"Good Vibrations" is a psychedelic pop song by American rock
group The Beach Boys. Composed and produced by Brian Wilson,
the song's lyrics were written by Wilson and Mike Love.
Released as a single on October 10, 1966 (backed with the
Pet Soundsinstrumental "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. Initiated during the sessions for the
Pet Soundsalbum, it was not taken from or issued as a
lead single for an album, but as a stand-alone single, and
later placed on the album
Smiley Smileeleven months after its release.
Wilson's publicist Derek Taylor described "Good Vibrations"
as a "pocket symphony". It featured instruments unusual for a
pop song, including prominent use of the cello and an
electro-theremin. It is #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.
Wilson recounted the genesis of the title "Good Vibrations"
in his 1995 biopic,
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, and at other 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". 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.
Wilson first enlisted
Pet Soundslyricist Tony Asher for help in putting words
to the idea. Soon after they met, Wilson asked his new writing
partner Van Dyke Parks to pen lyrics for the song, but Parks
declined. Beach Boys bandmate Mike Love supplied the final
version of the lyrics around August 24, 1966.
According to 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.
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 Soundsalbum, Wilson devoted months of effort to this
single track.
The instrumental of 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 were recorded the following day. By February 25, Wilson
had placed the recording on hold in order to devote attention
to the
Pet Soundsalbum. The track was revisited on May 24,
1966, and worked on until June 18, at which time he put it
aside again until August 24. The various sections of the song
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 distinctive high-pitched sliding electronic sound in the
choruses and at the end of the track was created with an
electro-theremin, played by Paul Tanner, and first used by
Wilson on the track "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times".
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. According to Wilson, the
electro-theremin work itself cost $15,000. 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
track.
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 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."
There has never been an official true stereo release of the
final track, 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 (This is because the vocal
tracks are currently missing; Bruce Johnston has stated that he
believes they were accidentally destroyed in 1967 during a
cleaning of the Capitol Records tape vault). However, a stereo
version of the instrumental backing track was issued in 2006 on
the 40th "Good Vibrations" EP.
Inspired by the success of the song and the positive
reaction to
Pet Sounds, and wanting to top The Beatles'
recently-released
Revolveralbum, Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks
embarked on the
Smileproject, 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 Smilealbum instead, on which "Good Vibrations"
made its first LP appearance.
In 2004, a re-recorded version of was finally completed by
Wilson, Parks, and Darian Sahanaja, 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. In
addition to incorporating most of the original Tony Asher
lyrics, the Smile version also includes the "Hum-Be-Num"
harmony section not included in the 1966 release.
According to Badman, the single sold over 230,000 copies in
the first four days of its release, and entered the
Cash Boxchart at number six on October 22.
Both the
New Musical Expressand
Melody Makergave 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.
"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 Stonemagazine 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. "Good
Vibrations" is currently ranked as the #3 song of all time in
an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net.
In celebration of its 40th year, the
Good Vibrations: 40th Anniversary Editionsingle was
released. The single includes five versions of "Good
Vibrations" including:
Except as indicated, all tracks are in mono.