I have always been pretty disheartened by the fact that this album, and their others of the same era, didn't do well. I guess it was a combination of the stereotypes they were confronting as a band and the fact that the late 60's seemed to discredit music that didn't have a "message". Truly, this song can cheer me up no matter how foul a mood I'm in. Maybe it's a bit naive, but that is sop much a part of its charm. And how beautifully sung and produced!
Thanks, PeterP, glad you enjoyed my comments....the Sunflower album is the first production that was really focused on ALL BBs, including Bruce, and the first album where we would see DW's real talent emerge. It would take another six solid years to see him step out and give us "Pacific Ocean Blue," but it really started with Sunflower. The more I listen to todays music--the more I realize how much talent was displayed in those early works..many on 4 tracks--and no Pro Tools to tune the vocals!
Thanks for all your kind words, folks. Add Some Music & Sunflower are as good 41 years after their release--as they were then. Now, with all the excitement over the SMiLE set--maybe folks will check out the other less known BB catalog & give "Sunflower" it's just due. Fred/Nashville, TN.
To the person who is going to see M&B in Atlanta in September, tell em hi for me. I saw 'em in Huntsville, AL several months ago & they sounded great...band does well but still no Carl and DW. RIP, my brothers
Is this the only song where all 6 sang lead, or at least a semi-lead? Mike on the verses, Bruce finishes two of the verses, Carl at the bridge, Brian with "When day is over", Al with the "ice cream carts", and Dennis with "Add some music just add some music like" at each verse.
I absolutely adore this song and have been learning to play it on the piano. There is nothing about this song that isn't brilliant IMO. It puts a smile on my face and makes me join in and sing my heart out every single time! I think Sunflower, Today and Pet Sounds are my absolute favourite albums of all time! :)
Fred, thanks for this little insight into the Beach Boys. I have been a BB fan since they
began, i play there music everyday, it is timeless, magical, brilliance. For me Sunflower is there best album. I have seen the BB live twice, and will see them for a 3rd time in Atlanta on September 9th 2011. Long way to go from Eastbourne, England
but hey !! they are well worth it. Thanks again for the posts.
AS TO 'SUNFLOWER,' THIS IS THE UNSUNG CLASSIC BB ALBUM. WHEN I SPOKE AT UK'S 'STOMP' IN 2003, A NUMBER OF ATTENDEES TOLD ME THIS WAS THEIR FAVORITE BB ALBUM--YES, THEY PREFERED IT TO "PET SOUNDS." i WAS WITH BW AT THE MASTERING OF 'PET SOUNDS' AND WITH THE GROUP AS THEY RECORDED 'SUNFLOWER.' I JUST WISH WARNER BROS HAD GIVEN IT THE PROMOTION AND MARKETING IT DESERVED BUT THOSE WERE DIFFERENT TIMES..THE BOYS WERE NOT TOURING AS MUCH AND COMPETING WITH A LOT OF OTHER ACTS. KEEP THE FAITH, FOLKS.
@thevoiceoftheBBs I like this better than Pet Sounds too. I get that Pet Sounds is an "important" album and that might cloud some folks' opinion of it (i.e., they *should* like it or be a musical cretin), but Sunflower is more accessible and has more variety to it. PS is a bit lugubrious and slow, and the sound of much of the album is very baroque.
DON'T KNOW HOW I MISSED THIS CLIP...JUST DISCOVERED IT TONIGHT (JULY 18, 2011). TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOVE AS TO "WHY" "MUSIC" DIDN'T BECOME A HUGE HIT, I WILL TELL YOU FROM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. I WAS BASICALLY RUNNING BROTHER RECORDS AT THE TIME AND ON THE ROAD SEVEN MONTHS PROMOTING THE ALBUM, SINGLE AND CARL'S GROUP, THE FLAME. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THE ERA...AS ONE MAJOR MARKET PD TOLD ME: "FRED, THE BEACH BOYS ARN'T HIP ANY MORE." OF COURSE, HE WAS WRONG, BUT THOSE WERE THE TIMES.
