Still Cruisin' (song) explained

Still Cruisin'
Type:single
Artist:The Beach Boys
Album:Still Cruisin'
B-Side:Kokomo
Released:July 7, 1989
Recorded:1988
Genre:Pop rock
Length:3:35
Label:Capitol Records
Producer:Terry Melcher
Prev Title:Kokomo
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Somewhere Near Japan
Next Year:1990

"Still Cruisin'" is a song written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1989 album Still Cruisin' and reached number 11 in Austria, number 28 in Australia and number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Recording

The song includes the vocals of Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston. The only then-active Beach Boys member not included in the recording was Brian Wilson. The main recording was done at Al Jardine's Red Barn Studios in Big Sur, Calif. The guitars, bass & solo were played by Los Angeles studio musician, Craig Trippan Fall. The programming, including drums/keyboards were done by Keith Wechsler, who also was the engineer on the Still Cruisin' album, and the Summer in Paradise album.

Promotional video

VH-1 participated in the development of the promotional video for "Still Cruisin'" to help promote a Chevrolet Corvette giveaway for their then-young cable channel. The video included four members of the Beach Boys singing the song at a concert with cutaways to several versions of the Corvette. Although Brian Wilson did not participate in the recording of "Still Crusin'", he did make a brief cameo appearance in the video: driving in his Corvette in silhouette during part of the intro, and during the lyrics "...paradise by the sea...", Brian is sitting on the oceanside and turns to the camera. These shots, alongside additional shots of Brian in his house playing the keyboard, were also intended to be part of a music video for "In My Car", also from the same album and also intended for Chevrolet promotion, which was ultimately scrapped for "Still Cruisin'".

Personnel

The Beach Boys
Additional musicians

Live versions

During the Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour Al Jardine took over on Carl Wilson's original "When We Go Cruisin'.." line.

Chart positions

ChartPeak
position
Australian Singles Chart[1] 28
Austrian Singles Chart[2] 11
Canada Top Singles55
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary7
German Singles Chart51
UK Singles78
US Billboard Hot 10093
US Billboard Adult Contemporary9
US Gavin Report Adult Contemporary4
US Radio & Records Adult Contemporary5

Notes and References

  1. Web site: australian-charts.com The Beach Boys – Still Cruisin. Hung Medien. ASP. April 14, 2013.
  2. Web site: austriancharts.at The Beach Boys – Still Cruisin. Hung Medien. German. ASP. April 14, 2013.