In today's video, we chat about how we discovered this special album. I'm sure we all have different stories, so let's hear them! instagram: www.instagram.... tiktok: / giggens_
For me, it was my good pal Giggens who introduced me to Friends. I quickly became a fan of the entire album, especially with songs like Busy Doin' Nothin. To this day, Giggens and I have been friends now for so many years - we've been together through the good times and the tears. 😄
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Hahaha yes man! That rules!!
@dadjacobs8977
5 күн бұрын
Back in the 80s when I was listening to things like Bauhaus, Legendary Pink Dots, the Cure, Nick Drake, Tom Waits, and some 1960s-70s psychedelic stuff that my older friend turned me on to, I started reading about different bands and their influences. Many of these experimental bands cited Brian Wilson as an influence. I'm thinking "really? The guy that wrote Fun, Fun, Fun is an influence on these psychedelic bands? Weird.". So I read about Smile, and I found Smiley Smile on cassette(i still have it). I didn't realize that wasn't Smile, but I was shocked at how weird and great that it was. From then on, I realized that any Beach Boys records with songs that I never heard of, were probably the unique ones. Soooo, I found Friends on cassette next. Beautiful, breezy, nostalgic record. Probably my favorite...
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's an awesome way to get into them, how cool!
@Lambert1386
5 күн бұрын
I got the 2-fer (Friends/Smiley Smile) for my birthday in 1978. I heard "Busy Doin' Nothin'" and I was hooked. It was then that I began collecting Beach Boys records and memorabilia. My wife likens it to an alcoholic taking their first drink.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That two-fer changed most people's lives!
@jamesshelton2179
5 күн бұрын
Back in '93, a friend made me listen to it and 20/20. I am forever grateful that he did. I fell in love with The Beach Boys due to those two albums. From there I moved on to the Good Vibrations Box Set and the '70's albums which I found in a $5 CD Bargain Bin.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Now that's a great cd bargain bin!
@jamesshelton2179
5 күн бұрын
@@Giggens yeah it was. It had every album up the 1985 self-titled. 🙂
@superskybound8425
5 күн бұрын
I actually decided to listen to their discography for the first time this summer! Strangely, I heard Vegetables and that just sold me instantly. I did so much research on the band, my friends got so sick of hearing me talk about it. About halfway through, after loving Smiley Smile and Wild Honey (both are still top 5), and after reading that Friends was lo-fi tranquil pop, I knew I had to save it for last. Before I listened to it a few days ago, my friends decided to get to a Beach Boys album before I could and they let me know ahead of time how much I'd love Busy Doin' Nothin'. It might be too early to call, but Friends is my #1 Beach Boys album. Busy Doin' Nothin' is one of their best songs ever! Great video, perfect timing!
@Giggens
4 күн бұрын
That's so cool! Such a great album!
@dummytree
5 күн бұрын
The song "Friends" I first heard on a dubious European compilation from the 80s. It was a proper collection, but they used a lot of inferior sources for it, lots of songs in duophonic etc. So it was rather lo-fi but I loved the song. As far as the album goes, I was just digging in the Beach Boys discography with the awesome 1990 twofers, and "Friends" was a logical step. Plus I love all those psychedelic looking album covers from the late 60s, so the artwork was just screaming "listen to me!".It's one of my favourite BB albums.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's so cool!
@JohnnyManThan
5 күн бұрын
Back in 2022, I dived head first into The Beach Boys discography after rediscovering them through the Feel Flows boxset. At some point during my deep dive, I came across Friends while I was checking out more and more of their music from the 60’s to the 50th anniversary. First thing I noticed was the beautiful album cover, then the equally beautiful songs inside, then as I listened to it more I came to the conclusion that it really was and is one of my favorite albums of theirs. Meant For You, Friends, and Be Still are my top 3 at the moment
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That Feel Flows set brought alot of people in!
@friendly76
5 күн бұрын
My very first job was a volunteer one. As a junior in high school, I was a book shelver at the library. I was becoming a big Beach Boys fan, and one of the very few BB CDs that they had was the Friends/20/20 twofer. I checked it out a few times. It took a few weeks for me to get used to it, but it has been my all time favorite Beach Boys album since that time (1992)
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's so awesome!!
