20/20 (The Beach Boys album)

On June 24, 1968, the Beach Boys released the album Friends, which peaked at number 126 and remained on the Billboard Top LPs chart for 10 weeks. It became the group's worst-selling album to date, with record sales in the US estimated at 18,000 units. To recuperate from the album's poor sales, the band quickly released the standalone single "Do It Again". The song was a deliberate throwback to the group's early surf songs, and the first time they had embraced the subject matter since 1964. It reached the US top twenty and became their second number one hit in the UK. Biographer Chrisian Matijas-Mecca wrote that "while this may have been some of Brian's strongest work of the period, it did nothing to reverse the band's decline in popularity." Brian Wilson said that by early 1968, the group had begun losing thousands of dollars "on stupid things ... cars, houses ... bad investments ... a heck of a lot of corporation money on Brother Records, our own company, and in boosting other artists who just didn't make it, and didn't have a single hit." One of these artists was Ron Wilson (no relation to Brian), who co-wrote "We're Together Again" with him for the Beach Boys, but the group's recording was left unreleased. In turn, Brian produced an ultimately unsuccessful solo single for Ron, a cover of "As Tears Go By", which was released by Columbia Records in September. Another artist that the group worked with was ex-convict Charles Manson, who was then seeking a career as a singer-songwriter. Dennis Wilson befriended Manson and was interested in signing him to Brother Records. Brian and Carl Wilson then co-produced several tracks for Manson at the Beach Boys' private studio located in Brian's home. Regarding Brian's participation on the group's recordings from then, band engineer Stephen Desper said that Brian remained "indirectly involved with production" through Carl. Dennis said that Brian began to have "no involvement at all", which forced the group to "find things that [he] worked on and try and piece it together." ==Recording and content==

Older songs According to biographer Keith Badman, the 20/20 sessions marked "the emergence of Carl and Dennis as producers and of Steve Desper as the group's engineer. Desper is now part of the Beach Boys' fold and remains a chief engineer on their work early into the [1970s]." The two oldest tracks on 20/20 were sourced from late 1966 sessions for the band's unfinished album Smile. "Our Prayer" is a wordless hymn composed by Brian, while "Cabinessence" is a song written by Brian and Van Dyke Parks. Both tracks were given additional vocal overdubs by Carl and Dennis Wilson in November 1968 at Capitol Studios. According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin, Brian was opposed to the inclusion of those tracks and refused the invitation to participate in the overdub sessions. Desper commented that "Cabinessence" was "finished, more or less, with Brian's guidance through Carl." and completed in October 1968 at Bell Sound. "Ol' Man River" was intended to be in medley with the standard "Old Folks at Home". "Walkin'" is a song written and sung by Brian that was worked on for two days in June 1968. Also recorded, according to band manager Nick Grillo, was "a hundred hours of [Manson's] music at [Brian's home] studio". September – November 1968 sessions For the majority of July and August, the Beach Boys toured the US and appeared on a few television talk shows. Dennis produced the Beach Boys' version in September 1968, reworking the song's bluesy structure and altering its lyric (the opening lyric "Cease to exist" modified to "Cease to resist"). The title was also changed to "Never Learn Not to Love", much to Manson's indignation. Dennis wrote and produced two more songs that appear on the album. "Be with Me" was described by Leaf as "dark and eerie ... perfectly capturing his emotions of the era." "All I Want to Do" is a rocker that features the sounds of Dennis having sexual intercourse with a groupie. Also recorded was Dennis' "A Time to Live in Dreams" (released on 2001's Hawthorne, CA) and "Mona Kana" (released on 2013's Made in California). ==Packaging==

The cover photo includes every member of the group except Brian, which Matijas-Mecca referred to as "a sign that the group was determined to forge their own identity without their founding architect." A photograph of Brian hiding behind an eye examination chart does appear on the gatefold cover. ==Release and reception==

