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   “THE BEACH BOYS LOVE YOU” was the 1977 group offering from the Beach Boys, although essentially, once stripped of the layered group vocals, it was ultimately a Brian Wilson ‘solo’ offering. The fragile Brian Wilson of the mid-1970’s that is. Despite all of the furore surrounding the “15 Big Ones” / ‘Brian’s Back’ campaign, once Brian had the time, following his forced re-entry into the concert arenas of America, he was to be found back in the recording studios, feverishly working on a selection of new songs, seemingly intent on releasing a new album, initially under the working titles of “New Album” and/or … “Brian Loves You”.

  Presumably, at one stage, the group decided it was time to put their input into one of these virtually completed offerings, and added their combined voices (although in Dennis and Carl’s case

decade, removed it appeared, of the increasingly restricting contributions from his fellow band members. “Honkin’ Down The Highway” rocked their boat, whilst “The Night Was So Young” takes them back towards the groups delicate harmonies of yesteryear …

  However, on the opposite hand, we have the loyal Beach Boys fans who truly despair of the simplistic, raw production, filled with synthesisers and rough edges. Where were the beautiful melodies that had woven through the heartstrings of the “Pet Sounds” or “Sunflower” eras ? Save for the occasional moment or two, where were the endless banks of sun-drenched harmonies ?

  In order to stand completely non-biased with my text here, for the sake of this article I shall remain on the fence (although I do have my own opinion …), and instead we shall simply sum up the commercial aspect of the album by acknowledging that this division amongst the music-buying population, and notably spearheaded by the lack of a successful preceding single release, saw the album scrape to a lowly #53. Despite the bands continuing concert attraction it would appear that the initial impact that had followed Brian’s apparent resurgence had clearly faltered …

  For the packaging of the album the group once again turned to loyal friend, and sleeve designer for the previous release, Dean Torrence, head of the burgeoning Kittyhawk Graphics. Dean recalled (in conversation with this author):

  “Because the guys were using the image of a native Indian in their Brother Records logo, I came up with something that looked like a Navajo rug. I actually designed around 80% of the cover while waiting for the title to be finalised. My title offering, "Cowabunga", was obviously not used, but the word looked like a native American word - and it

also was related to surfing. Nice fit I thought. The “Love You” title was really corny, I hated it …”

  This striking mosaic vision, comprising of 729 (count ‘em) small, coloured squares, doesn’t sit comfortably with all fans, with the actual title of the album only becoming clearly apparent when viewed from a distance, and yet once one understands the conceptual idea of the Torrence ‘rug’, with the additional images of the birds in-flight in each of the four corners, it becomes all the more attractive to the eye.

  The pattern is continued on the reverse of the sleeve, with slight colour variations around the edges, although in the centre of the rear sleeve a group picture is placed, a strange combination made up of two individual photographs. The forefront of the picture comprises of the five group members, as captured on camera by Los Angeles-based photographer Guy Webster, a legendary figure behind the lens who had not only captured the band during their earlier glory days, but also many others of rock’n’roll’s elite, along with a vast number of major Hollywood and politic figureheads …

  However, somewhat ironically for California’s own native sons, pictured in familiar surroundings on a sun-kissed beach (and the same photo session also later supplied to front cover to David Leaf’s book “The Beach Boys & The California Myth), Webster actually informed this author during 2006 that “the picture was actually taken whilst we were on tour in Florida” … (possibly for the January 7th 1977 show ...).

  Perhaps in order to redress the balance, Webster’s group image is then superimposed over a darkened vision of a breaking shoreline, with a surfer stalking the sand, stick in hand, possibly with the intention of convincing/intentionally misleading the viewer into believing the scenario of a California-based imagery - and yet, somewhat strangely, the finished artwork was then initially pressed onto a rough, matt-finished card, so that the completed combination had no sheen, with the result that the surfbreak is barely visible amongst the murky colouring (note: the manufacturers of the compact disc re-issue, following on in later years, were also unable to correct such dismal colouring).

  Both track selection and brief album credits also adorn the rear, above and below the picture, and the overall impression is that , aesthetically, the rear actually works better than the front of the sleeve, with the overall presentation of the group bearing far more rock ‘credibility’ than the deeply concerning images that were uncomfortably displayed on the previous studio album (even if Alan’s cap and Mike’s wide-brimmed affair are simply clear attempts to disguise the thinning pate …).

  However, it is interesting to note than Webster’s photograph was not the picture initially intended for the sleeve, and an early test print featured an alternate group photograph (below).

a band member himself, judging by the size and placing of his individual shot), Dean Torrence, Audree Wilson, Christian Love, Lynda Jardine and Cathy McCarty (Dean’s girlfriend of the time …). Credits for these candid shots are shared amongst David Leaf, Lester Cohen, Lou Cohen and David Hiller, and were made available courtesy of David Leaf’s wonderful, but all-too brief “Pet Sounds” magazine that surfaced for a few tantalising issues during the mid/late 70’s (Volume 1: Edition 1 features a series of other shots from the event).

Above: 1977 Promotional advertisement

All rights reserved : No part of this text may be copied, stored or reproduced without written consent of the author. Pipeline Publications (UK) 2006