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Post by Kapitan on Apr 12, 2021 11:37:40 GMT
In July 1965, the Beach Boys released "California Girls" backed with "Let Him Run Wild." The A-side, with its faux-symphonic introduction, loping cowboy bass line, and interweaving group harmonies, it may well be the band's most iconic song.
The song peaked at just #26 in the UK, but landed at #3 in the US and #2 in Canada. It topped the charts only in South Africa.
Please rate and discuss "California Girls" and "Let Him Run Wild."
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Post by kds on Apr 12, 2021 12:57:44 GMT
No brainer. Ten.
I know a lot of what Brian says can be taken with a grain of salt, but I think he's pretty spot on when he calls California Girls the "ultimate BB song." The intro, the arrangement, the vocals. It's pure perfection.
I know I've posted this story before, but I'll never forget when I decided to dip my toes in the BB waters in the summer of 2006. It was not a great time for me personally, and as the weather warmed, I really wanted to get my hands on some "summer" music. So, I bought a copy of Sounds of Summer. One night, at the house by myself, particularly stressed out, I put on SOS, and that intro washed over me. I hadn't really listened to the song since I was a child, and sort of forgot about that part. I felt like that intro took me to another place.
Let Him Run Wild I didn't get into until later, around 2012.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 12, 2021 14:05:13 GMT
One thing I love about "California Girls" is the interesting second chord of the verse.
I realize that's an odd thing to say, quite specific!
But the song's verse kicks off with the very familiar piano/bass part, the "cowboy song" feel, in the key of B major. B-F#-G#-F# (which is the 1-5-6-5 notes of the key) repeating over that B major chord.
The second chord? Not a C# minor (ii), not a G# minor (vi), not an E major (IV), but an A major, which is outside of the key (VII), all while the bass part continues with its 1-5-6-5 pattern over the B major chord.
I love that so, so much. From there it carries on with more predictable chords through the verse, but it has been spiced up just enough to be memorable, outside the ordinary.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 12, 2021 17:02:37 GMT
Another specific musical aspect to "California Girls" I want to point out that's super interesting (to me, anyway).
The refrain never includes the dominant (or "V") chord. This may not sound like a big deal if you aren't into music theory or don't play an instrument, but it's worth noting--and I don't think it's an exaggeration--that the entire heart of "western music" is the V-I resolution at the end of phrases, songs, sections.
The refrain of "California Girls" goes like this:
B ' ' ' / C#min ' ' ' / A ' ' ' / Bmin7 ' ' ' / G ' ' ' / Amin7 ' ' ' / B
Each major chord (the capital letters standing alone) acts almost as a "one" chord in a different key, with the keys descending by a G major scale: B-A-G. So it's a group of three I-ii mini-progressions, eventually "resolving" from a bvii7 to I. It isn't really much of a resolution at all, so the whole refrain feels like it is going to resolve somewhere, sometime ... but it doesn't. It's very interesting, and unusual.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 12, 2021 17:26:45 GMT
Oh, and I suppose I ought to vote.
10.
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Post by jk on Apr 12, 2021 18:44:05 GMT
Nice work, Cap'n. More later...
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Post by lonelysummer on Apr 13, 2021 2:53:22 GMT
A perfect 10. The best single up to that point - and looking at both sides, it might be their best single ever.
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Post by jk on Apr 13, 2021 13:31:47 GMT
Once again, I regard the B-side, which I didn't get to hear until 2002 or 2003, as an album track. So it's a spiffing song but in another context. On the other hand, I first heard "California Girls" when it was released as a single in 1965.
One of the Boys' best 45s, despite the fact that Brian wasn't happy with it, I suspect because of his line in the backing vox of the verses, which is ever so slightly flat at times. Not that that worries me a jot.
An absolute classic, from the symphonic introduction to Mike's doo woppy intro to the tag.
Nine (because of what I said about the B-side).
