View source for Feel Flows

{{about||the Beach Boys box set|Feel Flows (album){{!}}Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969–1971|the instrumental by the Charlatans|Up to Our Hips}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Feel Flows
| cover    =
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [[the Beach Boys]]
| album    = [[Surf's Up (album)|Surf's Up]]
| released = August 30, 1971
| recorded = July 29, 1971
| studio   =
| genre    = {{hlist|[[Progressive pop]]<ref name="AQDrunk"/>|[[jazz-rock]]<ref name="Stebbins2011">{{cite book|last=Stebbins|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Stebbins|title=The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YM-GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT162|year=2011|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=978-1-4584-2918-6|page=162}}</ref>|[[psychedelic rock]]<ref name= "Petridis 2022">{{cite web|first= Alexis|last= Petridis|title= The Beach Boys' 40 greatest songs – ranked!|website= [[The Guardian]]|date= January 27, 2022|url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/27/the-beach-boys-40-greatest-songs-ranked|accessdate= August 3, 2024}}</ref>}}
| length   = 4:44
| label    = [[Brother Records|Brother]]/[[Reprise Records|Reprise]]
| writer   = [[Carl Wilson]], [[Jack Rieley]]
| producer = The Beach Boys
| misc     = {{External music video|type=song|header=Licensed audio|{{YouTube|OzFQV5rhrb0|"Feel Flows"}}}} {{Audio sample
| type        = song
| file        = Feel Flows.ogg
}}
}}
"'''Feel Flows'''" is a song recorded by American rock band [[the Beach Boys]] from their 1971 album ''[[Surf's Up (album)|Surf's Up]]''. It was written by guitarist [[Carl Wilson]] and band manager [[Jack Rieley]], and was one of Wilson's first songs.<ref name=rollingstone>{{cite magazine|last=Schmidt|first=Arthur|title=The Beach Boys|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/surfs-up-19711014|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=14 October 1971|accessdate=8 March 2014}}</ref>
==Background and recording==
[[File:Carl Wilson 1971.png|thumb|left|Wilson in 1971]]
The basic track of "Feel Flows" was recorded before Wilson asked Rieley to pen lyrics for the song.<ref name="Rieley2013"/> In 1971, Wilson explained to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' how he produced the keyboard sound effects:
{{quote|I played piano first and then I played organ. I played piano twice, overdubbed it, and used a variable speed oscillator to make the track different speeds so that the piano would be a little bit out of tune, sort of a spread sound ... And then I put the organ on and put it through the Moog at the same time, so that one side of the stereo had the direct organ sound and the other side had the return through the Moog synthesizer.<ref name="Nolan2">{{cite magazine |last1=Nolan |first1=Tom |title=Beach Boys: A California Saga, Part II |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 11, 1971}}</ref>}}
Asked about the song in a 2013 interview, Rieley said:
{{quote|One of the finest experiences in a studio that I had. Carl put together a raw-bones concept and gave me a tape, I took it home and listened to it over and over. The lyrics started coming out of me: a reflection of the sensitive side of life. I'm so proud of them. Carl's guitar solo might be the best he ever played. There is a point in the song where you hear a synth and then there’s a "swoosh" sound. Carl and I have been told by a number of girls that that was the closest they’d heard to the sound that would go with an orgasm.<ref name="Rieley2013">{{cite web |title=The Life of RIELEY |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/the-life-of-rieley |website=Record Collector Mag |date=September 6, 2013}}</ref>}}
Wilson's lead vocals were recorded using [[reverse echo]].<ref name="AQDrunk">{{cite web|title=The Beach Boys: The River's A Dream In A Waltz Time|url=http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2017/03/14/the-beach-boys-the-rivers-a-dream-in-a-waltz-time/|website=[[Aquarium Drunkard]]|date=March 14, 2017}}</ref> The saxophone and flute were both played by jazz musician [[Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)|Charles Lloyd]], as [[Mike Love]] commented, "It's amazing. It's unlike anything we ever did."<ref name="Insite">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Lee Valentine |title=Get Together |url=https://www.insiteatlanta.com/california-music |website=Insite Atlanta |date=March 2021 |access-date=2021-03-31 |archive-date=2021-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328235920/https://www.insiteatlanta.com/california-music |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Reception==
