The classic Beach Boys song that took eight months to record
Compositional complexity was absolutely essential to the sound of The Beach Boys. When Brian Wilson wasn’t penning simpler tales of surfing in the California sun, he was experimenting with the limitations of pop production, pulling in strange instrumentation and intricate harmonies to create compositions that would define the genre. Nowhere was this more evident than on ‘Good Vibrations’.
By the mid-1960s, The Beach Boys had cemented themselves as the soundtrack to the seaside, as America’s answer to The Beatles, and as true progressive pop pioneers. In the autumn of 1966, they expanded upon their reputation as the latter when they set out to create their most complicated pop song yet, ‘Good Vibrations’, which would later feature on their 12th record, Smiley Smile.
‘Good Vibrations’ initially sparked from a childhood memory of Brian Wilson’s. When he was a child, he once recalled to Rolling Stone, his mother would tell him about vibrations. “I didn’t really understand too much of what she meant when I was a boy,” he recalled, “It scared me, the word ‘vibrations’ – to think that invisible feelings existed.”
Calling back to his childhood fears, Wilson set out to pen a song about those invisible vibrations, roping in a ridiculous number of musicians to help him do so. The ‘Good Vibrations’ sessions kicked off at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood on February 17th, 1966. The studio initially hosted 15 players, who took up bongos, lutes, piccolos and more as ‘Good Vibrations’ began to take shape.
For the next eight months, Wilson and his sonic collaborators would work tirelessly on the song across several studios in California. They introduced Theremins and tambourines, harmonicas and harpsichords until the song was finally completed on September 21st, 1966. During that time, the band used up 90 hours of tape and cost around $50,000, which would now equate to over $400,000.
The song may have taken over half a year, hoards of tape, and a small fortune to create, but it was worth every second, every inch, and every penny. Almost six decades have passed since Wilson and his bandmates spent their summer in the studio, and ‘Good Vibrations’ still remains one of the most well-known and well-loved songs of all time.
With endless layers of instrumentation and lyrics that toe the line between excitement and eeriness, ‘Good Vibrations’ is a truly exquisite work of pop composition. It’s easy to hear just how much thought has gone into every single element of the track, from the placement of the theremin to those characteristic Beach Boys harmonies. It’s a perfect song.
This was reflected in responses to the initial release of ‘Good Vibrations’ in 1966, as critics and audiences showered praise on the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the track. That praise has been unwavering since, as ‘Good Vibrations’ still manages to find its way into lists of the greatest songs of all time, and rightfully so.
By taking his time with the track, Wilson was able to create something truly innovative and timeless. Even now, the production of the song is undeniably impressive, spanning so many instruments, so many musicians, and so many reels of tape. It’s a song that truly captures the spirit of Wilson’s songwriting style for The Beach Boys, full of complexity and dense orchestral composition.
