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Friends/20/20

The Beach Boys - Friends/20/20 Audio CD

A fair review of the The Beach Boys "Friends/20/20" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Beach Boys reviews here, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs.

Band: The Beach Boys
Title: Friends/20/20
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-04-10
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Meant for You 2: Friends 3: Wake the World 4: Be Here in the Morning 5: When a Man Needs a Woman 6: Passing By 7: Anna Lee, The Healer 8: Little Bird 9: Be Still 10: Busy Doin' Nothin' 11: Diamond Head 12: Transcendental Meditation 13: Do It Again 14: I Can Hear Music 15: Bluebirds over the Mountain 16: Be With Me 17: All I Want to Do 18: Nearest Faraway Place 19: Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) 20: I Went to Sleep 21: Time to Get Alone 22: Never Learn Not to Love 23: Our Prayer 24: Cabin Essence 25: Break Away [*] 26: Celebrate the News [*] 27: We're Together Again [Mono Version][*] 28: Walk on By [Mono Version][*] 29: Old Folks at Home/Ol' Man River [*]

Classic
Brian Wilson was quite ill, and the Beach Boys went from a huge wave of sound led by a mastero to a songwritting collective. Friends was part of the aftershock after Smile imploded.

Initally, the songs here seemed slight--the title track, "Be Still," "Little Bird," all seemed irrelevent next to the Doors, Hendrix, RFK and Chicago. Hearing this album right after the broken promice of Smile must have seemed like a massive let down; maybe because Friends was a real album and Smile was an idealized, infinately possible abstraction--a musical perfect lover that never exisited.

Listeing now, however, Friends is nothing short of a pop materpiece, even though the songs are mini pieces. None have the Spectorian ambition of Pet Sounds, but all the harmonies are in tact.

If the music is smaller in scale, the playing is still excellent as is the arranging; listen to the vibraphone on the title track or the way the Hammond Organ is used on "Be Still. " If the latter were a Harrison track from the White Album, critics would have been singing its praises. "Busy Doing Nothing" is a Wilson bossa nova, and one of his best songs--a little super-8 movie of the genius convolessing in the LA mountins in 1968, hiding from the riots, assainations and demonstrations.

Don't forget that for every protest and riot in 1968, it was much more common to see regular people living small, quiet, domestic lives in a completely local world: no internet, no email, and TV and radio were for the most part indiginous to the area. Work, eat, love, gather the kids and check out Laugh In or the Lucy Show.

Friends does not so much ignore or reject the happenings of 1968 as it does provide a counterpoint to them; that laid back lifestyle that most Americans were actually still living at the time. Go down to the beach, light a fire, medetate, stay home and get work done without effort. Kind of nice if you think of it, no? Don't we all wish we had time for this, or that we could, even just for a day, go back to THAT 1968?--that nice, quiet sheltered slowness Friends represents.

You could make a plausable arugment that Friends, was in fact, the musical manafestation of the peaceful lifestyle the kids who moved to the communes were trying to achieve. The whole hippie dream on one little album

20/20 has some great work--"Be With Me" is dark, foggy nuance that rivals some of the best psychadelia, and "I can hear music" gives a hint of where Wilson could have taken his band had he been more productive during 1969s return to the roots trend in rock. (I'll bet if the Beach Boy's had used the Dominos minus Derek, it would have made one hell of a cosmic cowboy album) Ironically, "Cabinessence," amazing as it is, is out of place.

The album is a patchwork and does not have the conceptual tightness of Friends. But with the exception of a few clunkers--covering Old Man River in the middle of 1969 was NOT a smart idea, no matter how calming you were trying to sound--the patches are great and the record holds up as well as, say, any Guess Who or other middle of the road pop album of the period.

Good as 20/20 is, Friends is the classic here, and is one of the most overlooked albums of that OTHER 60s.

suckfest
I love the early beachboys. . . but then they tried to be hip in the 70's and couldnt do it except for sail on sailor (great song). . . . this album SUCKS . . . SMILE is terrible, dont waste your money.

