Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
| Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 | ||||
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| Studio album by The Beach Boys | ||||
| Released | 19 August 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 5 October 1995 - 12 June 1996 |
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| Genre | Rock, country pop | |||
| Length | 37:47 | |||
| Label | River North Records | |||
| Producer | Joe Thomas Brian Wilson |
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| The Beach Boys chronology | ||||
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Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 is an album by The Beach Boys. Released in 1996, it is, despite its 'Volume 1' sub-title, their only venture into the genre of country pop music.
The album contains new recordings of a number of the group's best-known songs, with stars of the country scene featured as guest artists.
Brian Wilson, at the time recently remarried and in his best mental state for many years, was persuaded to re-join the group and act as co-producer. In the event, it was to be the group's last studio recording with Carl Wilson who died in 1998.
Most of the guests were mainstream country stars who had each had at least one #1 country hit before participating in this album, the four exceptions being James House, Junior Brown, Kathy Troccoli, and Timothy B. Schmit. (Troccoli and Schmit are not primarily country artists, being more closely associated with the Christian and rock genres respectively.) Tammy Wynette had recorded a version of "In My Room" with Brian Wilson, but it was kept back for the projected Stars and Stripes Vol. 2, which never appeared. Her performance is included in the television documentary Beach Boys: Nashville Sounds.
When it was released, Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 easily outsold Summer in Paradise, but overall was not a major hit and was poorly received by critics. Consequently, further volumes in the series were scrapped.
The album went out of print for some years, but was reissued on CD in May 2008. Beach Boys: Nashville Sounds features studio footage of its making and interviews with participants. The documentary is the last time the original Beach Boys were featured together to promote an album.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocals | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Don't Worry Baby" | Brian Wilson/Roger Christian | Lorrie Morgan | 3:16 | |||||
| 2. | "Little Deuce Coupe" | B. Wilson/Christian | James House | 2:50 | |||||
| 3. | "409" | B. Wilson/Mike Love/Gary Usher | Junior Brown | 2:20 | |||||
| 4. | "Long, Tall Texan" | Henry Strzelecki | Doug Supernaw | 4:02 | |||||
| 5. | "I Get Around" | B. Wilson/Love | Sawyer Brown | 2:29 | |||||
| 6. | "Be True to Your School" | B. Wilson/Love | Toby Keith | 3:18 | |||||
| 7. | "Fun, Fun, Fun" | B. Wilson/Love | Ricky Van Shelton | 2:20 | |||||
| 8. | "Help Me, Rhonda" | B. Wilson/Love | T. Graham Brown | 3:10 | |||||
| 9. | "The Warmth of the Sun" | B. Wilson/Love | Willie Nelson | 3:18 | |||||
| 10. | "Sloop John B" | trad. arr. B. Wilson | Collin Raye | 3:45 | |||||
| 11. | "I Can Hear Music" | Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector | Kathy Troccoli | 3:14 | |||||
| 12. | "Caroline, No" | B. Wilson/Tony Asher | Timothy B. Schmit | 3:19 | |||||
[edit] Sales chart positions
- Album
| Chart (1996) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Billboard 200 | 101 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 12 |
| Canadian RPM Country Albums | 11 |
- Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US AC | US Country | CAN Country | ||
| 1996 | "I Can Hear Music" (with Kathy Troccoli) | 16 | ||
| "Don't Worry Baby" (with Lorrie Morgan) | 73 | |||
| "Little Deuce Coupe" (with James House) | 69 | 41 | ||
| "Long Tall Texan" (with Doug Supernaw) | 69 | 82 | ||
[edit] Musicians
- Junior Brown - Slide "Guit-steel"
- Eddie Bayers - drums, percussion
- Jackie Bertoni - percussion
- Richie Cannata - saxophone
- Steve Eisen - flute
- Larry Franklin - fiddle
- Sonny Garrish - pedal steel
- Al Jardine - harmonies
- Drew Jardine - finger snaps
- Matt Jardine - harmonies, handclaps, second verse duet (on track 10)
- Robbie Jardine - finger snaps
- Bruce Johnston - harmonies
- Greg Leisz - pedal steel, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Mike Love - harmonies, Executive Producer
- Steve Nathan - acoustic piano, organ, B-3, keyboards
- Mickey Raphael - harmonica
- Michael Rhodes - bass
- Brent Rowan - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dobro
- Bill Ruppert - electric guitar
- Joe Thomas - acoustic piano, additional keyboards, percussion, handclaps, Producer
- Jimmy Webb - string arrangements
- Nashville String Machine - orchestra
- Brian Wilson - harmonies, Producer
- Carl Wilson - harmonies
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 CD booklet notes, Robert K. Oermann
- Allmusic.com
