The Smiley Smile Message Board

I find this songs position in the Beach Boys cannon perplexing.

To me it sounds very accessible: it fits like a hand in the glove of contemporary music of that time (like the peace anthems of the counter culture) and was in many ways very similar to what other music stars were doing at the time (with a distinct Beach Boys flavour to it!).

I've heard the interviews concerning that the main radio stations in the US didn't want to play Beach Boys as they 'weren't hip anymore'. So it was recieved unfairly but Break Away didn't suffer the same problem. Why would one hinder ASMTYD given its obvious selling potential?

Furthermore, why did it fail internationally? Cottonfields had been huge just a few months earlier. Was this song really unlikeable to many? I must profess my enjoyment of it. The vocals, the lyrics, the tasteful backing track and superb production (thank you Stephen Desper); they are all beautiful.

It charted, but not highly, was rapidly forgotten and the resulting Sunflower album bombed. The failure of Sunflower can largely be attributed to no hit single. What were the reasons behind Add Some Music To Your Day's failure to recapture the audiences?  

Same reason all the other Warner/Reprise singles failed in the early 70's. Sail On Sailor kinda gave Billboard a run for its money, but didn't really go up the chart until the second time it was released.

Why do you say that Breakaway didn't suffer the same problem? Did it receive significant airplay as their chart performances are very similar?

The issue of why the group's records failed to sell outside the U.S. from 1970 onwards is an interesting one I think. Add Some Music wasn't a particularly catchy song to release as a single imo (nor were any others form Sunflower though) but it should still have fared much better than it did. I think the new record label must have seriously screwed things up.

Living in Philadelphia at the time, and reading Fred's remark about WFIL not playing it because The Boys were so un-hip, I'm not sure that Break Away wasn't in the same boat. I bought the 45 in Woolworth's, but didn't buy it due to hearing on the radio. I had heard it a week or two before at their show on Steel Pier in  Atlantic City. I don't recall ever hearing it played on any Philly radio stations at the time, either. I Can Hear Music is the last Beach Boys song that I remember being in a rotation.

Obviously not having a hit single was a big cause of Sunflower bombing but even in the U.K. where Cottonfields was included on the album it performed poorly. Much worse than the previous albums and worse than Surf's Up as well so again some record company responsibility perhaps.

ASMTYD was impressive for its stellar vocals. The composition was so-so even for an album track, and sounded nothing like a single.

Had it been my decision, This Whole World would have been my pick as the first release. To me it is most radio friendly song on the album.

The lyrics are downright saccharine. This song took a lot of warming up to by me before I really could enjoy it.
If they wanted to go with sweet, I'd have loved to see Deirdre as a single - now that's instantly accessible, love it or hate it!

what I find so curious is that for once they had a good record, they managed to get it promoted and hyped, and then the public failed to deliver what was expected. for once it was the Beach Boys who did the right moves, and it failed them.

when long promised road was first released Deirdre was the flip side. local station back here played the heck out of Deirdre. it even got a fair amount of telephone requests so maybe you are right about Deirdre. for about a month i heard it quite a few times everyday.

Was it promoted and hyped that much?

I had never thought about Deirdre before but maybe it would have been the best choice on that album.

hyped to the point, i think, it was at the time one of warner's largest prerelease/preorder singles. all that ending up meaning was it also became of warners largest returned singles.... ::)

Can't believe Diedre got ANY airplay.

I remember Sail On Sailor on the radio in the early 70's. That's it. And it was on two different FM stations, not Top 40 radio.

Can't believe the Surf's Up single didn't do better. Other than Sail On Sailor, which was more commercial and maybe a little more accessable, Surf's Up was one of the best records The Boys ever made. THAT must have been a little disappointment to them. I still don't hear that song - only on Deep Tracks on XM radio. They knew Sail On Sailor should have done better the first time out, so they tried again and it did much better. Long Promised Road single was also released twice but received the same fate. And Suzie Cioncinnati! How many times was that released with the same result!!!! Ha Ha Ha! And Marcella! That record was more commercial too and should have done better than it did.

Warners seemed to have released a large quantity of the "Slip On Through" singles. They were ubiquitous, even in the 80's.

The Warner's singles I STILL need for my collection are U.S. stock copies of "Cool, Cool, Water" "Cuddle Up", and "Surf's Up". VERY difficult to find. I doubt they released many copies of those in the first place. I've seen MANY more promo copies than stock copies of those singles.

the local station that played Deirdre was wkee am out of huntington, wv. marshall university is there. wkee fm played SDT a lot when surf's up lp was released. and a local station (wiro-am) from ironton oh would play surf's up the single when it was released. being from a small city at least the stations would play the current singles back in the day. great memories.

Surf's Up isn't really a single type song though is it. A great song but not a single.

Carl or Dennis really should have sung Sail on Sailor to have given it a better chance.

Well, The Boys and Warners thought it should be a single. They thought it should be on an album first and prepared it for release on an album. We're use to it being on an album, not really a single. But like Good Vibrations and Heroes & Villains, it fits. I can imagine playing the single over and over on a turntable or a juke box back then.

Oh sure, in 1971 it had to be a single for them because they knew they weren't going to write a new hit and they knew that Surf's Up had had a few years of hype. Good Vibrations was commercial and Surf's Up wasn't so I don't think it fits in the same way.

Add Some Music is my second least favourite song on the album, only being beaten to the post by Got To know The Woman. Love ya Dennis  :angel:

Hey Steve, did you have those early stock Warner/Reprise U.S. singles before the fire? I picked up a new/mint "Cuddle Up" single at an old music store in the late 70's and then was stupid enough to trade it for the "Lord's Prayer" single (which I saw plenty of afterwards). Have promo copies and imports with sleeves of those singles, but not U.S. stock copies of 'em.  

I always thought Marcella should have done better as a single too.

Living in Southern California, I never heard Breakaway on the radio.  I only knew of it's existence when I saw it at Wallich's Music City on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.  As a huge BB fan I bought it, unheard, it on the spot.  When I got home and listened to it my reaction was that it was a very nice, but not great record.

KHJ, Los Angeles, the most popular Top 30/40 station in Southern California, had Add Some Music to Your Day in heavy rotation when it was first released.  It's possible other So. Cal. stations added the song to their playlists, but I don't have any specific memory of hearing the song on any station other than KHJ.  

