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TL;DR:

  • One of The Beach Boys’ famous songs was a collaboration between Mike Love and Brian Wilson.
  • Love said the song was a milestone in his professional relationship with Wilson.
  • Love said the track stood out from The Beach Boys’ previous work.
The Beach Boys holding a surf board
The Beach Boys | Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer

The Beach Boys‘ Mike Love said his band was pegged as only making surf rock. He felt one of The Beach Boys’ songs broke the stereotype. Notably, the song in question would be the group’s final No. 1 single for 22 years.

The Beach Boys’ Mike Love discussed his professional relationship with Brian Wilson

In his 2016 book Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, Love discussed “Good Vibrations.” “Brian has been rightfully hailed for producing a track that in length, construction, and complexity defied all expectations of how a rock song could be written and performed,” Love wrote. Notably, Love and Wilson were the two writers of the song.

“After Pet Sounds, it also re-established my partnership with Brian and served as another example of our unique collaboration — the tour de force studio work, lyrical messaging, a triumph of both art and commerce,” Love opined.

Mike Love said The Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’ proved the band could make relevant songs during tumultuous times

Love felt “Good Vibrations” proved something about the band. “But more than anything, ‘Good Vibrations’ indicated that we could evolve with the times,” he said. “The Beach Boys were never just a ‘surf band,’ as the stereotype would have it. By 1966, we had recorded all kinds of music, but what had been successful in the past wouldn’t necessarily succeed in the future.”

Love further elaborated on the band’s sound. “The question was, could we develop a new sound that retained the idealistic ethos of our early music while staying in sync with an era of tumult and protest music that was avant-garde and edgy, with a spiritual sheen?” he said. “‘Good Vibrations’ said we could.”

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How the song and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States

“Good Vibration” became a hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for one week. It stayed on the chart for 14 weeks in total. The group would not have another No. 1 single until the release of “Kokomo” in 1988, 22 years after “Good Vibrations” topped the chart.

The band released “Good Vibrations” on the album Smiley Smile. The album peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 21 weeks.

Subsequently, “Good Vibrations” became a standard. Artists such as Todd Rundgren, Wilson Phillips, and The Troggs covered the track.

“Good Vibrations” was a hit and Love felt it proved The Beach Boys were hip.

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