Limited 50th anniversary edition on 180gm vinyl. Originally mixed in mono, the album is now newly mixed in stereo for the very first time. Wild Honey was the 13th studio album by the Beach Boys, released on December 18, 1967. The album contrasts with many Beach Boys LPs that came before it with it's R&B and soul music aesthetic. It's name is a double entendre suggesting both edible honey and "honey" as a term of endearment; also the namesake of the album's lead single and opening track. The album's sessions began immediately after the abandonment of Lei'd in Hawaii, a failed live album; and the release of Smiley Smile, their previous studio album. Like Smiley Smile, Wild Honey's core instrumental combo consists of organ, honky-tonk piano, and electronic bass. The Beach Boys were inspired to regroup as a self-contained rock band in response to critical assertions that they were "ball-less choir boys". It would be the last Beach Boys album to feature Brian as a primary composer until The Beach Boys Love You (1977).
