Still Cruisin'

Still Cruisin' is the twenty-sixth studio album by the Beach Boys, their thirty-fifth official album (counting compilations and live packages), and their last release of the 1980s. It is also the last album of new material released during a brief return to Capitol Records.

Released on August 28, 1989, the album was panned by critics, with AllMusic referring to the band's sound by producer Terry Melcher as sounding "like a professional '60s cover band". Despite the poor critical reception, the album was Certified Gold by RIAA in 1989 and has since gone on to be Certified Platinum for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

Still Cruisin' was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001, along with their following album Summer in Paradise.

Background
After "Kokomo" (when released as a single from the Cocktail film soundtrack) gave the Beach Boys their first number one hit in the US since 1966's "Good Vibrations", the band decided to put together an album of recent and classic songs. The classic songs included had been heard in recent films. The songs "Still Cruisin'", "Somewhere Near Japan", and "Island Girl" were recorded for the album by the touring Beach Boys band as well as studio musicians and producer Terry Melcher. Due to his ongoing relationship with Dr. Eugene Landy, Brian Wilson's lone contribution to this album was "In My Car", a song credited as being co-written by Landy and girlfriend Alexandra Morgan. However, as subsequent court actions have seen Landy's name removed from other period songs, such as those on Wilson's 1988 album, these credits may be negated.

"Kokomo" was a recent single, as was "Wipe Out", a duet with American rap group the Fat Boys. (The song was originally to be recorded with Run-DMC, but Mike Love apparently struck a deal with the other group.) "Make It Big" was recorded for the film Troop Beverly Hills, and the remaining three songs - "I Get Around", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "California Girls" – were the "classic" recordings, ones from the group's earlier period, that had been used in recent films. The inclusion of these hits gave the album a more acceptable running time.

At least one song was recorded during or around the time of the sessions for this album but was not included. "Happy Endings" is a ballad which was a collaboration with Little Richard; it was produced by Terry Melcher and was (recorded in June and October 1987 and) released as a non-album single on November 3, 1987. (Its B-side was a live version of "California Girls".) Also not included were "Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue", "California Dreamin", and "Lady Liberty" (all of which were released as singles in 1986), along with "The Spirit of Rock and Roll" (recorded between August 1986 and January 1987), a Brian Wilson composition included as the final song in the band's 25th anniversary concert/TV special. "The Spirit of Rock and Roll" was not released. In addition, the 1988 remake of "Don't Worry Baby" from the film Tequila Sunrise with the Everly Brothers was not included.

Mike Love said of the album: "The theme of that album was to have been songs that have been in movies. It was basically a repackage. But then it got watered down with politics, meaning Brian's Dr. Landy forcing a song called "In My Car," which was never in a movie, and a song by [Al] Jardine, which ultimately ended up on the album, called "Island Girl," which was never in a movie either. So to me the concept was a little bit diluted there politically."

Riding on the coattails of "Kokomo", Still Cruisin' went gold in the US and Austria and gave the Beach Boys their best chart showing since 1976. During Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001 however, Still Cruisin' was left behind and allowed to go out of print, and it has remained out of print ever since.

Singles

 * "Kokomo" b/w "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard) (Elektra), July 18, 1988 – US No. 1; UK No. 25
 * "Still Cruisin'" b/w "Kokomo" (Capitol), August 7, 1989 – US No. 93
 * "Somewhere Near Japan" b/w "Wipe Out" (Capitol), January 1990

Music videos were produced for "Still Cruisin'", "Somewhere Near Japan", "Kokomo" and "Wipe Out".

Commercial performance
Still Cruisin' reached number 46 on the US Billboard 200 during a chart stay of 22 weeks. It reached number 10 in Australia, number 12 in Austria. number 25 in Switzerland and number 43 in Sweden.

Personnel
Partial credits; credits exclude those for the 1960s songs.

The Beach Boys
 * Mike Love – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals
 * Al Jardine – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, guitar
 * Carl Wilson – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
 * Bruce Johnston – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, keyboards, bass guitar
 * Brian Wilson – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals; keyboards and synthesizers on "In My Car"

Additional musicians
 * The Fat Boys – rapping on "Wipe Out"
 * Adam Jardine – backing vocals on “Island Girl”
 * Matt Jardine – backing vocals on “Island Girl”
 * Jeffrey Foskett – backing vocals on “Island Girl” and acoustic guitar on "Kokomo"
 * Craig Trippand Fall – lead guitar on "Still Crusin'" and "Somewhere Near Japan," bass guitar, mandolin
 * Joseph Brasler – lead guitar on "In My Car"
 * Rod Clark – bass on "Kokomo"
 * Keith Wechsler – drums and keyboards on "Still Cruisin'"
 * Mike Kowalski – drums on “Island Girl”
 * Vinnie Colaiuta – drums on "In My Car"
 * Jim Keltner – drums on "Somewhere Near Japan" and "Kokomo"
 * Van Dyke Parks – accordion on "Kokomo"
 * Joel Peskin – saxophone on "Kokomo"
 * Chili con Charles – percussion on "Kokomo"
 * "Vince", "Milton", and "Mike" (last names unknown) – steel drums on "Kokomo"
 * James Grunke – synth programming on "Island Girl"
 * Michael Bernard – synth programming on "In My Car"

Production staff
 * Terry Melcher – producer
 * Brian Wilson – producer ("In My Car")
 * Al Jardine – producer ("Island Girl")
 * Albert Calbrera – producer ("Wipe Out")
 * Tony Moran – producer ("Wipe Out")
 * Gary Usher – vocal producer ("Wipe Out"; The Beach Boys' vocal overdubs only)