Rank the tracks #14: Friends

[DontHateTheLove]

12.Transcendetantal Meditation - The only song on the album I really don't like.  I never listen to it.
11. Diamond Head
10. Be Still
9. Passing By - I think this song would benefit from lyrics.
8. Anna Lee The Healer - Even though I don't love the song, Mike again sounds great.
7. Busy Doing Nothing
6. Wake The World
5. When A Man Needs A Woman
4. Friends
3. Meant For You - Top 5 favorite Mike Love vocal.
2. Little Bird - One of my favorite Dennis Songs
1. Be Here In The Morning - Al sounds fantastic on this song. 

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Little Bird
Busy Doing Nothin’
Wake The World
Be Here In The Mornin’
When A Man Needs A Woman
Meant For You
Friends
Transcendental Meditation
Be Still
Anna Lee The Healer
Passing By
Diamond Head

[Please delete my account]

A masterpiece.

1. Anna Lee, The Healer- first heard it on an ultra-obscure low budget compilation when I hardly knew the band; it blew everything else on there away. I used to imagine this was the second (flop) single from the album. Does so much with so little.
2. Busy Doin' Nothin' -more objectively, perhaps, the best song on the album. Very cool.
3. Meant For You -What an amazing start to an album.
4. Friends
5. Be Still -highly underrated
6. Little Bird - loses marks for the na-na-na-na bit
7. Be Here In The Morning- kinds goofy but that's why we love it. Good low note from Murry.
8. Transcendental Meditation- transcends the album and can safely be played at a psychedelic disco.
9. When A Man Needs A Woman- ewww lyrics, ahhhh music
10. Wake The World- bit twee/McCartneyesque (but I still love it!)
11. Diamond Head - good but goes on a bit too long
12. Passing By- well, something has to come last.

[Wrightfan]

Busy Doin' Nothin'
Diamond Head
Little Bird
Wake the World
Meant for You
Be Here in the Mornin'
Friends
Ana Lee the Healer
Transcendental Meditation
When a Man Needs a Woman
Passing By
Be Still

[Magic Transistor Radio]

This is one of my favorite BB albums. Not the hippest album, but something only the Beach Boys could've done.

1. Be Here in the Morning
2. Little Bird
3. Wake the World
4. Friends
5. Anna Lee the Healer
6. Diamond Head
7. Busy Doin Nothing
8. Meant for You
9. When a Man Needs a Woman
10. Transcendental Meditation (has grown on me. Doesn't fit Friends, maybe work on WH?)
11. Be Still (beautiful but kind of boring. Might have fit better on Smiley)
12. Passing By

This one is hard. I love all the songs.

[Dave Modny]

1) Be Here In The Morning
2) Wake The World
3) Anna Lee, The Healer
4) Little Bird
5) Busy Doin' Nothin'
6) Friends
7) Meant For You
Passing By
9) When A Man Needs A Woman
10) Be Still
11) Diamond Head
12) Transcendental Meditation


Love this album.

[NHC]

1)  Busy Doin' Nothin"
2)  Wake The World
3)  Anna Lee
4)  Passing By
5)  Friends
6)  When A Man Needs A Woman
7)  Meant For You
Diamond Head
9) Be Here In The Morning
10) Little Bird
11) Be Still
 

[Catbirdman]

My second-favorite album, after Smile.


A+
Busy Doin' Nothin'
Friends
Be Here in the Mornin'

A
Wake the World
Meant for You
Little Bird
When a Man Needs a Woman

A-
Passing By

B+
Diamond Head
Anna Lee, the Healer

B
Transcendental Meditation
Be Still

[joshferrell]

1.busy doing nothing
2.passing by
3.friends
4.be here in the morning
5.little bird
6. be still
7.wake the world
8. meant for you
9.when a man needs a woman
10.annie lee the healer
11.Transcendental meditation
12.Diamond head

[Puggal]

I find this record sadly uneven.

A+
Busy Doin' Nothin'
Passing By


A
Friends
Wake the World

A-
Meant For You   

B+
Little Bird
Be Here In The Morning
When A Man Needs A Man

B
9. Diamond Head

C-
10. Anna Lee, The Healer

F
11. Be Still
12. Transcendental Meditation

[Dudd]

A cosy little album... I like almost every track!

12. Meant For You
11. Be Still
10. When A Man Needs A Woman
9. Little Bird
8. Be Here In The Morning
7. Transcendal Meditation
6. Anna Lee The Healer
5. Diamond Head
4. Passing By
3. Wake The World - This is a gorgeous tune, but I wish it were longer.
2. Friends
1. Busy Doin' Nothin'

B+
Little Bird
Be Here In The Morning
When A Man Needs A Man

I think you mean When A Man Needs A Woman...

