Description:
Friends is the 14th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968 through Capitol Records. The album is characterized for its calm and peaceful atmosphere, which contrasted the prevailing music trends of the time, and for its brevity, with five of its 12 tracks running less than two minutes long. It sold poorly, peaking at number 126 on the US Billboard charts, the group's lowest US chart performance to date, although it reached number 13 in the UK. Fans generally came to regard the album as one of the band's finest.
As with their two previous albums, Friends was recorded primarily at Brian Wils
Friends is the 14th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968 through Capitol Records. The album is characterized for its calm and peaceful atmosphere, which contrasted the prevailing music trends of the time, and for its brevity, with five of its 12 tracks running less than two minutes long. It sold poorly, peaking at number 126 on the US Billboard charts, the group's lowest US chart performance to date, although it reached number 13 in the UK. Fans generally came to regard the album as one of the band's finest.
As with their two previous albums, Friends was recorded primarily at Brian Wilson's home with a lo-fi production style. The album's sessions lasted from February to April 1968 at a time when the band's finances were rapidly diminishing. It was written, performed, or produced mainly by Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson with Al Jardine. Some of the songs were inspired by the group's recent involvement with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation practice. It was the third consecutive album to credit "the Beach Boys" as producer instead of Brian, and the first to feature songs from Dennis.
One single was issued from the album: "Friends", a waltz that reached number 47 in the US and number 25 in the UK. Its B-side was the Dennis co-write "Little Bird". In May, the group scheduled a national tour with the Maharishi, but it was canceled after five shows due to low ticket sales and the Maharishi's subsequent withdrawal. A standalone single, "Do It Again", was released in July. It reached the US top twenty, became their second number one hit in the UK, and was included on foreign pressings of Friends.
Friends received favorable reviews in the music press, although most were published too late to influence sales, and continued criticism was leveled against the band's less experimental approach. It was the last LP in which Brian was credited on most of the tracks until 1977's The Beach Boys Love You. Despite the failure of a collaborative tour with the Maharishi, the group remained supporters of him and his teachings. Dennis contributed more songs on later Beach Boys albums, eventually culminating in a solo record, 1977's Pacific Ocean Blue. In 2018, session highlights, outtakes, and alternate takes were released for the compilation Wake the World: The Friends Sessions.
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Manufacturer: Capitol
Release date: 10 June 1968
EAN: 0724382963721 UPC: 724382963721
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