L.A. (Light Album)


L.A. is the 23rd studio album by the Beach Boys, released on March 19, 1979. Produced by Bruce Johnston, James William Guercio and the band itself, the album was the Beach Boys' first on CBS Records, and the first to feature contributions from Johnston since his departure from the band in 1972. Johnston was brought in when it became clear that the ailing Brian Wilson was in no fit state to produce the album, and he has remained in the band ever since.
L.A. reached No. 100 in the US during a chart stay of 13 weeks, and No. 32 in the UK.

Background and recording

Despite a new $8 million contract with CBS Records calling for Brian Wilson to write and produce 75% of the songs on each new album, his contributions to L.A. are minimal. His presence on the album as a vocalist has only been confirmed on one song, "Angel Come Home", though he probably played piano on the single "Good Timin'" which was co-written by him with brother Carl, but the origins of the recording go back to five years earlier. “Good Timin’” was produced by Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, and Beach Boys associate and occasional touring sideman Jim Guercio. His arrangement of the traditional song "Shortenin' Bread" was also older, although the recording was more recent. The vocals for both songs were recorded without Brian. "Good Timin'" hit #40 in the US.
The first song attempted for L.A. was entitled "California Feelin'". It would remain unreleased until 2013 for the compilation Made in California. Both "Baby Blue" and "Love Surrounds Me" were originally recorded for Dennis Wilson's never-released second solo album, Bambu. These would be the last Dennis Wilson songs released before his death in 1983. Another Dennis song titled "Constant Companion" was mixed for the album but was dropped from the final track listing.
L.A. spawned a top-ten hit in the UK with Al Jardine's Bach-inspired "Lady Lynda", written for his wife, and later rerecorded as "Lady Liberty" after their divorce. Jardine revealed that Dennis Wilson made an uncredited contribution to the song's lush string arrangement. Mike Love's Japanese-flavored "Sumahama" was also a UK single chart entry later in 1979.
The album also included an eleven-minute disco recasting of Wild Honey's "Here Comes the Night" that caused considerable consternation among fans. The song was only played live during a few dates at New York City's Radio City Music Hall in March 1979 before being dropped from the live set due to adverse audience reaction. Nevertheless, an abridged 4:34 version made the charts in the US as the lead single, peaking at #44.

Release and reception

Although Brother Records was still in operation during the time of the albums' release, the band's manager, former Chicago producer James William Guercio, had his own label, Caribou Records, distribute the album in conjunction with Brother. L.A. peaked at #100 in the US, and #32 in the UK. Upon its release, Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh wrote, "The Beach Boys have not made great rock music since Wild Honey made competent pop music since Holland;" he concluded that the album "is worse than awful. It is irrelevant."
Retrospectively, Richard Williams of Uncut referred to the track 'Angel Come Home' as 'the most beautifully textured and exquisitely pain-racked white soul music ever made', while music historian Jeff Tamarkin - who penned liner notes for the 2000 CD reissue - said of the album: "There is undeniable brilliance here if one dares to look." By contrast, Allmusic reviewer John Bush wrote "The Beach Boys ended the decade by releasing the worst album of their career," describing the album as "yet another oddball attempt to push the Beach Boys into the contemporary mainstream despite their many songwriting and production flaws."

Track listing

Personnel

Sourced from Craig Slowinski.
;The Beach Boys
;Additional musicians
;Recording personnel

Chart positions

;Albums
YearChartPosition
1979US Billboard 200 Albums Chart100
1979Dutch Album Chart43
1979UK Top 40 Album Chart32