Description
The Beach Boys – Feel Flows – The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 – Double Compact Disc
The Beach Boys’ Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969–1971 is one of the band’s most substantial archival releases: a deep excavation of the period when they were rebuilding their identity after the peak-’60s years and moving into a richer, more adult “FM rock” lane. It was released by Capitol/UMe on August 27, 2021, and was compiled/produced by longtime Beach Boys archivists Mark Linett and Alan Boyd.
At its core, Feel Flows is built around newly remastered versions of two key studio albums—Sunflower (1970) and Surf’s Up (1971)—but the real point is everything around them: session material, alternate mixes, backing tracks, a cappella versions, outtakes, live recordings, and radio promos that show how these songs were assembled and how much the band’s internal creative balance had shifted. The 5CD book-style box is the “complete” version, running 135 tracks and including 108 previously unreleased recordings, plus a 48-page book of photos and archival material.
Why this era matters: it’s the stretch where The Beach Boys—without Brian Wilson acting as the constant, hands-on studio architect—become much more of an ensemble band. Carl and Dennis Wilson’s roles expand, Bruce Johnston and Al Jardine contribute key writing and vocals, and the whole group is clearly aiming for a contemporary early-’70s sound rather than chasing their ’60s image. Critics often frame this as a genuinely transitional moment: still capable of classic beauty (“Forever,” “Surf’s Up”), but also experimenting with moodier textures and more modern production choices (“Feel Flows,” “’Til I Die”).
The set is also interesting because it shows process, not just “finished classics.” You get the way arrangements evolve, vocal stacks change, and mixes get rethought—plus material that didn’t make the albums but explains the creative crossroads they were at. One notable preview track used in the campaign was the previously unreleased “Big Sur” (different from the later/other circulating versions), which signaled the set’s emphasis on alternate histories as much as canon.
If you’re collecting Beach Boys on CD and want something that functions both as (1) the best presentation of Sunflower and Surf’s Up and (2) a serious “behind the curtain” archive of how the band sounded when they were reinventing themselves, Feel Flows is basically the definitive document for 1969–1971.
2 landmark Beach Boys albums plus 8 previously unreleased bonus tracks
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Sunflower Original Album
Slip On Through
This Whole World
Add Some Music To Your Day
Got To Know The Woman
Deirdre
It’s About Time
Bonus Tracks (Previously Unreleased)
Cotton Fields (2020 Stereo Mix)
San Miguel (Backing Vocals)
It’s About Time (Backing Vocals)
Sunflower Original Album
Tears In The Morning
All I Wanna Do
Forever
Our Sweet Love
At My Window
Cool, Cool Water
Bonus Track (Previously Unreleased)
This Whole World (Live 1988)
Surf’s Up Original Album
Don’t Go Near The Water
Long Promised Road
Take A Load Off Your Feet
Disney Girls
Student Demonstration Time (Based On “Riot In Cell Block 9”
Bonus Tracks (Previously Unreleased)
Disney Girls (Live)
Feel Flows (Backing Vocals Excerpt)
Surf’s Up Original Album
Feel Flows
Lookin’ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
A Day In The Life Of A Tree
‘Til I Die
Surf’s Up
Bonus Tracks (Previously Unreleased)
A Day In The Life Of A Tree (Track & Backing Vocals)
‘Til I Die (A Capella)
