The legendary US band made the record in 1977 as the follow-up to their cult classic LP from that same year, ‘The Beach Boys Love You’.
Besides a wealth of “Love You” and “Adult/Child” material, the collection will also include outtakes from “15 Big Ones” — a record that, although not as critically well-regarded as “Love You,” was a commercial comeback for the Beach Boys at the time and their biggest album of the 1970s.
‘Adult/Child’ was never officially released. They instead went on to share 1978’s ‘M.I.U. Album’, which is characterised by its easy-listening sound.
As Stereogum notes, 1976 saw Brian Wilson return to The Beach Boys’ touring line-up following an extended absence. The songwriter and producer also returned to his role as sonic mastermind for the group.
The set’s title track, a previously unreleased song from the “Love You” sessions, has just been released in advance of the full collection coming next month. The song “We Gotta Groove” was written and produced by Brian Wilson — who had taken the reins of the Beach Boys’ recording sessions again at that time in the mid-’70s — and has Wilson providing most of the instrumentation as well, with Mike Love on lead vocals. (Billy Hinsche plays guitar and sings backup on the number, while Wilson’s plethora of instruments includes Baldwin electric harpsichord, drums, tack upright piano, Hammond B-3 organ, electric bass and tambourine.) Although few fans are likely to argue that “We Gotta Groove” is on the same level as what did make the cut for “Love You,” any of Brian’s work coming out of the vault from that creative-spike period will be greeted with open arms.
