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.
Still Cruisin' was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001, and is currently out of print.
Contents[]
[hide] *1 Background
Background[edit][]
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 cases have seen Landy's name removed from other period songs,[3] 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.)[3] 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. One controversial point was that the version of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" had a section with Love singing lead where as on the original Brian Wilson had sung this. You can compare the versions by jumping to 1:07 in the recording.
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."[4]
Riding on the coattails of "Kokomo", Still Cruisin went gold in the US and Austria[5] and gave the Beach Boys their best chart showing since 1976. DuringCapitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001 however, Still Cruisin was left behind and allowed to go out of print. The album is available to download though on iTunes and other music downloading sites.
Promotional videos[edit][]
Four music videos were produced for Still Crusin'
Track listing[edit][]
- Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocals | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Still Cruisin'" (from Lethal Weapon 2) | Mike Love/Terry Melcher | Mike Love/Carl Wilson/Al Jardine/Bruce Johnston | 3:35 | |
| 2. | "Somewhere Near Japan" | Bruce Johnston/Love/Melcher/John Phillips | Love/C. Wilson/Jardine/Johnston | 4:48 | |
| 3. | "Island Girl" | Al Jardine | C. Wilson/Jardine/Love | 3:49 | |
| 4. | "In My Car" | Brian Wilson | Brian Wilson/C. Wilson/Jardine | 3:21 | |
| 5. | "Kokomo" (from Cocktail) | Love/Scott McKenzie/Melcher/Phillips | Love/C. Wilson | 3:35 |
- Side two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocals | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Wipe Out" | Bob Berryhill/Pat Connolly/Jim Fuller/Ron Wilson | The Fat Boys/B. Wilson | 4:00 | |
| 7. | "Make It Big" (from Troop Beverly Hills) | Love/Bob House/Melcher | C. Wilson/Love/Jardine/B. Wilson | 3:08 | |
| 8. | "I Get Around" (from Good Morning, Vietnam) | B. Wilson/Love | B. Wilson/Love | 2:09 | |
| 9. | "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (from The Big Chill) | B. Wilson/Tony Asher | B. Wilson/Love | 2:22 | |
| 10. | "California Girls" (from Soul Man) | B. Wilson/Love | Love | 2:35 |
Singles[edit][]
- "Kokomo" b/w "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard) (Elektra), July 18, 1988 US #1; UK #25
- "Still Cruisin' " b/w "Kokomo" (Capitol), August 7, 1989 US #93
- "Somewhere Near Japan" b/w "Kokomo" (Capitol), January 1990
Still Cruisin' (Capitol) reached #46 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 22 weeks. It reached number 12 in Austria[6] number 25 in Switzerland[7]and number 43 in Sweden.[8]
Personnel[edit][]
- The Beach Boys
- Mike Love - lead and background vocals
- Al Jardine- guitar, lead and background vocals
- Carl Wilson - guitar, lead and background vocals
- Bruce Johnston - keyboards, lead and background vocals
- Brian Wilson - keyboards, lead and background vocals
- Additional musicians[9]
- Joey Brasler - guitar
- Vinnie Colaiuta - drums
- Jeffrey Foskett - background vocals
- Adam Jardine - background vocals
- Matt Jardine - background vocals