and their first that credited Wilson as the sole producer since Pet Sounds. 15 Big Ones, which consisted of an equal share of cover songs and originals, came as a disappointment for most fans and the group members themselves. In a contemporary interview, Wilson acknowledged that the album was "nothing too deep", but promised that the band's next release would be "a masterpiece" on par with "Good Vibrations" (1966). It was to be the second-to-last album owed to their record company, Warner Bros., as their contract had been set to expire in July 1977. From July to August 1976, Wilson joined his bandmates on a U.S. tour, after which he produced a large collection of studio recordings, largely by himself while the other Beach Boys were preoccupied with their own personal and creative affairs. During this period, in late 1976, Dennis Wilson recorded his first solo album Pacific Ocean Blue (1977), Carl Wilson produced Ricci Martin's Beached (1977), Mike Love taught Transcendental Meditation, and Al Jardine spent time with his family. Asked in a December 1976 interview about his feelings on a solo career, Brian responded that he would like to release a solo album, however, he did not want to deal with the inner-band politics that would result from him becoming a solo artist. "They want to keep the material for the Beach Boys, too; a solo album would take away from Beach Boys sales. It would split the group up too much – and I don't think that would be good." Later in the interview, he remarked that he had recently left the band temporarily, "because I want freedom and I want to do my own album.... So I've got to make a decision: either I'm going to stay with the Beach Boys and produce only their stuff or I'm going to go on my own and do an album by myself. I haven't decided which to do yet." Production Love You was largely recorded in October and November 1976 at the band's Brother Studios in Santa Monica, California. Demo recordings, in which Brian previewed his new songs for his bandmates, were captured at a Brother Studios session in fall 1976. The demoed songs were "Airplane", "I'll Bet He's Nice", "It's Over Now", "Let's Put Our Hearts Together”, "Love Is a Woman", "Little Children”, "Mona", and "Still I Dream Of It.” In 2021, five of these demo recordings