View source for Keepin' the Summer Alive

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Keepin' the Summer Alive
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[The Beach Boys]]
| cover      = KTSACover.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|1980|3|24}}
| recorded   = {{nowrap|July 1, 1979 – March 20, 1980}} (except "When Girls Get Together" and "Santa Ana Winds", 1969–1978)<ref name="Slowinski2020">{{cite magazine |last=Slowinski|first=Craig |date=Summer 2020 |title=Keepin' the Summer Alive: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition|issue=132|volume=33|magazine=Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine |location=Charlotte, North Carolina|editor-first=David|editor-last=Beard}}</ref>
| studio     = *[[Criteria Studios|Criteria]] (Miami)
*[[Brother Studios|Brother]] (Santa Monica)
*[[United Western Recorders|Western]] (Hollywood)
*[[Rumbo Recorders|Rumbo]] (Los Angeles)
*Al Jardine's barn ([[Big Sur]])<ref name="monterey">{{cite web|url=https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/entertainment/music/exploring-the-only-in-big-sur-red-barn-recording-studio/article_58818171-0d38-5816-9f2b-b4a39572affb.html |last=Joseph |first=Adam |title=Exploring the only-in-Big-Sur Red Barn Recording Studio |website=Monterey County Weekly |publisher= Milestone Communications Inc. |date=October 7, 2010 |access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref>
| genre      = <!--- Do not add unsourced genres --->
| length     = 33:10
| label      = [[Brother Records|Brother]]/[[Caribou Records|Caribou]]/[[CBS Records International|CBS]]
| producer   = [[Bruce Johnston]]
| prev_title = [[L.A. (Light Album)]]
| prev_year  = 1979
| next_title = [[Ten Years of Harmony]]
| next_year  = 1981
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Keepin' the Summer Alive
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Goin' On]]" / "Endless Harmony
 | single1date = March 11, 1980
 | single2     = [[Livin' with a Heartache]]" / "Santa Ana Winds
 | single2date = May 20, 1980
 | single3     = Keepin' The Summer Alive" / "When Girls Get Together 
 | single3date = June 14, 1980
}}
}}

'''''Keepin' the Summer Alive''''' is the 24th [[studio album]] by American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[the Beach Boys]], released March 24, 1980, on [[Brother Records|Brother]], [[Caribou Records|Caribou]] and [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]]. Produced by [[Bruce Johnston]], the album peaked at number 75 in the US, during a chart stay of 6 weeks,<ref name="liner" /> and number 54 in the UK. It is the group's last album to feature [[Dennis Wilson]], who drowned in 1983, although he only appears on one song recorded in 1969.

The album included new material alongside several older songs that had not been released up until that point. Two of the new songs were written by [[Carl Wilson]] and [[Randy Bachman]], the title track and "[[Livin' with a Heartache]]". The latter was released as a single alongside "[[Goin' On]]", written by [[Brian Wilson]] and [[Mike Love]]. Brian wrote or co-wrote five of the other seven tracks.

==Background and recording==
After the band's previous album, ''[[L.A. (Light Album)]]'' (1979), failed to live up to commercial expectations, the executives at [[CBS Records International|CBS]] expected another album as soon as possible.<ref name="Gaines">{{cite book|last=Gaines|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Gaines|title=Heroes and Villains: The True Story of The Beach Boys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qkJvajmU4EC|year=1986|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New York|isbn=0306806479|page=337}}</ref> In July 1979, the Beach Boys convened at [[United Western Recorders|Western Studio]] in Los Angeles—the studio where most of the band's 1960s material had been produced by [[Brian Wilson]]—to begin work on a new studio album. The album was also recorded at various other studios, including former backing band member [[Daryl Dragon]]'s Rumbo Recorders in [[San Fernando, California|San Fernando]], and [[Al Jardine]]'s recording studio in his [[Big Sur Village, California|Big Sur]] barn. Working titles included ''Cousins, Friends and Brothers'', and ''Can't Wait Till Summer''.<ref name="liner" />

The group wanted Brian to return as their producer and felt that he would be more comfortable recording at the familiar studio environment of Western. They were briefly successful, as [[Carl Wilson]] said, "Brian got hot for about three days in the studio. He was singing like a bird. All the protection he usually runs just dropped; he came out of himself, he was right there in the room."<ref name="Gaines"/> [[Dennis Wilson]], at odds with the rest of the group, abandoned the initial recording sessions, taking no further part in the album. {{citation needed span|text=The sessions were also stalled by Brian's desire to record only cover songs of [[rock n' roll]] tracks.|date=June 2010}} One of these, [[Chuck Berry]]'s "School Days", appears on the album's final track listing.<ref name="liner" />