@orbyfan
5 күн бұрын
I was 7 years old early in 1969 and starting to listen to my older brother's early-era Beach Boys records, when I saw "Friends" on a rack in a drugstore in Yellowknife, N.W.T., where I was living then. I didn't have enough money to buy it at the time, but I always remembered what the cover looked like. I finally bought the album in 1975 as half of the Brother/Reprise twofer with "Smiley Smile." About seven years after the, I picked up an original copy of "Friends" with the cover I remembered. It's a perfect album for listening to on a warm, lazy weekday afternoon in June.
@orbyfan
5 күн бұрын
That 2002 CD is a good introduction to those later songs for those who aren't familiar with them. Oddly, after not listening to it for a long time, I put it on my car CD player a few hours before seeing this video.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Those two-fers really made an impact for so many people!
@paulcash8160
6 күн бұрын
I first saw The Beach Boys live in 1972. I bought ENDLESS SUMMER when it came out and thought that covered the early years satisfactorily, but when Capitol started issuing twofers about 30 years ago I bought Friends/20-20 and immediately seized on "Busy Doin' Nothin' " as the highlight. Not only is it lovely but as you say it is "so Brian" and it makes me laugh
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Absolutely haha!
@lamontsouth5301
23 сағат бұрын
Giggens. I was 12 when Little Girl I Once Knew came out. I was hooked!. Then I got the Party album for Christmas. I spent the rest of my teenage years getting the current albums as they came out, and getting the 10 or so albums back to Surfin Safari. When Friends (the single) came out, I first heard it on my car radio. I had to pull over to the side of the road to listen carefully to it. It was so different and I loved it. Still do. When Friends(the album) came out, it was just the NEXT ALBUM to get for my favorite band. Thanks. Lamont
@Giggens
21 сағат бұрын
That's so cool you heard Friends on the radio back then, wow!
@lamontsouth5301
20 сағат бұрын
@@Giggens I grew up in southern Idaho, and the only radio stations we could get were from Salt Lake City. Even in the lat 60's, The Beach Boys were very popular in Salt Lake. I remember the Friends single was ranked in the top 10 on the Salt Lake stations, so I heard it quite often on the radio.
@nblanch2
5 күн бұрын
I first heard the song Friends on the compilation 'The Very Best Of The Beach Boys (Volumes 1 & 2)', issued here in the UK in 1983. Then I bought the 'Friends/20/20' 2fer (along with all of the others) when they came out on CD in 1990.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
I'll have to look up that greatest hits comp!
@leopoldopetrieska6564
5 күн бұрын
back in 2010 a friend of mine burnt me a bunch of BB albums on a cd and Friends was there. I never listened to it until 2013 when i went on a europe trip, where i said, let's take this with me. I listened to it taking a train to Toledo and i was blown away, but in a soothing wasy and i was obsessed with the title track. Ever since it's been my favourite album
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's so cool!
@GarethJones1979
5 күн бұрын
After being blown away by Pet Sounds just before, I brought as many Beach Boys Twofer albums as I could get hold of in the early 2000's, including Friends which was coupled up with 20/20. I have never had such a wonderful and enlightening musical journey.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
So well said!!
@Ruiner10000000001
5 күн бұрын
I bought that very CD the same day I somehow managed to get a ticket for an almost instantly sold out Brian Wilson show back in 2005. I wanted to dig a little deeper and loved the lesser known songs. I was delighted that Brian played "Marcella"! The evening before Brian and director David Leaf took part in a Q&A after a screening of "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the story of SmiLE", which I also attended. Great memories!
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Now that rules, wow!!
@wesleyrwennerstrom
5 күн бұрын
I discovered Friends when Capitol reissued all the late 60's album in the early 80's on their Capitol dome green labels budget line. Friends is just the perfect album to chill out to. When I saw Brian live in 2013 with Al Jardine and David Marks David did Little Bird that was a big highlight. A great comp to get people to sample the late 60's stuff is the 81 release Sunshine Dream. That completes the Capitol trilogy starting with Endless Summer and Spirit Of America 2 lp sets.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Sunshine Dream is one of the best comps ever!
