The Beach Boys (album)

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 as well as the first in the Beach Boys chronology to be released following the drowning. It was also the band's first album to be recorded digitally and the last released by James William Guercio's Caribou Records. The record sold poorly, charting at number 52 in the U.S. and number 60 in the UK.

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."

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

Reception
Critical reaction was mixed. 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.'

Legacy
Levine reflected that he had remained "immensely proud" of the album and lamented its poor sales.

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.

Personnel
Credits sourced from Craig Slowinski, John Brode, Will Crerar and Joshilyn Hoisington. 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 – Kurzweil K250 and backing vocals (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 guitar (10), Linn 9000 drum machine (10), tambourine (10)