Recommendations of the Editorial team
The Beach Boys will officially release the long-lost 1977 album “Adult/Child” for the first time. It will be released on February 13, 2026 as part of the extensive box set “We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years”. The set documents a short but, for many fans, central creative phase of the band.
For a vocal group of Beach Boys connoisseurs, 1976 and 1977 marked the band’s last major creative phase as a studio unit.
During this time, Brian Wilson returned actively to the studio after years of psychological problems and led work on the idiosyncratic album “The Beach Boys Love You” as well as “Adult/Child”, which ultimately disappeared into the archive before Wilson withdrew again.
The mythical role of “Adult/Child”
For decades, “Adult/Child” occupied an almost mythical status within Beach Boys history – comparable only to the legendary, unreleased “Smile”. Now the album is officially released for the first time as part of the six-CD box set with a total of 73 tracks.
In addition to a remastered version of “The Beach Boys Love You,” the collection contains numerous outtakes, demos and discarded recordings from the 1976 “15 Big Ones” sessions. 35 of the songs included have never been officially released.
The song “We Gotta Groove” from the “Love You” sessions in 1976 can currently be heard. Mike Love takes on lead vocals, Billy Hinsche contributes guitar parts, while Brian Wilson is responsible for vocals and all other instruments.
Production and equipment of the box set
The box set was jointly overseen by producer and mixing engineer James Sáez and renowned Beach Boys historian Howie Edelson. The publication is supplemented by a 40-page booklet with new and archived interviews.
Members of the Beach Boys as well as the Brother Studio engineering team consisting of Stephen Moffitt, Earle Mankey and John Hanlon, who were involved in the original recordings, have their say.
Last year, Al Jardine, founding member of the Beach Boys, and musicians from Brian Wilson’s touring band started a special concert series. This included nearly complete performances of “The Beach Boys Love You” at each appearance.
Review by Al Jardine
In a 2025 interview with ROLLING STONE, Al Jardine explained that his own role in the album’s creation was rather minor.
“Carl Wilson guided Brian through the entire recording process,” Jardine said. “And you hear a lot of Dennis Wilson on the album. Mike Love and I basically just came on to do the background harmonies. That’s all.”
On “Adult/Child,” Brian Wilson worked closely with orchestral arranger Dick Reynolds. The result was an unusual mix of fitness jingles, big band tunes and achingly personal songs like “Still I Dream of It” and “It’s Over Now.”
Why the album disappeared
After the commercial failure of The Beach Boys Love You, the band decided not to release Adult/Child. Instead, she began work on the rather poorly received album “MIU Album” from 1978.
However, the recordings for “Adult/Child” soon circulated as bootlegs and over the years became a treasured collector’s item among fans. In the current touring version of the band under Mike Love, this phase is completely ignored.
Al Jardine, on the other hand, has announced concerts again this year in which “The Beach Boys Love You” will be the focus. The tour kicks off on February 21st at the South Shore Room at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, and then heads to Florida, New Jersey and Australia in June.
Tracklist: “We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years” (selection)
Disc 1 – The Beach Boys Love You (1977 Mix)
LP1 Side 1:
Let Us Go On This Way · Roller Skating Child · Mona · Johnny Carson · Good Time · Honkin’ Down The Highway · Ding Dang
LP1 Side 2:
Solar System · The Night Was So Young · I’ll Bet He’s Nice · Let’s Put Our Hearts Together · I Wanna Pick You Up · Airplane · Love Is A Woman
Disc 2 – Adult/Child Sessions
Life Is For The Living · Deep Purple · It’s Over Now · Still I Dream Of It · Everybody Wants To Live · Lines · Shortenin’ Bread · New England Waltz
Disc 3 – 15 Big Ones Outtakes and Alternate Mixes
Just Once In My Life · Mony, Mony · Running Bear · Shake, Rattle And Roll · On Broadway · Sea Cruise · Chapel Of Love · Short Skirts
* previously unpublished
** remixed in 2025