In late August, Carl collaborated with [[Randy Bachman]] on the writing of four songs, two of which were included on the record, "Keepin' the Summer Alive" and "[[Livin' with a Heartache]]". Bachman declined an invitation to co-produce the album because he was struggling with personal issues.<ref name="liner" /> He later released his own version of "Keepin' the Summer Alive" with his short-lived band Union on their eponymous 1980 album.<ref>{{Citation |title=Union - On Strike |date=June 1981 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3246313-Union-On-Strike |access-date=2024-12-09 |language=en}}</ref>

In October 1979, the band reconvened with [[Bruce Johnston]] taking complete control of the album's production. The resulting album included a mixture of brand new songs alongside older songs that had not been released up until that point.<ref name="liner" /> "When Girls Get Together" was recorded in 1969, and it is the only song on the album featuring Dennis.  Johnston started writing "Endless Harmony" in 1972 as "Ten Years' Harmony".  The earlier title and lyrics were used for a version by [[California Music]] in 1974.  The band began recording "Santa Ana Winds" in 1978, revising and re-recording some of the song for this album.  Sessions wrapped on February 14, 1980.<ref name="liner" /> Two outtakes, the original "Goin' to the Beach" and a cover of "[[Da Doo Ron Ron]]", were later released on the 2013 compilation ''[[Made in California]]''.<ref name="2013bruce"/>

In 2013, Johnston expressed dissatisfaction with the production of the title track, which he perceived as being weaker-sounding due to Carl's intervention.<ref name="2013bruce">{{cite web|url=https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/09/04/bruce-johnston-interview-beach-boys/2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930112838/https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/09/04/bruce-johnston-interview-beach-boys/2/|last=Sharp|first=Ken|date=September 2013|archive-date=September 30, 2013|title=Bruce Johnston On the Beach Boys' Enduring Legacy (Interview)|work=Rock Cellar Magazine }}</ref>  In 2020, Johnston elaborated, believing session guest and former bandmate [[Ricky Fataar]]’s drumming was inferior to session drummer [[Scott Mathews]]’ playing.<ref name="Slowinski2020"/>

==Outtakes==
Still-unreleased tracks from the ''Keepin' the Summer Alive'' sessions include "Starbaby" and "Surfer Suzie", as well as renditions of  "I'll Always Love You", "[[Jamaica Farewell]]", "[[Johnny B. Goode]]", "Little Girl", "[[Stranded in the Jungle]]", and "Smokey Places".<ref name="DoeVaults">{{cite web|last1=Doe|first1=Andrew G.|title=From The Vaults...|url=http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/vaults.html|website=Endless Summer Quarterly|series=Bellagio 10452|access-date=March 24, 2022}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| title = Retrospective professional reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|1.5|5}}<ref name="am">{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r187580|access-date=2011-06-17}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Douglas |last=Wolk |url=http://blender.com:80/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2259 |title=The Beach Boys ''Keepin the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys'' |magazine=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |date=October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630150514/http://blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2259 |archive-date=June 30, 2006 |access-date=June 2, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Colin|editor-last=Larkin |year=2006|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |edition=4th|location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-531373-4|page=479}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[MusicHound]]''
| rev4score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Graff|editor-first1=Gary|editor-last2=Durchholz|editor-first2=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|isbn=1-57859-061-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/84 84]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/84}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref name="marsh">{{cite book |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=with Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |year=2004 |title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |edition=4th |location=New York, NY |publisher=Fireside/Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/46 46] |url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/46 }}</ref>
}}

