Comments on "God Only Knows"

Great post, "God Ony Knows" is my favorite Beach Boys tune.

From Wikipedia:
It was one of the first pop songs to use the word 'God' in its title. Paul MacCartney has saaid it's the greatest pop song ever written.

I like to think so too.

Agreed: "God Only Knows" is indeed "a no-brainer in the best song ever department" and I enjoy few songs in the Beach Boys catalog. As you note, the vocal harmonies are splendid; what artists succeed in this respect today? And, may I add to the song's highlights the repetitive 4-tap staccato snare hits. Beautiful.

They're not quite in the same league as the Beach Boys, but Archives are doing the vocal harmony thing quite nicely. Expect them to blow up huge in a minute.

whoa! i was seriously just going to post that same fact! agreed- very good post!

ok, how about this for a fun beach boy fact and testament to the beach boys influence on the beatles:

before the release of pet sounds, john lennon and paul mccartney supposedly show up at a hotel that's hosting a listening party for the record. after the listening, they request that the piano from the lobby be wheeled in - everyone thinks they're going to be treated to a impromptu mini beatles jam session. allegedly all they do is talk about pet sounds and pick pieces of the album apart on the piano. then they politely announce that they have to be going- they're in the midst of recording and are heading into the studio that night. at the time they're working on "revolver".

the book "wouldn't it be nice" tells the story a little better...

not only is brian wilson a genius, but i think the beach boys had one of the most interesting and colorful backrounds in the history of rock and roll.

Brian Wilson on the Mike Douglas show 1976:

part 1
part 2

4 - which is great, because apparently Rubber Soul was a big catalyst for Pet Sounds:

"I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, 'That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album.'"

Ah, the circle of genius! And yeah, Wouldn't it be Nice is a great book. Very interesting read, despite the fact that it was written while he was under the spell of his svengali of a shrink/co-writer.

It should be noted that Brian admitted in court (under oath) that he had _nothing_ to do with authoring "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (his "autobiography", not the song). There are a number of obvious factual errors in the book as well as a number of scenes that strain credulity. There was lots in that book to build up psychiatrist Landy's reputation -- because it was pretty much him that wrote the book, along with a co-author.

Thanks, TTop, I wasn't aware of the extent of Landy's involvement. What a creep!

Wouldn't it be nice if Syd Barrett's name were spelled correctly?

Aw, fuck. Consider it done.

hey:

did anyone read that 'catch a wave' book that came out last year? i did, and i liked it. does an ybody have an opinion?

Well said, Eric. One of my favorites, too. Up there with Badfinger's "Day After Day," Big Star's "I'm in Love With a Girl," and Cheap Trick's "Downed."

It's Dennis on vocals. Kinda an oddity for that album. I love the song.