Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)
Sunflower is the 16th studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 31, 1970 by Reprise 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 included Reverberation, Add Some Music, and The 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 to 20/20, the record featured a strong group presence with significant writing contributions from all band members. 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 of Brian Wilson's most complex songs, "Forever", regarded as among Dennis Wilson's finest, and "Cool, Cool Water", a song that originated from the band's Smile sessions.
Fans generally consider Sunflower to be among the Beach Boys' finest post-Pet Sounds albums. It has appeared in several critics' and listeners' polls for the best albums of all time, including Rolling 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 of dream pop. Many Sunflower outtakes and leftover songs later appeared on subsequent Beach Boys releases, including the follow-up Surf's Up and the compilation Feel Flows.
Background and recording
January – May 1969
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. Released by Capitol Records in February 1969, the band's newest album 20/20 sold better than their previous, Friends. However, they remained encumbered by an enormous debt that had been partly the result of two disastrous tours in 1968. Recording sessions for their next album began in January 1969 and were produced by the Beach Boys collectively and by Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, and Dennis Wilson individually. Throughout the year, they recorded about four dozen studio tracks, with working titles for the new album including Reverberation, Sun Flower, and Add Some Music.On April 12, the Beach Boys filed suit against Capitol for unpaid royalties and production duties for $2 million. In a press statement for this news, they also announced that they would be reviving their Brother Records imprint. 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 by May 1. Only seven of the ten tracks were completed by the deadline, and so the album was not delivered.
In 1969, Brian was increasingly known for his reclusiveness and eccentric behavior, which affected his reputation within the music industry. 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. During the first half of 1969, the Beach Boys continued to tour and increasingly engaged in benefit concerts held at hospitals and penitentiaries.
May – October 1969
On May 27, three days before the group embarked on a four-week tour of the UK and Europe, Brian told the music press that the group's funds were depleted to the point that they were considering filing for bankruptcy at the end of the year, which Disc & Music Echo called "stunning news" and a "tremendous shock on the American pop scene". In response, Grillo told reporters that Brian's comments were untrue and that he was "just putting you on". Brian said he hoped that the success of a forthcoming single, "Break Away", would mend the band's financial issues. He wrote the song with his father and ex-band manager Murry 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. During that summer, Brian focused his attention on launching the Radiant Radish, a health food store in West Hollywood.From May 30 to June 30, the Beach Boys toured with Paul Revere & the Raiders and Joe Hicks. Their Capitol contract expired on June 30 with one more album still due, after which the label deleted the Beach Boys' catalog from print, effectively cutting off their royalty flow. Studio recording resumed sporadically from July to October amid numerous promotional appearances.
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. Throughout June, the group met with the Berlin-based company Deutsche Grammophon, who were keen to sign the band, but Brian's remarks in the press ultimately thwarted the contract negotiations. 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. CBS and MGM also rejected the band.
In August, the Manson Family committed the Tate–LaBianca murders. According to Jon Parks, the band's tour manager, it was widely suspected in the Hollywood community that Charles 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. That same month, Carl, Dennis, Mike Love, and Jardine sought a permanent replacement for Johnston, approaching Carl's brother-in-law Billy Hinsche, who declined the offer to focus on his college studies. In late 1969, Murry Wilson sold the Sea of Tunes publishing company to A&M Records' publishing division for $700,000.
November 1969 – July 1970
According to music historian Keith Badman, a breakthrough with Warner Bros. Records inspired "an immense sense of optimism" and a "remarkable amount of new material" recorded in November 1969. 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." On November 18, Warner executive Mo Ostin agreed to sign the band to their subsidiary Reprise Records. This deal was brokered by Van Dyke Parks, a former collaborator of Brian's who was then employed as a multimedia executive at Warner Music Group. The contract dealt by Reprise stipulated Brian's proactive involvement with the band in all albums. Another part of the deal was to revive Brother Records.Shortly before signing with Reprise, the group accumulated enough material for a new album, now titled Sun Flower, and assembled a provisional 14-song acetate for the label. This collection was rejected. 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." The project was then renamed Add Some Music with the subheading An Album Offering from the Beach Boys.
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. In November, the Manson family was 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.
In February 1970, the band submitted a version of Add Some Music, but were once again rejected. 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. From February to June, the group worked on overdubbing and rerecording some of their new material. Another revision was rejected in late May. The album's last two songs were finished in July: "Cool, Cool Water" and "It's About Time". After a July 21 overdubbing session for "Cool, Cool Water" with synthesizer player Bernie Krause, the third and final master of Sunflower was delivered to Warner.