"The Warmth of the Sun" is a song written by Brian Wilson 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 bas ...

for 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 Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

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

. It was released on their 1964 album ''

Shut Down Volume 2 ''Shut Down Volume 2'' is the fifth album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 2, 1964 on Capitol Records. Produced by Brian Wilson, it is the follow-up to the band's ''Little Deuce Coupe'', released the previous October, a ...

'' and as the B-side of the " Dance, Dance, Dance" single, which charted at number eight in the United States and number twenty four in the United Kingdom. Brian Wilson produced the song, and the rest of the album.

Information

Wilson and Love began composing the song on November 22, 1963, the day of the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

, although the two co-authors give different accounts of the timing and whether it was begun before or after the killing. The subsequent recording of the song was informed by the emotional shock felt by its authors in the wake of Kennedy's death. In the 2016 autobiography ''

I Am Brian Wilson ''I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir'' is the second autobiographical memoir of American musician Brian Wilson, written by journalist Ben Greenman through several months of interviews with Wilson. It was intended to supplant '' Wouldn't It Be Nice: My O ...

'', Wilson recalled that the song was written the day of the assassination, in response to it: '' Cash Box'' described it as "an ultra-lovely, lazy paced ballad that the boys deliver in oh-so -smooth, ear-arresting fashion." Reviewing the song for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Donald A. Guarisco stated, "The sublime balance of lush vocals and sensitive songwriting made 'The Warmth of the Sun' one of the Beach Boys' finest and most moving ballads." Brian Wilson pioneered the use of adventurous chord changes in pop—"The Warmth of the Sun"'s transitions from C to A-minor to E-flat, were unheard of in 1964. Among the session musicians who played on the recording were

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

and

Ray Pohlman Merlyn Ray Pohlman (July 22, 1930 – November 1, 1990) was an American session musician and arranger who played both upright bass and bass guitar, and also did sessions as a guitarist. He is credited with being the first electric bass player ...

Personnel

Credits from Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys *

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, Rh ...

– backing vocals, rhythm guitar *

– backing vocals * Brian Wilson – lead vocals, backing vocals, piano * Carl Wilson – backing vocals, lead guitar (with tremolo) *

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. ...

– backing vocals, drums Additional musicians *

– bass guitar *

–

bell tree A bell tree, also known as tree bellsBeck, John. ''Encyclopedia of Percussion.'' Taylor and Francis, 1995. or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowl ...

, clinking percussion * Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone *

Jay Migliori Jay Migliori (November 14, 1930 – September 2, 2001) was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Biography Migliori started playing the saxophone after he received one as a birthday ...

– baritone saxophone

Appearances

It was featured on the soundtrack of ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as a radio DJ on Armed Forces Radio Service, wh ...

'' (1987).

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

performed lead vocals on a version of the song on the album '' Stars and Stripes Vol. 1''.

Other versions

The song was recorded by

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

—father of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson—on his one and only album, ''

The Many Moods of Murry Wilson ''The Many Moods of Murry Wilson'' is the only record by American songwriter and talent manager Murry Wilson. The album was released on Capitol Records in October 1967, the same record label that the Beach Boys were contracted to at the time. Acc ...

'', which was released in 1967 on Capitol Records.

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

performed another version at "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson (2001)" concert. In 2006,

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

and Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs recorded the song for their collaboration, '' Under the Covers, Vol. 1''. In 2006,

Matt Thiessen Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. Wit ...

of Relient K released a version of the song for his solo piano project Matt Thiessen & The Earthquakes via the compilation album ''My Other Band, Vol 1''. In 2010, Rumer recorded a version on the B-side of her single "Aretha". Shelby Flint and Tim Weston, "Wouldn't It Be Nice, A Jazz Portrait of Brian Wilson." Friends of Dean Martinez recorded a version on their album
Under the Waves
"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warmth of the Sun, The 1960s ballads 1964 songs The Beach Boys songs Brian Wilson songs Matthew Sweet songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Mike Love Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson Songs about the assassination of John F. Kennedy