Ten Years of Harmony
| Ten Years of Harmony | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by The Beach Boys | ||||
| Released | December 7, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | Autumn 1969 – February 1980 Except: "Surf's Up": backing track recorded November 1966 |
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| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 1:34:34 | |||
| Label | Brother, Caribou, CBS | |||
| Producer | The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, James William Guercio, Bruce Johnston (Except "River Song": Dennis Wilson and Gregg Jakobson) |
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| The Beach Boys chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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Ten Years of Harmony is an official double album compilation album released by The Beach Boys in 1981, and spanning their entire Brother Records-era up to that point, (1970–80), including some unreleased or rare material. Although the song "Darlin'" was recorded in 1967 while at Capitol Records, the version on Ten Years of Harmony is a live version, recorded in 1973 for the album The Beach Boys in Concert.
The Beach Boys had more or less splintered in 1981. Far from lucid, Brian Wilson would occasionally appear on stage, primarily as a replacement for brother Carl, who was concurrently embarking on a solo career. Dennis Wilson would show up to occasional concerts, but would usually be argumentative and disruptive. Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston were the only stable members of a band who now had a whole cast of supporting musicians when they performed live. However, the release of Ten Years of Harmony kept the pretense going and, unexpectedly, the M.I.U. Album cover of "Come Go with Me" became a US top-twenty hit when released as a single from this collection.
While taking tracks from 1970's Sunflower to the previous year's Keepin' the Summer Alive, the compilers also included some oddities, rarities, and unreleased tracks. First, a handful of the songs, namely "Rock and Roll Music" and "California Saga: California" are presented in their original single mix. Moreover, Ten Years of Harmony includes a 1979 A-side "It's a Beautiful Day" (which failed to chart), a Dennis Wilson-written track called "San Miguel" (which was a Sunflower-era outtake from 1969), a cover of "Sea Cruise", which was a rejected track from the 15 Big Ones sessions, and a selection from Dennis' solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, "River Song".
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