Darlin' (Beach Boys song)

"Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby"
"Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby"
Single by Sharon Marie
Released	June 1, 1964
Recorded	April 1964
Length	2:35
Songwriter(s)	Brian Wilson; Mike Love;
Producer(s)	Brian Wilson
Sharon Marie singles chronology

"Darlin'"
"Darlin'"
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album Wild Honey
B-side	"Here Today"
Released	December 18, 1967
Recorded	October 10 and 27, 1967
Studio	Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood
Genre	Soul; R&B;
Length	2:12
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Brian Wilson; Mike Love;
Producer(s)	The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys singles chronology
Music video
	"Darlin'" on YouTube
Audio sample
	Menu 0:00 file; help;

"Darlin'" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Wild Honey.^[4] Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was inspired by singer Danny Hutton (the title word featured heavily in his vocabulary) and was originally intended to be recorded by an early version of Three Dog Night. Carl Wilson ultimately sang the lead vocal.

Released as the second single from Wild Honey, "Darlin'" peaked at number 19 in the U.S. and number 11 in the UK. Cover versions returned the song twice to the U.S. charts, reaching number 51 for singer Paul Davis in 1978, and number 68 for the band Yipes! in 1980.^[5] In 1992, the title was adopted by Darlin', the band that later evolved into Daft Punk.

Background and recording[]

The song was initially written as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby" by Wilson and Love years earlier, and was first recorded in April 1964 and released as a single two months later by Sharon Marie^[6]—a previously unrecorded teenager who had informally auditioned for Wilson and Love by singing opera standards after a Sacramento Beach Boys concert^{[failed verification]}—with production by Wilson himself.^[7] The song later appeared on the 2004 compilation Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions.

The instrumental and vocal track for "Darlin'" was recorded under the production of Brian Wilson on October 27, 1967. Initially Wilson had planned to give this song and "Time to Get Alone" to Three Dog Night, then called "Redwood", as Danny Hutton was a friend of Wilson. Hutton laid claim to inspiring the title for "Darlin'", it being frequent in his vocabulary at the time. Redwood only got as far as recording a guide vocal before Carl Wilson and Mike Love insisted that Brian focus his attention on producing work for the Beach Boys.^[8]^[4]^[9] Accompanied by piano, bass, tambourine, strings, and horns, Carl sang lead vocals.^[7]

Release[]

"Darlin'" was released as a single, backed with "Here Today", on December 18, 1967, the same date as the release of the Wild Honey album. The song peaked at number 19 in the United States and number 11 in the United Kingdom.^[4]

Legacy[]

Biographer Mark Dillon decreed that the song was "ahead of its time, anticipating the blue-eyed soul of such '70s acts as Todd Rundgren and Chicago."^[10]

Personnel[]

The Beach Boys

Brian Wilson – piano^[11]
Carl Wilson – lead vocals, guitar,^[7] inaudible drums^[12]
The Beach Boys – backing vocals, tambourine, other percussion^[12]

Additional personnel

Ron Brown — bass^[13]
Hal Blaine - drums^[13]
unknown – strings, horns^[7]

Cover versions[]

1968 – Paper Dolls, Paper Dolls House
1971 – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Summertime
1972 – American Spring, Spring (as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby" w/Brian Wilson)
1975 – David Cassidy, The Higher They Climb (w/Bruce Johnston) (UK #16, Ireland #20, South Africa #1)^[14]
1977 -- Paul Davis, (w/ Susan Collins)
1978 – Triumvirat, A la Carte
1984 – Tatsuro Yamashita, Big Wave
1991 – The Records, Smiles, Vibes & Harmony: A Tribute to Brian Wilson
1993 – Darlin', Shimmies in Super 8
1993 – BMX Bandits, Kylie's Got A Crush On Us (as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby")^[15]

In popular culture[]

French rock trio Darlin' took their name from the song. Two of its members later reformed as the electronic music duo Daft Punk, and the third joined pop band Phoenix.
The song features in the 2015 The Big Bang Theory episode, "The Earworm Reverberation".^[16]

References[]

Citations

^ Gaines 1986, p. 183.
^ Fine, Jason (2004). "The Beach Boys". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 46, 48. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ Hodgkins, Nig; et al. (1996). Buckley, Jonathan (ed.). Rock: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 69. ISBN 1858282012.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Badman 2004, p. 208.
^ Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955-1999 (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2000), 747.
^ Doe, Andrew Grayham. "GIGS64". Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Badman 2004, p. 203.
^ Priore 2005, pp. 153–55.
^ Matijas-Mecca 2017, p. 84.
^ Dillon 2012, p. 156.
^ Priore 2005, p. 153.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Slowinski, Craig (2017). Endless Summer Quarterly. 121. p. ?.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Who played the backing tracks on songs meant for Redwood?". Smileysmile.net. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
^ Robbins, Ira. "BMX Bandits". Trouser Press. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20151215033208/http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2015/12/jamoeblog/the-beach-boys-song-darlin-gets-newfound-attention-thanks-to-the-big-bang-theory.html

Bibliography

Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
Dillon, Mark (2012). Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77090-198-8.
Gaines, Steven (1986). Heroes and Villains: The True Story of The Beach Boys. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306806479.
Matijas-Mecca, Christian (2017). The Words and Music of Brian Wilson. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-3899-6.
Priore, Domenic (2005). Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece. Domenic Priore. ISBN 978-1-78323-198-0.

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[FOOTNOTEGaines1986183-1] Gaines 1986, p. 183.

[2] Fine, Jason (2004). "The Beach Boys". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 46, 48. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[3] Hodgkins, Nig; et al. (1996). Buckley, Jonathan (ed.). Rock: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 69. ISBN 1858282012.

[FOOTNOTEBadman2004208-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Badman 2004, p. 208.

[5] Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955-1999 (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2000), 747.

[6] Doe, Andrew Grayham. "GIGS64". Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved December 9, 2014.

[FOOTNOTEBadman2004203-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Badman 2004, p. 203.

[FOOTNOTEPriore2005153–55-8] Priore 2005, pp. 153–55.

[FOOTNOTEMatijas-Mecca201784-9] Matijas-Mecca 2017, p. 84.

[FOOTNOTEDillon2012156-10] Dillon 2012, p. 156.

[FOOTNOTEPriore2005153-11] Priore 2005, p. 153.

[SlowinskiESQ-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b Slowinski, Craig (2017). Endless Summer Quarterly. 121. p. ?.

[smileysmile1-13] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Who played the backing tracks on songs meant for Redwood?". Smileysmile.net. Retrieved 2020-03-07.

[14] "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 2 September 2018.

[15] Robbins, Ira. "BMX Bandits". Trouser Press. Retrieved 3 August 2010.

[16] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20151215033208/http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2015/12/jamoeblog/the-beach-boys-song-darlin-gets-newfound-attention-thanks-to-the-big-bang-theory.html

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show v t David Cassidy
Studio albums	Cherish Rock Me Baby Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes The Higher They Climb Home Is Where the Heart Is Getting It in the Street Romance David Cassidy Didn't You Used to Be... Old Trick New Dog
Live albums	Cassidy Live!
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits When I'm a Rock 'n' Roll Star Then and Now A Touch of Blue David Cassidy Part II – The Remix
Singles	"Cherish" "How Can I Be Sure" "Daydreamer" "The Puppy Song" "If I Didn't Care" "Please Please Me" "I Write the Songs" "Darlin'" "Tomorrow" "Hurt So Bad" "I Think I Love You"
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