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They performed "Barbara Ann" on national TV (The Jack Benny Hour) on 10/23/1965, two months *before* the single was released, so I think we have room to doubt that it was released without the band's knowledge, and that Brian was "mortified" at the time.
That's a very interesting point, but I'll just point out that it was probably the easiest track to play live (much easier than TLGIOK) from their then-current album. There's plenty of contemporary evidence that the band didn't want it released as a single, and that Brian disavowed it. OTOH, as you say, they did play it on Benny.
Great review. My very first BB record i bought was TLGIOK. I was 12 and just beginning my love of Brian's music. This record is still one of my favorite tunes. Thanks for your work.
My favorite word spoken on Party is Mike's "glub" after 'sink like a stone..' on Times They Are A Changin'. Somebody (Al? Brian?) transposed it to 4/4. The Byrds recorded their 4/4 version in September of '65, as well. Interesting. Melcher ;)
Another very interesting video. The long section on Little Girl I Once Knew is the real meat of this analysis. You mention the relationship between the Byrds and the Beach Boys. Well, we don't really know what Brian thought of the Byrds' music (David Crosby revered Brian), but we do know one thing: when Brian first tried to escape from Landy's clutches in 1973, the person he went to was Roger McGuinn, his neighbor (in Malibu I think). That meeting precipitated "Ding Dang."
It's a true story, verified by Brian, but McGuinn's recollection about Landy being in the picture may be wrong. Landy wasn't hired until late 1975 and Brian's visit seems to have been in 1974.
You said Little Girl was the best parts of California Girls and Help Me, Rhonda. It also goes takes from Wendy when the intro is brought back again at the end before the outro. Brilliant record!
The "La-Do-Day" chorus in TLGIOK was a callback to Chuck Berry's 1959 "Almost Grown," which has a vocal group singing "la-do-day" behind Chuck's vocal. The BBs did this kind of thing a lot. The "hey now, hey now" chorus in "Do It Again" callbacks Hank Ballard's "Finger Poppin' Time." Etc...
Another brilliant breakdown. Hearing the boys take the piss w some of their lyrics is hilarious.. “I Get Around” happens to my fav BB song, although there are many other contenders, really hard to pick just one. Warmth of the Sun is a close second. Hearing Mike mess w the lyrics always busts me up. Love em (pun totally intended) or hate em, I think he’s been an ace frontman It is possible to love both Mike and Brian lol. I’ll have to check out that Bruce interview. He has so many great stories and insight, but he’s said many times he has no interest in writing a book..maybe he’ll change his mind one of these days!
Regarding Jan's accident, I seem to remember reading in Mark Moore's book that on that day, I think Jan was told he was off the hook regarding the draft, especially as his leg was still healing from that train accident during the shooting of Easy Come, Easy Go (not the Elvis movie) and that the April 1966 accident took place as Jan was speeding down a residential street on his way to a meeting with a guy from Liberty who was going to leave the label and help Jan with the new Jan and Dean label. Mark's book has exemplary information about the accident, including that it may (along with the speeding) have occurred because of a tire on Jan's car that had come loose a few days before. It was the Dead Man's Curve TV movie that had Jan ("Do you know who I am, I'm Jan and Dean!" LOL) crashing on a highway rather than a residential street after the supposed angry draft board encounter.
Yeah, I probably got over my skis there. I did verify enough that Jan was at the draft board that day, but I should have checked back with Mark (or his site) about how the meeting went.
One of the most egregious errors over the years regarding the accident came about because of a poorly worded newspaper story that said several people died in traffic along with Jan being hurt. Some people, including Beach Boys book author Timothy White, took that to mean that people in the car with Jan died, but Jan was alone in the car.
I absolutely love Jan and Dean Meet Batman for its surreal humor, although I find myself skipping over the actual songs, except for the opener. I'm also a big fan of that Side 4 Jan and Dean "concert" on Side 4 of the Legendary Masters set, which interestingly has stereo segments whereas, IIRC, the Filet of Soul Redux album with the whole planned LP is all mono.
Thanks for this great review! I live in the UK and I remember buying an EP of four Beach Boys songs - The Little Girl I Once Knew was one of them and I agree with you that it’s a great song - I remain amazed that it wasn’t a big hit - I compare it with Breakaway since this also was not an album track or a big hit in the states - Breakaway was a big hit however here in the UK - good luck with your review of Pet Sounds - I know your enthusiasm and insight will provide another great review!
Byrds - Beach Boys connections …. When McGuinn and Crosby were asked by the studio musicians about what rhythmic “ feel “ Mr. Tambourine Man should have , they both reportedly answered , “ …like Don’t Worry Baby ! “
The Beatles, on their 1965 Christmas record for fan club members, skewer "Yesterday", as well as making fun of Dylan's protest records (they use his voicings, but they seem to be making fun of "Eve of Destruction"). I remember "Barbara Ann" as being popular with boys. Many of my 6th grade friends would sing it .
