The Beach Boys / We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years

The Beach Boys have announced the long-awaited We Gotta Groove:The Brother Studio Years, a 73-track, 3LP+3CD box set covering studio sessions from 1974-1977.

The set includes 35 previously unreleased tracks and 22 new mixes. Disc one features a new remaster of Brian Wilson’s maverick masterpiece, 1977’s Love You, along with outtakes from the sessions. The second disc offers tracks originally intended for Love You’s abandoned follow-up, the much-bootlegged Adult/Child, along with backing tracks and miscellaneous outtakes from the period. And the final disc comprises new mixes of a clutch of tracks from 1976’s 15 Big Ones, along with outtakes and backing tracks, plus Love You alternate mixes and demos. 

We Gotta Groove focuses on the period that saw band leader Brian Wilson take centre stage for the first time since abandoning the SMiLE project in 1967. The huge success of the band’s 1974 greatest hits compilation Endless Summer (over three million copies sold in the US alone), along with their renewed popularity as a live draw, meant that demand for new material was the strongest it had been for years. The band – in particular Carl and Dennis Wilson – spent 1974 and ’75 demoing songs that showcased their growing maturity (some of which appear on We Gotta Groove’s second disc), but despite the best efforts of the younger Wilson brothers, their record label pushed for the return of the altogether more bankable elder brother.

Brian returned on production duties for 15 Big Ones, a collection of new interpretations of rock’n’roll standards with a smattering of originals intended to ease him back into the fold. But if the label were expecting to sit back and watch the dollars roll in, they would be disappointed – Brian’s embrace of Moog and ARP synthesizers and gruff vocals were a world away from the nostalgia-filled hits of his youth. Still, the hype around the album was enough to make 15 Big Ones their biggest hit in over a decade.

Most importantly, it led to a purple patch of creativity, with Brian throwing himself into sessions for Love You and Adult/Child. The songs he recorded for Love You are unfiltered and raw, all fuzzed-up synths, bizarre and often childlike lyrics, hoarse vocals and killer melodies. It’s difficult to think of a stranger and more uncompromising album released by a major artist.

We Gotta Groove includes Love You in its entirety, along with a bunch of previously unreleased outtakes and demos, including the set’s title track. Back in the day, Brian wasted little time on moving on to the tracks bootlegged as Adult/Child and here presented as Adult/Child Sessions. The best songs – the beautiful ‘It’s Over Now’ and ‘Still I Dream Of It’ – will be familiar from previous archive releases, but improved sound quality will be a massive draw for fans.

The three CDs in this six-disc multi-media package effectively repeat the content from the three vinyl records and then go beyond that by offering additional outtakes and alternate mixes that the LPs don’t have space to accommodate. Packaged in a 12-inch slipcase it includes a 40-page booklet with sleeve notes featuring new and archival band interviews and the Brother Studio engineering team, archival photos and a complete sessionography with detailed production credits.

We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years is out 13 February via Capitol/UMe, although it should be noted that this box set is not available via traditional retail channels at all. It’s all D2C (direct-to-consumer) so you will need to seek out Beach Boys / Universal Music channels to order it – although at the time of writing it appears to be SOLD OUT (update: it is now newly available from The Beach Boys store in the USA and uDiscoverMusic.com in the US with a 20 March release date, which suggests a repress).

However there is a Japanese 3CD (only) version available to pre-order from CD Japan.

Tracklisting

We Gotta Groove:The Brother Studio Years The Beach Boys / 3CD+3LP

• • LP 1: Love You Album (1977 Mix)

    Side A

    1. Let Us Go On This Way
    2. Roller Skating Child
    3. Mona
    4. Johnny Carson
    5. Good Time
    6. Honkin’ Down The Highway
    7. Ding Dang

    Side B

    1. Solar System
    2. The Night Was So Young
    3. I’ll Bet He’s Nice
    4. Let’s Put Our Hearts Together
    5. I Wanna Pick You Up
    6. Airplane
    7. Love Is A Woman
  • LP 2: Adult/Child Sessions

    Side A

    1. Life Is For The Living
    2. Deep Purple
    3. It’s Over Now
    4. Still I Dream Of It
    5. Everybody Wants To Live
    6. Lines
    7. It’s Trying To Say

