''A Postcard from California'' is the first solo album by American musician

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist, background vocalist, and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as number-one hit ...

, best known as a cofounder of

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

. For the album, Jardine collaborated with many prominent musicians including several Beach Boys members (

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...

David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who was an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at t ...

Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...

;

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...

appears posthumously, via archival recordings edited into the album). Also performing are

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Steve Miller,

Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Manassas (band ...

, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

. ''A Postcard from California'' contains several previously unreleased songs by the Beach Boys, including " Don't Fight the Sea", "Lookin' Down the Coast", "

California Feelin' "California Feelin" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Stephen Kalinich that was recorded by the Beach Boys in the early 1970s and recorded for the first time from Brian Wilson on November 12, 1974. Wilson recorded a solo version in 2002 for ...

", and "And I Always Will." "Don't Fight the Sea" includes parts of a Beach Boys' recording (from the ''

L.A. (Light Album) ''L.A. (Light Album)'' is the 23rd studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on March 16, 1979, and their first issued through Sony Music, CBS Records. Recorded during a period of acrimony between the band members, it was a ...

'' and ''

Still Cruisin' ''Still Cruisin is the twenty-sixth studio album by the Beach Boys, their thirty-fifth official album (counting compilations and live packages), and their last release of the 1980s. It is also the last album of new material released during a br ...

'' sessions), while "Lookin' Down the Coast", "California Feelin'", and "And I Always Will" are re-recordings (the first two of these three from the ''L.A. (Light Album)'' sessions and the latter from the sessions for the band's self-titled album). "Tidepool Interlude" features a spoken word piece written by former Beach Boys collaborator

Stephen Kalinich Stephen John Kalinich ( ; born 1942) is an American poet mostly known for his songwriting collaborations with Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. In 1969, he recorded his only album, ''A World of Peace Must Come'', with prod ...

and performed by actor

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...

. Jardine added "Waves of Love" as one of the bonus tracks on his 2012 reissue of the album. Intentionally or not, the digital and CD versions of the 2012 reissue contained entirely different versions of the song. The CD included a more laid-back, live soundcheck-sounding version, with Carl Wilson's lead buried among other voices, while the digital version contained a much more "produced" and punchy version in a different key and with Carl's lead brought to the fore. There is a third version of "Waves of Love" on the Japanese version. As of August 2022, the album is again available on digital streaming services, after having been unavailable for some time.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

– lead vocals, guitars (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 12, 14), backing vocals (tracks 2, 4, 7, 9, 10), keyboards (track 4), banjo (tracks 6, 7), bass (tracks 6, 9, 15), piano (track 7), handclaps (track 8), 12-string guitar (track 15), harmonica (track 15) ;Additional musicians

Technical

* Scott Slaughter & Barry Phillips – string arrangements (track 13) * Damien Rasmussen, Jeff Peters, Richard Bryant, Stevie Heger – engineers * Jeff Peters – mixing * Alan De Moss, Beau Floch, Chris Constable, Nels Jensen – mixing assistants *

Joe Gastwirt Joe Gastwirt is an American audio engineer, known for digitally remastering hundreds of CDs and LPs for famous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Helen Reddy, Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Blu ...

– mastering * Drew Jardine, Lee Dempsey, Mary Ann Jardine, Rachael Short, Robbie Jardine, Tim Brown, Trisha Campo – photography * Al Jardine – sleeve notes * Kenta Hagiwara – liner notes * Mark London – art direction, package design * Alan Arellano – additional cover art

References

External links

Allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Postcard from California 2010 debut albums Al Jardine albums Fontana Records albums