'Friends'

The year 1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in both the history of the United States and the world. The Vietnam War continued to rage with no end in sight. Politically motivated assassinations such as that of Democratic Presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy as well as anti-war protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in August made the headlines that year.

In the world of pop music, the biggest new band of that year was The Doors whose debut album had been released the previous year led by lead singer and anti-establishment poet, Jim Morrison and known for it's psychedelic music style featuring heavy use of organ courtesy of keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Over in the United Kingdom, The Rolling Stones were releasing songs with titles like "Street Fighting Man" while the Beatles were singing of "Revolution".

In contrast to this was The Beach Boys who had ended 1967 with their popularity in the United States taking a nosedive thanks to both the failure to finish their would-be masterpiece SMiLE and their failure to appear at the game-changing Monterey Pop Festival in the summer.

How would they adapt to this radically different cultural landscape from their early to mid-sixties glory days?

They initially tried to adapt to the times by changing their stage appearance from the famous matching striped shirts that they had worn on all their previous tours to try to appeal to a more sophisticated audience. At the recommendation of major supporter Paul McCartney of the Beatles (whose landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had defined the summer of 1967 thanks in part to its eye-catching cover art.) for their 1968 album Friends they decided to use a psychedelic style painting by artist Dave McMacken to fit with the times.

Unfortunately, the music on said album could not contrast more with the world into which it was released on June 24th, 1968. This album was very short at only twenty-five minutes long and most of its tracks being less than two minutes long and the topics of the songs were about themes such as friendship, blissful lazy days, being an expecting father as well as a song literally titled "Transcendental Meditation". The contrast with the times could not be more jarring.

The album opens with the brief opening song "Meant for You" written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love which opens the album in a serene fashion.

The title track which had been released as a single a few months earlier, a co-write between the three Wilson brothers and Al Jardine and sung by Carl and Brian is a very mellow waltz describing the joys of friendship in waltz time largely instrumentally supported with harmonicas and bass harmonicas provided by Tommy Morgan brushes on the drums by Norm Jeffries, Vibraphone by Alan Estes, upright bass by Jimmy Bond, Saxophones and clarinets by Jay Migliori and Jim Horn, a three man violin section consisting of Arnold Belnick , William Karusha and Leonard Malarsky as well as a viola played by Norman Botnick with keyboards by Jim Ackley along with the only instrumental contribution to the song by an actual band member by Carl Wilson on guitar.

Wake the World is a soft mellow track written by Brian and Al with Mike and Carl on lead vocals supported instrumentally by Brian on piano accompanied by many session musicians most notably tuba and flugelhorn by Dick Hyde.

Next is "Be Here in the Mornin" written by all the Beach Boys with the exception of Bruce Johnston and sung by Carl and Al, with support by the other Beach Boys as well as vocal support from Wilson father, Murry and Brian's wife Marilyn backed instrumentally by ukelele from Lyle Ritz and bells by future "Layla" co-composer Jim Gordon. The "Korthof" mentioned in the lyrics is the Wilson's cousin Steve Korthof, The "Parks" mentioned is manager Jon Parks not SMiLE lyricist, Van Dyke Parks and the "Grillo" mentioned is then-Band Manager Nick Grillo.

"When a Man Needs a Woman is written by the Wilson Brothers with Al Jardine as well as the aforementioned Steve Korthof and Jon Parks. Brian who was an expectant father at this point sings the lead on the song lyrically about the anticipated birth of a son Of course he would end up with a daughter as Marilyn gave birth to Carnie Wilson in April 1968 a few months before the album's release. Their second daughter Wendy would be born in October of 1969 and in the early 1990s the two sisters would join with daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, Chynna Phillips to form the group Wilson Phillips, who scored a major hit in 1990 with their song "Hold On".

"Passing By" is essentially a short calm instrumental with wordless vocals provided by Brian, Carl and Al. It mostly features organ played by Bruce Johnston with snare drum and congas by Jim Gordon. Brian had written lyrics for this track but wisely decided not to use them.