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 13, 2021 13:35:38 GMT
Once again, I regard the B-side, which I didn't get to hear until 2002 or 2003, as an album track. Can you elaborate on this? Is it a matter of quality, or song type, or something else? I ask because obviously, by definition, it's a single (or a B-side, anyway) as well as an album track. So is it that in your estimation it just didn't warrant that kind of singling out?
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Post by jk on Apr 13, 2021 18:39:06 GMT
Once again, I regard the B-side, which I didn't get to hear until 2002 or 2003, as an album track. Can you elaborate on this? Is it a matter of quality, or song type, or something else? I ask because obviously, by definition, it's a single (or a B-side, anyway) as well as an album track. So is it that in your estimation it just didn't warrant that kind of singling out? It's only that I heard it first as an album track nearly forty years later. I had no idea what was on the other side of "CG" at the time. I only ever heard the B-sides of 45s after I'd bought them. There are glaring exceptions, of course, but "CG" wasn't one of them. That's all it is. Lovely track, despite what Brian says. So it seems he had problems with both sides.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 13, 2021 21:14:29 GMT
Just a quick comment on one of the sources cited in the Wiki entry for "Let Him Run Wild."
The section subheaded "Production" starts with the clause "A soulful ballad..."
I have never considered "Let Him Run Wild" a ballad. I admit it's not exactly a rocker, either. It's a relaxed tempo and it certainly opens "softly" in terms of the arrangement, but by the refrain it kicks in and I daresay it almost rocks. It swings, anyway.
Do you consider it a ballad?
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Post by B.E. on Apr 13, 2021 23:28:20 GMT
No, I've never thought of it as a ballad.
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Post by B.E. on Apr 13, 2021 23:35:27 GMT
While "Let Him Run Wild" has always come up just shy of a '10' for me, I have no problem going '10' for the pairing. The tough part was ranking it...
I Get Around/Don't Worry Baby - 10 Surfer Girl/Little Deuce Coupe - 10 California Girls/Let Him Run Wild - 10 Help Me Rhonda/Kiss Me Baby - 10 Little Saint Nick/The Lord's Prayer - 10 Surfin' USA/Shut Down - 9 Fun Fun Fun/Why Do Fools Fall In Love - 9 Be True To Your School/In My Room - 9 Do You Wanna Dance/Please Let Me Wonder - 9 When I Grow Up/She Knows Me Too Well - 9 Dance Dance Dance/Warmth Of The Sun - 9 Surfin' Safari/409 - 8 Man With All The Toys/Blue Christmas - 8 Surfin'/Luau - 7 Ten Little Indians/County Fair - 7
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 14, 2021 0:55:19 GMT
Just a quick comment on one of the sources cited in the Wiki entry for "Let Him Run Wild."
The section subheaded "Production" starts with the clause "A soulful ballad..."
I have never considered "Let Him Run Wild" a ballad. I admit it's not exactly a rocker, either. It's a relaxed tempo and it certainly opens "softly" in terms of the arrangement, but by the refrain it kicks in and I daresay it almost rocks. It swings, anyway.
Do you consider it a ballad?
Yes, but it's borderline. Oddly, Brian's solo version on Imagination falls on the other side of the line. That version is not a ballad.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 14, 2021 1:09:37 GMT
"California Girls"..."You're Grass And I'm A Power Mower" until Mike Love got a hold of it. Brian referred to "California Girls" as the band's "theme song" and his "favorite recording session". It's such a positive song; it just has that happy sound. "California Girls" encapsules everything that is great about The Beach Boys. Why didn't they extend the tag originally; it was extended on some very later reissues.
I like "Let Him Run Wild" a lot but it's not an all-timer with me. Close though. The backing track is cool. The lyrics are good, too. Mike was really hitting the mark on his boy/girl "relationship" songs. Interesting that "Let Him Run Wild" made the cut on Endless Summer as it seems slightly out of place with the earlier love songs.
I never realized until this thread how much The Beach Boys milked that A-side (fast song)/B-side (slow/love song) formula. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Except Brian did (cough)..."California Girls" is an easy 10, but "Let Him Run Wild" lingers around a 9, maybe a little above, maybe a little below. I might be too harsh on this one but I'm going with a 9.
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