Beach Boys 1970-71 8/31/21

The recent re-release of The Beach Boys' early '70s material, "Feel Flows: The 'Sunflower' and 'Surf's Up' Sessions" features all sorts of interesting extras like outtakes and alternate mixes, as well as isolated vocal and instrumental tracks.

It also includes a couple of "Great Songs" that never became hits--but, in my opinion, should have.

From 1970's" Sunflower" is a track that was written by Dennis Wilson, who sang it in concert for several years.

Still, "Forever" didn't become popular until Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) sang it to Becky when they got married on "Full House."

As you may know, John is currently a part-time drummer for the Mike Love version of The Beach Boys--and he still sings the song in concert whenever he's in the lineup.

In my mind, however, it will always be a great Dennis Wilson song, and you can hear the original by clicking the link below.

Also on "Feel Flows" is a song from 1971's "Surf Up" album called "Til I Die." This song almost never saw the light of day because when Brian Wilson presented it to the rest of the group, Mike called it a downer and refused to record it.

Brian tried to rewrite it, but in the end, thanks mostly to lobbying by Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston, the group decided the song was actually quite good and recorded it with the original lyrics. Unfortunately, when it was released as a single, it peaked at #89 on the Hot 100, then disappeared without a trace.

That's a shame, because in my opinion, it's a "Great Song, with lyrics that are not only deep...but a window into Brian's mind at a time when he was suffering from severe mental illness.

There are MANY great songs and mixes on "Feel Flows, but I feel that "Forever" and "'Til I Die" are two of the Beach Boys' Greatest songs of the '70s!

Your mileage may vary.

"Forever:"

"Til I Die:"