“I wish I hadn’t done it”: the song Brian Wilson will always regret recording
Every song that The Beach Boys ever put out felt like they were touched by a musical god in the 1960s. Although Brian Wilson has always maintained a reputation as one of the most reluctant geniuses of his time, there are pieces of his repertoire that wouldn’t have felt out of place if they were put next to the greatest composers who have ever lived, rock and roll or otherwise. When someone is on the grind like Brian was in the 1960s, though, it makes sense that some tracks would hold up better than others.
When The Beach Boys got their first major hits, though, it looked like they were going to be typecast for a little while. The whole premise behind their songs was about fun in the sun, going to school, and driving around in a car, and while that’s fun to play along with in the summer, the idea of playing those tunes for the rest of his life wasn’t something Brian was interested in. He was an artist, and even if his brothers didn’t realise it at the time, he was going to make sure he expressed himself the way he wanted.
On every subsequent album following hits like ‘Surfin’ USA’ and ‘Help Me Rhonda’, there are pieces that inch closer to where Pet Sounds would later go. And while that album is well regarded as one of the finest pieces of music the band ever made, it’s not like they dried up after that, either, with Sunflower and Surf’s Up being their own unique masterpieces in their own right.
However, the common factor in all of this is Brian’s ability to do whatever he wanted. It may not have always been the most comfortable listening experience, like the questionable moments on The Beach Boys Love You, but every fan would have rather had him in a decent mental state making great records than having to deal with Mike Love steering them through the most embarrassing records any 1960s act has ever been a part of.
“That was the only one that I regret recording.”
Brian Wilson
Even when the band were in their prime, though, Brian was always critical of some songs that weren’t good enough. There are tunes that are clearly meant for a cash-grab, like when they have Dennis Wilson play a drum solo out of the blue to fill out a record, but when looking at his own performance, it never got more awkward than when he listened back to the song ‘Let Him Run Wild’.
Despite never being too openly hostile about his own work, Brian said numerous times that he would have never released the record if he had the choice, saying, “I wish I hadn’t done it. I sounded like a fairy on it. That was the only one that I regret recording.” He may have labelled himself as ‘Too Embarrassed’ on the album sleeve when singing ‘I’m Bugged At My Ol’ Man’, but it’s easy to see why he would have had second thoughts here.
It’s by no means a poor song in their catalogue, but the real crime of the song is that it was placed as the B-side to ‘California Girls’. After going through one of the band’s greatest tunes about the women in their lives, it’s an insane buzzkill hearing Wilson then switch to singing about how his crush should ditch her boyfriend since he’s going to end up running around behind her back anyway.
But really, the main problem with ‘Let Him Run Wild’ has more to do with Brian’s lack of discipline at the time. He was able to make pure melancholy later on in his career, so this may as well have been a testing ground for ‘God Only Knows’, albeit with a more cynical edge to everything.