I went absolutely wild over Add Some Music and immediately bought the single, but I was disappointed when I flipped the record over and heard Susie Cincinnati, which I considered a lame throwback attempt at an earlier Beach Boys style, and totally unworthy of the early 70's hip music scene.  I was very pleased six months later when I found that the song had wisely been left off Sunflower.

Unfortunately, in 1970 the majority of radio station programmers and their audiences considered the BBs to be passé, resulting in a serious lack of airplay and sales in the US.   (And in fairness to Susie Cincinnati, I should add that I had friends who preferred that song to Add Some Music, but most of them were amazed that the Beach Boys were still making records and would have been embarrassed to admit to anyone that they might consider purchasing a new recording by the Beach Boys.)

Add Some Music remains one of my favorite BB songs to this day.  As far as promotion of Add Some Music, I seem to recall hearing that Warner Brothers put some very heavy duty promotion behind the single, and after the record made it only to number 64 on Billboard was forced to take back a large quantity of unsold copies.

One more thing - the sound quality of the Add Some Music promo 45 sent to radio stations is really subpar IMO, with an irritating tinny EQ that somebody must have felt would sound good on AM radio.  A number of years ago I asked Stephen Desper about this, and he said he was not responsible for EQing the promo copy, and said someone at Warner Bros must have done it.

yes i did, mikie. i knew the local record store owner. he would give me the old cash box magazines when the new one came out. i had to order those 1970-72 singles from him..they were not in stock. but he would order them (or anything i asked ) for me.

Steve, isn't that something that most brick & mortar stores didn't stock the early 70's Warners singles? You had to order them. It's almost like they knew they weren't going to be strong sellers and there was low or no demand for them. I know Tower stocked them, but once they were gone, they were gone. Warners probably didn't bother to re-stock them (unless they hit big).

So that's probably what happened and that's why they are so hard to come by these days. If they didn't move withing a certain timeframe, they were pulled back by Warners and melted down, never to be seen again. And the promos are easier to find at swap meets and used record stores because the radio stations/DJ's hung onto them for awhile....

still is! This guy has been selling NOS copies for at least five years

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BEACH-BOYS-Slip-On-Through-THIS-WHOLE-WORLD-UNPLAYED-NM-/360138198183?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item53d9e8cca7

I was in high school at the time. There were only 2 people I would even mention the words "Beach Boys" to without receiving instant ridicule. One was a big fan of the BB and the with the other I had a long running argument about who was better the Beatles or the Beach Boys.

It was extremely unusual to hear anything from the BB more recent than Good Vibrations on the radio until Sail On Sailor came out.  I loved everything on Sunflower in those days....but it was a love that dared not speak the name of the band.

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

That's a fate worse than death baby-o.

In the U.S. certainly but not elsewhere.

..more then one person spoke about it. although I'm not sure if Fred was one of them, I don't remember but he could have.

See what I mean?  Only 6 bucks, opening bid.  There musta been boxes and boxes of those produced. Slip On Through/This Whole World is still hands down MUCH easire to pick up than the others (with exception to Sail On Sailor). I mean, both songs are great (especially TWW) but compared to the other singles, this one is everywhere. I don't understand it -they obviously produced more copies or Warners didn't retract them quickly like the other early 1970 - 1974 singles.

Try finding a stock copy of Child Of Winter these days.........not real easy!

Time-line context. Check out the background of the Woodstock LP's (RIP Richie Havens) and the overshadowing of almost every other artist.  It seems that ASMTYD did not do that badly in certain markets which were BB hotspots.  Sunflower does have some cool cuts.  

But the country's focus was on Woodstock, those stars whose work got jump starts there, and the big promotion that each new cut, provided a boost to all those artists, for their individual work.  And, it was a movie.  A virtual two-fer.

Smartest thing the band ever did, was to keep touring, and keep the name out there.  When the pendulum finally swung back, a rebirth began.  

Both Woodstock AND the Monterey/Big Sur Festival in '70. And Altimont.

.

It's mentioned here too, from 10:15 onwards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMllLzPEXgU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMllLzPEXgU)

The idea of changing the group's name to "Beach" was for the opposite reason you suggest.  Since the name "The Beach Boys" was uncool in the US, the thought would have been that a new but related name would have denoted a newer, hipper band, hopefully resulting in increased record sales.  In 1968 The Young Rascals became The Rascals, and in early 1970 Paul Revere and the Raiders became The Raiders, both names sounding a whole lot better than simply "Beach".

.

Perhaps they could have changed their name from Beach Boys to Sea Men.... ;)

Anyway, to me, Add Some Music To Your Day always sounded right on for the time period it was released.  I don't understand what isn't commercial about it - it sounds good to me, and maybe it is a bit saccharine, but then so too were many hits of that era.   They had plenty of material (both released and unreleased) at the time that (to my ears) sure sound like hits, but they just weren't being afforded the attention any longer. 

It was the misguided image people had of the group at the time in the USA that saw it become only a minor hit. It's damn good and is about as 1970 modern as you could get. Brian probably would have been more active past 1970 had it sold well. If you read his comments on the 1967-70 singles flopping in the Byron Priess book, you can tell it hurt him a lot when those 45s didn't sell.

I find Joe Knott's credit perplexing. :o

Yeah, its a detailed account on the DVD with names, locations etc...it was pretty moving, Fred Vail came to tears
recalling the guy's "not hip" verdict. Active support from the radio stations was no small thing -- while they were
on top the BB didn't record a plethora of Station ID's for markets all over the country for the fun, fun, fun of it.  :p

My praise band played "Add Some Music..." at an Earth Day Festival Saturday, and it received a so-so response...we played it just fine, but the crowd just wasn't digging it. I love the tune obviously! But, don't know that I'll try and incorporate it with them again. No one even knew it was a beach boys song!

It's true. Vail was on the money. They weren't hip. Ice Cream white suits in concert and on live TV? Some of those songs on 20/20 and Sunflower (especially Bruce's) were just not cool during that 1969/'70 period. Add Some Music to us was fantastic. But to the main stream Rock fans and DJ's, it was considered "Pop" or "Wimp Rock". Hit singles were starting to go by the wayside in favor of album rock. FM was getting bigger and bigger and so were the Floyd, Zeppelin, The Dead, Stones, Airplane, Creedence, etc. The Boys just weren't cool and that was what Reiley was there for - to help with that image.

Then the Surf's Up album came out with an environmental/awareness vibe and it eventually went gold.

say what??    ???

The BBs should have followed completed the trifecta and become The Boys.   