@carlrudd1858
5 күн бұрын
I got to Friends via the Capitol Records 2-fer CD's in the late 1980's. Love that music.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's awesome!
@janetmagnuson2285
6 күн бұрын
Yes! Busy doin’ nothin’ is 3 minutes of bliss! I am a boomer who really knew nothing, or next nothing, of the Beach Boys and Brian. You know, serious hippie music type 😢. I’m embarrassed to admit that it was Love and Mercy that sent me down the rabbit hole. I started with Surfin Safari and never looked back. When I got to Friends, Busy doin’ nothin’ just blew me away. Yeah it is so Brian! And though people always say he can’t write lyrics, these are just so wonderful, perfect and beautiful. No one else could have done it. I am so sad that I denied myself all of Brian’s awesome music growing up. Give me a time machine and let me live my life over! (I’ve read so much awful and oblivious criticism in the Brian rabbit hole 😡. You, Giggens, are a ray of light! Thank you!)
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Thank you so much for watching! And as long as we hear the music, it doesnt matter when! :)
@KipArmadillo
5 күн бұрын
I bought the Friends CD at a brick and mortar music store in Portsmouth, NH back in 1998 or 99. I had been working through their late 60s-early 70s catalog, and it was a blind buy. If I made a Beach Boys albums tier list now, "Friends" would definitely be a solid B, and would make my top 10.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
I hear that!
@alexbest381
5 күн бұрын
Air, the French band, mentioned Friends in an interview in Mojo magazine. As I recall they found the record to have a "British" sound and that intrigued me enough to buy it.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Interesting!
@jameswatson5370
5 күн бұрын
The first time I heard the track Friends was from the compilation album, Sunshine Dream. A year or so later, the Beach Boys 2-fers came out on CD, so I first heard the album then. Btw, Matthew Hartz Music on KZitem here, just did an hour and a half deep dive into the Friends album, giving the background and breaking down the music, showing the chords used. Great video.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
I'll check it out!
@MattHorner-z7o
6 күн бұрын
My dad had a vinyl copy of this record and used to play it regularly along with Pet Sounds and Wild Honey.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That rules!
@calebwiggins5524
6 күн бұрын
I was always a fan of the beach boys stuff through pet sounds and I was always told/thought that they peaked with pet sounds and that was it. During 2019-2020, I had gotten into Brian's solo stuff (mainly the 88 solo album and it blew me away). I read more about his career on Wikipedia and discovered the legend of smile. I listened to the smile sessions and I was completely blown away. It was way better than sgt pepper. I then became a fanatic for the beach boys later stuff and the more I listened to the 67-71 albums, the more I gravitated to friends and sunflower as almost comfort albums when I was going through rough times. Those albums focus on the joy and peace that can be expressed in music.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Those albums sure are peaceful!
@calebwiggins5524
5 күн бұрын
Then I found the twofer cds based on your recommendation and recently I acquired an original 1970 copy of sunflower.
@chrisrainbow2393
5 күн бұрын
Hi Giggens , I heard Busy Doin Nothing playing on Capital Radio London and it blew my mind and it was ether Kenny Everett or Roger Scott who inspired my interest and its so Brian that i reckon that had this been played with no introduction, i would know it was a Brian Song and the fact that its all about nothing in great detail shows sheer brilliance and it took me years to find the album, but when i did i found two together , both 2fers , one on capitol and one on WB.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Those two-fers changed so many lives!
@jennyjamball
5 күн бұрын
I love your story and what a fantastic idea for a video 😊 I first heard it when I was about 5 or 6, my dad was going through a phase of playing all his BB albums in order when we would cruise around in the car on weekends - I instantly loved it because it felt so fun and accessible - love this album ❤ (but not as much as I love you though!)
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That is so sweet honey, I didn't know that story! Thanks for sharing sweetheart, I love you!!