To think this track is over 40years old, this is a masterpiece of music, production, and a heart warmer. Sunflower was way ahead of anything at that time, Its endless music heaven. Everyone should at least listen once to this album. They dont know what they are missing. But we do !
They were very suddenly regarded as being unhip at a time when being hip was very important. There was a great deal of ignorance. The very best group efforts were created during this period.
It took me a while to really get into this song. I thought it was a little too corny. But after hearing probably hundreds of times, it has really grown on me. It is really an American anthem.
I now love it. God...it and "Sunflower" should have been #1's.
It was a chart topper in England. If you haven't heard the entire album, friends, do yourself a favor. It is all cream!
i like how they think of a situation, imagine how great it would be if it happened in the best possible way, and describe it by singing an unusually upbeat song
Sunflower is simply the most unsung album of 'the boys' 49 year career. Pure & simple It's THE 'diamond in the rough.' Had it followed "Pet Sounds" instead of coming out four years later, it would have been huge. It was, after all, the first total group effort. Everyone, BW, DW, CW, Mike, Al & Bruce contributed. It was a team effort. Radio was too mesmerized by all the anti-establishment music of the era. No place for The Beach Boys. Even concert attendance was down. That was soon to change.
I hope a few of you will come back for another taste of one of the great unsung songs (and albums) of 'the boys' career. I should know. I've been there for 48 of the 49 endless summers. Someone wrote that they could not understand why this song never got the praise or radio play it deserved. After all, it's one of BW's fav lyrics. I can sum it up best by the comment that legendary PD Jay Cook (WFIL, Philly) told me: 'Fred, the Beach Boys arn't hip anymore.' It was 1970. Pure BS then and now.
It flopped instead of topped because AM To 40 had lost its way and was ignoring early 60's groups as they matured - Plus, FM radio was finding it's niche simply by bypassing the Top 40 style groups in favor of new, album-oriented rock.
Add Some Music, Friends, Wild Honey, Darlin, Cotton Fields (Top Ten around the world), Sail On Sailor ...
Particularly the part from 2:20 to 2:35 shows the genius of Brian Wilson in the way he uses the vowels with the tones. That has stood out to me ever since I first heard it in 1973!
i don't know why sunflower is so under-rated. everyone goes on about pet sounds, and quite right too. but sunflower has SO many exquisite songs and so so life affirmingly good that it is clearly close to if not as good as pet sounds.
what really gets me is the way some of these songs end - they veer off into what appear to be other totally different songs. weird & mysterious, as though there' s a parrallel universe.
One the hundredth anniversary of the release of their first record on Candix, people will be able to appreciate Beach Boys music irrespective of all the stuff that hindered singles like this one. All their great songs, the hits and the album cuts (Please let Me Wonder) and the singles that were underplayed and under appreciated (Little Girl I Once Knew) will all have the same stature.
Why did this record bomb in America? I don't get it. The years 1966 up to 1973 were creatively some of the greatest music i've heard from this group. ...and this record TOPPED OUT AT #151 ON THE CHARTS!!! Why??!!
This was their worst performing album until MIU almost 10 years later.
The American public have their ears up their asses
at that time in music history,the politics of the labels and radio stations had the artist by the balls. and if the public dont get to hear it, they cant buy it.but I agree with you .
@alexandertarangerkin i agree, theres a lot of great music today, but i was replying to someones comment who was talking about how most radio stations only play shit
I have always been pretty disheartened by the fact that this album, and their others of the same era, didn't do well. I guess it was a combination of the stereotypes they were confronting as a band and the fact that the late 60's seemed to discredit music that didn't have a "message". Truly, this song can cheer me up no matter how foul a mood I'm in. Maybe it's a bit naive, but that is sop much a part of its charm. And how beautifully sung and produced!
Argonaut121 1 month ago
There's no WAY this LP should have tanked. It's an awesome LP, one of their best, I feel.
