Not the 1971 album, also self-titled, by Spring, a progressive rock group with the same name, this particular Spring is an excellent artifact from the world of the Beach Boys, and is highly entertaining with much historical value. The album features Marilyn Wilson-Rovell and Diane Rovell, who Creem magazine managing editor Ben Edmonds explains in his trippy liner notes were the Rovell Sisters and the Honeys, and is produced by Marilyn's husband, Brian Wilson. The gals stare out of the gatefold in a blurry blue hue -- an appropriate image for a disc that never got the notice it deserved. The album begins with Tennessee Waltz, a two-minute version that puts the vocals front and center in a fusion that might be called "girl group folk music." Not as orchestrated as the Beach Boys' thick harmonies and the all-pervasive carbon-copy wall of Spector-ized sound, this is more like Brian Wilson emulating Spector's work with the Teddy Bears, light and airy with the ladies' voices very present and in control. The major find here is track two, Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby, written by Wilson and Mike Love. It is the song Darlin' in different form, and it is lovely hearing that melody with other lyrics and in this unique setting. Renditions of the Shirelles' Mama Said and Bonnie Bramlett's Superstar don't fare as well as the originals and more obscure tunes here though. On the popular covers they come off as a forced girl group, abandoning the folksy charm of the first two songs. They overdo a song that Rita Coolidge made a name with, and if Bramlett didn't like what Karen Carpenter did to her song, she might take solace in the fact that at least this album stayed underground and was a tip of the hat to Bramlett's songwriting genius. Tommy Roe's Everybody gets a similar treatment to the group's version of Mama Said, and at least the cover tunes give insight to what the group was attempting to do.

1		Tennessee Waltz
2		Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby
3		Mama Said
4		Superstar
5		Awake
6		Sweet Mountain
7		Everybody
8		This Whole World
9		Forever
10		Good Time
11		Now That Everything's Been Said
12		Down Home
13		Shyin' Away
14		Fallin' in Love
15		It's Like Heaven
16		Had to Phone Ya