Brian Wilson Recalled Half the Room Was ‘Munching on Potato Chips’ While Recording the Beach Boys’ ‘Barbara Ann’
This song has Beach Boys fans rockin’ and a-rollin.’ The surf rock group recorded “Barbara Ann” in conjunction with Beach Boys’ Party, featuring a few friends and musical collaborators on the track (and some people eating potato chips, according to Brian Wilson). Here’s what we know about the recording process for this Beach Boys fan-favorite.
Dean Torrence shared his experience secretly recording ‘Barbara Ann’ with the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys thought they’d take a chance on Barbara Ann. As stated during an interview with Eddie Winters, Dean Torrence was at the adjacent studio while the Beach Boys worked on Pet Sounds.
With this album sounding “nothing like” the band’s previous projects, it took extra time to perfect the arrangements for songs like “God Only Knows” and “Good Vibrations.” To appease their anxious record company, this surf rock group created Beach Boys’ Party — a collection that only took one night to record and a few days after to mix and master.
Torrence was invited to this “party” and even though his label disapproved of the collaboration, within two minutes of walking into their studio, he was singing.
“They said ‘well you’ll be our secret singer,'” Torrence recalled. “I suggested ‘Barbara Ann’ because Jan and I had done it a couple of years before and just put it on an album… so we started at least twice before we actually did a full take.”
After having “so much fun,” the Beach Boys recorded “Barbara Ann” several times, especially the song’s ending, which eventually landed on a blues sound. The whole song, Torrence recalled, took less than 15 minutes to rehearse and perform.
Brian Wilson shared his memories recording ‘Barbara Ann’ with the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys lent their iconic harmonies to this track, including founding member, songwriter, and arranger Brian Wilson. Not everyone took the recording process seriously, though.
According to IMDb, Wilson remembered that while recording “Barbara Ann,” “half the people in the room were singing while the other half were munching on potato chips.”
Potato chips or not, this song became a favorite of many Beach Boys fans. The group even performed this song for one episode of Full House.
‘Barbara Ann’ is included in ‘Spirit of America’ and ‘The Very Best of the Beach Boys: Sounds of Summer’
Although Beach Boy’ Party was released in 1965, “Barbara Ann” was also included in the 1975 release Spirit of America. (“Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Break Away,” and “A Young Man Is Gone” were just some of the other songs from this collection.)
According to Spotify, “Barbara Ann” was written by Fred Fassert and produced by Beach Boys’ founding member Brian Wilson. It was eventually added to the surf rock group’s “Greatest Hits” album, with over 60 million Spotify plays. Now, music by the Beach Boys is available on most major streaming platforms.