Jody07984 1 month ago
Add some music. A wonderful song by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Ohhh i like the close harmony. Makes me feel so good!!
bandsmackdab 2 months ago
One of their all time best.
jamesah123 3 months ago
Thanks, PeterP, glad you enjoyed my comments....the Sunflower album is the first production that was really focused on ALL BBs, including Bruce, and the first album where we would see DW's real talent emerge. It would take another six solid years to see him step out and give us "Pacific Ocean Blue," but it really started with Sunflower. The more I listen to todays music--the more I realize how much talent was displayed in those early works..many on 4 tracks--and no Pro Tools to tune the vocals!
thevoiceoftheBBs 6 months ago
Thanks for all your kind words, folks. Add Some Music & Sunflower are as good 41 years after their release--as they were then. Now, with all the excitement over the SMiLE set--maybe folks will check out the other less known BB catalog & give "Sunflower" it's just due. Fred/Nashville, TN.
To the person who is going to see M&B in Atlanta in September, tell em hi for me. I saw 'em in Huntsville, AL several months ago & they sounded great...band does well but still no Carl and DW. RIP, my brothers
thevoiceoftheBBs 6 months ago
Is this the only song where all 6 sang lead, or at least a semi-lead? Mike on the verses, Bruce finishes two of the verses, Carl at the bridge, Brian with "When day is over", Al with the "ice cream carts", and Dennis with "Add some music just add some music like" at each verse.
peterp21 6 months ago
I absolutely adore this song and have been learning to play it on the piano. There is nothing about this song that isn't brilliant IMO. It puts a smile on my face and makes me join in and sing my heart out every single time! I think Sunflower, Today and Pet Sounds are my absolute favourite albums of all time! :)
KreeshaMe 6 months ago
Fred, thanks for this little insight into the Beach Boys. I have been a BB fan since they
began, i play there music everyday, it is timeless, magical, brilliance. For me Sunflower is there best album. I have seen the BB live twice, and will see them for a 3rd time in Atlanta on September 9th 2011. Long way to go from Eastbourne, England
but hey !! they are well worth it. Thanks again for the posts.
lovelifetothefull1 7 months ago
AS TO 'SUNFLOWER,' THIS IS THE UNSUNG CLASSIC BB ALBUM. WHEN I SPOKE AT UK'S 'STOMP' IN 2003, A NUMBER OF ATTENDEES TOLD ME THIS WAS THEIR FAVORITE BB ALBUM--YES, THEY PREFERED IT TO "PET SOUNDS." i WAS WITH BW AT THE MASTERING OF 'PET SOUNDS' AND WITH THE GROUP AS THEY RECORDED 'SUNFLOWER.' I JUST WISH WARNER BROS HAD GIVEN IT THE PROMOTION AND MARKETING IT DESERVED BUT THOSE WERE DIFFERENT TIMES..THE BOYS WERE NOT TOURING AS MUCH AND COMPETING WITH A LOT OF OTHER ACTS. KEEP THE FAITH, FOLKS.
thevoiceoftheBBs 7 months ago
@thevoiceoftheBBs I like this better than Pet Sounds too. I get that Pet Sounds is an "important" album and that might cloud some folks' opinion of it (i.e., they *should* like it or be a musical cretin), but Sunflower is more accessible and has more variety to it. PS is a bit lugubrious and slow, and the sound of much of the album is very baroque.
peterp21 6 months ago
DON'T KNOW HOW I MISSED THIS CLIP...JUST DISCOVERED IT TONIGHT (JULY 18, 2011). TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOVE AS TO "WHY" "MUSIC" DIDN'T BECOME A HUGE HIT, I WILL TELL YOU FROM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. I WAS BASICALLY RUNNING BROTHER RECORDS AT THE TIME AND ON THE ROAD SEVEN MONTHS PROMOTING THE ALBUM, SINGLE AND CARL'S GROUP, THE FLAME. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THE ERA...AS ONE MAJOR MARKET PD TOLD ME: "FRED, THE BEACH BOYS ARN'T HIP ANY MORE." OF COURSE, HE WAS WRONG, BUT THOSE WERE THE TIMES.
thevoiceoftheBBs 7 months ago
To think this track is over 40years old, this is a masterpiece of music, production, and a heart warmer. Sunflower was way ahead of anything at that time, Its endless music heaven. Everyone should at least listen once to this album. They dont know what they are missing. But we do !
lovelifetothefull1 8 months ago
People that think Brian had declined at all yet by 69-70 (musically) just don't know the truth.
