Summer in Paradise

Summer in Paradise
Studio album by The Beach Boys
Released August 3, 1992
Recorded late 1991 – mid 1992
Genre Rock, electronic rock
Length 44:10
Label Brother
Producer Terry Melcher
The Beach Boys chronology
Lost & Found (1961–62)
(1991)Lost & Found (1961–62)1991		 Summer in Paradise
(1992)		 Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys
(1993)Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys1993
Singles from Summer in Paradise
  1. "Hot Fun in the Summertime"
    Released: July 1992
  2. "Summer of Love"
    Released: 1995

Summer in Paradise is the 27th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 3, 1992 on Brother Records. Produced by Terry Melcher, it has been described as the band's critical and commercial low point, defining it as "absolute nadir of their career".[1] It was the first and only studio album not to feature any new contributions from founding member Brian Wilson. The Beach Boys did not record another album of original material until That's Why God Made the Radio in 2012.

Summer in Paradise was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001 and is currently out of print along with their previous album, Still Cruisin'.

Background

The entire album was recorded using a Beta version of Pro Tools on a Macintosh Quadra computer, being one of the earliest albums to do so. Musically, it continued in the vein of The Beach Boys and Still Cruisin' in its use of electronic instrumentation. The entire rhythm section was electronic on most songs, with all the drum parts being programmed (although not credited as such) and most of the bass parts were also synthesized.

All the surviving original band members except Brian Wilson (who was in legal process of being removed from the care of Eugene Landy) contributed to this project, though the only band member actually to play on the record was Bruce Johnston. Significantly, Van Dyke Parks played accordion on two tracks. Terry Melcher was the other significant keyboard musician taking part. Though Al Jardine's son Adam sang backup vocals on the title track and touring musician Adrian Baker also sang backup, other regular members of the current Beach Boys' touring band did not contribute to the album. Mike Love and Terry Melcher were the main composers on the album; Johnston was the only other member to contribute a new song to the album. Jardine had allegedly been "suspended" from the band prior to the album's recording, supposedly because of a dispute about content; however he sang lead vocals on two of the album's songs, and contributed to the partial rerecording of tracks for the UK issue on EMI.

The conceptual idea behind the title song, co-written by Mike Love, was environmental protection but the album was designed, in Love's words, to create "the quintessential soundtrack of summer". Every song, with the exception of a cover of their 1970 "Forever" and the original song "Strange Things Happen", deals with summer in one way or another. Of the album's twelve tracks, two songs are covers ("Hot Fun in the Summertime" originally by Sly & the Family Stone, and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" originally by The Shangri-Las); two are new versions of older Beach Boys songs ("Surfin'" and "Forever", the latter with a vocal by John Stamos); one combines a classic song ("One Summer Night") with a new Bruce Johnston song ("Slow Summer Dancin'"); and one takes an old song ("Under the Boardwalk") and adds new lyrics. The rest are original numbers, all containing both titular and lyrical references to summer and/or surfing, with the exception of the Transcendental Meditation-influenced "Strange Things Happen". The quasi-rap number "Summer of Love" was originally intended to be a duet with Bart Simpson for a planned Simpsons movie, but the Simpsons producers turned down the offer.[2] The song was instead used in an episode of Baywatch. Stamos performed the song "Forever" on at least three episodes of his sitcom Full House.

Navarre and EMI only issued one print run each, and Summer in Paradise has been out of print since its release. It has since become a collectors' piece.

Front cover artwork

The artwork that features prominently on the front of this release, and indeed the similar pieces that feature throughout the package, were painted by fellow Californian artist Robert Lyn Nelson. The original US front sleeve utilises the painting "Elements of the Universe", whilst inside the gatefold casing were further Nelson works, notably "Ring of Life" (used for the alternate UK pressing), "Embraced By the Sea" and "Amethyst Dawn at Kipahulu".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]

Summer in Paradise is the only Beach Boys studio album that failed to make Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart; it reportedly sold fewer than 1000 copies on its release, tying with 1978's M.I.U. Album for the Beach Boys album with by far the poorest commercial sales performance. The poor sales of the US release reportedly contributed to independent distributor Navarre becoming bankrupt.[6] Andrew G. Doe and John Tobler, authors of The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beach Boys, described it as "the absolute nadir of their recording career." In an online interview, Doe said he had to listen to the album three times while writing the book, "which has probably scarred me for life."[7]

A large number of unsold copies of the album were unloaded by bundling them free with a Beach Boys CD box set offered by QVC. During the making of the 1993 RTÉ documentary The Beach Boys Today, Mike Love described the album to writer-director Michael Feeney Callan as "an important exercise in continuity and unity," and lamented the restrictions on Brian Wilson's availability in what was planned as a fully cohesive 30th anniversary album. "It would really have been great to rework tracks like "Goin' to the Beach," said Love. "We've always strived for harmony, and we always will."