I think that's on account of the hundreds of thousands of returned copies, which eventually sold as  cut-outs and were mistakenly counted for GOLD. 

"Add Some Music" (which I love) got two weeks of airplay on FM-100 in Memphis, then promptly dropped off the playlist. I think it was a little too lightweight to compete with the other music that got heavy airplay at the time. FM-100 played a wide diversity of music at the time. Surf's Up was their album of the week when it was released and fared a bit better on air.

But you just don't get the Buy It Now thing, eh Mikie?  No Bids, just buy at the price.  OR search around to find a copy for $3: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171028889947

For a REAL Challenge try finding a Reprise Steamboat of  REP 1138 - Sail On Sailor / Only With You  ( Makes finding COW look like child's play )

Bgas, read my posts.  I don't need another Slip On Through!  And no promos!  Not even any mustard colored labeled singles with Steamboats on 'em!  Just plain old canary yellow labled Warner/Reprise singles!  Got any dups for sale?

Just wanted to see if anybody was reading my posts!  ;D  The gambler from Cinci doesn't agree!!

Nah, to be truthful, I remembered AGD or somebody saying that the Surf's Up album eventually went gold. No dice. Just looked at his site and the next album(s) to go gold were "Endless Summer" and "In Concert".

The reason I linked to the one I linked to and not the marginally cheaper one is because the guy clearly has like, a two hundred count box of Slip on Through's, which I find pretty cool/amazing...

I feel that the song that should have been pushed for Sunflower was It's About Time. I agree with Dominique Prior on ASMTYD. I see how a lot of hard core Beach Boys fans like it, but I don't think it will bring in the masses. At least not in 1970. Slip On Through rocks, and This Whole World is a great song, but like its been said before, any single with the word Beach Boys on it wasn't going to sell at this point.

If anything, the Surfs Up lp was a much 'hipper' album as was Holland. Perhaps we should be amazed that the Beach Boys were able to do the impossible and gain respect from the counter culture from 71-74 up until Endless Summer hit big.

Was there any other pre British invasion lilly white American band that was able to accomplish that at all? Most of them probably went by the Mike Love philosophy of sticking to the formula until it didn't work any more. Then they would brake up. Then they would try to re unite from time to time when their greatest hits were selling again.

Relatively easy though compared to the Cool Cool Water of Surf's Up 45, which are still on my wishlist...

Don't forget that Cottonfields was indeed a huge hit in most countries all over the world... except for the U.S. And Add Some Music To Your Day - as far as I know - was only released on single in the U.S. and Canada, where it charted only briefly or not at all. In other countries the only single that was pulled from the Sunflower album was Tears In The Morning / It's About Time (Add Some Music, Slip On Through and Cool Cool Water weren't). With mixed success btw, but Tears In The Morning was a huge hit in The Netherlands.
So from that perspective it's not strange that Add Some Music failed as a single.

Thanks for that info which I'd completely forgotten about. Shouldn't have forgotten really as Tears in the Morning has been included on several U.K. comps and was on the bonus disc for the 1993 box set.

I see. Thanks you for that info. Do you know why that decision was made? Was it made after ASMTYD failed in the US?

Sorry, but I don't know what the reason was for sure. But it could have to do something with the way the first album and singles were distributed. In the U.S. it was on Brother/Reprise right away. But in most other countries both the Sunflower and Surf's Up album + the singles that were drawn from it were released on the Stateside label. So perhaps at first they were having trouble with the rights / distribution (is that the right word for it ?) outside the U.S.

Anyone else that knows?

Cottonfields is a great song.  Here is the problem.  During that time, in the States, there were race riots and a critical new look at old art forms, which were construed as racially insensitive.  Lots of stuff, which had been very popular, became sort of taboo, and movies with a "Black Sambo" theme, or Disney's "Song of the South," or even very popular folk songs such as "Jimmy Crack Corn," were stricken from curricula.  

And, I remember playing "Jimmy Crack Corn" song, in my Kindergarten, ( because it was easy, and I was taking a class piano course) and my African American boss took me aside, and explained that the background of the song had underpinning of slavery themes (which I didn't know) and (it was still being used in teacher training curricula.)

It is not much different from the folk and fairy tales which had some sort of "metaphorical" violent theme, or subversive political message contained in many folk and fairy tales.  The rear view mirror is "20/20" - pun intended!  ;)

And, Cottonfields came out as a single in 1969, we had MLK and RFK assassinations only a year earlier, and, even though Harry Belafonte had used it, earlier, in that era, it just didn't fly in the late 1960's.  Stuff could no longer be taken on face value.  It was technically "racially-neutral" but seemed to have a "connotation" in the States (not abroad) that was becoming "politically incorrect." I guess that might be why a song such as Disney Girls became more popular, as time went on, as standards for what is "right or wrong" became blurred.  

Cottonfields seemed to have no such negative connotation outside of the States, but had a "blurry" context by 1969.  Cotton was inextricably tied to slavery.   I'm glad they played it in C50, because it is a folk song, and apparently, now, under a more relaxed standard.

I understand why ASMTYD wasn't a hit. It's a cool, accessible song, but it's not very catchy. It took quite a while to grow on me. It doesn't even have a real chorus, it's basically made up of verses and middle eights.

I have never been able to find Cool Cool Water / Forever.  I have a promo of Cool Cool Water, but have never seen the stock copy.

Heck, go here:    http://www.beachboys45.nl/   and you can "see" practically every stock AND promo from anywhere! 

or more specifically:
http://www.beachboys45.nl/USA-Regular-BrotherReprise70-75.htm
http://www.beachboys45.nl/USA-Regular-Reprise.htm

Told this story before. In the Sumer of 1973 or '74 I went up to Sacramento to my favorite collectibles store. Behind the counter the owner had a new Breakaway single and a new Cotton Fields single. He told me he was holding them for me because he knew I didn't have them. The singles were only released a 3 or 4 years previously and were already deleted from Capitol's record catalog. Couldn't find them anywhere or even order them. You were lucky if you could find them in a used record store, much less a new one. This was before Goldmine had them advertized and they were harder to find. Anyway, the owner wanted $10.00 each for each single. I asked him why they were so darn expensive (10 bucks for singles was no chump change back then). But he knew their value. At the time much of their catalog was deleted and Breakaway was yet to be released anywhere until 1975 (on the Spirit of America greatest hits album).