It's strange that no contemporary video exists of the BBs singing TLGIOK. It suggests to me that negative reaction was swift and brutal, and that the "No. 20" ranking in Billboard was a cover-up engineered by Capitol for a single that actually bombed badly -- sales being much worse than "No. 20" would imply. Capitol and the BBs wanted to bury this "embarrassment" (chart wise not music wise) almost immediately. Then they rush released "Barbara Ann" in its place, got immediate positive feedback, promoted the hell out of it, and pretended that TLGIOK never existed. So you can see why Capitol was nervous about "Pet Sounds," since it's a continuation of the same vibe as TLGIOK.
It's one interpretation of the evidence. It doesn't look like the Beach Boys had any TV scheduled during LGIOK's run, but it probably was a daunting song to play live and I don't know if they ever did it before 2012. Another interpretation is that Capitol deliberately tanked the single because they didn't have any faith in it - "Barbara Ann" was already out before LGIOK had peaked. But I pretty much buy the conventional wisdom that radio just didn't want to play it because of the pause, and Capitol would be well aware of that. But I'm skeptical the band wasn't behind it. Capitol - yeah, and they'd pull a similar maneuver with PET SOUNDS in rush releasing BEST OF THE BEACH BOYS and delaying the release of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" until July, which is a bit harder to justify.
I don't think it's very funny so I don't blame you, but I think it's jokingly associating Brian's social quirks with some form of arrested development.
See, it wasn't until I got the "Party" album that I realised that "Barbara Ann" was just a joke song they did as part of the much bigger thing they were doing. It was only an accident that it became a hit because Capitol put it out as a single to hide what I consider the most progressive rock song of 1965--namely, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and by the way---John Lennon agrees with me! No one ever accused Capitol records of having good taste!
Thanks as ever Adam, these are always thought provoking. Personally, I think There's No Other is beautiful, despite all the silliness going on, when the boys just sing (er - 'from their hearts') together it just cuts right through. Much as I agree that TLGTIOK is brilliant, I don't think it has the commerciality of California Girls and yes - Barbara Ann (even if you take out the stops). You mention doing Party style covers of other BB tunes. Back in (gawd!) 1994 I think it was, my pal Sean Macreavy did a Love You medley on his Dumb Angel album which I helped him with. I'm sure I remembered doing a Party version of Johnny Carson - and sure enough, there it is at about 06:50. Cheers ruclips.net/video/1RRNIr0rnhw/видео.html
Oh nice! I'll check that out. Sean is of course legendary. We actually did some other things on that album too including a LOVE YOU production of "Don't Talk" and a straight cover of "Solar System" that Alan sang, which both came out good. And you do have a valid point about Little Girl - I'm not sure if I agree, but I can't strongly disagree either.
The suggestion that Brian and company came from a "privileged, bourgeois demographic" (as if Murry's tool shop was Hollywood glamour) and the so-called "folk singers" of the time were hardscrabble, un-privileged "workers" sincerely singing about their "hard life" is the only daft observation made in this splendid series so far. Dylan, Baez, et al., were all upper middle-class "bourgeois" entertainers even more ambitious than the Beach Boys; there should be absolutely NO illusions about that these days.
Very fair point, but I'd argue it's not daft in the least since I'm speaking also to some extent about my own background and subsequent life experience and also as to what those words actually mean. The dictionary definition of bourgeois is "belonging to or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes." It doesn't refer specifically to the "upper" middle class, but it does refer specifically to a certain kind of approach or mentality to the world. Growing up in Hawthorne as lower (Wilsons) or upper (the others) middle class white men at that particular time and place, there were just some issues the Beach Boys didn't need or want to think about and/or didn't have time for. As for privilege, certainly none of them were rich (except Bruce), but speaking as someone who lives next to actual poverty every single day, privilege they did indeed have and to a great extent in their fun-loving metier it's what they sing about. Which - I might add - I have no problem with whatsoever. Thank you for watching!
![PET SQUARES #17 Beach Boys Party Side 1 [A Geek's Guide To The Beach Boys]](/img/1.gif)
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Nicely done, as always. How you demonstrate that the change was happening through TLGIOK. "Beach Boys' Party is what it is."
I agree with your assessment of Little Girl I Once Knew. One of their best singles ever.
I didn't realize that P. F. Sloan could sing falsetto.
Can't wait for #19!
They performed "Barbara Ann" on national TV (The Jack Benny Hour) on 10/23/1965, two months *before* the single was released, so I think we have room to doubt that it was released without the band's knowledge, and that Brian was "mortified" at the time.
