Good Vibrations
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| “Good Vibrations” | ||
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| Single by The Beach Boys from the album Smiley Smile |
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| B-side | "Let's Go Away For Awhile" | |
| Released | October 10, 1966 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | February – September 1966 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic pop | |
| Length | 3:39 | |
| Label | Capitol Records | |
| Writer(s) | Brian Wilson/Mike Love | |
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |
"Good Vibrations" is a pop single by The Beach Boys. The song was composed by and produced by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Wilson and Mike Love.
Released as a single on October 10, 1966 (backed with the Pet Sounds instrumental "Let's Go Away For Awhile"), it was the band's third U.S. number-one hit, after "I Get Around" and "Help Me, Rhonda", reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1966, as well as being their first British chart-topper.
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[edit] Significance
Brian Wilson's publicist Derek Taylor described "Good Vibrations" as a "pocket symphony," probably in reference to its multiple thematic segments and highly varied instrumentation.[citation needed] It featured instruments unusual for a pop song, including prominent use of the cello as well as an electro-theremin. It was placed #6 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song "Good Vibrations" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.[1]
[edit] Composition
The genesis of the phrase/title "Good Vibrations" has been recounted by Wilson on numerous occasions, including his 1995 biopic, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times. When he was a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up "vibrations" from people, so that the dog would bark at "bad vibrations"[2]. Wilson turned this into the general idea of vibrations (and Mike Love putting "good" in front of vibrations), and developed the idea of people being able to do the same with emotions.
[edit] Lyrics
Wilson first enlisted the help of Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher for help in putting words to the idea. Soon after they met, Brian asked his new writing partner Van Dyke Parks to pen lyrics for the song, but Parks declined.
Beach Boys frontman and bandmate Mike Love supplied the final version of the lyrics around August 24 1966.
According to Brian Wilson, when he re-recorded "Good Vibrations" for his 2004 version of SMiLE, his wife, Melinda, suggested he use the original lyrics written by Tony Asher. From Mike Love's lyrics, he kept just the opening line, "I, I love the colorful clothes she wears," and the chorus, "I'm pickin' up good vibrations, she's giving me excitations ..."
[edit] Recording
Originally composed during the Pet Sounds sessions with original lyrics by Tony Asher, Wilson recorded the song in sections, at different studios in order to capture the sound he heard in his head. Building upon the layered production approach he had begun to use with the Pet Sounds album, Wilson devoted months of effort to this single track.
The first version of the song was recorded on February 17, 1966. It was described in the session log as #1 Untitled (or as Good, Good, Good Vibrations), though on the tape Brian Wilson distinctly says "Good Vibrations, Take One". After 26 takes, a rough mono mix completed the session. Rough guide vocals are recorded the following day. By February 25, Wilson placed the recording on hold in order to devote attention to the Pet Sounds album. The track was to be revisited on May 24, 1966, and worked on (with Asher's lyrics) until June 18, at which time he put it aside again until August 24. The various sections were edited together in a sort of musical collage, similar to The Beatles' later "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day in the Life" records, both inspired by the works of Brian Wilson (according to Paul McCartney).
The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"
The distinctive "woo woo" sound in the choruses and at the end of the record was created with an electro-theremin, played by Paul Tanner. First used by Wilson on the track "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", the device effectively creates a sonic representation of those mysterious vibrations of the title.[citation needed]
The production of the song is reported to have spanned seventeen recording sessions at four different recording studios, and used over 90 hours of magnetic recording tape, with an eventual budget of $50,000.[citation needed] Wilson is credited with developing the use of the recording studio as an instrument: he, the Beach Boys, and dozens of top studio musicians, including members of The Wrecking Crew, recorded and re-recorded seemingly unrelated musical and vocal sections for the song, then edited and mixed these sections into a 3:35 pop single.
The recording and production style used on the "Good Vibrations" single established Wilson's new method of operation: the recording and re-recording of specific sections of music, followed by rough mixes of the sections edited together, further recording as required, and the construction of the final mix from the component elements. This was the modular approach to recording that was next to be used on SMiLE.
David Leaf, author of the critically-acclaimed biography, The Beach Boys and The California Myth, said of the song, "Nothing but perfection here. The Beach Boys' first million-selling #1 hit...was a major technical breakthrough...the record that showed that anything was possible in the studio."
Incidentally, there has never been an official release of a true stereo version of the well-known version of the song, although bootlegs of this mix have been issued over the internet. It has been said that not enough stems exist to actually create a new stereo mix. However, a stereo version of the instrumental backing track does exist and was issued in 2006 on the 40th Anniversary EP CD of the "Good Vibrations" single.
[edit] Albums
Inspired by the success of the song and the positive reaction to Pet Sounds, and wanting to top The Beatles' recently-released Revolver album, Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks embarked on the SMiLE project, intended as an entire album using the writing and production techniques devised for "Good Vibrations." That album was never released as Wilson descended into depression, drug use, and paranoia; several tracks salvaged from those sessions were re-recorded in greatly simplified versions for the Smiley Smile album instead, on which "Good Vibrations" made its first LP appearance.
