Keepin' the Summer Alive

Keepin' the Summer Alive
Studio album by The Beach Boys
Released	March 24, 1980
Recorded	July 1979–February 1980 Except: "When Girls Get Together": backing track recorded November 4, 1969, with overdubs in January 1970
Genre	Rock
Length	33:10
Label	Brother/Caribou/CBS
Producer	Bruce Johnston
The Beach Boys chronology
L.A. (Light Album) (1979) Keepin' the Summer Alive (1980) Ten Years of Harmony (1981)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Keepin' the Summer Alive is the twenty-fourth studio album by The Beach Boys, their first released in the 1980s, and second release under their contract with CBS Records (now Sony Music). After L.A. (Light Album) failed to live up to expectations, the executives at CBS expected Brian Wilson's full involvement, and thus, there was another attempt to lure him back into the producer's chair.

In July 1979, after Brian and Mike Love quickly composed some new original songs, the Beach Boys all reconvened at Western Recorders in Los Angeles (where most of the band's classic 1960s material had been produced by Brian) and hoped for the best. Things did not work out as planned, however. Dennis Wilson, at odds with the rest of the group, lasted a couple of sessions before leaving and taking no further part in the album. The initial sessions themselves were halted when Brian only wanted to work on oldies (hence the inclusion of a cover of Chuck Berry's "School Days").

The band took a small break to re-think the project, with Bruce Johnston taking complete control of the album's production, and placing the songs in a more contemporary-sounding context. The album was recorded at Daryl Dragon's Rumbo Recorders in San Fernando and Al Jardine's recording studio in his Big Sur barn, and ended up as a mixture of brand new songs and older songs from the archives that hadn't been released up until that point. Of the new songs, "Keepin' the Summer Alive" and "Livin' With a Heartache" were written by Carl Wilson and Randy Bachman (of The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive). The rest of the new songs, "Oh Darlin'", "Some of Your Love", "Goin' On" and "Sunshine" were written by Mike Love and Brian Wilson. The older songs date back to 1969 ("When Girls Get Together"), 1972 ("Endless Harmony", the only track on the album where Dennis is heard) and 1978 ("Santa Ana Winds").

Keepin' the Summer Alive was released in March 1980, reaching #75 in the U.S. and #54 in the UK. After this, the Beach Boys would not release an album for another five years. This would be the last Beach Boys album to feature Dennis Wilson, who drowned in December 1983.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Keepin' the Summer Alive"	Carl Wilson/Randy Bachman	Carl Wilson	3:43
2.	"Oh Darlin'"	Brian Wilson/Mike Love	C. Wilson/Mike Love	3:52
3.	"Some of Your Love"	B. Wilson/Love	Love/C. Wilson	2:36
4.	"Livin' with a Heartache"	C. Wilson/Bachman	C. Wilson	4:06
5.	"School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)"	Chuck Berry	Al Jardine	2:52

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Goin' On"	B. Wilson/Love	Love/C. Wilson/Brian Wilson	3:00
2.	"Sunshine"	B. Wilson/Love	Love/B. Wilson/C. Wilson	2:52
3.	"When Girls Get Together"	B. Wilson/Love	Love/B. Wilson	3:31
4.	"Santa Ana Winds"	B. Wilson/Al Jardine	Jardine/Love/C. Wilson	3:14
5.	"Endless Harmony"	Bruce Johnston	Bruce Johnston/C. Wilson	3:10

Singles

• "Goin' On" b/w "Endless Harmony" (Brother/Caribou), March 11, 1980 US #83
• "Livin' with a Heartache" b/w "Santa Ana Winds" (Brother/Caribou), May 20, 1980

Keepin' the Summer Alive (Brother/Caribou/CBS JZ 36283) reached #75 in the U.S. during a chart stay of 6 weeks. It reached #54 in the UK.

Keepin' the Summer Alive is now paired on CD with The Beach Boys.

Sources

• Keepin' the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys CD booklet notes, Andrew G. Doe, c.2000.
• "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
• "Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
• "Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.

References

1. ^ Keepin' the Summer Alive at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-17.