That's a very interesting point, but I'll just point out that it was probably the easiest track to play live (much easier than TLGIOK) from their then-current album. There's plenty of contemporary evidence that the band didn't want it released as a single, and that Brian disavowed it. OTOH, as you say, they did play it on Benny.
Great review. My very first BB record i bought was TLGIOK. I was 12 and just beginning my love of Brian's music. This record is still one of my favorite tunes. Thanks for your work.
My favorite word spoken on Party is Mike's "glub" after 'sink like a stone..' on Times They Are A Changin'. Somebody (Al? Brian?) transposed it to 4/4. The Byrds recorded their 4/4 version in September of '65, as well. Interesting. Melcher ;)
Good catch. Missed that
Another very interesting video. The long section on Little Girl I Once Knew is the real meat of this analysis. You mention the relationship between the Byrds and the Beach Boys. Well, we don't really know what Brian thought of the Byrds' music (David Crosby revered Brian), but we do know one thing: when Brian first tried to escape from Landy's clutches in 1973, the person he went to was Roger McGuinn, his neighbor (in Malibu I think). That meeting precipitated "Ding Dang."
It's a true story, verified by Brian, but McGuinn's recollection about Landy being in the picture may be wrong. Landy wasn't hired until late 1975 and Brian's visit seems to have been in 1974.
I love all the technical details!
You said Little Girl was the best parts of California Girls and Help Me, Rhonda. It also goes takes from Wendy when the intro is brought back again at the end before the outro. Brilliant record!
The "La-Do-Day" chorus in TLGIOK was a callback to Chuck Berry's 1959 "Almost Grown," which has a vocal group singing "la-do-day" behind Chuck's vocal. The BBs did this kind of thing a lot. The "hey now, hey now" chorus in "Do It Again" callbacks Hank Ballard's "Finger Poppin' Time." Etc...
Loved the parts breakdown for "The Little Girl I Once Knew." Great job.
Thanks so much for your help with this Mark!
This series is fantastic! Fascinating info
Wow thank you! And thanks for watching!
Another brilliant breakdown. Hearing the boys take the piss w some of their lyrics is hilarious.. “I Get Around” happens to my fav BB song, although there are many other contenders, really hard to pick just one. Warmth of the Sun is a close second. Hearing Mike mess w the lyrics always busts me up. Love em (pun totally intended) or hate em, I think he’s been an ace frontman It is possible to love both Mike and Brian lol. I’ll have to check out that Bruce interview. He has so many great stories and insight, but he’s said many times he has no interest in writing a book..maybe he’ll change his mind one of these days!
I have to think Bruce might be warming to the idea of sharing his recollections. He has so much insight to offer.
Regarding Jan's accident, I seem to remember reading in Mark Moore's book that on that day, I think Jan was told he was off the hook regarding the draft, especially as his leg was still healing from that train accident during the shooting of Easy Come, Easy Go (not the Elvis movie) and that the April 1966 accident took place as Jan was speeding down a residential street on his way to a meeting with a guy from Liberty who was going to leave the label and help Jan with the new Jan and Dean label. Mark's book has exemplary information about the accident, including that it may (along with the speeding) have occurred because of a tire on Jan's car that had come loose a few days before. It was the Dead Man's Curve TV movie that had Jan ("Do you know who I am, I'm Jan and Dean!" LOL) crashing on a highway rather than a residential street after the supposed angry draft board encounter.
Yeah, I probably got over my skis there. I did verify enough that Jan was at the draft board that day, but I should have checked back with Mark (or his site) about how the meeting went.
One of the most egregious errors over the years regarding the accident came about because of a poorly worded newspaper story that said several people died in traffic along with Jan being hurt. Some people, including Beach Boys book author Timothy White, took that to mean that people in the car with Jan died, but Jan was alone in the car.
@@joelgoldenberg1100 Yeah, I know. It's pissed me off for years as well.
I absolutely love Jan and Dean Meet Batman for its surreal humor, although I find myself skipping over the actual songs, except for the opener. I'm also a big fan of that Side 4 Jan and Dean "concert" on Side 4 of the Legendary Masters set, which interestingly has stereo segments whereas, IIRC, the Filet of Soul Redux album with the whole planned LP is all mono.
Thanks for this great review! I live in the UK and I remember buying an EP of four Beach Boys songs - The Little Girl I Once Knew was one of them and I agree with you that it’s a great song - I remain amazed that it wasn’t a big hit - I compare it with Breakaway since this also was not an album track or a big hit in the states - Breakaway was a big hit however here in the UK - good luck with your review of Pet Sounds - I know your enthusiasm and insight will provide another great review!
