Good Vibrations
It's kind of hard to exaggerate how big a deal "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys is - when it was released in October 1966, it was the most ambitious single ever released by a pop group or rock band, and arguably among the most ambitious singles ever released. It then topped multiple charts - including both the UK and US charts - and went Top 5 or Top 10 in many other countries. Unlike most art music, it was actually heard by millions of people, making it among the most impactful works of art pop ever made. Though other bands had released psychedelic singles earlier in 1966, and hits with them, none of those songs were as complicated, as ambitious or as expensive as "Good Vibrations". It's a landmark in popular music.
Lyrics by Mike Love
Like everything else about the recording, the story of the lyrics is complicated. Brian Wilson had an idea and Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher wrote lyrics based upon his idea but Wilson eventually opted not to use them. Wilson also tried to conscript Van Dyke Parks, who was collaborating on Smile with Wilson, but Parks wasn't interested. Eventually, it was up to Mike Love. Concerned about the nature of the recording, Love attempted to capture the image of "flower power". They are the least significant aspect of the song.
Music by Brian Wilson
Instead of writing a song as he had since he first started writing songs, Wilson wrote what he called "modules", basically song-fragments. He would record each section with The Wrecking Crew, and he did so over at least 12 recording sessions. Infamously, the records are supposed to top upwards of 90 hours. (The finished product is 3 minutes and 35 seconds long.)
The modules were them assembled as if a suite of songs. It is the first instance of a suite-as-single, at least that we're aware of.
Arrangement and Performance
The Beach Boys
- Mike Love – co-lead vocals
- Brian Wilson – vocals, production, mixing, tambourine during chorus
- Carl Wilson – lead vocals, rhythm guitar during fadeout, shaker during 2:13–2:56, possible bass
- Dennis Wilson – Hammond organ during 2:13–2:56
Additional musicians and production staff
- Hal Blaine – drums, timpani, other percussion
- Al De Lory – piano, harpsichord]]
- Jesse Ehrlich – cello
- Larry Knechtel – organ in verses and choruses
- Tommy Morgan – harmonica
- Al Casey – guitar
- Ray Pohlman – electric bass
- Lyle Ritz – double bass
- Jim Horn – piccol
- Paul Tanner – Electro-Theremin
Production
"Good Vibrations" is the most elaborate single the pop rock world had ever seen. It's very much a product of the "recording studio as instrument" idea and arguably helped introduce that concept in the first place. At the very least, it helped to popularize it.
Everything about "Good Vibrations" is an outcome of the way it was produced - the way it was composed was intentionally to be assembled in the studio, the lyrics are a reaction to the radical nature of the musical recording, the musicians and their parts present are only present due to which sections were selected.