Was it Reprise that made the decision to release Add Some Music as a single?  Because it was a bone headed idea, the song is nowhere near single caliber, it's an almost sleepy song.  Was it because the album was to be named Add Some Music?  And the single would promote the album?  Instead it had the opposite effect of scuttling the album name and forcing the change to Sunflower - which I agree is a far better name.

Maybe they thought Add Some Music was a folky, sappy song like Sweet Baby James which was a big hit for James Taylor - was that out at that time?

If you were a record exec and was looking at music trends in1969- 70 when heavy guitar music was in vogue, what would you pick as a single?  I'd pick Slip On Through, it's about time.  Or This Whole World withbonenof the Dennis songs on the flip.

It's not catchy enought....it doesn't have the monster hook. There's no I'm thinking about good vibrations........there is no Wish they all could be California girls......hook....accessible yes but super catchy? No.

Something that gets lost in these discussions is that bubblegum and pop music were still very big during this time. I Think I Love You, Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes, Smile A Little Smile For Me......teen idols like Andy Kim and Bobby Sherman were still a big thing, Lou Christie made a comeback with I'm Gonna Make You Mine...none of this is rock fare. The Beach Boys didn't need a heavy single, they just needed a something solidly commercial with company promotion. I think Break Away should have done the trick - maybe a little too complicated vocally for the market. Add Some Music is a fine album track with a universal message, but I don't think it's single worthy.

Agree with ALL of that.

Add Some Music single released February, 1970.  Sunflower album released August, 1970.  Good possibility it was released to promote the first inception of the album because it went through a few changes before release.

Honestly, I don't think that there is a hit single in waiting on Sunflower....perhaps with the exception of Forever...

Soulful Old Man Sunshine was recorded around this time, wasn't it? Could have been perfect...glad it wasn't on Sunflower, as that's a perfect, non "trying too hard for a hit" type lp. Maybe it would have worked to separate 'the hits' from the albums at this point. Of course, UK Stateside could always have tacked a reprocessed stereo version on teh start of 'surfs up' ;)

As others have mentioned, in the FM rock community The Beach Boys were written off as an embarrassment from the past.

You'd think it would have had more success on Top 40 AM radio where artists like Bobby Goldsboro thrived and there'd be less of an "oh, they're uncool" mentality but apparently it existed there too. I'm sure most of you have seen Fred Vail's story about this on the Brian Wilson Songwriter CD. He had a hard time getting that damn record played and tears up just telling the story. 

Among the many "I wish" scenarios I have for the Beach Boys, I wish they had hooked up with Jack Rieley sooner, just after 20/20.

I could picture Rieley telling the boys not to waste two dynamite songs in Breakaway and Celebrate the News for a single Capitol had no incentive to promote. He could have had them give Capitol We're Together Again and a completed Walk on By and use Breakway and Celebrate to GET a record deal, as in "Brian is still writing great songs, and the other guys are finding their chops, like this one from Dennis."

Meanwhile he could have been rebuilding their "cool" cred with performances as hip venues with longer shows and no stage uniforms. So by the time Breakaway is the first single off Sunflower, the Boys are more hip, Breakaway becomes a hit and Sunflower, with Breakaway and Celebrate the News replacing Got to Know the Woman and either At My Window or Tears in the Morning, is recognized as a masterpiece and becomes a smash.

(And I know Sunflower went through many incarnations and may have played out much differently with Breakaway and Celebrate the News, but this is my alternate history and I'll play it out the way I want.  ;) )

They could have had a bubblegum-type hit with 'Seasons in the Sun' or something else like 'Loop De Loop', but I think the band was trying to distance themselves from that scene and appeal to the hippies.

They could have gone through with that cartoon or done a guest spot on The Brady Bunch or something ... but that wasn't their direction at that time.

Back in the day, I was able to buy stock copies of Cool Cool Water / Forever in Aug. 1971, April 1973, and Feb. 1974, all at the same record store in San Diego, which kept back-stock of well known artists.  But having no thoughts concerning future collectability, I wrote my name in large letters in ink on the labels, and etched the date of purchase on the inner grove area of the vinyl.  In looking at my purchase dates, it's apparent that prior to Aug. 1971 I was unaware that the single even existed.  

Anybody know in what parts of the US the brown steamboat Reprise 45's were released, as opposed to the yellow Brother/Reprise 45's?  Other than Add Some Music, which was not released on the yellow Brother/Reprise label, here on the west coast I never encountered those BBs singles on the brown Reprise label.  

funny thing you mentioned that. why was 'Seasons In The Sun' withheld from being released on something suitable like 15BO or MIU?

It would have sounded out of place (or out of time at least) if they'd included it surely as it was recorded years earlier. Didn't Bruce say that it was too wimpy for The Beach Boys too? Like The Rolling Stones recording Tie a Yellow Ribbon.

The Stones recorded Tie A Yellow Ribbon?  Man, that must be cool to listen to; what boot is that on?

The hypothetical one that Bruce was talking about.

DAMN IT!  How could you do that???   ;D

That record store wasn't by chance "Blue Meanie Records" in San Diego, was it? I did some business with them way back when. And "Rockaway" in L.A. And "Music Man Murry". And the Capitol Records swap meat in L.A. And one other in Downey where I got my Surfin' on the 'X' label - can't remember the name now.

I must be hearing a different song, because to me it is totally hit worthy and well in line with what many other artists were doing at the time.  As far as "sleepy" goes, I'll just say, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, to name one.   The 70's saw plenty of hits which were soft, sleepy, saccharine, poppy, etc.   The band had lost favor and weren't being afforded much notice, and that's why perfectly good material such as this song weren't charting higher.   It works in the reverse of course too - If you're hot and radio is pushing you then even a crap song can become a major hit.  

The world would have embraced a hit from the boys, but when I first heard it my initial thought was corn ball lyrics-"the  world can come together as one...". The song seemed to drag on and on and on and shift direction and come back to the original premise. It sounded contrived even tough it got numerous plays on FM. In fact, along with that, TITM, CCW, and IAT got decent airplay as well but ASMTYD was not what  they or the public wanted at this point.

Everything about the song was/is cornball imo and that's why it didn't do much.

No, I got the Cool Cool Water / Forever singles at Ratner's in downtown San Diego.  Before I started buying records on my own, when I was a little kid (and I'm definitely showing my age here!) I recall going there with my dad and they had these listening booths with turntables where you could pick records to listen to and decide which ones to buy.  One entire wall was stocked with back catalog 45's, alphabetically by artist.  But this wall was behind a long counter so you couldn't check the records out yourself, instead having to ask for them by title and artist. 