    Side B

    1. Shortenin’ Bread
    2. New England Waltz
    3. Life Is For The Living (Backing Track)
    4. Deep Purple (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    5. It’s Over Now (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    6. Still I Dream Of It (2025 Backing Track Mix)
  • LP 3: 15 Big Ones Outtakes and Alternate Mixes

    Side A

    1. Just Once In My Life (2025 Mix)
    2. Mony, Mony (2025 Mix)
    3. Running Bear (2025 Mix)
    4. Shake, Rattle And Roll
    5. On Broadway (2025 Mix)
    6. Sea Cruise (2025 Mix)

    Side B

    1. Chapel Of Love (2025 Mix)
    2. Short Skirts (2025 Mix)
    3. TM Song (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    4. Rock And Roll Music (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    5. Had To Phone Ya (2025 Deconstructed Mix)
    6. Just Once In My Life (2025 Backing Track Mix)
  • CD 1: Love You Album (1977 Mix) + bonus tracks
    1. Let Us Go On This Way
    2. Roller Skating Child
    3. Mona
    4. Johnny Carson
    5. Good Time
    6. Honkin’ Down The Highway
    7. Ding Dang
    8. Solar System
    9. The Night Was So Young
    10. I’ll Bet He’s Nice
    11. Let’s Put Our Hearts Together
    12. I Wanna Pick You Up
    13. Airplane
    14. Love Is A Woman

    Bonus tracks: Love You Outtakes

    15. Ruby Baby
    16. Marilyn Rowell
    17. Sherry She Needs Me
    18. Lazy Lizzie
    19. We Gotta Groove (2025 Mix)
    20. Hey There Mama (2025 Mix)
    21. Clangin’ (2025 Mix)
    22. Love Is A Woman (Al Jardine Vocal)
    23. Johnny Carson (Alternate Mix With Intro)
    24. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling
  • CD 2: Adult/Child Sessions + bonus tracks
    1. Life Is For The Living
    2. Deep Purple
    3. It’s Over Now
    4. Still I Dream Of It
    5. Everybody Wants To Live
    6. Lines
    7. It’s Trying To Say
    8. Shortenin’ Bread
    9. New England Waltz
    10. Life Is For The Living (Backing Track)
    11. Deep Purple (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    12. It’s Over Now (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    13. Still I Dream Of It (2025 Backing Track Mix)

    Bonus tracks: 1974-1977 Select Outtakes

    1. Holy Man (2025 Mix Carl Wilson Vocal)
    2. Carl’s Song 1 (It Could Be Anything) (2025 Mix)
    3. Carl’s Song 2 (Angel Come Home) (2025 Mix)
    4. String Bass Song (Rainbows) (2025 Mix)
    5. 10,000 Years Ago
    6. Gimme Some Lovin’ (2025 Mix)
    7. Honeycomb (Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford Vocal)
    8. In The Back Of My Mind (1975 Alternate Take 2025 Mix)
  • CD 3: 15 Big Ones Outtakes and Alternate Mixes + Bonus Tracks
    1. Just Once In My Life (2025 Mix)
    2. Mony, Mony (2025 Mix)
    3. Running Bear (2025 Mix)
    4. Shake, Rattle And Roll
    5. On Broadway (2025 Mix)
    6. Sea Cruise (2025 Mix)
    7. Chapel Of Love (2025 Mix)
    8. Short Skirts (2025 Mix)
    9. TM Song (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    10. Rock And Roll Music (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    11. Had To Phone Ya (2025 Deconstructed Mix)
    12. Just Once In My Life (2025 Backing Track Mix)

    Bonus tracks:

    Love You Alternate Mixes

    13. Let Us Go On This Way (Alternate Mix)
    14. Mona (2025 Deconstructed Mix)
    15. Honkin’ Down The Highway (Billy Hinsche Vocal)
    16. Ding Dang (Session Highlights and Unedited 2025 Mix)
    17. Solar System (2025 Backing Track Mix)
    18. The Night Was So Young (2025 Vocals Only Mix)
    19. Let’s Put Our Hearts Together (2025 Coda Mix)

    Love You Brian Cassette Demos

    20. That Special Feeling (Demo)
    21. It’s Over Now (Demo)
    22. They’re Marching Along (Demo)
    23. Love Is A Woman (Demo)
    24. Mona (Demo)
    25. Airplane (Demo)
    26. Let’s Put Our Hearts Together (Demo)
    27. I’ll Bet He’s Nice (Demo)
    28. Still I Dream Of It (Demo)