In 2004, a re-recorded version of SMiLE was finally completed by Wilson and Parks, with Wilson's touring band in place of the other Beach Boys and studio musicians. It was released in September of that year, to widespread critical acclaim. "Good Vibrations" was released as a single prior to the album, also featuring a live version of the song.
[edit] Chart position/sales
According to Badman, the single sold over 230,000 copies in the first four days of its release, and entered the Cash Box chart at number six on October 22nd.
[edit] Critical response
Both the New Musical Express and Melody Maker gave positive reviews at the time of the single's release.
Praise was not universal, however, and Pete Townshend of The Who was quoted at the time as saying "'Good Vibrations' was probably a good record but who's to know? You had to play it about 90 bloody times to even hear what they were singing about", and feared that the single would lead to over-produced records in general.[citation needed]
"Good Vibrations" earned The Beach Boys a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group performance in 1966 and the song was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994. It has featured highly in many 'Top 100 Records of All Time' charts and was voted #1 in the Mojo Top 100 Records of All Time chart in 1997. Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Good Vibrations" as the sixth best song of all time. The song was also voted #24 in the RIAA and NEA's listing of Songs of the Century.
[edit] 40th anniversary single
In celebration of its 40th year, the Good Vibrations: 40th Anniversary Edition single was released. The single includes five versions of "Good Vibrations" including:
- the original single version
- various session takes
- an alternate take (previously released on the Beach Boys' Rarities album)
- the aforementioned instrumental track in stereo (the only official stereo incarnation of this song)
- a live concert rehearsal (from Hawaii 08/1967).
- also included is the original B-side of the single, "Let's Go Away For Awhile".
Except as indicated, all tracks are in mono.
[edit] Cultural references
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
In 1978, the song was used as a jingle for the introduction of Sunkist orange soda in New York and by 1981 Sunkist Orange Soda had become the No. 1 orange soda and the No. 10 best selling soft drink in the USA, not only because of its taste, but also because of "Good Vibrations - The Sunkist Taste Sensation".
The song was featured in the television series, The Wonder Years, in the 1989 episode "Summer Song".
The song is performed in the musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, sung by Captain Tempest and Cookie about Prospero's daughter, Miranda.
The song was used at the beginning of the 1997 movie Vegas Vacation.
In 1998, the tune of the song was featured in an advertising campaign in Australia and Canada for The Good Guys Discount Warehouses Company with the slogan, "Pay Less Pay Cash".[3]
The song was sampled briefly by The Microphones on the song "Florida Beach" from their 1999 album Don't Wake Me Up.
In 1999, National Public Radio included the song in the "NPR 100," in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.
The song was also used in the 2001 Tom Cruise movie Vanilla Sky.
The song was referenced on The Drew Carey Show in the 2002 episode "Never Been to Spain". Lewis and Oswald took up jobs as airport security screeners. When a gentleman set off the metal detector, he told them of a metal plate in his head. Lewis demonstrated this to a confused Oswald by holding a hand-held metal detector to the man's head, when the detector's signal began to sound like the Theremin riffs of the song. The two began singing along before they were caught by their boss.
The song was featured in the 2005 movie It's All Gone Pete Tong in the last scene where Frankie Wilde is teaching deaf children music.
In "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2006 album, Straight Outta Lynwood, a portion of the song "Pancreas" (a pastiche of Brian Wilson) resembles part of the bridge of "Good Vibrations".
The song was played in the last scene in the 2007 comedy film Wild Hogs when William H. Macy's character gets his "come-uppance" (he smashes into things with his bike) and everybody else in the Wild Hogs gang gets hit with a surfboard.
The song was covered by Gym Class Heroes on The Road Mix: Music from the Television Series One Tree Hill, Volume 3, as well as featured in the 18th episode of the fourth season, "The Runaway Found", in 2007.
In the television series Lost, the song plays a part in the events of the 2007 Season 3 finale, and was used in commercials to promote Season 4. The character Charlie, a musician, plays it on a computer, as a code, to turn off The Looking Glass station signal jammer.
[edit] Charts
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| Preceded by "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single December 10, 1966 |
Succeeded by "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees |
| Preceded by "Reach Out I'll Be There" by Four Tops |
UK number one single 17 November 1966 for two weeks |
Succeeded by "Green Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones |
| Preceded by "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" by The Rolling Stones |
United World Chart number one single November 19, 1966 - December 31, 1966 |
Succeeded by "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band |
[edit] References
- Badman, Keith The Beach Boys, The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio, Backbeat Books, (ISBN 0-87930-818-4)
- ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 songs that shaped rock and roll" [1]
- ^ Australian Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Belgian Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Dutch Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ German Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Italian Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Priore, Domenic (1997). Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!, 27.
- ^ New Zealand Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Norwegian Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
- ^ Rhodesian Singles Charts. mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
[edit] External links
- Greg Panfile's Musical Analysis of "Good Vibrations"
- List of Rankings of "Good Vibrations"
- Sound on Sound article on the arrangement of "Good Vibrations"
- BBC Radio 2: "Good Vibrations"
| Smiley Smile Track Listing |
|---|
| Heroes and Villains | Vegetables | Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony) | She's Goin' Bald | Little Pad Good Vibrations | With Me Tonight | Wind Chimes | Gettin' Hungry | Wonderful | Whistle In |
