Our Sweet Love

"Our Sweet Love" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1970 album Sunflower. Written by Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, and Al Jardine, "Our Sweet Love" features a lush sound that has been compared to the band's work on Pet Sounds. Brian Wilson originally left the song unfinished, resulting in the band completing it for Sunflower. Carl Wilson sings the song's lead vocal.

"Our Sweet Love"
Song by the Beach Boys
from the album Sunflower
ReleasedAugust 31, 1970 (1970-08-31)
RecordedNovember 6, 1969 - January 26, 1970[1][2]
StudioGold Star and Beach Boys Studio, Los Angeles
Length2:38
LabelBrother/Reprise
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The Beach Boys
Licensed audio
"Our Sweet Love" on YouTube

Background

"Our Sweet Love" is a reworking of a Friends outtake, "Our New Home".[3] The nucleus of the song was largely composed by Brian Wilson, who commented: "I wrote that for Carl. After I wrote it I said, 'Hey, he could sing this good' so I gave it to Carl."[4] However, in another interview, Brian characterized the song as a collaboration with Carl, stating, "We tried [writing together] one time and wrote 'Good Timin″ and 'Our Sweet Love.' Carl was a very very sensitive writer, he was a sensitive person, he was a very good artist."[5][nb 1] According to Al Jardine, Brian refused to complete the song and the rest of the band worked to finish it: "'Our Sweet Love' was one we finished with Brian. He just didn't want to finish it. So we kind of helped. We became completers of ideas."[7][8]

The song features a string arrangement provided by French composer Michel Colombier, overdubbed on January 26, 1970.[9] Colombier also arranged two other tracks on Sunflower, both largely composed by Bruce Johnston: "Deirdre" and "Tears in the Morning".

Release

"Our Sweet Love" was included on early versions of the Sunflower album (versions with the provisional titles Sun Flower and Add Some Music) that were rejected by Reprise Records.[4][10] The song remained on the final released Sunflower track listing when it was released in 1970.

In addition to a remastering of the original recording, two alternate tracks of "Our Sweet Love" were included on the 2021 Feel Flows boxset. One features only track and backing vocals, while another features the song's isolated string part.[11]

Critical reception

In a 1970 review of Sunflower, Rolling Stone wrote that the song "is most reminiscent of the mood of Pet Sounds."[12]

Critical appraisal of the song remains high in retrospective writings. The Quietus praised the song as "a straightforward but strong ballad led by the angelic tones of little brother Carl."[13] Glide Magazine lauded the song's "mature expressions of emotion".[14] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic said, "'Our Sweet Love' could have easily fit on [Pet Sounds] in terms of feel and lyric message. Celebrating the simple pleasures of pure love and tranquility, it may be one of the best Beach Boys love ballads."[15]

Personnel

Sourced from Craig Slowinski. The bassist could not be identified.[16]

The Beach Boys

Additional musicians

  • Hal Blaine - drums, castanet
  • Michel Colombier - string arrangement
  • Alvin Dinkin - viola
  • Sam Freed - violin
  • David Frisina - violin
  • Allan Harstian - viola
  • Igor Horoshevsky - cello
  • Anatol Kaminsky - violin
  • Nathan Kaproff - violin
  • George Kast - violin
  • Marvin Limonick - violin
  • Abe Luboff - arco double bass
  • Edgar Lustgarten - cello
  • Virginia Majewski - viola
  • Alexander Murray - violin
  • Robert Ostrowsky - viola
  • Dorothy Wade - violin

Notes
  1. Contrary to Brian's claim, biographer Peter Ames Carlin writes that "Good Timin'" was first written in 1974.[6]

References
  1. Doe, Andrew G. (2022). "GIG69". Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  2. Doe, Andrew G. (2022). "GIG70". Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  3. Boyd, Alan (December 20, 2018). "Re: 1968 Copyright Extension Release Thread". smileysmile.net. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  4. White, Timothy (2000). Sunflower/Surf's Up (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  5. Sharp, Ken. "Christmas with Brian Wilson". Record Collector. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  6. Carlin 2006, p. 195.
  7. Sharp, Ken (July 28, 2000). "Alan Jardine: A Beach Boy Still Riding The Waves". Goldmine.
  8. Sharp, Ken. "Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine of the Beach Boys - The Interview - Rock Cellar Magazine". Rock Cellar Magazine. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. Doe, Andrew G. (2022). "GIG70". Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  10. Badman 2004, p. 262.
  11. Legaspi, Althea (3 June 2021). "The Beach Boys Detail Massive 1969-1971 Era Box Set, Share 'Big Sur'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  12. Miller, Jim (October 1, 1970). "Sunflower". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  13. Sheriff, Thomas H. "The Beach Boys In The 1970s". The Quietus. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  14. Collette, Doug (24 February 2022). "The Beach Boys - 'Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971' (ALBUM REVIEW)". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  15. Greenwald, Matthew. "Our Sweet Love by The Beach Boys - Track Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  16. Slowinski, Craig (Summer 2020). "Sunflower: 50 Year Anniversary Special Edition (Issue 130, Volume 33, No. 3)". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine (Magazine). Charlotte, North Carolina, USA: David Beard.

Bibliography
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