Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby. Brian Wilson's best (IMO). RIP, Brian.

[highplainsdem]

In a 1970 interview, Wilson opined, "Probably the best record we've done was 'Don't Worry Baby'. It has about the best proportion of our voices and ranges."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Worry_Baby

"Don't Worry Baby" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their March 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, Wilson's lead vocal is considered one of his defining performances, and he later referred to the song as one of the band's finest records. It was issued as the B-side of "I Get Around" in May 1964 and charted separately at number 24.

Inspired by Wilson’s admiration for the Ronettes' 1963 single "Be My Baby", "Don't Worry Baby" shares a comparable musical structure but diverges in lyrical themes and production. Its narrative centers on a man who boasts his way into a drag race, regrets his decision, and is reassured by his girlfriend repeating the titular refrain. Initially intended for the Ronettes, the song was rejected by their producer Phil Spector, leading Wilson to produce it with the Beach Boys, who performed all instrumental parts.

"Don’t Worry Baby" is included in several retrospective rankings of all-time greatest songs, including those by Spin and Rolling Stone. A cover version by B.J. Thomas surpassed the original's commercial performance, peaking at number 17 in the U.S. and topping Canadian charts. The Beach Boys revisited the song in 1996 for their album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, recording a duet with Lorrie Morgan. Other acts who have recorded the song include the Bay City Rollers and Ronnie Spector.

-snip-

Biographer David Leaf declared that "Don't Worry Baby" became Wilson's first "pop standard",[1] while Dillon decreed that it marked "one of his defining [vocal] performances on one of his greatest records."[3] In a 1970 interview, Wilson opined, "Probably the best record we've done was 'Don't Worry Baby'. It has about the best proportion of our voices and ranges."[26] Wilson has since called his vocal on the song the best he has done for the band, commenting, "I think I sang it sweetly enough that you could feel the love in my voice."[27]

-snip-

[MIButterfly]

1. One of my favorite Beach Boys songs.

The other two being Good Vibrations (of course) and God Only Knows.

I have to wonder, though, why the video shows surfing when the song is about a guy who appreciates how his girlfriend reassures him about his upcoming car race.

Oh well, I love the song anyway.

[highplainsdem]

3. That video seems very oddly patched together to me, but it was obviously just going for the surfing andd beach

party lifestyle they were evoking (with Dennis Wilson the only surfer in the band).

[raccoon]

2. My favorite Beach Boy song too.

[highplainsdem]

4. To me it's their quintessential sound.

It's strange to think they originally offered it to the Ronettes.

But the Bee Gees' best song, To Love Somebody, was originally written for Otis Redding.

[raccoon]

5. That would seem weird.

[MIButterfly]

6. Its funny you mention the song being offered to the Ronettes.

I just heard Ronnie Spector's version of it on the radio yesterday for the first time.

The Beach Boys' version is much better. IMO.