Lead single "Bluebirds over the Mountain" (backed with "Never Learn Not to Love") was issued on November 29, 1968, in the UK (number 33) and three days later in the U.S. (number 61), becoming the group's lowest-charting single since their 1961 debut "Surfin'". After touring the UK in December, the Beach Boys returned to the studio to work on the album that would become Sunflower (1970). Released on February 10, 1969, 20/20 sold better than Friends, peaking at number 3 in the UK and reaching number 68 in the US. An uncredited writer from Hit Parader opined that it was the band's best album since Pet Sounds and an improvement over the "baffling" Friends and Wild Honey. A reviewer for the underground paper Rat Subterranean News commented that even though it was "against all my carefully established principles to like The Beach Boys," he enjoyed the LP, yet described most of side one as "weak". In August, Charles Manson and his cult of followers committed the Tate–LaBianca murders, and three months later, were apprehended by police. Their former connections with Dennis and the Beach Boys became the subject of media attention. Manson was later convicted for several counts of murder and conspiracy to murder. During the trial, Manson released his debut album, Lie: The Love and Terror Cult, which included his original arrangement of "Cease to Exist". Among retrospective assessments of 20/20, critic Richie Unterberger wrote that it was "one of their better post-Pet Sounds records ... The highlights, however, were a couple of Smile-session-era tunes ... as hard as they were trying to establish their identity as an integrated band in the late '60s, their new recordings were overshadowed by the bits and pieces of Smile that emerged at the time." ==Track listing==

Producer credits are as noted on the original vinyl disc. Charles Manson's contributions to "Never Learn Not to Love" remain uncredited. Original vinyl ===Friends / 20/20 1990/2001 CD reissue bonus tracks=== I Can Hear Music On December 7, 2018, Capitol released I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions, a digital-only compilation. Included are session highlights, outtakes, and alternate versions of 20/20 tracks, as well as some unreleased material by Dennis Wilson. It was released in conjunction with Wake the World: The Friends Sessions. The compilations were not issued on physical media due to the project being greenlit too late into the year, as well as the record company's wish not to interfere with the release of The Beach Boys with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2021, I Can Hear Music was followed with ''Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf's Up Sessions''. ==Personnel==

Per Craig Slowinski, and 20/20 liner notes. The Beach Boys • Al Jardine – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric rhythm guitar, banjo, handclaps; producer • Bruce Johnston – vocals, organ, handclaps, piano, Fender Rhodes; producer • Mike Love – vocals, handclaps • Brian Wilson – vocals, piano, organ, Chamberlin, harpsichord, Fender Rhodes, handclaps; producer • Carl Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, handclaps, congas; tambourine (uncertain credit); producer • Dennis Wilson – vocals, drums, handclaps, piano; producer Touring musicians • Ed Carter – guitar, bass • Daryl Dragon – marimba, vibraphone • Mike Kowalski – bongos, sleigh bells, snare drum Guests • Marilyn Wilson – additional vocals on "Time to Get Alone" • Diane Rovell – additional vocals on "Time to Get Alone" • Van Dyke Parks – upright piano on "Cabinessence" • Danny Hutton - piano on "Time to Get Alone" Additional session musicians • Chuck Berghofer – upright bass • Hal Blaine – drums • Samuel Boghossian – viola • Jimmy Bond – upright bass • David Burk – viola • James Burton – dobro • Roy Caton – trumpet • Pete Christlieb – tenor saxophone • Alf Clausen – French horn • Jack Coan – cornet • David Cohen – guitar • Jesse Ehrlich – cello • Alan Estes – percussion • Virgil Evans – trumpet • Carl Fortina – accordion • Jim Gordon – drums, timbales, tambourine with a stick, "bell goodies" • John Guerin – drums, woodblock, tambourine, sleigh bells • Igor Horoshevsky – cello • Armond Kaproff – cello • Carol Kaye – bass, banjo • Raymond Kelley – cello • Larry Knechtel – bass • Fred Koyan – trumpet • Willie Maiden – baritone saxophone • Leonard Malarsky – violin • Dick McQuary – baritone saxophone • Jay Migliori – flute • Oliver Mitchell – trumpet • Tommy Morgan – harmonica, bass harmonica • Roger Neumann – piccolo, flute, fife, tenor saxophone • John Lowe – bass saxophone • Glenn Lutz – trumpet • Don Peake – guitar, electric bass, percussion • Bill Peterson – trumpet • Bill Pitman – Danelectro fuzz bass • Mike Price – trumpet • Don Randi – piano, organ • Joe Randozzo – bass trombone • Lyle Ritz – upright bass • Frank De La Rosa – upright bass • Ernie Small – flute, bass saxophone • Wally Snow – vibraphone • Spiro Stamos – violin • Darrel Terwillger – violin • Tommy Tedesco – acoustic guitar, bouzouki • Al Vescovo – dobro • John de Voogt – violin Technical personnel • Steve Desper – engineer • Ed Simpson – photos ==Charts==