@SmartBonnieYT
5 күн бұрын
I first discovered the Friends album this past summer through the song Busy Doin' Nothin', when Charles Cornell analyzed it in his Beach Boys video. I instantly loved the song, and it got me into the band's post-Pet Sounds material.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's so cool!
@UncleWonderful2
5 күн бұрын
Giggens, I really admire your enthusiasm and hearing your joy at discovering a track that is long dear to me, makes me very happy. I’m another Boomer and initially loved the quirkiness of the Friends single before the LP was released. Busy doing’ nothin’ is my favourite track on the album, with its lightness, its innocence and its gentle humour. Being a ‘core fan’, as you put it, I simply bought each single and album as it came out. Friends was short but very sweet and rarely off the turntable. Although the band were generally out of favour in the late 60s, a lot of their music sounded fantastic when we were stoned, being played alongside psychedelia and Zappa. Busy doin’ nothin’, like Little pad, Vegetables and She’s going bald from Smiley Smile were especially popular in my circle, here in the UK.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That rules that you were buying the singles and albums back when they were coming out, that's so exciting!
@UncleWonderful2
5 күн бұрын
It was indeed a very exciting time to be young and into music. So glad that subsequent generations find and like the music of our youth. I met an old guy in the 1970s who saw me buying Glenn Miller albums. He said he used to dance to Miller at his concerts in America in the late 30s! As the song goes: "the music goes around and around.. and comes out, here!" Maybe in 40 years' time old people will see young folk buying Taylor Swift and smile to themselves.
@Strider258
5 күн бұрын
You dude! I had only really listened to Pet Sounds when I would let your reviews autoplay. Thanks for all the BB music. This could be a great series for each album.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That's seriously so cool! Yeah, I'll probably do more of these videos for sure!
@WhisperinWinds67
6 күн бұрын
I can’t remember exactly but I think it’s because I saw all of the fans raving for busy doin nothing so I gave the whole album a listen. One of my favorites to this day! Meant for you is mikes best vocal performance for me
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
An incredible track for sure!
@andrewhillabrand4432
6 күн бұрын
Great mix. Sound quality is awesome and has a lot of outside the box songs. First heard friends on the two fer set
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Awesome!
@user-ix4wn1th5m
5 күн бұрын
Hi 👋 i have never heard of Friends by the Beach Boys. I remember the 1960s, as i was young then. Favorite songs of mine are Don't worry Baby 1964 , I can hear Music 1969 , God only Knows 1966 , Do it Again 1968 .
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
All classic songs!
@Stonez
5 күн бұрын
For me, it was me just deciding to listen to it after scrolling past it dozens of times when looking at their discography. I only decided to look deeper into their discography after my initial listen of Smiley Smile, which looking back on that, I was throwing myself into the deep end because all I really listened to was Pet Sounds and some of their more popular “surf” songs. But I loved Smiley Smile, I didn’t know why, it just had stuff I hadn’t heard of before or since. All that to say without Smiley Smile, I wouldn’t have even thought of listening to Friends at all. And Friends is absolutely in my Top 5. It’s quick, quirky, and soothing. A surprisingly good pair with Smiley Smile in fact, and the liner notes for the double LP rerelease of both albums agree with me on this.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Smiley Smile changes things for so many people, myself included!
@aminahmed2220
4 күн бұрын
Absolutely awesome have a wonderful weekend ❤😊
@jorgecubria
5 күн бұрын
The last LP by The BB issued in Mexico was Party. So I didn't get to hear the Friends and Smily Smile until I found the double packing in 1977. All I had heard was Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains. The album was yellow with the drawing of a girl in the cover in front of a palm tree. Extremelly expensive beacuse it was double and imported. But for thr Beach Boys, nothing was expensive for me. I was very surprised about the two albums, beacuse they didn't sound like the ones I knew. My favorite albums are the 10 first ones. My favorite songs from Friends are Little Bird and Wake the World.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Those double albums are so great!