In a retrospective review for [[AllMusic]], Rob Theakston referred to ''Keepin' the Summer Alive'' as "the low point" in the band's discography: "Ripe with mindless throwaways and lifeless filler ... The two exceptions to the rule reside in the title track and the closing 'Endless Harmony.'"<ref name="am"/> In ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'', the album is cited as an "abysmal" entry in "a string of inconsequential records" that had not abated since 1978's ''[[M.I.U. Album]]''.<ref name="marsh"/>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column = Lead vocals
| title1 = Keepin' the Summer Alive
| writer1 = [[Carl Wilson]], [[Randy Bachman]]
| extra1 = [[Carl Wilson]]
| length1 = 3:43
| title2 = Oh Darlin'
| writer2 = [[Brian Wilson]], [[Mike Love]]
| extra2 = C. Wilson and [[Mike Love]]
| length2 = 3:52
| title3 = Some of Your Love
| writer3 = B. Wilson, Love
| extra3 = Love and C. Wilson
| length3 = 2:36
| title4 = [[Livin' with a Heartache]]
| writer4 = C. Wilson, Bachman
| extra4 = C. Wilson
| length4 = 4:06
| title5 = [[School Days (Chuck Berry song)|School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)]]
| writer5 = [[Chuck Berry]]
| extra5 = [[Al Jardine]]
| length5 = 2:52
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column = Lead vocals
| title1 = [[Goin' On]]
| writer1 = B. Wilson, Love
| extra1 = Love, C. Wilson and [[Brian Wilson]]
| length1 = 3:00
| title2 = Sunshine
| writer2 = B. Wilson, Love
| extra2 = Love, B. Wilson and C. Wilson
| length2 = 2:52
| title3 = When Girls Get Together
| writer3 = B. Wilson, Love
| extra3 = Love and B. Wilson
| length3 = 3:31
| title4 = Santa Ana Winds
| writer4 = B. Wilson, [[Al Jardine]]
| extra4 = Jardine, Love and C. Wilson
| length4 = 3:14
| title5 = Endless Harmony
| writer5 = [[Bruce Johnston]]
| extra5 = [[Bruce Johnston]] and C. Wilson
| length5 = 3:10
| total_length = 33:10
}}

==Personnel==
Adapted from 2000 liner notes<ref name=liner>{{cite AV media notes |title=Keepin' the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys|others=[[The Beach Boys]] |year=2000 |first=Randy |last=Bachman |author-link1= Randy Bachman |last2=Doe |first2=Andrew |author-link2=Andrew Doe |page=2 |type=booklet |url=http://albumlinernotes.com/KTSA___Beach_Boys_85.html|publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |location=California}}</ref> and Craig Slowinski.<ref name="Slowinski2020">{{cite magazine |last=Slowinski|first=Craig |date=Summer 2020 |title=Keepin' the Summer Alive: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition|issue=132|volume=33|magazine=Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine |location=Charlotte, North Carolina|editor-first=David|editor-last=Beard}}</ref>

'''The Beach Boys'''
*[[Brian Wilson]] – vocals, [[tack piano]] on “Oh Darlin’” and “Goin’ On”, keyboards on “Sunshine”, piano and [[Rocksichord]] on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Carl Wilson]] – vocals, lead guitar on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”, guitar on “Oh Darlin’” and “Livin’ With a Heartache”, tack piano on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”, Yamaha electric piano on “Livin’ With a Heartache”, keyboards on “Sunshine”
*[[Al Jardine]] – vocals, acoustic guitars and spoken word introduction on “Santa Ana Winds”; rhythm guitar on “School Day” (uncertain)
*[[Mike Love]] – vocals
*[[Bruce Johnston]] – vocals, [[Fender Rhodes]] electric piano, [[clavichord]] on “School Day”, keyboards on “Sunshine”
*[[Dennis Wilson]] – bass drum on “When Girls Get Together”

