Mike Love (and the Beach Boys) Had Musical Connections to Stevie Wonder
The Beach Boys covered one Stevie Wonder song for Wild Honey. One song from this album was written with the “Isn’t She Lovely” singer in mind. Here’s what we learned from one interview with Mike Love.
Mike Love is a founding member of the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are the band behind “Good Vibrations,” “God Only Knows,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Originally comprised of Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine, the surf rock group sometimes pulled inspiration from other genres.
Mike Love wrote Stevie Wonder-inspired lyrics for ‘Wild Honey’
As a songwriter for the Beach Boys, Love wrote several originals alongside Brian Wilson. While creating “Wild Honey,” Love stopped in the kitchen. He saw a container of natural wild honey, used alongside their tea.
“I said, ‘I’ll write the lyrics about this girl who was a little honey,’” the artist noted in a 1992 interview with Goldmine. “And I wrote it from the perspective that that album was Brian’s R&B-influenced album, in his mind.”
“It may not sound like it to a Motown executive but that was where he was coming from on that record,” he added. “In that particular instance, I wrote it from the perspective of Stevie Wonder singing it.”
“Wild Honey” became the title track of their 1967 release, earning over 5 million plays on the music streaming platform, Spotify. This song describes one relationship through a honey-inspired lens.
“With all the other stud bees buzzin’ all around her hive,” the lyrics state. “She singled me out single-handed took me alive / Well can you, can you gonna take my life eatin’ up her wild honey?”
The Beach Boys covered ‘I Was Made To Love Her’ by Stevie Wonder
It’s unclear if the Beach Boys and Wonder were close friends. However, the musicians often supported one another’s music. Wonder even wrote “I Do Love You” for the surf rock group for their 1985 self-titled album.
Years prior, the Beach Boys released a cover of Wonder’s “I Was Made To Love Her.” The song was added to Wild Honey and has earned thousands of Spotify plays since its debut.
“Yeah, ‘I Was Made To Love Her’ is great,” Love noted in the same interview.
“Don’t you know I was made to love her,” the lyrics state. “Build my world all around her / Everybody say hey, hey, hey / She’s been my inspiration / Showed appreciation / For the love I gave her through the years.”
For one video interview, Wonder said he was always “into by harmonies,” noting that Brian Wilson’s songwriting was “incredible” and influenced a generation of musicians. As one of the Beach Boys’ primary songwriters, this artist was inducted into the “Songwriters Hall of Fame.”