@NOWtheband
6 күн бұрын
I got into Friends in the late-nineties just after I got into our Boys via the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey CD, which was the one that made me into a fan(atic) after a friend lent me the cassette of it. Once I got the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey CD, I worked backwards and bought all the two-albums-on-one-CD's which had been released in the nineties, pretty much all at the same time. Sunflower and onwards hadn't been reissued on CD at that point although on vinyl I bought Surfs Up, Holland, 15 Big Ones, Love You, LA & Keepin' The Summer Alive all around the same time again (I do that when I get into a band = Get as much of their back catalogue all at once as is immediately available, ha ha!) - I already had Pet Sounds and 20/20 on vinyl (although, of course, I'd re-buy them on CD soon after!) - Once the Sunflower and onwards albums were reissued in 2000, I got all of those, too. Anyway, I loved every track on Friends immediately! + As for the Classics CD, I bought it when it was released but didn't think much of it due to it being all previously released material except California Feeling, which I don't think is a great song plus it being performed by Brian Wilson with his then-voice and then-band stuck out sonically far too much. It sounded out of place to me and lacklustre. 🙂
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
I can def see the Classics cd being redundant if you already owned the albums haha. So much of it was new to me in those days!
@NOWtheband
5 күн бұрын
@@Giggens - Understood - I would still but any of the new compilations back then anyway, regardless of already having the albums, ha ha! (just to have a slight new remaster or something tiny like that) 🙂
@markgaines6904
5 күн бұрын
Friends is a great album and was not accepted in the culturally chaotic climate of the times. I bought it upon its release and was fortunate enough to see them live shortly after it's release in 1968 in Sarasota Fl with Buffalo' Springfield opening for them. Great memories!
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That is so amazing you got to see them on that tour, wow!!!
@markgaines6904
5 күн бұрын
@@Giggens I am an oldy but goodie. Surfing USA was my 1st single purchase
@cazgerald9471
5 күн бұрын
I picked up most of their catalog in the early / mid 80s at alternative record shops (independent labels, imports, used). I also sold most of my vinyl over time. Maybe you could call it a lease plan 8-P
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Haha! Awesome you had them tho!
@cazgerald9471
5 күн бұрын
@@Giggens I had a Japanese import CD of "Pet Sounds" before the domestic CD release - I'm pretty sure I still have that
@jimcharles9705
6 күн бұрын
Friends is a GREAT album. An A+ project. Why has it become a "lost" album? My guess is there are a number of factors: It's just 25 minutes long. That's a short album even by 60s standards. Four of the songs aren't even 2:00. People may feel that they weren't really getting their money's worth in quantity of product. So they passed it by. How did I find Friends? Mid 70s. The Reprise "two-fer" LPs. Friends came packaged together with 20/20. Looked interesting in the store. And I needed those two albums, so I bought it and the other two-fer, Smiley Smile & Wild Honey.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Those two-fers sound amazing! Thanks for watching, Jim!
@simoncolwell8692
5 күн бұрын
I discovered Friends when Capital released all the twofers on cd in the early 90s. It's not a bad album but I don't hold it in the same reverence that many people do. I much prefer the two albums that came immediately before and after it ie Wild Honey and 20-20.
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Also great albums!
@miquelgonzalezsanchez
5 күн бұрын
It was through your channel 😊
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That rules!!
@robwalkerletthemusicplay
5 күн бұрын
Hi my introduction was exactly the same as yours giggins Anna Lea the healer is one track I adore along with busy doin nothing. 👍
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
That rules!
@morrits3969
5 күн бұрын
I had a beautiful double album that covered their biggest hits in europe throughout the 60's. And of course it included Friends! This just shows europeans have better taste than americans ;)
@Giggens
5 күн бұрын
Hahaha! Which album was it?
@morrits3969
5 күн бұрын
@@Giggens Beach Boys Bests 40 Greatest Hits. A dutch compilation with some really out there cuts. It has all the obvious choices, but also some welcome deep cuts. Hawaii, Farmers Daughter, Little Girl I Once Knew, Heroes And Villains, Breakaway and... Friends
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