section_path: 1978–1998: Continued recording and Brian's estrangement/L.A. (Light Album) and Keepin' the Summer Alive
section_name: L.A. (Light Album) and Keepin' the Summer Alive
paragraph_text: L.A. (Light Album) and Keepin' the Summer Alive
  
  The group's first two albums for CBS, 1979's L.A. (Light Album) and 1980's Keepin' the Summer Alive, struggled in the US, charting at 100 and 75 respectively, though the band did manage a top-forty single from L.A. (Light Album) with " Good Timin' ". The recording of these albums saw Bruce Johnston return to the band, initially solely as a producer and eventually as a full-time band member. In-between the two albums, the group contributed the song " It's a Beautiful Day " to the soundtrack of the film Americathon. In an April 1980 interview, Carl reflected that "the last two years have been the most important and difficult time of our career. We were at the ultimate crossroads. We had to decide whether what we had been involved in since we were teenagers had lost its meaning. We asked ourselves and each other the difficult questions we'd often avoided in the past." By the next year, he left the touring group because of unhappiness with the band's nostalgia format and lackluster live performances, subsequently pursuing a solo career. He stated: "I haven't quit the Beach Boys but I do not plan on touring with them until they decide that 1981 means as much to them as 1961." Carl returned in May 1982, after approximately 14 months of being away, on the condition that the group reconsider their rehearsal and touring policies and refrain from "Las Vegas-type" engagements.
  
  I think a lot of critics punish the band for not going beyond "Good Vibrations"... they love the band so much that they get crazy because we don't top ourselves.... growth in this business is tough.
  
  On June 21, 1980, the Beach Boys performed a concert at Knebworth, England, which featured a slightly intoxicated Dennis. The concert would later be released as a live album titled Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 in 2002. In 1981, the band scored a surprise US top-twenty hit when their cover of the Del-Vikings ' " Come Go with Me ", from the three year old M.I.U. Album, was released as a single from Ten Years of Harmony, a double compilation album focusing on the Reprise and CBS years.
  
  In late 1982, Eugene Landy was hired once more as Brian's therapist. This involved removing him from the group on November 5, 1982, at the behest of Carl, Love, and Jardine, in addition to putting him on a strict diet and health regimen. Coupled with counseling sessions that retaught him basic social etiquette, this therapy restored Brian's physical health, slimming down from 311 pounds (141 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg).
  
  The group's first two albums for CBS, 1979's L.A. (Light Album) and 1980's Keepin' the Summer Alive, struggled in the US, charting at 100 and 75 respectively, though the band did manage a top-forty single from L.A. (Light Album) with " Good Timin' ". The recording of these albums saw Bruce Johnston return to the band, initially solely as a producer and eventually as a full-time band member. In-between the two albums, the group contributed the song " It's a Beautiful Day " to the soundtrack of the film Americathon. In an April 1980 interview, Carl reflected that "the last two years have been the most important and difficult time of our career. We were at the ultimate crossroads. We had to decide whether what we had been involved in since we were teenagers had lost its meaning. We asked ourselves and each other the difficult questions we'd often avoided in the past." By the next year, he left the touring group because of unhappiness with the band's nostalgia format and lackluster live performances, subsequently pursuing a solo career. He stated: "I haven't quit the Beach Boys but I do not plan on touring with them until they decide that 1981 means as much to them as 1961." Carl returned in May 1982, after approximately 14 months of being away, on the condition that the group reconsider their rehearsal and touring policies and refrain from "Las Vegas-type" engagements.
  
  I think a lot of critics punish the band for not going beyond "Good Vibrations"... they love the band so much that they get crazy because we don't top ourselves.... growth in this business is tough.
  
  On June 21, 1980, the Beach Boys performed a concert at Knebworth, England, which featured a slightly intoxicated Dennis. The concert would later be released as a live album titled Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 in 2002. In 1981, the band scored a surprise US top-twenty hit when their cover of the Del-Vikings ' " Come Go with Me ", from the three year old M.I.U. Album, was released as a single from Ten Years of Harmony, a double compilation album focusing on the Reprise and CBS years.
  
  In late 1982, Eugene Landy was hired once more as Brian's therapist. This involved removing him from the group on November 5, 1982, at the behest of Carl, Love, and Jardine, in addition to putting him on a strict diet and health regimen. Coupled with counseling sessions that retaught him basic social etiquette, this therapy restored Brian's physical health, slimming down from 311 pounds (141 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg).