johnston with B. Wilson | 2:30 |
| 6. | "Cool, Cool Water" |
| B. Wilson and Love | 5:03 |
| Total length: | 36:55 | |||
Notes
Midway through the recording ofSunflower, the band assembled an album for Capitol with some tracks that were later placed onSunflower. It had the working title ofReverberation.[74] Although a master tape (dated June 19, 1970) of songs was put together, this album was never released.[74][117] Instead, they fulfilled their contract with the May 1970 albumLive in London.[76] All of the following tracks have seen an official release in later years.[74]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cottonfields" (single version) | |
| 2. | "Loop de Loop" | |
| 3. | "All I Wanna Do" | |
| 4. | "Got to Know the Woman" (mono mix) | |
| 5. | "When Girls Get Together" (instrumental) | |
| 6. | "Break Away" | |
| 7. | "San Miguel" | |
| 8. | "Celebrate the News" | |
| 9. | "Deirdre" | |
| 10. | "The Lord's Prayer" (duophonic remix) | |
| 11. | "Forever" |
In 2021, expanded editions ofSunflower andSurf's Up were packaged withinFeel Flows, a box set that includes session highlights, outtakes, and alternate mixes drawn from the two albums.[118]
Sourced from Craig Slowinski.[1]
The Beach Boys
Guest
Additional session musicians
Technical and production staff
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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