The Beach Boys (album)

"I Do Love You" redirects here. For the Billy Stewart, see I Do Love You (Billy Stewart song).

The Beach Boys is the 25th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 10, 1985. Produced by Steve Levine, the album is the band's first after the drowning of founding member Dennis Wilson.^[3] It was also the band's first album to be recorded digitally and the last released by James William Guercio's Caribou Records.^[4] The record charted at number 52 in the U.S. and number 60 in the UK.

The Beach Boys
Studio album by the Beach Boys
Released	June 10, 1985
Recorded	June 1984[1]–March 23, 1985[2]
Studio	Red Bus Recording Studios CBS Studios (London) Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)
Length	37:52 (LP) 40:31 (CD)
Label	Brother/Caribou/CBS
Producer	Steve Levine
The Beach Boys chronology
Rarities (1983) The Beach Boys (1985) Made in U.S.A. (1986)
Singles from The Beach Boys
"Getcha Back" b/w "Male Ego" Released: May 8, 1985 "It's Gettin' Late" Released: July 17, 1985 "She Believes in Love Again" b/w "It's Just a Matter of Time" Released: October 1985

Production

Brian Wilson's psychologist Eugene Landy, who was originally awarded co-writing credits on Wilson's songs, stated in a contemporary interview, "I'm practically a member of the band [...] Brian's got the talent to make the music. [...] He's the creator. The other band members are just performers. So I'm the one who's making the album."^[5]

Among the guest musicians, Ringo Starr played drums on "California Calling", while Stevie Wonder played most of the instruments on "I Do Love You".^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Blender	[8]
Christgau's Record Guide	C[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]

Critical reaction was mixed.^[12] Writing in Rolling Stone, Parke Puterbaugh called the album 'pretty entertaining', adding 'though not a world-beating act of artistic reassertion, the LP does serve to showcase those amazing voices, and to remind the world that nobody does it better—still.'^[13]

Legacy

Levine reflected that he had remained "immensely proud" of the album and lamented its poor sales.^[12]

Track listing

Eugene Landy originally received co-writer's credit for all Brian Wilson compositions. This credit was omitted starting with the album's 2000 CD reissue.^[14]

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Getcha Back"	Mike Love Terry Melcher	Mike Love and Brian Wilson	3:02
2.	"It's Gettin' Late"	Carl Wilson Myrna Smith-Schilling Robert White Johnson	Carl Wilson	3:27
3.	"Crack at Your Love"	Brian Wilson Al Jardine	Al Jardine and B. Wilson	3:40
4.	"Maybe I Don't Know"	C. Wilson Smith-Schilling Steve Levine Julian Stewart Lindsay	C. Wilson	3:54
5.	"She Believes in Love Again"	Bruce Johnston	Bruce Johnston and C. Wilson	3:29

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"California Calling"	Jardine B. Wilson	Love and Jardine	2:50
2.	"Passing Friend"	George O'Dowd Roy Hay	C. Wilson	5:00
3.	"I'm So Lonely"	B. Wilson	B. Wilson and C. Wilson	2:52
4.	"Where I Belong"	C. Wilson Johnson	C. Wilson and Jardine	2:58
5.	"I Do Love You"	Stevie Wonder	C. Wilson with Jardine	4:20
6.	"It's Just a Matter of Time"	B. Wilson	B. Wilson and Love	2:23

CD bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
12.	"Male Ego"	B. Wilson, Love	B. Wilson and Love	2:32

Personnel

Credits sourced from Craig Slowinski, John Brode, Will Crerar and Joshilyn Hoisington.^[15] Track numbers refer to the CD release.

The Beach Boys

• Al Jardine – lead (3, 6, 9, 10) and backing vocals (all but 4 and 5), electric guitars (6)
• Bruce Johnston – lead (5) and backing vocals (all tracks), Kurzweil K250 (5)
• Mike Love – lead (1, 6, 11, 12) and backing vocals (all but 4)
• Brian Wilson – lead (1, 3, 8, 11, 12) and backing vocals (all but 5), Yamaha DX1 (3, 6, 8, 11, 12), Roland Jupiter-8 (3), Oberheim OB-8 (3), Oberheim Xpander (12), piano (6)
• Carl Wilson – lead (2, 4, 5, 7–10) and backing vocals (all tracks), Yamaha DX1 (2, 4, 9), electric guitar (2)

Additional players

• John Alder – electric (1, 6, 8) and acoustic guitars (1), guitar synthesizer (4), dobros (11)
• Graham Broad – drums (4), drums with brushes (11), jingle stick (1), castanets (1), maracas (1), bongos (1), hi-hat (2, 5), cowbell (4), congas (5), shaker (5), tom-tom (11), tambourine (1, 11)
• Jeffrey Foskett – backing vocals (5)
• Stuart Gordon – violins (5), violas (5), cellos (5)
• Steve Grainger – baritone saxophone (1, 2), tenor saxophone (7)
• Roy Hay – electric guitars (7), Yamaha DX1 (7), PPG Wave 2.3 (7), Oberheim OB-8 (7), Oberheim Xpander (7), Prophet-5 (7)
• Simon Humphrey – bass guitar (6)
• Judd Lander – harmonica (11)
• Steve Levine – Fairlight CMI programming (all tracks), LinnDrum programming (1–4, 7, 8, 12), Simmons hi-hat (3)
• Julian Lindsay – Kurzweil K250 (1, 9, 11), PPG Wave 2.3 (1–3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12), Oberheim OB-8 (2, 4, 6, 9, 11), Yamaha DX1 (1, 2, 4, 5, 9), Oberheim Xpander (5), Prophet-5 (2), Roland Jupiter-8 (4), E-mu Emulator (9), bass guitar (1, 2, 4), organ (6, 11), acoustic piano (10)
• Marcus Miller – bass guitar (3)
• Kenneth McGregor – trombone (2, 5)
• Terry Melcher – backing vocals and Kurzweil K250 (1)
• Gary Moore – electric guitars (4, 5), Synthaxe (5)
• Ian Ritchie – tenor saxophone (2, 8), Lyricon (3), baritone saxophone (12)
• Dave Spence – trumpet (2)
• Ringo Starr – drums and timpani (6)
• Stevie Wonder – Fender Rhodes electric piano (10), harmonica (10), bass synthesizer (10), Linn 9000 drum machine (10), tambourine (10)

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200[12]	52
UK Top 40 Albums[16]	60