Biographer [[Jon Stebbins]] identified the song as a highlight on ''Surf's Up''. He said that Jack Rieley's lyrics were "nonsensical but fit Carl's airy jazz-rock song perfectly. The trippy phasing and synthesizer elements in 'Feel Flows,' which are tailor-made for a stoner's headphones, undoubtedly delighted more than a few hippies who stumbled upon the ''Surf's Up'' LP. ... as modern and progressive as the majority of 'heavy' music in the mainstream rock world of 1971."<ref name="Stebbins2011"/> Conversely, biographer [[Peter Ames Carlin]] criticized the lyrics as "impossibly cryptic".<ref name="Carlin2007">{{cite book|last=Carlin|first=Peter Ames|author-link=Peter Ames Carlin|title=Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_D9WcfN0NqEC&pg=PT256|year=2007|publisher=Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale|isbn=978-1-59486-899-3|page=256}}</ref> ''[[Record Collector]]''{{'}}s Jamie Atkins wrote that, "despite the hamfisted lyrics", the song "remains sonically intriguing, with the lightness of touch and natural feel for arranging that had served Brian so well."<ref name="Atkins">{{cite magazine |last1=Atkins |first1=Jamie |title=Wake The World: The Beach Boys 1967-'73 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/wake-the-world-the-beach-boys-1967-73 |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |date=July 2018|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==''Almost Famous''==
[[File:Cameron Crowe 2005.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Cameron Crowe]] is credited with popularizing the song after featuring it in his 2000 film ''[[Almost Famous]]'' ]]
Director [[Cameron Crowe]] used the song twice in his 2000 film ''[[Almost Famous]]''. It first plays during a scene in which the protagonist meets a [[groupie]], and reappears in the end credits. Crowe cited "Feel Flows" as his favorite Beach Boys song and explained that it contains "the happy/sad greatness that defines the group and the timelessness that allows The Beach Boys to tower over any attempt to classify them as simple poster boys for the California experience. It is the essence of the fulfilled promise of The Beach Boys and everything Brian envisioned for their creative journey."<ref name="crowe">{{cite web |author1=Greg |title=Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys |url=https://www.theuncool.com/2012/07/10/fifty-sides-of-the-beach-boys/ |website=The Uncool |date=July 10, 2012}}</ref> According to biographer Mark Dillon, the song received "new life from exposure in the film and inclusion on its Grammy Award–winning soundtrack."<ref name="crowe"/>
==Other uses==
* In 1972, the song was used in the surfing documentary ''[[Five Summer Stories]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coker |first1=Matt |title=NBFF Recommendation of the Day: Five Summer Stories |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/nbff-recommendation-of-the-day-five-summer-stories-6452664/ |accessdate=20 June 2018 |work=[[OC Weekly]] |date=April 29, 2014}}</ref>
* In 2005, it appeared on a compilation album of music that has inspired the Welsh indie-psychedelic pop band the [[Super Furry Animals]] titled ''Under the Influence''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hogan |first1=Marc |title=Super Furry Animals: Under the Influence |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7606-under-the-influence/ |accessdate=20 June 2018 |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=May 3, 2005}}</ref>
* In 2021, the song's title was adopted for ''[[Feel Flows (album)|Feel Flows]]'', an archival release dedicated to the band's ''[[Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)|Sunflower]]'' and ''Surf's Up'' period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Joel |title=Free Feel Flows! |url=https://www.thesuburban.com/arts_and_entertainment/joel-goldenberg-free-feel-flows/article_ee41e743-0091-53a3-8b28-2221dff42b8c.html |website=The Suburban |date=September 12, 2020}}</ref>
==Personnel==
Credits from Craig Slowinski<ref name="Slowinski2021">{{cite magazine |last=Slowinski|first=Craig |date=Summer 2021 |title=Surf's Up: 50th Anniversary Edition|issue=134|volume=34|magazine=Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine |location=Charlotte, North Carolina|editor-first=David|editor-last=Beard}}</ref> and Tom Nolan<ref name="Nolan2"/>
'''The Beach Boys'''
*[[Carl Wilson]] – lead and backing vocals, vocal noises, electric guitar, bass guitar, pianos, pianos w/ taped strings, Baldwin organ, Moog synthesizer, jingle sticks
*[[Brian Wilson]] – backing vocals
*[[Bruce Johnston]] – backing vocals
'''Additional musicians'''
*[[Stephen Desper|Stephen W. Desper]] - Moog programming
*[[Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)|Charles Lloyd]] – tenor saxophone, flute
*Diane Rovell - backing vocals
*[[Jack Rieley]] - vocal noises
*Woody Theus – bass drum, jingle sticks
*[[Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford|Marilyn Wilson]] - backing vocals
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Surf's Up}}
{{The Beach Boys main}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1971 songs]]
[[Category:The Beach Boys songs]]
[[Category:Progressive pop songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Carl Wilson]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jack Rieley]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys]]