Byrds - Beach Boys connections …. When McGuinn and Crosby were asked by the studio musicians about what rhythmic “ feel “ Mr. Tambourine Man should have , they both reportedly answered , “ …like Don’t Worry Baby ! “
The Beatles, on their 1965 Christmas record for fan club members, skewer "Yesterday", as well as making fun of Dylan's protest records (they use his voicings, but they seem to be making fun of "Eve of Destruction"). I remember "Barbara Ann" as being popular with boys. Many of my 6th grade friends would sing it .
Good catch! The Beatles were always just a little ahead of everyone, weren't they?
It's strange that no contemporary video exists of the BBs singing TLGIOK. It suggests to me that negative reaction was swift and brutal, and that the "No. 20" ranking in Billboard was a cover-up engineered by Capitol for a single that actually bombed badly -- sales being much worse than "No. 20" would imply. Capitol and the BBs wanted to bury this "embarrassment" (chart wise not music wise) almost immediately. Then they rush released "Barbara Ann" in its place, got immediate positive feedback, promoted the hell out of it, and pretended that TLGIOK never existed. So you can see why Capitol was nervous about "Pet Sounds," since it's a continuation of the same vibe as TLGIOK.
It's one interpretation of the evidence. It doesn't look like the Beach Boys had any TV scheduled during LGIOK's run, but it probably was a daunting song to play live and I don't know if they ever did it before 2012. Another interpretation is that Capitol deliberately tanked the single because they didn't have any faith in it - "Barbara Ann" was already out before LGIOK had peaked. But I pretty much buy the conventional wisdom that radio just didn't want to play it because of the pause, and Capitol would be well aware of that. But I'm skeptical the band wasn't behind it. Capitol - yeah, and they'd pull a similar maneuver with PET SOUNDS in rush releasing BEST OF THE BEACH BOYS and delaying the release of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" until July, which is a bit harder to justify.
"How long did it take Brian to learn to walk? Four years?" I don't get the joke.
I don't think it's very funny so I don't blame you, but I think it's jokingly associating Brian's social quirks with some form of arrested development.
See, it wasn't until I got the "Party" album that I realised that "Barbara Ann" was just a joke song they did as part of the much bigger thing they were doing. It was only an accident that it became a hit because Capitol put it out as a single to hide what I consider the most progressive rock song of 1965--namely, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and by the way---John Lennon agrees with me! No one ever accused Capitol records of having good taste!
Thanks as ever Adam, these are always thought provoking. Personally, I think There's No Other is beautiful, despite all the silliness going on, when the boys just sing (er - 'from their hearts') together it just cuts right through. Much as I agree that TLGTIOK is brilliant, I don't think it has the commerciality of California Girls and yes - Barbara Ann (even if you take out the stops). You mention doing Party style covers of other BB tunes. Back in (gawd!) 1994 I think it was, my pal Sean Macreavy did a Love You medley on his Dumb Angel album which I helped him with. I'm sure I remembered doing a Party version of Johnny Carson - and sure enough, there it is at about 06:50. Cheers ruclips.net/video/1RRNIr0rnhw/видео.html
Oh nice! I'll check that out. Sean is of course legendary. We actually did some other things on that album too including a LOVE YOU production of "Don't Talk" and a straight cover of "Solar System" that Alan sang, which both came out good.
And you do have a valid point about Little Girl - I'm not sure if I agree, but I can't strongly disagree either.
The suggestion that Brian and company came from a "privileged, bourgeois demographic" (as if Murry's tool shop was Hollywood glamour) and the so-called "folk singers" of the time were hardscrabble, un-privileged "workers" sincerely singing about their "hard life" is the only daft observation made in this splendid series so far. Dylan, Baez, et al., were all upper middle-class "bourgeois" entertainers even more ambitious than the Beach Boys; there should be absolutely NO illusions about that these days.
Very fair point, but I'd argue it's not daft in the least since I'm speaking also to some extent about my own background and subsequent life experience and also as to what those words actually mean. The dictionary definition of bourgeois is "belonging to or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes." It doesn't refer specifically to the "upper" middle class, but it does refer specifically to a certain kind of approach or mentality to the world. Growing up in Hawthorne as lower (Wilsons) or upper (the others) middle class white men at that particular time and place, there were just some issues the Beach Boys didn't need or want to think about and/or didn't have time for. As for privilege, certainly none of them were rich (except Bruce), but speaking as someone who lives next to actual poverty every single day, privilege they did indeed have and to a great extent in their fun-loving metier it's what they sing about. Which - I might add - I have no problem with whatsoever. Thank you for watching!
Bob Dylan trashes his own songs in live performances to prevent the audience from singing along. But not in a humorous way.