Yeah, Blue Meanie in El Cajon, just east of San Diego, was a cool store for many years, catering to collectors as well as the general public, with a lot of new and used records at collector prices.  In those pre-internet, pre-eBay days the owner, Gary Shrum, would often travel to Europe to bring back rare stuff.  Don't recall exactly when Blue Meanie opened, but probably sometime around 1974 to 76.

I too love "Add Some Music" and can't figure out why some folks here consider it a weak song.

I really wasn't paying much attention to music in 1970, but I remember that some Holland cuts got airplay on FM 100 a few years later. I remember that they played "The Trader", "California Saga", and of course "Sail on Sailor".  (But not as much as they should have.)

+1

I mean, not being born until 1975, I wasn't there, of course, but from my outside perspective, this seems fairly sound to me.

Yeah, who exactly is Joe Knott?  Did he come up with the idea for the song?

Don't remember frequenting any really cool stores here in St Louis MO, tho I did find The Honeys- Swanee 45 in a mom/pop store after  several collectors told me they had picked the place clean; owner almost didn't sell it to me, as she didn't like to sell her last copy of anything.  Best score  here: Ordered 25 copies of Child Of Winter when I first heard about it, and when they came in the store manager gave them to me free.  Still have, I think, 3 copies.  Bucket list: Steamboats for  Cool Cool Water and SOS/OWY

Joe Knott was a friend of Brian’s. He wasn't a songwriter but contributed a couple of lines of lyrics to "Add Some Music" (but Brian can't remember which ones). Probably contributed lyrics like Bob Burchman did. There's an alternate version of "Add Some Music" floating around that I think would be a neat candidate to include on the new MIC box.

By the way, Warner’s rejected the initial song selection for Sunflower because it was too weak. Six of the songs were replaced by ‘stronger’ ones. Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker had major input to that. And I'm sure the album came out much better because of it. Mo even went up to Brian's house and heard Cool, Cool Water and insisted that it be included on the album.

You git the sleeve to the Swanee River single? That's half the value of the thing - probably more than the 45 itself!

I picked up my Child Of Winter single back in the late 70's from someone posting in this here thread.  Darn good deal too!  :)

Even though the backing track is very pleasant, it sure could you some variation. For instance I feel the repeating guitar riff should've been done on piano or rhodes similar to how ASMTYD was performed during the C50. Also they could've had maybe something like a quiet organ insert during the 'theyll play it on your wedding day' part. Small changes like this would perhaps make it less monotome and more adventurous. However the basic song structure, lyrics and vocal delivery is superb and could certainly be hit material given the right circumstances. Not neccessarily #1 material but top 20 for sure.

I've heard the single version is better than the one in the re-released christmas album. Is there any way someone could post a link so I may be able to hear the original?

I think you can pick up the 45 these days fro around $100; the sleeve is probably in the neighborhood of $1000 or more. 

Sounds like your Child purchase is straight out of Back To the Future!

It is a great song, but it seems that during that time, Chicago Transit Authority (Chicago) was introducing a sort of jazz fusion/progressive rock-type style.  And, Soulful Old Man S(h)unshine was recorded at that general time.  It has that opening "up sounding punch" that grabs your attention, almost like WIBN, in the first few bars.  GOK was on the flip of WIBN, but gradually grew its own wings, becoming one of the most beloved songs of all time.  GOK - Side B.

Do you think that might have been plausible, if Soulful Ole Man Sunshine had been released as Side A, with Add Some Music to Side B, that it might have played out differently?  That brassy sound Chicago introduced at that time, caught fire and, sort of cultivated a new style.  "Soulful..." always reminded me of something that Chicago could have done really brilliantly with the Boys.

I have to qualify that I don't care much for "coulda, woulda, shoulda" revisionism, but am just thinking out loud...It also seems that after GV, it was a tough aspiration to try to equal or supercede it.

With the bulk of their "hit" writing behind them, I just enjoyed most of the forthcoming lps. Upon first listenings of ASM or SOMS, I knew they weren't gonna be hits although I thought SOS got an undeserved bad rap from the radio programmers and the label. Yeah, hits do sell albums, but singles were kind of passe by then, at least to me.

The one track on the album that always sounded like it had single potential to me was "Our Sweet Love."

Many acts were still doing "light and breezy" in 1970 (or saccharine to its detractors), though with varying degrees of success. Would the Beach Boys past and image preclude it from becoming a hit? I honestly don't know. In terms of structure, I do know that it had a fairly hum-able hook (i.e. the "Our sweet love...could last forever" part), was perhaps a slightly derivative cousin to something like "God Only Knows," and mentioned "Love" in the title  -- which you could rarely go wrong with back then. It doesn't surprise me that it made the '93 box or the Summer Love Songs comp. It's both commercial and catchy, and it just might have made a great "summer love song." Terrific vocals, too.

imo OSW is failed harshly by it saccharine lyrics. Great chord progression and well-produced backing track. Lyrics make it one of the lesser songs on Sunflower, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

I don't know. Personally speaking, I don't find the lyrics nearly as saccharine as something like ASMTYD - which borderlines on treacle to me in places (though I still love the song itself). More like sunshine pop. In fact, I think the whole "pretty things like incense and flowers" wouldn't have been terribly out of place in the summer of '70. Put together a promo film with a willowy blonde swaying in a field...and who knows? The whole thing just invokes warmth and summertime to my ears. Also, I'm not sure if those strings are real, or rather, some sort of Mellotron/Chamberlin concoction, but they also sound "very 1970" to my humble ears.

But...that's just me.  :)

I respect your opinion CK, but to me Our Sweet Love is a gorgeous piece of music.  I've only gotten into Sunflower in the last few years and this song OSL seems like a bolt out of the blue.  The tune and the LP shoulda been #1.

I think this is all interesting stuff...it's good to hear people's theories if only to see how many different viewpoints there are, even if it's a moot issue.

One of the strengths of the board (IMO) is when it discusses the merits of the songs, which is why I like the "Rank the Tracks" threads and spent some spare time collating most of 'em (all from Smiley Smile to Holland). The consensus rankings are quite interesting, and actually make sense (most of the time) when they are grouped en masse, even though the song rankings are internal to individual albums.

