Since Brian Wilson’s death the good lady and I have been listening to the Beach Boys a lot. While doing so it struck me that even without God Only Knows, Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains they would still be remembered – even revered – for songs like I Get Around, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, Do It Again, Break Away and the arrangement on Sloop John B. And too, the slower, more thoughtful tracks like In My Room, Don’t Worry Baby and The Warmth of the Sun.
I discount here the early surfing inspired tracks Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ USA and Surfer Girl. (Very few people now remember Jan and Dean, after all.) The ‘hot rod’ songs, Little Deuce Coupe and Fun, Fun, Fun might just creep in however.
I always had a liking for this one though, the B-side of Sloop John B.
The only Beach Boys single I actually bought was Darlin’ from 1967. God Only Knows and Good Vibrations were before my singles-buying days.
The Beach Boys: Darlin’
Their Wiki singles discography page says its B-side was a song called Here Today from Pet Sounds. Well not in the UK it wasn’t, as I remember it very well. That was instead Country Air from the later album Wild Honey. As this video displaying the record label shows. (The murky sound quality was apparently due to a problem with the master tape.)
The Beach Boys: Country Air
Still brilliant as always.
Brian Douglas Wilson: 20/6/1942 – 11/6/2025. So it goes.
I was very much saddened by the news of Brian Wilson’s death. As the musical driving force behind the Beach Boys he was one of the most influential figures in popular music of the mid to late twentieth century: right up there with Lennon and McCartney.
But there are so many more. Too many to be confined to one post.
This track was the main follow up to Good Vibrations (the release of Then I Kissed Her was a stopgap.) Many people were disappointed with it but it has all the Wilson hallmarks.
The Beach Boys: Heroes and Villains
Then there’s this track, striking a more melancholy note. The title song from the Surf’s Up album.
The Beach Boys: Surf’s Up
Brian Wilson’s star continues to shine long after his heyday. His songs leave a legacy to be revered.
Brian Douglas Wilson: 20/6/1942 – 11/6/2025. So it goes.
Where does this stand in the panoply of Beach Boys’ singles?
Not very high if you go by its chart placing (no 29 in the UK.)
But to me it’s up there. Not as high as God Only Knows or Good Vibrations certainly, but it’s from that time when the Beach Boys were in their mid-60s pomp.
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.