Friends-20/20
In terms of listenability, it falls far short of "Pet Sounds" (not to mention "Sunflower") but rises above the albums directly preceding it ("Smiley Smile" and "Wild Honey"). As a big Beach Boys fan, I find this CD enjoyable but inconsistent. The "Friends" half of the CD breezes by, as most of its 12 songs hover around the 2 minute mark. Highlights here are "Anna Lee, The Healer" and "Busy Doin' Nothin'"--the latter of which most closely approaches the instrumentation and gentle feel of "Pet Sounds," though in a bossa-nova style. The second half of this disc ("20/20") was an album of singles and leftovers, albeit pretty good ones. Fans in particular can appreciate the presence of two "Smile" cuts which finally were released: the multi-part "Cabinessence" and the hymnlike "Our Prayer. " One of my favorites here is the instrumental "The Nearest Faraway Place," a lush track featuring soft, echoed keyboards and understated strings. The bonus tracks are a treat as well; I only wish the minute-long acapella snippet of "Walk On By" was longer! Too bad they never finished that one. .

A very interesting point in Beach Boys history, but not for casual fans.
e. This album (i. this CD of two albums and out takes) is something I never would have bought a couple years ago, prior to reading several (yes, several) biographies of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Knowing what I do about the band's history now, I am fascinated by both albums. Still, if a casual fan is expecting the high energy fun in the sun and delightful harmonies of the band's signature sound, then start with Pet Sounds, the Sounds of Summer compilation, and the Warmth of the Sun compilation. All three of those are essential. Friends/20/20 is for more die hard fans.

Friends is a soothing confection of a listen, just like the cover art suggests. The music is relaxing and often beautiful, yet never really all that substantial. Several tunes are more abstracts, fading out as they really get going. It took me repeated listens to really get into it, but I did. If you're in the mood for a lighter, softer Beach Boys experience, and don't really mind that it lacks intensity, then it's a good listen. I even like the "Diamond Head" instrumental track quite a bit. "Transcendental Meditation," however, is an embarrassing indulgence. "We're Together Again," an out take track on this version would have worked better.

20/20 is to my mind a better listen over all, in spite of the fact it's scrapped together to meet contractual obligations. The first two tracks "Do It Again" and "I Can Hear Music" get the album started strongly. The out take tracks "Break Away" and "Celebrate the News" have similar hit potential (even though they didn't chart all that well), showing signs how both Friends and 20/20 could have been better albums overall with a little better song selection and effort.

And "could have been better" is an impression both of these albums leave me with. I know the band well enough to see the potential there and appreciate the beauty in the recordings. Yet to my mind neither Friends nor 20/20 approaches Sunflower, Surf's Up, Wild Honey or Smiley Smile, not to mention Pet Sounds or anything prior. As it is, the combined albums on one CD represent a good value because you get a bigger slice of "what could have been. ".

Could have been one five star album
'Meant for you' is possibly one of the best openers to an album I have ever heard. I really love 'friends'. The album just passes by with mellow and captivating harmonies. The ascending crescendo in 'friends' is captivating and there are no clunkers, except maybe 'be still', which is so simplistic and could have been composed by a child and, 'transcedental meditation', which is very out of tune. A lovely little album, that doesn't try too hard and succeeds for that reason.
20/20 is a different kettle of fish altogether. As soon as 'Do it again' started, I thought 'oh no, unmelodic, nasally Mike Love. ' I further don't like 'bluebirds over the mountain', just tuneless. 'Cotton fields' has no melody whatsoever. 'All I wanna do' is the nadir of the whole of the Beach boys' career. I can't believe they'd record such nonsense as this.
There are beautiful songs here also. The best track on the album is the Bruce Johnston composed instrumental ballad 'the nearest faraway place' it is so atmospheric and lush. Other highlights include 'I went to sleep', sounding exactly like a track off 'friends'. Nice counter point woodwind instruments compliment Brian's lead vocal. 'Time to get alone' has some very nice harmonies and a waltzing beat.
'Never learn not to love' has a very nice backing, although I'm never convinced by Dennis's vocals. 'Our prayer' is enchanting and shows how well the voice of the Beach Boys blended together. I wonder if Dennis is in the mix? One of the loveliest sounding songs ever.
Friends is barely 25 minutes, I think this could have been a five star album, if they cut 'be still', 'transcendental meditation', and added all tracks from 20/20, except the aforementioned four abysmal tracks. 'Breakaway' should also be included and it is a wonder this never made the album in the first place. .

You can see a complete list of all The Beach Boys discography, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.