MikeEder 8 months ago
This song is like a hymn and rock n roll at the same time. I just love it, it's probably my favorite Beach Boys song!
suzylizette 8 months ago
The bridge is incredible .. They should have played it over and over
pouidg 9 months ago
Music is in my soul
JohnnyHez 10 months ago
They were very suddenly regarded as being unhip at a time when being hip was very important. There was a great deal of ignorance. The very best group efforts were created during this period.
DanVaccaro55 11 months ago
Beautiful & inspiring.
braybeatles 11 months ago
Add Some Beach Boy's Music To Your Day
64bbfan 1 year ago
It took me a while to really get into this song. I thought it was a little too corny. But after hearing probably hundreds of times, it has really grown on me. It is really an American anthem.
I now love it. God...it and "Sunflower" should have been #1's.
It was a chart topper in England. If you haven't heard the entire album, friends, do yourself a favor. It is all cream!
Joe
MrJoeybabe25 1 year ago
@MrJoeybabe25 they can sing something corney and sentimental and pull it off they can sing the phone book sincerely
spacepatrolman 1 year ago
@MrJoeybabe25 This album, this music, touches my soul.
YouMuseMe 1 year ago 3
You are absolutely right mrperez666, I've kept asking myself the same question!? It's a miracle to me too!
gilerou 1 year ago
Mike Love may be a douchebag, but his beard is godlike and worshipful.
drshoggothshow 1 year ago 2
@drshoggothshow Haha. You can't argue with a beard like that.
jonchapple 1 year ago
i like how they think of a situation, imagine how great it would be if it happened in the best possible way, and describe it by singing an unusually upbeat song
wigglethemiddle 1 year ago
What a great happy song for summer!
blue29eyes 1 year ago 2
Sunflower is simply the most unsung album of 'the boys' 49 year career. Pure & simple It's THE 'diamond in the rough.' Had it followed "Pet Sounds" instead of coming out four years later, it would have been huge. It was, after all, the first total group effort. Everyone, BW, DW, CW, Mike, Al & Bruce contributed. It was a team effort. Radio was too mesmerized by all the anti-establishment music of the era. No place for The Beach Boys. Even concert attendance was down. That was soon to change.
thevoiceoftheBBs 1 year ago
I hope a few of you will come back for another taste of one of the great unsung songs (and albums) of 'the boys' career. I should know. I've been there for 48 of the 49 endless summers. Someone wrote that they could not understand why this song never got the praise or radio play it deserved. After all, it's one of BW's fav lyrics. I can sum it up best by the comment that legendary PD Jay Cook (WFIL, Philly) told me: 'Fred, the Beach Boys arn't hip anymore.' It was 1970. Pure BS then and now.
thevoiceoftheBBs 1 year ago
It flopped instead of topped because AM To 40 had lost its way and was ignoring early 60's groups as they matured - Plus, FM radio was finding it's niche simply by bypassing the Top 40 style groups in favor of new, album-oriented rock.
Add Some Music, Friends, Wild Honey, Darlin, Cotton Fields (Top Ten around the world), Sail On Sailor ...
{Click BB45 for rare Beach Boys video archive}
BB45s 1 year ago
This is simply brilliant!
Particularly the part from 2:20 to 2:35 shows the genius of Brian Wilson in the way he uses the vowels with the tones. That has stood out to me ever since I first heard it in 1973!
Rasshullet 1 year ago 2
Thanks for posting this great Beach Boys 'fan' song!!!!
dlpine71 1 year ago
"...Music is in my soul..." - - says it all
mattjackleroy 2 years ago 2
DITTO!!! SUNFLOWER IS THE BEST
806samuel 2 years ago 14
i don't know why sunflower is so under-rated. everyone goes on about pet sounds, and quite right too. but sunflower has SO many exquisite songs and so so life affirmingly good that it is clearly close to if not as good as pet sounds.
what really gets me is the way some of these songs end - they veer off into what appear to be other totally different songs. weird & mysterious, as though there' s a parrallel universe.
braybeatles1 2 years ago
@806samuel no it isnt
JuxtaposeMystery 3 months ago
By the way, the bridge is one of Carl's classic vocal performances and my favorite part of this song.