'''Additional musicians'''
{{div col}}
*[[Terry Melcher]], [[Curt Boettcher]], Jon Joyce – harmony and backing vocals on “Livin’ With a Heartache”
*[[Joe Walsh]] – slide and rhythm guitars on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”
*Steve Ross – guitar
*Bill House – guitar; acoustic guitars on “Oh Darlin’”
*[[Caleb Quaye]] – lead and rhythm guitars on “School Day”, guitar on “Sunshine”
*[[Billy Walker (musician)|Billy Joe Walker, Jr.]] – lead and acoustic guitars on “Livin’ With a Heartache”
*[[Dennis Budimir]] – guitar on “School Day”
*Tim May – guitar on “School Day”
*Al Vescovo – guitar on “When Girls Get Together”
*Bryan Garofalo – harmony and backing vocals on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” and “Endless Harmony”, bass
*[[Jerry Scheff]] – bass on “Oh Darlin’”
*[[Ray Pohlman]] – bass on “School Day” and “When Girls Get Together”, [[mandolin]] on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Lyle Ritz]] – [[double bass]] on “Santa Ana Winds”
*John Hobbs – keyboards
*[[Daryl Dragon]] – keyboards on “Some of Your Love” and [[marxophone]] on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Don Randi]] – keyboards on “School Day”
*[[Mike Meros]] – keyboards on “School Day”
*[[Carli Muñoz]] – organ on “School Day”
*[[Ricci Martin]] – keyboards on “Sunshine” and piano on “Endless Harmony”
*[[Scott Mathews]] – drums; harmony and backing vocals on “Goin’ On”, percussion on “When Girls Get Together” and “Endless Harmony”
*[[Ricky Fataar]] – drums on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” and “Sunshine”
*[[Gary Mallaber]] – drums on “Livin’ With a Heartache” and percussion on “Sunshine”
*[[Hal Blaine]] – drums on “School Day”
*Steve Forman – percussion
*[[Gene Estes]] – tympani on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Steve Douglas (saxophonist)|Steve Douglas]] – saxophone on “Oh Darlin’”, “Goin’ On”, and “Sunshine”
*Joel Peskin – saxophone on “Oh Darlin’”, “Goin’ On”, and “Sunshine”; baritone saxophone on “Some of Your Love”
*[[Dick Hyde (musician)|Dick “Slyde” Hyde]] – trombone on “Oh Darlin’”, “Goin’ On”, and “Sunshine”
*[[Chuck Findley]] – [[flugelhorn]] on “Oh Darlin’”, trumpet on “Goin’ On” and “Sunshine”
*Lew McCreary – trombone and bass trombone on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Jim Horn]] – baritone saxophone on “When Girls Get Together”
*Vince Charles, Efrain Toro, Ray Armando – [[steel drums]] on “Sunshine”
*David Sherr – oboe on “When Girls Get Together”
*Alexander Neiman, Darrell Terwilliger – violas on “When Girls Get Together”
*Armand Kaproff, Jan Kelley, Harold Bemko, Douglas Davis – cellos on “When Girls Get Together”
*[[Tommy Morgan]] – harmonica on “Santa Ana Winds”
*Igor Horoshevsky, Raymond Kelley – cellos on “Santa Ana Winds”
*James Getzoff, Murray Adler, Bonnie Douglas, Paul Shure, Alfred Breuning, Marshall Sosson, Endre Granat, Spiro Stamos – violins on “Santa Ana Winds”
*Harry Hyams, Samuel Boghossian – violas on “Santa Ana Winds”

{{div col end}}

'''Arrangements'''
*[[Bob Alcivar]] – horn arrangements
*[[Harry Betts]] – string arrangements

'''Technical personnel'''
*Bruce Johnston – producer (except “When Girls Get Together”)
*Brian Wilson – producer (“School Day”, “When Girls Get Together”, “Santa Ana Winds”)
*Al Jardine – producer (“School Day” and “Santa Ana Winds”)
*Carl Wilson – producer (“Keepin’ the Summer Alive” and “Livin’ with a Heartache”)
*[[Stephen Desper|Steve Desper]] – chief engineer, mixing
*Chuck Leary – engineer (“Santa Ana Winds”)
*[[Chuck Britz]] – engineer (“Oh Darlin’”, “School Day”, “Santa Ana Winds”)
*Rodney Pearson – engineer
*Brian Behrns – second engineer

'''Artwork'''
*[[John Alvin]] – illustration
*Tony Lane – art direction
*Gary Nichamin – photography

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1980)
! Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Top 40 Album Chart<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/keeping+the+summer+alive/|title=keeping the summer alive &#124; full Official Chart History|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]}}</ref>
| align="center"| 54
|-
! scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200 Albums<ref name="liner" />
| align="center"| 75
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|date=May 12, 1980|author=''People'' staff|title=Picks and Pans Review: Keepin' the Summer Alive|url=http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-keepinthe-summer-alive-vol-13-no-19/|website=People|access-date=November 28, 2017|ref=none}}

==External links==
*{{Discogs master|type=album|247927|name=Keepin' the Summer Alive}}

{{The Beach Boys main}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:The Beach Boys albums]]
[[Category:Capitol Records albums]]
[[Category:Caribou Records albums]]
[[Category:1980 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Bruce Johnston]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at United Western Recorders]]