Adult/Child

Adult/Child (sometimes typeset as Adult Child) is an unreleased studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, intended to follow the group's 1977 "The Beach Boys Love You". Like "The Beach Boys Love You", it is virtually a Brian Wilson solo project with other group members serving mainly as additional vocalists. After it was rejected by Reprise Records, the band released the 1978 "M.I.U. Album" in its place with an almost entirely revamped song list. A few projected tracks for "Adult Child" were eventually released on later albums and compilations. Currently, the album is available only as a bootleg recording.
"Stylus Magazine" tersely summarizes the work: "Brian’s Sinatra album. Vegas big band arrangements, brassy cover tunes, a few songs written with the hopes that the Chairman himself might sing them. The label heard it and probably rejected it before track 2 began." Amid its status as an esoteric non-release within the Beach Boys catalog, the album has developed a mild cult following among fans and musicians.
Background.
In 1977, plans were made for a Beach Boys album composed entirely of outtakes recorded during 1976 sessions for "15 Big Ones" (1976) and "The Beach Boys Love You" (1977) partnered with material originating as far back as 1965. After the release of "Love You", the Beach Boys fell into dispute over the direction of the band, and were close to breaking up. Intended as a follow-up to "Love You", sessions and mixing for a new album entitled "Adult Child" were completed by the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson acting as producer.
Similarly with "Good Time" on "The Beach Boys Love You", a few "Adult Child" tracks were outtakes sourced from earlier Beach Boys albums. Sessions for the album were kickstarted on January 19, 1977, only five days after the assembly for "Love You" was completed. Concurrently, Dennis Wilson worked on his solo album "Pacific Ocean Blue" which would see release in September 1977. According to Stan Love, the band's manager and younger brother of the Beach Boys' Mike Love, when Mike heard the rough demo recordings of "Adult/Child" replete with big band swing arrangements, he turned to Brian and asked: "What the fuck are you doing?" While projected for release in autumn 1977, the album was rejected by Reprise Records for not being commercially viable.
Music and lyrics.
Brian composes, writes, and sings most of "Adult/Child" with Carl and Dennis Wilson swapping lead vocals. Exceptionally, Brian included the group's cover versions of "Deep Purple", "On Broadway", and the traditional folk standard "Shortenin' Bread", the last of which he had been obsessed with for several years. Dick Reynolds was commissioned for the arrangement of four tracks. Reynolds had arranged strings for "The Beach Boys' Christmas Album", and for Brian's idols the Four Freshmen and Frank Sinatra in 1964.
The album's lyrics mostly reflect the minutiae of Brian's life during the 1970s. Some songs center around physical fitness, eating healthy, and ecology. Describing "Hey Little Tomboy", a leftover from "Love You", Brian said, "It's about a little girl who is sort of a rough neck, and this guy convinces her to become a pretty girl, and sure enough she slowly turns into a pretty—she starts shaving her legs and wearing short sticks—puts lipstick on and makeup. So she's a little tomboy. ... We're very happy with it." Biographer Peter Ames Carlin wrote that "[the song] reveled uncomfortably in an adolescent girl who is putting away her skateboard and baseball mitt in order to get hot and heavy with the swain portrayed by Mike. ... [it] may be the most unsettling moment in the entire recorded history of the Beach Boys."
In line with the group's two previous albums, it was also slated to include a couple of "Sunflower"-era leftovers in "H.E.L.P. Is on the Way" and "Games Two Can Play."
Availability.
The album has been released through numerous bootlegs, but is officially unavailable. "Hey Little Tomboy" appears in a slightly revised form on "M.I.U. Album". "Shortenin' Bread", a traditional folk song with which Brian was reportedly obsessed at the time, was revised and placed on "L.A. (Light Album)" (1979). "H.E.L.P. Is on the Way," "Games Two Can Play," "It's Over Now," and "Still I Dream of It" were released on the group's box set "" (1993). An alternate piano demo of "Still I Dream of It" was included on Brian Wilson's solo album "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" (1995).
Reception.
Musicologist Philip Lambert believes, "All of the songs from this collection are solid efforts, but 'Still I Dream of It' and 'It's Over Now' are particularly inspired and rank right up there with Brian's best work," calling them "gut-wrenching ballads about romance and heartbreak." "Scram"—a fanzine devoted to esoteric works—said: "There are so-called Beach Boys fans who say anybody who applaud "Love You" and this album is being ironic. I say fuck those tight-arsed naysayers! Both of those albums showcase a truly original mix of humor and sadness. The original numbers always dance just a step away from the cliche, dealing with simple lyrical themes that make you wonder why they had never been explored before." "Stylus Magazine" included the album in a list entitled "'Long Time Gone' – The Classic Rock Lost Album Archetypes" among other Beach Boys' non-releases such as "Smile", "Landlocked", and "Bambu" as a "A Lost Album Category Unto Themselves". The journal wrote:
In 2000, a cover of "Lines" was recorded by Duglas T. Stewart of indie pop band BMX Bandits for the various artists tribute album "Caroline Now!". BMX Bandits recorded a version of "Hey Little Tomboy" with Pearlfishers. "Still I Dream of It" has been covered by Ed Harcourt, Jimmy Nail, and Carice van Houten. "Life Is for the Living" was recorded and released by the Easy Goings in 1992, and performed live in 2015 by Neil Hamburger at Festival Supreme.
Track listing.
"Adult Child" was mixed and assembled in the following sequence on June 27, 1977, "It's Trying to Say" is also known as "Baseball's On". For bootlegs, some editions include additional recordings made by the group between the 1960s and 1980s.
Personnel.
The Beach Boys
Additional musicians and production staff