BeachBoysGuy1 2 years ago
SUNFLOWER is, in my humble opinion, the BEST Beach Boys LP ever made by them.
"If We Ever Need A Super Man" by Jjohn Hunter Phillips
BeachBoysGuy1 2 years ago
I never heard this 'till around 2001, when I bought a cd collection of the boys. It's really great.
jwmellott 3 years ago 3
1.55 to 2.17. Stunning..great track great album
augustusdes 3 years ago 4
Comment removed
waailappe 2 years ago
ditto! I listen to that part over and over. One of the most beautiful melodies and harmonies in Beach Boys history
waailappe 2 years ago 2
MUSIC IS IN MY SOUL!! this line/melody almost makes me cry
androide6025 3 years ago 3
Am I dreaming ? A Beach Boy with a Montreal Canadiens shirt ???
rigaudien 3 years ago 2
In these pictures, Mike Love looks like an Ozark hillbilly.
bwsmyhero 3 years ago 4
One the hundredth anniversary of the release of their first record on Candix, people will be able to appreciate Beach Boys music irrespective of all the stuff that hindered singles like this one. All their great songs, the hits and the album cuts (Please let Me Wonder) and the singles that were underplayed and under appreciated (Little Girl I Once Knew) will all have the same stature.
{Click BB45s for rare Beach Boys video playlist}
BB45s 3 years ago 4
my favorite two beach boys tunes!
liamako 2 years ago
You have good taste!
BB45s 2 years ago
Simply Magic!!!
Jim2803 3 years ago 4
Sunflower=One of the great Cali-gems...sigh.
SupremeJackass1129 3 years ago 4
Great song
helloclarice44 3 years ago 4
sunflower= one of the best albums of the 70s
weezadam 3 years ago 7
SUNFLOWER = A gem of an album. Did great in Britain, tanked over here. One of my faves.
caraphyllis 3 years ago 3
Why did this record bomb in America? I don't get it. The years 1966 up to 1973 were creatively some of the greatest music i've heard from this group. ...and this record TOPPED OUT AT #151 ON THE CHARTS!!! Why??!!
This was their worst performing album until MIU almost 10 years later.
The American public have their ears up their asses
mrperez666 3 years ago 33
It bomb because it was a bit "sentimental" for the times. The right record at the wrong time, as it were.
Thankfully, Sunflower -- and this song in particular -- is/are appreciated nowadays as the masterpiece that it was.
Holdenon3 3 years ago 2
at that time in music history,the politics of the labels and radio stations had the artist by the balls. and if the public dont get to hear it, they cant buy it.but I agree with you .
billiesmother 2 years ago
@mrperez666 it did get some radio airplay but it went over the publics heads it wasnt sloppy like grand funk
spacepatrolman 1 year ago
@mrperez666 add some meditation to your day in the am and the pm
spacepatrolman 1 year ago
@mrperez666 its alot worse now in the 21st century
Chacha5678 1 year ago
@Chacha5678
BB's music from this era has aged well i would say
alexandertarangerkin 1 year ago
@alexandertarangerkin i agree, theres a lot of great music today, but i was replying to someones comment who was talking about how most radio stations only play shit
Chacha5678 1 year ago
@alexandertarangerkin. Yes it has, its lovely stuff.
braybeatles 11 months ago
@mrperez666 You have to be in sync with the time, that is all.....
Does not matter if you can make good music, if the audience prefers another style,
then you will be forgotten.
That was the trouble for the Beach Boys at the late 60´s and early 70´s.
ClubViking63 5 months ago in playlist Beach Boys
What a middle section in this song! It deserved much better, as every track from Sunflower did.
TimeToGetAlone 3 years ago 6
This song deserves so much more good reactions. DaddyBlog, you're right.
Luc23cia 4 years ago 2
Adding the sounds of The Beach Boys to your day, "you can't go wrong".
DaddyBog 4 years ago 4