Looking at Sunflower, this is how the song rankings break down:

This Whole World (8.5)
----------------------------------8
All I Wanna Do (7.4)
----------------------------------7
Forever (6.9)
Add Some Music (6.4)
Slip On Through (6.2)
Cool Cool Water (6.1)
----------------------------------6
Our Sweet Love (5.2)
----------------------------------5
It's About Time (4.7)
Dierdre (4.41)
At My Window (4.38)
----------------------------------4
----------------------------------3
Got to Know the Woman
(2.4)
Tears in the Morning (2.3)
----------------------------------2

Now, we will each have significant disagreements with the details of this consensus, but it's revealing. "This Whole World" is universally seen as a great, great track (it ranks fifth overall when I consolidate all the album lists that I've compiled), but it was not released as an "A" side. We seem to think (those who voted, at any rate...looks like close to 50 voters thus far) that "This Whole World" is the likely hit. (I have to go back and do some of the early albums where there were real hits to see if what we think were the best songs in the "hits" era were the actual hits...I suspect there is a pretty solid correlation.)

I think the problem with Sunflower from a commercial standpoint was simply that there wasn't a truly up-tempo track with enough edge to cut through what was perceived as "hip" at that point. Crosby, Stills and Nash (prior to Neil Young's joining them) had stolen the BBs thunder and had concocted a record (CSN) that was more or less a "hip BBs" sound (one part Byrds, one part Holliies, one part Buffalo Springfield...that's two thirds "hip" from folk-rock and folky-blues and one-third a semi-reverent cop of the BBs harmony sound) and there simply wasn't any room for the BBs at that time. A lot of folks had hits copping something from the BBs sound, but they could have hits because, paradoxically, they weren't the BBs.

Don't think any of the songs could have hit in 1970, alas. Just wasn't gonna happen. We'll never know if "This Whole World" could have been pushed up the charts higher, but I don't think it had the right "sound" to be a real hit, at least not in '70.

Sunflower wasn't a total loss career-wise. CCW got a certain amount of airplay and kept the "arty" aura alive. And the LP did very well in the UK, staying right up there with the sales figures for 20/20. It was the American "hipoisie" that was remaining intractable, but as filledeplage said, the BBs kept grinding it out and things began to edge forward, and the pendulum started to shift.

Something analogous happened in '72 when they failed to just go out that summer and push "Marcella." The thought must have been that they would get further 'hip" from where they'd gone with Surf's Up, but "Mess of Help" (as much as some of us love it) was too confusing to the mainstream audience..."THAT's the Beach Boys?" they said collectively, and that question flushed the song right down the toilet. They finally put "Marcella" out in late July, but it was too late, and CATP the LP had already been panned just about everywhere (which is what happens when you release it in tandem with Pet Sounds, for Crissakes!!). "Marcella" was the grown-up "surf" sound, and while it could have been a beat or so faster, it still cooks and it's recognizably the BBs.

Really? Do you know what the sales figures in the U.K. were at all? 20/20 reached number 3 and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. Sunflower meanwhile reached number 29 and only stayed on the chart for 6 weeks so it would be curious if they sold similar amounts.

I agree with that table in ranking This Whole World and All I Wanna Do as the stand out songs on the LP. Got to Know the Woman and Tears in the Morning are the weakest efforts as well.

Thanks for the correction, Nicko. I was going by faulty memory about Sunflower's performance on the charts in the UK...I remember reading the books about the critical reception for it there, which has universally been described as rapturous, and conflated the two. I should have re-checked the data.

The UK charts show that 20/20 was a solid rebound from Friends, which was something of a downturn from Wild Honey, which had been in the Top 10 there for five consecutive weeks and was on the charts for fifteen. Smiley Smile was in the UK Top 10 for four weeks, possibly on the strength o GV and H&V being on the album, which didn't do much for its US performance (though one could argue that it could have a good bit worse without GV on the record).

After Sunflower, Surf's Up did a little better (getting into the Top 20 for a couple of weeks), but CATP (released as a single LP) and Holland performed rather tepidly. So the Brits did not particularly embrace the "new sound" of the BBs; and they didn't have much to do with 15 Big Ones when it came out--though that LP couldn't have been helped by the fact that the 20 Golden Greats hits package had been released just a few weeks earlier. That went straight to #1 and remained there for ten weeks.

Entirely understandable that you should misremember as I've read several comments myself about Sunflower supposedly receiving a great reception in the U.K. and being a success. I can only assume that the new record label messed something up badly at this time. The group toured the U.K. for a solid month at that time promoting the album (and presumably Dennis' single) but to little avail. They only played one more tour in the U.K. over the next 5 years so understandable that the following albums wouldn't have done much maybe.

You are right that 20 Golden Greats probably didn't help 15 Big Ones and a re-release of Good Vibrations also outperformed Rock and Roll Music in the charts in 1976. A rare example of good judgment from the British public.

I think it failed due cause of 2 reasons.

1. People thought the Beach Boys were un-hip.
2. The single was in competition with Bridge Over Troubled Water, Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin and Travelin' Band

Disagree SOOO much. It's an awful thing about the board.

I find it really depressing to see songs I'd previously just accepted as by a band I love picked apart, and given gradings...sure there have always been 'lesser songs', but to see it laid out there, making me think about it...nonsense.

And, given the right number of pints, I'd probably end up in a fist fight with anyone who knocked 'Got to know the woman'. It's FABULOUS.

Bring it on.  :)

Got to Know the Woman really shouldn't have been included as they had better songs available. Underproduced and ludicrous lyrically.

Bring on the CHICKUN!

.

It's called 'fun', gramps. Lots of The Beach Boys finest moments are ludicrous. If they took themselves seriously all the time, their music would be much less enjoyable. Mike's bass vocal in this cracks me up every time. Dennis just cutting loose in the studio, having a bit of fun...it's very, very good.

As for the production- nope, it's brilliantly produced. Love the backing vocals...all those 'Hey...Hey...' bits at the end sound like they were recorded in a swimming pool- fantastic use of ambient sounds. Having female backing singers on this track was a master stroke.

As for the song- I could understand people not digging it a lot more if it were JUST a rock and roll parody, but the out and out weirdness of the chorus progression lifts it above that. There's really nothing else like it...the way the 'got to know the woman' keeps changing. It's never obvious where it's going next. A very clever track. Sunflower would be a lesser album without it.

G

The thing about Got to Know the Woman that gets me is Dennis' vocal. Very powerful. Very well delivered. It's not just a rollicking blues progression, it has more going on than just that, including a great build up to the fade out. Lyrics may be silly, but I've heard worse from this band.

