Still Cruisin'

Still Cruisin' is the 26th 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'
Studio album by
The Beach Boys
ReleasedAugust 28, 1989
Recorded1987–1989;
Except "I Get Around": April 1964, "Wouldn't It Be Nice": January–April 1966, and "California Girls": April & June 1965
GenreRock, new wave, reggae fusion
Length33:44
LabelCapitol
ProducerBrian Wilson
Terry Melcher
Al Jardine
Albert Calbrera
Tony Moran
The Beach Boys chronology
Made in U.S.A.
(1986)		 Still Cruisin'
(1989)		 Lost & Found (1961–62)
(1991)
Singles from Still Cruisin'
  1. "Kokomo"
    Released: July 18, 1988
  2. "Still Cruisin'"
    Released: August 7, 1989
  3. "Somewhere Near Japan"
    Released: January 1990
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Released August 28, 1989, the album was panned by critics, with Allmusic referring to the band's sound by producer Terry Melcher as sounding "like a professional '60s cover band."[1] Still Cruisin' was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001, along with their album Summer in Paradise.

Background

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 actions have seen Landy's name removed from other period songs,[5] 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.)[5] "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. The inclusion of these hits gave the album a more acceptable running time.

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."[6]

Riding on the coattails of "Kokomo", Still Cruisin' went gold in the US and Austria[7] and gave the Beach Boys their best chart showing since 1976. During Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001 however, Still Cruisin' was left behind and allowed to go out of print.

Promotional videos

Four music videos were produced for Still Cruisin':

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."Still Cruisin'" (from Lethal Weapon 2)Mike Love, Terry MelcherMike Love, Carl Wilson, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston3:35
2."Somewhere Near Japan"John Phillips, Bruce Johnston, Love, MelcherLove, Carl Wilson, Jardine and Johnston4:48
3."Island Girl (I'm Gonna Make Her Mine)"Al JardineCarl Wilson, Jardine and Love3:49
4."In My Car"Brian WilsonBrian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Jardine3:21
5."Kokomo" (from Cocktail)Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Love, MelcherLove and Carl Wilson3:35
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
6."Wipe Out" (with The Fat Boys)Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller, Ron WilsonThe Fat Boys and Brian Wilson4:00
7."Make It Big" (from Troop Beverly Hills)Love, Bill House, MelcherCarl Wilson, Love, Jardine and Brian Wilson3:08
8."I Get Around" (from Good Morning, Vietnam)Brian Wilson, LoveBrian Wilson and Love2:09
9."Wouldn't It Be Nice" (from The Big Chill)Brian Wilson, Tony AsherBrian Wilson and Love2:22
10."California Girls" (from Soul Man)Brian Wilson, LoveLove, Brian Wilson, Johnston2:35

Singles
  • "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 "Wipe Out" (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[8] number 25 in Switzerland[9] and number 43 in Sweden.[10]

Personnel

Partial credits; credits exclude those for the 1960s songs.[11][12][13][14][15]

The Beach Boys
  • Mike Love – lead and backing vocals
  • Al Jardine – lead and backing vocals, guitar
  • Carl Wilson – lead and backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Bruce Johnston – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, bass guitar
  • Brian Wilson – lead and backing vocals; keyboards and synthesizers on "In My Car"
Additional musicians
  • The Fat Boys – rapping on "Wipe Out"
  • Craig Trippand Fall – lead guitar on "Still Crusin'" and "Somewhere Near Japan," bass guitar, mandolin
  • Joseph Brasler – lead guitar on "In My Car"
  • Keith Wechsler – drums and keyboards on "Still Cruisin'"
  • Mike Kowalski – drums on “Island Girl”
  • Vinnie Colaiuta – drums on "In My Car"
  • Jeffrey Foskett – backing vocals on “Island Girl” and acoustic guitar on "Kokomo"
  • Jim Keltner – drums on "Somewhere Near Japan" and "Kokomo"
  • Ry Cooder – slide guitar on "Kokomo"
  • Van Dyke Parks – accordion on "Kokomo"
  • Rod Clark – bass on "Kokomo"
  • Joel Peskin – saxophone on “Kokomo”
  • "Chili" (name unknown) – percussion on "Kokomo"
  • "Vince," "Milton," and "Mike" (last names unknown) – steel drums on "Kokomo"
  • Adam Jardine – backing vocals on “Island Girl”
  • Matt Jardine – backing vocals on “Island Girl”
  • James Grunke – synth programming on “Island Girl”
  • Michael Bernard – synth programming on “In My Car”

Chart positions
Album
Chart (1989) Peak
Position
U.S. Billboard 200 Albums 46
Australian Album Chart 10[16]
Dutch Album Chart 92[17]
German Album Chart 26
UK Top 40 Album Chart 78[18]

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Still Cruisin". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  3. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  4. Rolling Stone Review
  5. Doe, Andrew and Tobler, John G. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys - The Complete Guide to Their Music. Omnibus Press, 1997.
  6. "Mike Love interview". tripod.com. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Album Sales Records at IFPI
  8. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Beach+Boys&titel=Still+Cruisin%27&cat=a
  9. http://www.swisscharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=The+BEach+Boys&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts
  10. http://www.swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=The+Beach+Boys&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts
  11. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,2215.msg43595.html#msg43595
  12. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,7497.msg290692.html#msg290692
  13. http://www.allmusic.com/album/still-cruisin-mw0000200452/credits Album Credits at Allmusic
  14. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,25694.0.html
  15. Still Cruisin’ (booklet). The Beach Boys. California. 1989.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. The Beach Boys Still Cruisin
  17. The Beach Boys Still Cruisin
  18. The Beach Boys Still Cruisin
  • The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience, Timothy White, c. 1994.
  • Top Pop Singles 1955–2001, Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
  • Top Pop Albums 1955–2001, Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
  • Allmusic.com
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