Following their previous album, Holland (1973), the band had focused on touring and attracting bigger concert audiences, especially after the unexpected success of their greatest hits compilation Endless Summer (1974).

At the end of 1975, his bandmates and manager Stephen Love prevailed upon him to produce the group's next release, hoping that a new album bearing his production label credit would prove lucrative.

The project was marred by creative disputes, time constraints, health issues among the band members, and interference from Brian's psychologist, Eugene Landy.

[6][nb 1] Following the June 1973 death of the Wilsons' father and former band manager Murry, Brian retreated into his bedroom and withdrew further into drug abuse, alcoholism, chain smoking, and overeating.

By his account, he had "pulled away" from the band due to "terribly complex, complicated and horribly distasteful situations involving aspects of their business and financial management.

[12] The Beach Boys' greatest hits compilation Endless Summer was released in June 1974 to unexpected success, becoming the band's second number-one U.S. album in October.

[13][14] The LP had a 155-week chart run, selling over 3 million copies,[15] and led the group to reclaim themselves as the number-one act in the U.S. amid a new generation of fans.

[14] Guercio prevailed upon the group to swap out newer songs with older material in their concert setlists,[16] partly to accommodate their growing audience and the demand for their early hits.

To capitalize on their sudden resurgence in popularity, the Beach Boys accepted Guercio's invitation to record their next Reprise album at his Caribou Ranch studio, located around the mountains of Nederland, Colorado.

[26] Released as a single at the end of December 1974, "Child of Winter" was the first Beach Boys record since 1965 to have displayed the label credit "Produced by Brian Wilson".

[38] In October, Wilson recorded a rendition of Van Dyke Parks' "Come to the Sunshine", also intended for the band's forthcoming album, but a dispute prevented the track's inclusion.

[39] Although another joint tour with Chicago had been planned for the summer of 1976,[34] the Beach Boys' association with Guercio and his Caribou Management company ended early in the year.

[41] By the time 15 Big Ones was recorded, the Beach Boys had fallen three albums behind schedule in their contract with Warner Bros.[42] In late 1975, Wilson volunteered himself into psychologist Eugene Landy's 24-hour therapy program.

[59] Shortly before the sessions had commenced, Dennis explained that the fate of the band's wealth of unreleased material depended on the individual songwriters, noting that the pressure to release songs had detracted from the creative enjoyment.

"[47][60] Following two days in the studio, during which the band recorded "Palisades Park" and "Blueberry Hill", the sessions temporarily halted due to disagreements regarding the album's direction.

"[66][67] Stephen countered by emphasizing the necessity of timely releases to meet business demands and market momentum, even if it meant artistic compromises.

[47] Mike did not believe that time constraints was to blame for the album's "rough sections", explaining that it was not publicly disclosed that Carl had suffered "a debilitating back injury" and had been "self-medicating and drinking".

[78][73] "Rock and Roll Music" was chosen, according to Love, because he felt that the band could possibly repeat the success they had with covering Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" as "Surfin' U.S.A." (1963).

[83][84] 15 Big Ones was packaged with cover artwork that showed photos of the individual band members inside five interlocking rings, resembling the logo for the Olympic Games.

[85] Mike Love reflected, "The images of Brian, Dennis, Carl, Al, and me in five interlocking circles could have been a metaphor for five bandmates united in common purpose, or five guys living in their separate worlds.

[92] On September 17, Brian appeared as a guest presenter on Don Kirshner's Annual Rock Music Awards program, where he was nominated for the Hall of Fame category and lost to the Beatles.

[95] That month, Rolling Stone published David Felton's feature story, "The Beach Boys: The Healing of Brother Bri" [sic].

[98] Starting on July 2, 1976, Wilson made regular concert appearances with his bandmates for the first time since December 1964, singing and alternating between bass guitar and piano.

[90] The setlists for these dates included the 15 Big Ones selections "Susie Cincinnati", "Palisades Park", "It's OK", "A Casual Look", "Back Home", and "Rock and Roll Music".

[77] Much of the criticism centers around the cover songs, Dennis' and Brian's rough vocal performances, and the record's perceived unfinished, forced, and rushed quality.

"[114] Among retrospective reviews, AllMusic's John Bush felt that most of the covers were "simply too well known to be reworked effectively, by anyone", but favorably compared "It's OK" and "Had to Phone Ya" to "Brian's odd pop songs on late-'60s albums like Friends and 20/20.

Kempfe added that, with the exception of "Just Once in My Life", the covers "are notable only for the morbid fascination they hold [...] Brian's once-sweet falsetto is reduced to a hoarse crackle; as a result, Mike Love's painful nasal whine is the dominant voice on the record.

[115] Rock critic Nick Kent called it "utterly uninspired and weary-sounding [...] clearly intended only as therapy for Wilson's long dormant production talents.

[92] In White's belief, the troubled sessions "precipitated the abrupt solo career decisions by Dennis and Carl Wilson", and what he had witnessed convinced him that "the greatest obstacle the Beach Boys face is that of five divergent personalities, fraught with jealousies, fears, foibles, conflicting interests and basic stylistic disagreements.

"[118] Matijas-Mecca argued that 15 Big Ones marked the beginning of a one-and-a-half-year period in which "Brian produced some of his most creative and interesting (if not necessarily commercial) music since he abandoned SMiLE.