Just listen to Demny's vocal, man. It makes it all worthwhile.

BWM has done a first rate job of summing up why Got to Know the Woman has always been a favorite of mine.  Listening to Dennis joyously belting out the lyrics, coupled with the great BG vocals, has never failed to put a smile on my face.  For me, that song is just flat out fun to listen to.

That tack piano is pretty darned cool, too. Infectious.

We will, of course, agree to disagree, since I (and many others, I suspect) would enjoy your opinions and your rankings, even if we didn't agree with them.  :smokin

But let me say that I completely agree with you about "Got To Know The Woman." I am completely dumbfounded by its ranking and think that the collective has lost its collective mind in this instance. A great, great, joyous, outrageously wonderful track. I don't think I'd end up in a fight about it, but I am amazed at how folks (at least the folks that voted) failed to see how a song like this is such a great way to pull the BB sound into new and different directions. But, then again, they aren't keen on "A Thing or Two" from Wild Honey, either--a track that is arguably "Woman"'s closest relative in the BB canon.

That said, there aren't very many anomalies in the rankings like this one. When they eff it up, however, they REALLY eff it up!

I'm a black and white kind of guy- my rankings are as follows: 1961-77 10/10 for every single track, MIU has 3 10/10s and the remainder are 0/10 LA is back to all 10/10, everything after that is 0/10.

 :)

I'm being a little flippant of course...I think the problem for me is when in the back of my mind I agree with 'oh that's such a slight song' etc. For example 'Our Sweet Love'- I'd never EVER questioned it, just accepted it as part of Sunflower, but now when I listen to it I'm thinking 'is this a GOK rewrite? are the lyrics any good?

So for that reason, I'm sticking to my story. 10/10 all the way!

I don't think it mattered what they would have put out in 1970, the radio stations had decided they were not cool and wouldn't play their new stuff no matter how good it was.

FM radio were taking over, and playing the Boys, but I wonder about your point as to whether some "joint agreement among certain radio people" who may have, indirectly "blackballed the music?"

I remember OSD saying some time ago that while he'd bought Sunflower and loved it, he "didn't exactly bring it to parties" ...... It think that's a very telling statement. For every guy like OSD who still loved the Beach Boys enough to run out and get their new album: while fully realizing how uncool it potentially made him, there were 10 more "fans" who were too scared off by the un-hip factor.

OSD did exactly what others did. Liked on his own terms, and, mostly, we "marched, resolutely to our own drummers" - unwilling to give up the music, but making it a private and more discreet following.  I/we couldn't change people's minds (if they were such tasteless sheep  :lol )

It was rough.  But, the music was so good, many of us just sucked it up and went our own way.    ;)

al in an 1974 interview talked about am radio vs fm radio. hits vs album cuts. he talked about cool, cool water and going into the studio for 48 hours straight to get the recordings and mixing that was needed. and about it not making it as a single. went on to say "it wasn't am...but was great fm stuff though". they knew. and they were right.

Of course Al knew.   It was great fm stuff.  fm seemed to have a more aware, socially, following, and had the freedom and the airtime to be more discerning about what they played.  It seemed that they were not confined to 3 minute singles, followed by a commercial and constant promotion of some product or another. 

Hadn't thought about it, but that's as good a description where I was at; cepting I didn't bring it, cuz most folks I knew weren't into the BBs at all. It was  almost everfyone BUT the BBs for them. I did plenty enough other stuff not to be cool....

I like The Beach Boys obviously but if anyone actually brought one of their albums to a party I think even I'd figure it a mood-killer. Except if it was Love You! :rock

I was at Uni ( 'college' for you septics ) in 1998-2001 and I managed to get a bunch of hot girls singing 'honkin down the highway', and everyone knew the Landlocked version of 'big sur' better than the album version /college sorry, Uni radio show related.

This is 100% not a sex brag. None of these girls ever touched it, but I totally did manage to get people to enjoy out of the ordinary BB music simply through insisting on listening to good music.

Well, not entirely untrue, but in my market, Sunflower got significant airplay. ASM, CCW, IAT, and believe it or don't, TITM! I was pleasantly surprised that it continued until Surf's Up and then they played the daylights outta that, too with FF, LPR, and SDT getting the bulk of attention. In fact, more incredible, they played the entire SU album  just before release at the stroke of midnight. I have that promo copy that they played in my collection. But regardless of all the attention from the station, it was still "not cool" to say you liked the music. A difficult time indeed to satnd up for the band.

Take it one little inch at a time now
'Til we're feelin' fine now
I guess I've got a way with girls

Touched what?

But were these the more underground stations?  I'm a bit out of my depth here being English and not born until the late 70's so I have little concept of the radio market from this era. I was under the impression that the more mainstream radio stations of the day wouldn't include the new Beach Boys singles on their playlists.

The English comparison would be 'John Peel used to play X_________ on his late night show but daytime Radio 1 would not play their latest singles'.

Love You is so stimulating that having a girl touch it is all the fulfillment a man needs.

His copy of Love You.

The reason why it did not chart is it is not good enough.

That's basically true of all records. The good ones get into the charts, and the bad ones do not. The cream rises to the top.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Blobby_%28song%29

Correct! No AirPlay; no charting. 

FM progressive rock radio and Sunflower and Surf's Up were  featured throughout the day and evening.

The distinguishing feature, for me is that fm was being played in more public places (probably to the chagrin of ASCAP) such as the boutiques in the Harvard Square retail store area, with shoppers almost as a "captive audience." The college bookstores or cafés and bars, were using it as well where they had speakers piped in.  

WBCN, was a pioneer.  And, they were holding a big antiwar demographic in their palm.  Carl, as a CO (Conscientious Objector draft status) would be someone with stature, as he had membership in a growing group of musicians, using their powerful position in rock music, as a platform, to protest US involvement, in Vietnam.

 So, even though the stereotype BB thing was not on their playlist, their growing "reacceptance" began to bloom, and Pet Sounds alongside Smiley, Wild Honey with its R&B feel got AirPlay (love the iPad intuition  :lol ) not from the glitzy corporate position but from the gritty "in-your-face" quasi-political arena.

And, it wasn't just the dynamic if being in your car, or at home; it was being filtered into a new or, older market of college kids, grad students, etc.  And college radio stations DJ's did pretty much what they wanted as well, so it became a natural gravitation for the Boys to play the college circuit as a natural venue.

