"Wild Honey" is a song recorded 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 ...

. 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 released as the lead single from their 1967 album '' Wild Honey'', with the B-side of the single being "

Wind Chimes Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rods ...

". The single peaked at number 31 in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and number 29 in the

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Composition

In a 1992 issue of '' Goldmine'', Mike Love explained the idea for the lyrics of the song:

Recording

Recording for the song began on September 26, 1967 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. ...

Bel Air, California Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...

with Jim Lockert engineering the session. The song would be almost completely recorded in one day. The band would initially record organ and electric bass guitar courtesy of

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 ...

, percussion, tambourine and piano and following that

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 ...

's lead vocal was overdubbed onto the basic track. The band then recorded instrumental inserts including bongos, percussion and drums, in which

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. ...

's bass drum was recorded in a hallway. The session then concluded with the band doing further vocal overdubs and Bruce Johnston performing the organ solo. Work was resumed on the track the following day with

Paul Tanner Paul Tanner (October 15, 1917 – February 5, 2013) was an American musician and a member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He developed and played the Electro-Theremin, a theremin soundalike instrument that is best known for its use on the B ...

overdubbing his custom-built Electro-Theremin over the otherwise finished track.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the single as an "easy rocker with a steady and solid dance beat." ''

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 ...

'' said that it's "thumping, pulsing ditty."

Variations

The song was first released as a single on October 23, 1967. It was then released as the first track on '' Wild Honey'' in December of the same year. The following year, the song's backing track was released on the '' Stack-O-Tracks'' album. The song has appeared on several of the groups

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilations including the 1999 compilation album '' The Greatest Hits - Volume 2: 20 More Good Vibrations''; the 2003 compilation '' Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys'' as well as the 1993 box set '' Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys''.

Personnel

Credits per 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, Rho ...

- backing vocals *

- backing vocals, Farfisa organs, bass guitar *

- backing vocals *

- backing vocals, piano *

- lead & backing vocals, guitar, tambourine *

- backing vocals, drums, bongos Additional musician *

- Electro-Theremin

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Honey (Beach Boys Song) 1967 singles The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Mike Love Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys Capitol Records singles 1967 songs