"Anna Lee, The Healer" opens side two of the album written by Brian and Mike. The lyrics mention Rishikesh India where in early 1968 Mike had joined the Beatles and Donavan on a meditation retreat where Mike had suggested lyrical concepts to Paul McCartney for a song Paul was writing which became the obvious Beach Boys pastiche "Back In The U.S.S.R" which would lead off the Beatles Self-Titled album (known unofficially as The "White Album" in November of 1968. Interestingly Mike has never demanded a co-writing credit considering his contribution to the song was arguably more important to the song than the mere six words he somehow got credit for improvising on the Pet Sounds leadoff track "Wouldn't It Be Nice".

"Little Bird" is the first major song to be written by Dennis Wilson with lyrics provided by poet Stephen Kalinich. Dennis sings lead and plays harmonium on the track accompanied by guitar and banjo by Al Vescovo, Lyle Ritz on electric and upright bass's, Jim Gordon on drums, block and bell, four trumpeters including Ray Caton, Dick Forrest, Ollie Mitchell and Tony Terran and notable cello parts by Raymond Kelly and Jacquiline Lustgarden.

Following track "Be Still" is also written by Dennis with Stephen Kalinich which just features organ underlining Dennis' lead vocals.

"Busy Doin Nothin'" is a Brian penned bossa nova- style song about an average day in his life at the time. The lyrics on the first chorus are actually (if you know where to start) the directions to his mansion on Bellagio Road in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles.

"Diamond Head" is an instrumental written by Brian with session musicians Lyle Ritz, Al Vescovo and Jim Ackley. It is the longest track on the album at three minutes and thirty-five seconds. Interestingly it along with many other songs from the album were performed by the Brian Wilson Band in its 2019 "Something great from 68" tour co-billed with the Zombies playing the entirety of their 1968 album Odyssey and Oracle assisted by Brian Band members, Darian Sahanaja on keyboards and Probyn Gregory on trumpet. Brian, Mike and Al co-wrote the final track, "Transcendental Meditation" which would be the first and unfortunately not the last ode to the title subject on a Beach Boys album. It was likely written soon after Mike returned from his India adventure with the Beatles and Donavan.

Naturally, the album failed to connect with audiences in the United States at the time peaking at number 126 in the Billboard top 100, though it did relatively well in Europe especially to the very vocal fans in the United Kingdom.

The reception of the album since, without the cultural context of the socio-political environment in the United States at the time of its release has been quite positive with Brian Wilson himself claiming it as his favorite Beach Boys Album. (Brian Wilson's favorite Beach Boys album fluctuated during his lifetime between Friends and 1977's The Beach Boys Love You depending on who was interviewing him and in what context.)

The Beach Boys did a tour with Buffalo Springfield and Strawberry Alarm Clock of the Southern United States at the time which was poorly attended due to the fact that it coincided with the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis Tennessee. six of the thirty-five shows were cancelled and two re-scheduled. To make matters worse, Mike Love decided that it would be a wise marketing idea to embark on a U. S. tour with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who had recently been denounced by all but one (George Harrison) of his most famous devotees, The Beatles. John Lennon wrote the scathing song "Sexy Sadie" from the White Album about him. Needless to say, it was a very poorly attended tour and one of the worst marketing moves in rock history.

However, toward the end of 1968 things started to change in the music world. The month after Friends was released, the former backing band of Bob Dylan known simply as "The Band" released their debut album Music From Big Pink. The albums style was completely different from the downbeat psychedelic style of acts like The Doors, blending folk and country elements in a stripped down organic style far removed from super-productions such as Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper. Eric Clapton was such a fan of the album that it convinced him to disband his power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce known as "Cream". George Harrison of the Beatles was also a big fan and it influenced the Beatles to return to simpler production values on their ill-fated project literally titled "Get Back" in January of 1969. Another major act The Byrds on the suggestion of new member Gram Parsons released an un-heard of style change to outright country music in the August of 1968 with the release of their Sweetheart of the Rodeo album produced by "In My Room" co-author Gary Usher. Bob Dylan followed this trend the following year with his Nashville Skyline album. In late 1968, Mike Love spent a day of surfing with old High School friends at one of Southern Californias many beaches. He enjoyed that day so much that he suggested to his cousin Brian who had long before outgrown the concept of writing surfing songs, write a song based on his experience that day. While Brian was not a fan of going backwards he reluctantly agreed to co-write a song with Mike in the early Beach Boys style. We will adress the resulting song next time.