How John Lennon Influenced the Beach Boys’ ‘Girl Don’t Tell Me’
The Beach Boys and the Beatles were often inspired by one another — with Brian Wilson noting similarities between “Girl Don’t Tell Me” and John Lennon’s songwriting. Here’s what we learned from the memoir I Am Brian Wilson.
Brian Wilson appeared as a songwriter and vocalist for the Beach Boys
He’s one of the masterminds behind “God Only Knows,” “I Get Around,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Aside from his role in the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson often shared his support for other bands. That includes the Beatles, who rose in popularity around the same time.
Brian Wilson was inspired by The Beatles (and John Lennon)
In his memoir, Wilson noted that the Beach Boys weren’t creating music “in a vacuum.” As they became popular, the group noticed the rise of rock and roll. They also noted the bands that impacted the music scene.
“One of the most important parts of the takeover was the Beatles,” Wilson wrote. The Beatles even impacted the Beach Boys’ original music — inspiring specific sounds and harmonies.
“I wrote a song called ‘Girl Don’t Tell Me,’” Wilson said in I Am Brian Wilson. “It was one of the first songs that Carl sang lead on, and one of the only songs we did from that time where we didn’t sing in the back of him. It was almost like a different sound.”
“That’s because I had written it with John Lennon in mind,” he continued. “I even thought about giving it to the Beatles. People said it sounded like ‘Ticket to Ride,’ but I didn’t mean for it to sound like any one song of theirs.”
The song was added to Summer Days (and Summer Nights) with Brian Wilson credited on Spotify as the track’s only songwriter and producer.
Paul McCartney got ‘very emotional’ singing with Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson shared a friendship with Paul McCartney of the UK-based rock band. In the same memoir, the artist recalled hearing “She’s Leaving Home” before it was released with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The two even performed live together, which was a special moment for the former Beatles artist.
“I got to sing it with Brian once when we did a benefit [show] together,” McCartney said during an interview with Ronnie Wood. “I was ok at the actual performance, I held it together. But at the rehearsal, at the soundcheck, I lost it, because it’s very emotional, this song, I find it… ‘Oh my god, I’m singing with Brian,’ it just got me, I couldn’t.”
“So all it is, it’s little vibrations reaching your music, it’s only little vibrations, little words, and little things,” he noted in the same interview. “There is this powerful effect, you know.”
Of course, McCartney mentioned his support of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and its bass lines. However, the Beach Boys and the Beatles never collaborated on original music, as noted by Al Jardine.
