"Let Him Run Wild" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

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 ...

from their 1965 album ''

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) ''Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on July 5, 1965, on Capitol. The band's previous album, ''The Beach Boys Today!'' (released March 1965), represented a departure for the ...

''. 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

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bass-bari ...

, it was issued as the B-side to "

California Girls "California Girls" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album, ''Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics detail an appreciation for women across the world and a wish th ...

Background and lyrics

"Let Him Run Wild" was one of the first songs that Brian Wilson wrote while under the influence of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

. According to Wilson, the song is "about a girl who was dating a guy who didn’t stay close to her. The guy singing wants the girl to let her boyfriend run around and eventually leave her so he can come in and get her. He wants a bad thing to happen so that it’ll turn into a good thing." Biographer

Peter Ames Carlin Peter Ames Carlin (born March 13, 1963) is an American journalist, critic and biographer who has written for publications such as ''People'' magazine, ''The New York Times Magazine'', '' The Los Angeles Times Magazine'', and ''The Oregonian''. Seve ...

suggested that the song was inspired by the extramarital affairs of Brian's father Murry.

Production

A soulful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, the song is said to have been inspired by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

while also foreshadowing the relatively complex music dynamics of ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on th ...

'' several months later. Author Jim Fusilli explained, " tis a gorgeous track, albeit a bit busy at the chorus when compared to what's ahead, with

major seventh chord In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a ''Delta chord'', can be written as maj7, M7, , ...

s that ring beautifully. The song's subtle horn charts, prominent

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...

bass, the

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

, and the sweet, pensive section after the chorus portend the sounds of a forthcoming classic." ''

MOJO Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' wrote: "With key and tempo changes bolder and weirder than anything before, this was Brian's signpost to the psychedelic country up ahead." With production by Brian Wilson and engineering by

Chuck Britz Charles Dean Britz (November 7, 1927 – August 21, 2000) was a recording engineer who worked with Jan and Dean, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, P.F. Sloan and The Grass Roots on numerous albums between 1962 and 1967. Biography Britz was bor ...

, the instrumental was recorded on March 20, 1965, at

United Western Recorders United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boul ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. A few weeks later, vocals were overdubbed at

CBS Columbia Square CBS Columbia Square (also called Columbia Studio) was the home of CBS's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. Located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, the building housed the CBS Radio Network's West Coast facili ...

with a final mix occurring on May 28. Brian later reflected that his vocal on the track was too shrill, saying, "I sounded like a little girl," and "I sounded like a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

," naming it his least favorite Beach Boys recording. This caused Brian Wilson to remake the song on ''Imagination''.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as an "interesting weeper which blends in generous portions of

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

and harmony."

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

kept the record on his jukebox at the time. Among the band members,

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

and

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

reflected on "Let Him Run Wild" as the point where they began to take notice of their eldest brother's true talents as a writer and arranger.

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 ...

expressed a similar sentiment, stating, "In terms of the musical direction Brian was going, I always thought that 'Let Him Run Wild' was the turning point, the beginning of that phase when things began to get more complicated."

Variations

*An instrumental version is found on the 1968 '' Stack-O-Tracks'' compilation. *The 1990–2001 reissue of ''Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)'' includes among the bonus tracks a version of the song with alternate backing vocals. *The 2007 compilation ''

The Warmth of the Sun "The Warmth of the Sun" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2'' and as the B-side of the " Dance, Dance, Dance" single, which charted at ...

'' featured the first stereo mix of the song.

Personnel

Sourced from Musician's Union AFM contract sheets and surviving session audio, documented by Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys *

–

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and backing vocals, handclaps *

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 ...

– harmony and backing vocals, handclaps *

– lead, harmony and backing vocals, handclaps *

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

– harmony and backing vocals, handclaps,

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

– harmony and backing vocals, handclaps, tambourine Additional musicians

References

{{authority control 1960s ballads 1965 songs 1965 singles The Beach Boys songs Brian Wilson songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Mike Love Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements Pop ballads