For two decades, Summer in Paradise was the Beach Boys' last album of original material. An interim album was Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a compilation of Beach Boys' classics performed by country stars with all the surviving original band members and was Carl Wilson's last album with the band before his passing in 1998. In June 2012 the album That's Why God Made the Radio was released featuring all-new material from the surviving members.

John Stamos helped further give the album promotion during the 1993 season of his hit television show, Full House. A poster for the album and CD are shown onscreen often in the studio where he hosts his daily radio show.

The title track has remained a concert staple of the band, none of the other songs from Summer in Paradise have been played live except for Under the Boardwalk, the new version of Surfin' several times, and Summer of Love and Strange Things Happen, each played once during the 1990s.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."Hot Fun in the Summertime"Sylvester StewartMike Love and Carl Wilson3:29
2."Surfin'"Brian Wilson, Mike LoveMike Love and Carl Wilson3:45
3."Summer of Love"Mike Love, Terry MelcherMike Love2:51
4."Island Fever"Love, MelcherLove and Carl Wilson3:27
5."Still Surfin'"Love, MelcherLove4:03
6."Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)"Bruce Johnston, Danny WebbBruce Johnston and Al Jardine3:23
7."Strange Things Happen"Love, MelcherLove and Jardine4:42
8."Remember (Walking in the Sand)"George MortonCarl Wilson3:31
9."Lahaina Aloha"Love, MelcherLove and Carl Wilson3:44
10."Under the Boardwalk"Artie Resnick, Kenny YoungLove and Carl Wilson4:07
11."Summer in Paradise"Love, Melcher, Craig FallLove3:52
12."Forever"Dennis Wilson, Gregg JakobsonJohn Stamos3:05

UK version

Summer in Paradise (UK)
Studio album by The Beach Boys
Released May 1993
Genre Rock
Length 41:15
Label EMI
Producer Terry Melcher
The Beach Boys chronology
Lost & Found (1961–62)
(1991)Lost & Found (1961–62)1991		 Summer in Paradise
(1992)		 Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys
(1993)Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys1993

The 1993 UK CD release features different versions of five songs:

  • "Island Fever" – 3:11
    • Completely re-recorded and features new music and different lyrics.
    • Features Mike Love and Al Jardine on lead vocals
  • "Strange Things Happen" – 3:17
    • Remixed and shortened considerably.
    • Features Mike Love and Al Jardine on lead vocals
  • "Under the Boardwalk" – 3:28
    • Remixed and shortened considerably, although the bridge was restored.
    • Features Mike Love and Carl Wilson on lead vocals
  • "Summer in Paradise" – 3:27
    • Completely re-recorded and features new music, different lyrics, and Roger McGuinn singing lead vocals on one verse.
    • Features Mike Love and Roger McGuinn on lead vocals
  • "Forever" – 2:58
    • Remixed and shortened slightly.
    • Features John Stamos on lead vocals
  • Remember (Walking in the Sand) was remixed for the UK CD but the new mix was left off in favor of the US version.

Singles

  • "Hot Fun in the Summertime" b/w "Summer of Love" - July 1992
  • "Forever" - promotional single to US radio stations. The promotional single included a "CHR mix" that is different from both the standard CD version (also on the promotional single) and the UK CD version
  • "Summer of Love" - released as a US CD single in 1995 to tie in with its use in Baywatch

Summer in Paradise (Brother BBR 727-2 and EMI 0777 7 81036 2 2) failed to chart in either the US or the UK.

Personnel

The Beach Boys
Additional musicians

Notes

  1. ↑ Doe and Tobler.
  2. ↑ Jones, Doug (30 August 2016). "Low Tide: The Beach Boys hit rock bottom in 1992 with 'Summer in Paradise'". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Allmusic review
  4. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Summer in Paradise". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  6. ↑ Doe and Tobler. Andrew Doe quotes the 1000 figure from Terry Melcher, who got it from his royalty statements.
  7. ↑ "Interview with Andrew G. Doe (7-31-05)". www.earcandymag.com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

Sources

  • Tobler, John; Andrew Grayham Doe (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beach Boys. London, England: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5595-6.
  • Summer in Paradise CD booklet notes, Mike Love
  • "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
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