"Friends" is a song by American rock band

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 ...

from their 1968 album ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

''. It was written by

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 ...

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, ...

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Carl Wilson as well as ...

and

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 ...

. Sung by Carl, the song was recorded in waltz time. "Friends" was the first single from the album of the same name and has since been described as a "cult favorite."

Background and recording

"Friends" was recorded on March 13, 1968. It was recorded in time for its first take. Immediately after, Brian rearranged the song after realizing that there were not many waltzes on the radio. Brian later stated, "The cut 'Friends' was, in my opinion, a good way to keep waltzes alive." As Peter Reum, a Beach Boys historian, stated "'Friends' is a waltz, and it's been used at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

to teach students how to write in time." "Friends" features a lead vocal performed by

, who had been gradually assuming more lead vocal duties to this point. Brian explained, "Carl had sung ' Darlin'' and some others before and now he spearheaded this cut with a heavy vocal performance." Brian called the song his favorite from the ''Friends'' album. In another interview, he commented, Friends' is great. I though there was a lot of humor in it and I thought, y'know, songs usually don't have that much kinda humor, but 'Friends' had a lot of humor in it. So that's why I like it."

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 ...

, who otherwise disliked the "wimpy" nature of the ''Friends'' album, described the song as "fantastic" and praised its bassline.

Release and sales

"Friends" was released as a single, with " Little Bird" as the B-side. With its gentle arrangement and simple song structure, "Friends" proved to be out of step with commercial trends and underperformed commercially. The single peaked at number 47 in the United States, becoming their first single to miss the top 40 since "

The Man with All the Toys "The Man with All the Toys" is a Christmas song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album ''The Beach Boys' Christmas Album''. As a single that year it had limi ...

" in 1964. It fared better in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, peaking at number 25. An

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

mix was sold as a vinyl single backed with Al Jardine's Beach Boys reunion song " Don't Fight the Sea" for the charity of

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

in April 2011.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' spoke positively of the song, writing, " Barbershop harmonizing to a soft rock backdrop provides the Beach Boys with a departure from their ' Wild Honey'/'

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...

' style. Easy-throbbing waltz tempo and a unique vocal sound cast a new type of magical spell for the team, one that should have them rising rapidly on the best seller charts. Outstanding track." In its 1968 review of the ''Friends'' album, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' singled out the title track as a highlight, writing, "

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

a more mature (in that it lacks their usual immediacy) evocation of the surfer 'pack' or 'club' vision — why go out with a girl when you can go cruising with the guys on Saturday nights? It's really warm, simple, touching, saying in not so many words that friendship isn’t about words." In ''

Disc & Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'', Penny Valentine wrote of the single, "Whither the progressive Beach Boys? ..If The Beach Boys are as bored as they sound, they should stop bothering ..They are no longer the brilliant Beach Boys. They are grey and they are making sad little grey records." Retrospectively, biographer

David Leaf David Leaf (born April 20, 1952) is an American writer, director, and producer who is best known for his associations with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys since the late 1970s. Leaf's 1978 biography, '' The Beach Boys and the California Myth'', ...

praised the song's "fine melody and lovely production" and wrote, "The vocal arrangement of this track let the world know that Brian was back mixing his magical harmonic brew." Donald Guarisco of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented, "This mellow, lovely track is a good example of the Beach Boys' late-'60s output: it is far less musically complex than '

California Girls "California Girls" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album '' Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics were partly inspired by the band's experiences touring Europe f ...

' or '

Wouldn't It Be Nice "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1966 album '' Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, and Mike Love, it is distinguished for its sophisticated Wall of Soun ...

' but possesses a homespun charm all its own." Dave Swanson of ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' noted the song's "calming nature."

Personnel

Per Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys *

- lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar *

- lead vocals, backing vocals *

- backing vocals *

- backing vocals Session musicians * Jim Ackley - keyboard * Jimmy Bond - upright bass * Norm Jeffries - drums * Alan Estes - vibes *

Tommy Morgan Thomas Morgan Edwards (December 4, 1932 – June 23, 2022) was an American harmonicist and session musician, who had been active since the 1950s. He was considered one of the most heard harmonica players in the world, playing in over 500 fea ...

- standard & bass harmonicas *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

- sax & clarinet *

Jay Migliori Jay Migliori (November 14, 1930 – September 2, 2001) was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Biography Migliori started playing the saxophone after he received one as a birthday ...

- sax & clarinet * Arnold Belnick, William Kurasch, Leonard Malarsky - violins * Norman Botnick - viola

References

Bibliography

* {{authority control 1968 singles The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Carl Wilson Songs written by Dennis Wilson Songs written by Al Jardine Songs written by Brian Wilson Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys Capitol Records singles 1968 songs Songs about friendship