"Good Time" is a song by American pop music duo

American Spring American Spring (known as simply Spring before 1972) was an American pop music duo formed in Los Angeles, California. It consisted of sisters Marilyn Wilson and Diane Rovell, who had earlier been members of girl group the Honeys. As with the H ...

from their 1972 album ''

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

''. It was written by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

and

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as "Help Me, Rho ...

originally for

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

' album ''

Sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

'' (1970). In 1972, Spring released "Good Time" as their second single, recording their voices atop the Beach Boys' instrumental track. In 1977, the Beach Boys released their original version of the song on the album ''

The Beach Boys Love You ''The Beach Boys Love You'' is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released April 11, 1977 on Brother/Reprise. Sometimes referred to as the band's "punk" or "synth pop" album, ''Love You'' is distinguished for its pioneer ...

''.

Background

Jardine commented, "I co-wrote 'Good Time' with Brian; that's a typical Brian track. It was really a lot of fun doing that."

Recording

''Sunflower'' sessions

The basic track for "Good Time" was first recorded by

on January 7, 1970 at

Brian Wilson's home studio Beach Boys Studio (also known as Brother Records Studio, Brother Recording Studio, and 10452 Bellagio Road) was a private recording studio owned by the Beach Boys. It was located within Brian Wilson's home at 10452 Bellagio Road in Los Angeles. ...

with horns and strings overdubbed at a later date. David Sandler remembers that when the session players arrived to Wilson's home, "he went to his office and wrote horn charts while talking to me. It was an amazing horn line, with this overriding

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

riff, and he did the whole thing while having a conversation with me." The track was included on the provisional track listing for ''Add Some Music'', but when that album and ''Reverberation'' were reconfigured by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

into ''

'', "Good Time" was not included. During the tracking session for "Good Time", Brian or

Bruce Johnston Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...

segued into a piano rendition of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

You Never Give Me Your Money "You Never Give Me Your Money" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney (and credited to Lennon–McCartney) and documented the financial and personal difficulties facing the band. The song is the first ...

". Johnston could not remember who played the Beatles' song when approached for comment. In 2021, the recording was included as a track on the compilation ''

Feel Flows "Feel Flows" is a song recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album '' Surf's Up''. It was written by guitarist Carl Wilson and band manager Jack Rieley, and was one of Wilson's first songs. Background and recording The ...

''.

''Spring'' version

In the second quarter of 1972,

Marilyn Wilson Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford (née Rovell; born February 6, 1948) is an American singer who is best known as the first wife of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Raised in Los Angeles, she started her singing career in the late 1950s, initially as part ...

overdubbed a lead vocal atop the backing track and backing vocals from The Beach Boys' 1970 session with further work done by producers Brian Wilson, David Sandler and Stephen Desper. This version of "Good Time" was issued as a single on May 1, 1972 and was later included on their début album ''

''.

''Love You'' version

The Beach Boys released an unadorned version of the original 1970 take of "Good Time" on their 1977 album ''

''. Wilson explained that he recycled the song for ''Love You'' because ''Spring'' had sold poorly, and he thought, "Maybe the exposure to that song to people might be good. Why waste a song?" Since the recording of "Good Time", Wilson's voice had deteriorated significantly, making it the only track on ''Love You'' in which his singing is not coarse.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Time (Beach Boys Song) 1972 songs The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Al Jardine United Artists Records singles