It was kind of a subversive listening venue, as it did not appear to be direct marketing, but the DJ's doing what they wanted, and playing what they liked.  DJ's with good taste!  ;)

the college fm station near my hometown (station was in huntington wv...marshall university) played sunflower for awhile and  played the heck out of everything on surf's up. great time to be a fan when the group was getting attention again. i can still hear, if i close my eyes, feel flows blasting over the radio and people liking it and finding out it was the beach boys. reaction was like "what!!". that always put a smile on my face.

i love hearing stories like this from the original era ... thank you!

Steve - I forgot Surfs Up! Duh! I hope that was a "sly smile!"

So delish for that to happen!  ;)

I bought every new Beach Boys album hot off the racks starting with Shutdown Vol II, and have to say that each one following Party took some getting used to. When we started to turn on, and that wasn't till '69, whole new worlds of sonic insight and appreciation opened up. We used to drop acid and smoke weed to soften the landing, and I can still see in my mind's eye my buddy's sh*t-eatin' ear-to-ear grin listening to Smiley Smile at 3am of a warm Georgia summer night. "That's the Beach Boys?!!!" was a common refrain.

You see it in the fanzines of the time. It goes from mostly "you're the best" to mostly WTF.

I don't remember Sunflower getting significant FM AirPlay on BCN - Surf's Up yes, they had played Big Sur and were becoming "hip"again.  Through Holland, then fm AirPlay dropped off  - I remember calling BCN to request something from Keping the Summer Alive and being told no way.

And rightfully so! :angel:

‍

I always thought that "Deirdre" was the sleeper hit on SUNFLOWER.  Production-wise, it had that very late '60s blowsy slightly Euro thing going on.  Though stylistically it may have been a year or two after its time by that point.

And, of course, "Forever."  I wonder why no one released that one?  It's a fairly obvious choice, and has weathered the test of time as a song (as opposed to a production) the best of all the SUNFLOWER tracks.

I have to concur that none of the other SUNFLOWER tracks jump out as singles.  "This Whole World" was too complicated and too short.  Everything else had a similarly oblique thing going on...great production, cool songs, but just slightly off kilter from a pop hook standpoint.  If I was picking the next one after the above two, I'd probably go with "Tears In The Morning."

Well, at least Add Some Music must've left a lasting impression on John Cale and Dave Edmunds, both of who referenced the song in their respective tribute songs to the BB/BW.

Surf's Up did get good airplay for a couple of reasons; first, the elusive "Surfs Up" which Brian did on Leonard Bernstein's program on Pop Music, IIRC April of 1967, was the title of the album and second,  because, I think thematically, it fit with their enlightened high school demographic as well as college. (Yes, Student Demonstration Time)  Surf's Up might be analogous to SMiLE in a very small way, because there was a five year wait (not 37 for Brian's version and 45 for the Sessions.) People waited a long time, and it became sort of mythical.

As I look at that, it would seem obnoxious, to even say, but the radio formats of the high schoolers of the late 1960's, I think baptized us, by fire, as it were with the tail end of early classic rock, moving into more progressive rock, (early BB's and Beatles v. both bands using more sophisticated sounds) Motown, and spinning into Sunshine Pop.  And the underpinnings of a country in a mental chaos state. Even high school kids could not stay in "la-la" land, as the music forced us to become aware of the social issues of the day.

But, I seem to remember "Our Sweet Love" being played. (from Sunflower) By the time I was in grad school, my listening choices were expanded, as fm exploded and became mainstream, largely taking over the music, from am, which was more, news, politcs, and sports talk formats oriented.  And, most importantly, the car 8 track, where I was the DJ!  :lol

I thought Slip On Through was a bad choice for a single. It underwhelms on the first couple of listens and is rather short. It took several listens for those weird, etheral backing vocals on the second verse to get their hooks into my brain. A single has to grip the listener first time out of the gate or it's failed. To be honest apart from Add Some Music, nothing on Sunflower is really suited to single material.

Funny - I felt that Slip On Through was maladroit.  But, that Our Sweet Love, with Carl's gorgeous vocals and simple and direct lyrics, might have been a great Side A sure fire hit with Add Some Music on Side B. People forget that God Only Knows was Side B.  A summer day...A winter night... Lord Knows I love her so...great and simple to remember verse concepts and great orchestration.  Even now it it has a beautifully timeless feel...And a very pulled-together tight feel...

I think "All I Wanna Do" is memorable and could've been a good single. Or maybe they could've released a non-LP single to promote Sunflower: "San Miguel"/"Games Two Can Play" :smokin

Yes, All I Wanna Do is brilliant as well, I agree. What is a non-LP single?  A freebie promo alongside?

A song that was released on a 45 RPM single, but not on an album. I also apply this to singles that are only on "best of" albums.

Slip On Through takes a lot of getting into? Does it? I remember the melody knocking me out on the very first listen! It's a amazing track! I don't think any Beach Boys song was ever going to be a hit during this period unfortunately, no matter how good it was.

The Little Girl I Once Knew - 1965

Later, much later added to a remaster of Summer Days and Summer Nights. 

But, there can't be that many of those, can there?

Breakaway/Celebrate The News.
Child of Winter
Plenty from the 80s.

That to me is the 70's version of I Get Around/Don't Worry Baby

I agree with both points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8nF_zMcuO8

Sunflower review Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNK8LVlKbF4

That, to me, would be This Whole World / Forever.

Maybe not; Oh, Darlin', Santa Ana Winds and Endless Harmony might have fit nicely in their format.  By 1980 they were getting a little "pseudo-intellectual" - I'm not surprised your request got "Shut Down!"  ;) It shows they didn't have an open mind and says more about them, than you.  

By then some of them were getting to be old geezers.  :old

Endless Harmony was the perfectly missed "teaching opportunity" to reintroduce "You Still Believe in Me" and Pet Sounds via the ending measures of EH, and show the connection as between the two, and,  by that time, "history" of the music.  Fools.

All this talk about Sunflower had been interesting enough to take a look-and-listen back...I've enjoyed it, thanks, to the original poster, (Sunflower-not a song title, perhaps but a then-timely concept.) They might just as easily have entitled the LP - "Our Sweet Love" because the overriding song themes are about love; "sweet" love, and "not-so- sweet heartbreak" love, and "can we rekindle that lost?" love.  And, I think it would have made a great "anchor" single Side A, with Add Some Music, as Side B.  Maybe the record company was greedy, and was "holding on reserve" for later release as 45's, some of this great material?