[Puggal]

A cosy little album... I like almost every track!

12. Diamond Head
11. Meant For You
10. Be Still
9. When A Man Needs A Woman
8. Little Bird
7. Passing By
6. Be Here In The Morning
5. Transcendal Meditation
4. Anna Lee The Healer
3. Wake The World - This is a gorgeous tune, but I wish it were longer.
2. Friends
1. Busy Doin' Nothin'

B+
Little Bird
Be Here In The Morning
When A Man Needs A Man

I think you mean When A Man Needs A Woman...

They make things like you my son. 

[runnersdialzero]

1. Little Bird - nice Smile nod without being an actual recycled idea

But it is.

Meant For You - Here, the use of a fragment really works tho people need to stop acting like its a masterpiece.  It ain't even a song!

But it is! Who says something needs to be of a certain length or structure to be considered a "song"? Fuck that crap - when you have something this beautiful, this much of, yes, a masterpiece, and this effective in such a short time, you've got yourself one damn fine song.

Also, I had no idea "Be Still" was disliked so much. Boring? Pffff.

[Amazing Larry]

1. Meant For You 9/10
2. Friends 10/10
3. Wake The World 9.5/10
4. Be Here In The Morning 10/10
5. When A Man Loves A Woman 8.5/10
6. Passing By 9.5/10
7. Anna Lee The Healer 8.5/10
8. Little Bird 9.5/10
9. Be Still 7.5/10
10. Busy Doin Nothin 10/10
11. Diamond Head 9.5/10
12. Transcendental Meditation 8.5/10

[Summer_Days]

1. Meant For You - Short but pure sweetness. Mike at his best, vocally.
2. Wake The World - Absolutely amazing tune. Love that arrangement.
3. Busy Doin' Nothin' - Brilliant. Just Brilliant, Brian. Bossa Nova sunshine.
4. Friends - Lovely as a clear spring day. Oooh dem harmonies.
5. Little Bird - Great debut by Denny as a songwriter on record. Wow!
6. Be Here In The Morning - Love it to pieces. Silly and soothing.
7. Be Still - Underrated to all hell. Simply beautiful.
8. Diamond Head - Truly great. I dunno if he meant it or not, but it feels like Brian's tribute to cats like Les Baxter and Martin Denny and hey I love exotica, so yeah. Cool.
9. Anna Lee The Healer - Strange and delightful.
10. When A Man Needs A Woman - Very nice.
11. Passing By - On any other album this might be filler, but here it's a perfect mood piece.
12. Transcendental Meditation - Sticks out badly. A pretty decent tune, but its discordant vibe interrupts the soothing groove we had by this point listening to the album.


Sweet LP man. That the Boys managed to craft an album that's quiet and peaceful but not dull is quite an achievement.
Music for 1968 to cool out by.

[Mahalo]

12. Transcendental Meditation - Sticks out badly. A pretty decent tune, but its discordant vibe interrupts the soothing groove we had by this point listening to the album.

.... sounds like classic BW humor to me...


1. Meant For You
2. Wake the World
3. Friends
4. Busy Doin' Nothing
5. Be Here In The Morning


6. Little Bird
7. When A Man Loves A Woman
8. Passing By
9. Anna Lee
10. TM
11. Be Still

All those songs are interchangeable in order, in that second group... what a great album... this is such great music- love, friendship, life, existence, meditaion- Music to live by- nothing violent or angry.


 



...and last
Diamond Head- this could be any band playing Hawaiin music, it doesn't sound unique to the BB's. I never put this on my Friends mixes.

[drbeachboy]

12. Transcendental Meditation - Sticks out badly. A pretty decent tune, but its discordant vibe interrupts the soothing groove we had by this point listening to the album.

.... sounds like classic BW humor to me...


1. Meant For You
2. Wake the World
3. Friends
4. Busy Doin' Nothing
5. Be Here In The Morning


6. Little Bird
7. When A Man Loves A Woman
8. Passing By
9. Anna Lee
10. TM
11. Be Still

All those songs are interchangeable in order, in that second group... what a great album... this is such great music- love, friendship, life, existence, meditaion- Music to live by- nothing violent or angry.


 



...and last
Diamond Head- this could be any band playing Hawaiin music, it doesn't sound unique to the BB's. I never put this on my Friends mixes.

You're right, there is not a bad song on the album. As for Diamond Head, I think that there are a few Brian flourishes on there, but no matter, it is beautiful and fits right in there. I love listening to it after being stressed out. It is very serene & comforting. Then, TM snaps you back into the real world.

