Where the last album had them beefing up the arrangements to approach R&B, here it seems more like they followed the rest of the music world in going back to basics from psychedelia. Brian Wilson was still involved, and it shows, particularly in the mostly instrumental “Passing By”. He has a writing credit on nearly every track, with the exception of those written by Dennis Wilson, of all people. Unfortunately, the drums still sound they’re coming from a speaker in a box, as they do throughout the entire album.
“Meant For You” is something of a prelude, and a lovely one, leading right into the lazy loping title track. “Wake The World” has a similar hammock-swaying feel, punctuated by a tuba on the chorus. The under-produced sound of “Be Here In The Morning”, along with the strained falsetto and background chatter, hearkens back to Smiley Smile, but some of the production touches and especially the Leslie effect on the last chorus show prowess at on experimenting with effects. “When A Man Needs A Woman” is an uninspired title for a song about having kids—continents away from the heroes, villains, and columnated ruins of the year before.
“Anna Lee, The Healer” gets a much more elaborate vocal arrangement than it deserves, but soon our attention turns to Dennis. “Little Bird” sounds like he distilled what he remembered of the Smile sessions into a single track—and indeed, some of “Child Is Father Of The Man” makes it into the mix—but the stark “Be Still” hints at the “dark genius” that he’d be hailed as in the decades after his death. Whatever his demons, they’re not yet as unsettling as the laundry list of distractions Brian details in “Busy Doin’ Nothin’”, and while that’s his wife singing on some of it, we’re sure she didn’t appreciate his including directions to their house. They pull out all the effects out of the closet to paint a sound picture of Hawaii on “Diamond Head” for any surfers still listening. An atonal commercial for “Transcendental Meditation” ends the program, with an actual drum set accompaniment and fuzzy horns.
Even habitual stoners must have been scratching their heads over Friends, just as their longtime fans would have been confused over whether their heroes were still clean-cut and spiffy. There are some excellent moments here, but they’re fleeting, and most of the songs are so short that the better ideas don’t have the space to blossom. It makes it difficult to root for them.
1990’s two-fer CD paired Friends with 20/20, but the only bonus tracks came from sessions for the next album. This was rectified somewhat in 2018 with the digital-only release of Wake The World: The Friends Sessions, which offered a disc’s worth of alternate versions, backing tracks, a cappella mixes, and castoffs, including Brian’s unique solo take on “My Little Red Book” and an instrumental stab at “Rock & Roll Woman”. Even if the songs weren’t there, the boys could still play.
The Beach Boys Friends (1968)—2
1990 CD reissue: same as 1968, plus 20/20 album and 5 extra tracks
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