The Beach Boys, The #16 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 

After a tour, the group returned home to record the single "I Get Around" in 1964.  Meanwhile, Murry Wilson was fired as manager.  The song became their first #1 song in the U.S. (also #1 in Canada, 7 in the U.K. and #19 in Sweden), sold over one million copies, was one of the biggest hits of the year (another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*).  

 

The flip side, "Don't Worry Baby", is another fan favorite.

 

The group released the live album Beach Boys Concert, which went to #1, and then released the studio album All Summer Long, which reached #4 and also sold over 500,000 copies.  The latter included "I Get Around" as well as "Little Honda".  The Hondells scored a #9 hit with it later in the year.

 

The title song seemed like a farewell to the songs about surfin', hot rods, and the beach.  With the Beatles already having a firm hold on music charts, it was time for artists to up their game, or get left in the dust.

 

Brian recorded most of the group's upcoming Christmas album with a studio orchestra.  With the exception of this song, the group recorded it in June, one month after they completed work on the All Summer Long album.  The band recorded "Little Saint Nick" in October and released The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, which was certified Gold, later in the month. 

"Little Saint Nick" has become a holiday favorite, and music historian James Perone wrote that the album is "regarded as one of the finest holiday albums of the Rock Era."    

"The Man With All The Toys" is another song on the album which receives significant airplay around the Christmas season.

All the work and stress, however, were getting to Brian, and on December 23, he suffered a panic attack while on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston.  In January of 1965, he announced he would not tour anymore and would focus instead on songwriting and production.  Session musician Glen Campbell replaced Brian for live shows.

The Beach Boys dominated the market for surfing and hot rods, but Wilson used this time to explore other topics in his songwriting, and to greatly raise the level of complexity, both in his lyrics as well as his music.  Brian wrote introspective lyrics and greatly developed his talents in the studio, adding layers and layers of sound, hiring more bassists and keyboards to make Beach Boys' records much deeper and more complex.

"We needed to grow," Wilson explained to Luis Sanchez for the 2014 book The Beach Boys' Smile.  "Up to this point," Wilson said, "we had milked every idea dry [and did] every possible angle about surfing and [cars].  But we needed to grow artistically." 

Wilson, however, also began to go deeper into drugs, such as marijuana and LSD.  He viewed recording as a competition with other artists at the time, and the Beatles being out by now was a major challenge.  The stress felt from this competition, combined with increasing drug use, was soon to send Brian into a downward spiral that he is still recovering from to this day.

 

The group released the album  The Beach Boys Today, the 7th Gold album of their career!  Wilson and Love wrote this song and share lead vocal duties.  Many young men his age aren't advanced enough to know that they aren't grown up yet (in fact, there are many men who don't even know what it means to be grown up!), so the fact that Wilson had that perspective is in and of itself amazing.  The single "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" hit #1 in Canada and #9 in the U.S.

Brian, Carl, and Love combined to write "Dance, Dance, Dance", which also reached the Top 10 in the U.S., Canada, and Sweden.  Many songs you hear raise the key of the song prior to a chorus, but this one was innovative in that it modulates in the middle of the verse.

 

Here is the highest-charting song to feature Dennis on lead vocals and the first single to include members of The Wrecking Crew (Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on bass, Leon Russell playing the Hammond B-3 organ and Tommy Tedesco playing baritone guitar and mandolin, among others).  "Do You Wanna' Dance" stopped just short of the Top 10 at #12, although it hit Top Five in most major markets, including a peak of #2 in Baltimore, Maryland, San Jose, California, and the Twin Cities.

 

"Help Me Rhonda" (featuring Glen Campbell on guitar and Leon Russell on piano) gave the group their first and only album with four hits.  But the backstory to the recording is important as well.

The first version of the song was recorded in two sessions at Hollywood's United Western Recorders Studio on January 8 and 19, 1965.  Well into the first session, a drunken Murry Wilson barged in and took over the session with a strange mix of abusive melodrama and scat singing.  Murry's drunken rants and criticisms of the group drove the normally well-mannered Brian over the edge.  

As the recording tape continued to run, Brian screamed expletives, took off his headphones, and confronted his father.  Murry wanted to stop the tape but Brian insisted on keeping it rolling.  That tape, which is available in bootlegs, validates the situation that has finally been brought to light about the way Wilson was treated, as so brilliantly portrayed in the movie Love and Mercy.  

The tape verifies the vile image that we now know of Murry and we see Brian in a very sympathetic light.  Brian sounds patient, mature and sane compared to his alcoholic, abusive father.  Murry and wife Audrey eventually left, but the session was ruined and the group quit for the night.  The Beach Boys finally completed the song on February 24.

"Help Me Rhonda" is another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* and reached #1 in the U.S., Canada, and Norway.  This was the first single to include Jardine on lead vocals and replaced the Beatles' "Ticket To Ride" in the top spot. 

 

This song was written in respect for Phil Spector's music.  "I wrote that at my apartment in West Hollywood," Wilson told Goldmine in 2011.  "As soon as I finished I felt I had to record it so I called up my engineer, Chuck Britz, and woke him up," Brian continued.  "'Please Let Me Wonder"' was recorded at 3:30 in the morning.  I drove to the studio in the middle of the night and recorded it."

Campbell's pursuit of a solo career took him from the touring group and when Columbia Records producer Bruce Johnston was not able to find a suitable replacement for Campbell, Johnston became a full-time member of the band in May, replacing Brian on the road and contributing vocals in the studio.  The Beach Boys released their next album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), which rose to #2 and gave them another Gold release.  "California Girls" danced to #2 in Canada and #3 in the U.S.

 

The Beach Boys released the single "The Little Girl I Once Knew", an example of Brian's ever-increasing talent which included unique arrangements, tempo changes and several false endings.  Radio stations do not like dead air and at that time didn't appreciate songs which included several seconds of silence, which partially explains why the song didn't chart high (#20).  The Beach Boys' single release of "Barbara Ann" shortly after also led stations to drop "The Little Girl I Once Knew" in favor of the latter.

Summer is a time for romance, but alas, most summer romances don't last.  "Girl Don't Tell Me" captures the emotional pull of experiencing a passionate relationship only to have that doused by the end of the season.

Much more from the legendary Beach Boys!