[Orange Crate Art]

One of my all-time favorite albums, not just by the BBs but by anyone. Short, sweet and breezy.
1. Busy Doin' Nothin' (best 'breezy' song ever, love the way Brian sings it, a song I play very often)
2. Friends (catchy, beautiful vocals, love the loud harmonica)
3. Be Here In The Morning (another catchy breezy waltz, great vocals, especially love Dennis' vocal at the end)
4. Diamond Head (if this song doesn't cool you off, nothing will...sorta counts as Brian solo since he's the only BB on it)
5. Little Bird (awesome early Dennis, gotta love Child Is Father To The Man at the end)
6. Meant For You (very pretty short tune)
7. Wake The World (catchy, dig the tuba)
8. Passing By (breezy and groovy samba ala Brian Wilson)
9. Be Still (mellow and heartfelt ala Dennis Wilson)
10. Transcendental Meditation (energetic, noisey, jazzy, unlike the rest of the album but quite fun)
11. Anna Lee, The Healer (the vocals are good, neat song, almost sounds like it could be a theme song for a TV show)
12. When A Man Needs A Woman (hahaha cute song)

[TimeToGetAlone]

1. Friends - 286.5 (4)
2. Busy Doin' Nothin' - 282.5 (11)
3. Wake the World - 260
4. Be Here in the Morning - 246.5 (4)
5. Little Bird - 242.5 (5)
6. Meant For You - 217 (5)
7. Passing By - 160
8. Anna Lee, the Healer - 156.5 (1)
9. When a Man Needs a Woman - 153
10. Diamond Head - 127
11. Be Still - 109.5
12. Transcendental Meditation - 99

My thoughts?  Despite Busy Doin' Nothin' taking by far the most first place votes, the title track outduels it.  I'm mostly happy with this list, but I'm dumbfounded how Little Bird didn't make the top three.

[bluesno1fann]

From Worst to Best:

12. Transcendental Meditation.
11. Anna Lee, The Healer.
10. Busy Doin' Nothin'.
09. Be Here In The Morning.
08. Meant For You.
07. When A Man Needs A Woman.
06. Passing By.
05. Wake The World.
04. Diamond Head.
03. Friends.
02. Be Still.
01. Little Bird.

[Orange Crate Art]

Love this mellow and cozy album!

1. Busy Doin' Nothin'
2. Friends
3. Diamond Head
4. Be Here In The Morning
5. Wake The World
6. Meant For You
7. Little Bird
8. Passing By
9. Be Still
10. Transcendental Meditation
11. Anna Lee The Healer
12. When A Man Needs A Woman

[job]

1. Little Bird
2. Busy Doin' Nothin'
3. Diamond Head
4. Meant for You
5. Be Here in the Mornin'
6. When a Man Needs a Woman
7. Wake the World
8. Passing By
9. Be Still
10. Friends
11. Transcendental Meditation
12. Anna Lee the Healer

[NateRuvin]

1 Wake The World--- I don't know why, but I LOVE THIS SONG.
2 Friends--- A bliss waltz singing about friendship. Very square in the context of '68, but a beautiful song in retrospect.
3 Busy Doin' Nothin--- An honest look into BW's life, with great instrumentation, and vocals by BW and his wife Marilyn.
4 Be Here In The Mornin'--- I love the harmonies and the ukulele.
5 Little Bird--- Denny's first song a BBs record, and it's a great song.
6 Meant For You--- Very serene and to the point.
7 When A Man Needs A Woman--- I love this song. Great chord progression.
8 Anna Lee--- Great harmonies, and minimal production. Cool song.
9 Be Still--- Emotional ballad, but a bit bland.
10 Diamond Head--- Paints a picture of relaxing by the beach.
11 TM--- OK song, with a great arrangement! Love the Bari Saxes!!!
12 Passing By--- I think this song is a bit annoying to be honest.

[jiggy22]

Ranking this was a LOT harder than I was expecting!

1. Meant for You (As long as it's the longer MIC version)
2. Busy Doin' Nothin'
3. Transcendental Meditation
4. Little Bird
5. Diamond Head
6. Wake the World
7. Friends
8. Be Here in the Morning
9. Anna Lee
10. Passing By
11. When a Man Needs a Woman
12. Be Still (Sounds more like an unfinished demo than an actual song!)

[Uncomfortable Seat]

1. Be Still
2. Friends
3. Anna Lee, the Healer
4. Wake the World
5. Be Here in the Morning
6. Passing By
7. When a Man Needs a Woman
8. Meant  for You
9. Little Bird
10. Diamond Head
11. Busy Doin' Nothin'
12. Transcendental Meditation