A Son of the Rock

I’ve always been a sucker for male voices singing in harmony. (I would draw the line, though, at ecclesiastical recordings.)

I know most people’s choice for Beach Boys track of the 60s would be Good Vibrations. It is a magnificent work but maybe it tries a little too hard. And it depends for a lot of its effect on the theremin. It’s also a bit hiccuppy. Not as much as Heroes And Villains admittedly but still, it doesn’t flow.

A schoolfriend of mine was a great Beach Boys fan and he swore by a very short song called Wake The World. As well as God Only Knows I also have a soft spot for Friends.

My mother used to complain that to sing God Only Knows wasn’t nice; yet to me, the song never seemed to be blasphemous. The reverse in fact.

My memory of hearing this for the first time was on the sea front at Largs but I may be confusing this with something else as my childhood visits to Largs were surely all before its release date.

I still feel there is something pure about this recording. The singing in the round at the fade out always gets to me.

The Beach Boys: God Only Knows