"Little Deuce Coupe" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian. The song first appeared as the B-side to The Beach Boys' 1963 single " Surfer Girl". The car referred to is the 1932 Ford Model 18 (''deuce'' being for the year). "Little Deuce Coupe" became The Beach Boys' highest charting B-side, peaking on September 28, 1963, at No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Composition

The music was written by Brian Wilson with the lyric by local

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

station DJ Roger Christian. Its main melody is a twelve-bar blues. The song typified the Beach Boys' car songs which along with surfing, glamorized the teenage 1960s Californian lifestyle later called the California Myth. It was released on the '' Surfer Girl'' album and then again as the title track of the album ''

Little Deuce Coupe ''Little Deuce Coupe'' is the fourth album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released October 7, 1963 on Capitol Records. It reached number 4 in the US during a chart stay of 46 weeks, and was eventually certified platinum by the RIA ...

''. A

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

-themed spin-off, "

Little Saint Nick "Little Saint Nick" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys first released as a single on December 9, 1963. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the Christmas song applies hot-rod themes to Santa Claus and his sleigh. The single peaked ...

", was released by the group as a single later in the year. The car referred to is the Ford Model 18; the 1932 coupe model was referred to as a "deuce coupe". Brian Wilson commented on the song in the liner notes of the 1990 CD re-release of the original ''Surfer Girl'' album: "We loved doing 'Little Deuce Coupe'. It was a good 'shuffle' rhythm, which was not like most of the rhythms of the records on the radio in those days. It had a bouncy feel to it. Like most of our records, it had a competitive lyric. This record was my favorite Beach Boys car song." According to author Jon Stebbins in his book ''The Lost Beach Boy'', while the group was on tour in July 1963

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 ...

hit on the idea to use short instrumental segments of the song in the Beach Boys' live set as a way to introduce the bandmembers to the audience, starting with

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. ...

on drums, then adding

David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who is best known for being an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a freq ...

(and later

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 ...

) on rhythm guitar, Carl Wilson on lead guitar, and finally Brian on the bass, before launching the song from the top.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' described it as "a delightful shuffle rhythm rocker."

Chart performance

"Little Deuce Coupe" became The Beach Boys' highest charting B-side, rising to No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of September 28, 1963. It spent 11 weeks on the chart.

Recording

The song was recorded at Western Studios on June 12, 1963, at the same recording session as "Surfer Girl". The two songs were the first songs recorded for The Beach Boys' third album, ''Surfer Girl''. This was the first Beach Boys recording session where Brian Wilson served as the official producer, and also one of the last sessions before

rejoined the band.

Personnel

;The Beach Boys *

– lead vocals *

– lead guitar * Brian Wilson –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Carl Wilson –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals *

– drums, vocals

Variations

*1965 – Rerecorded in medley with " I Get Around", ''

Beach Boys' Party! ''Beach Boys' Party!'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, and their third in 1965, consisting mostly of cover songs played with acoustic instruments. It reached No. 6 in the US and No. 3 in the UK. The album spawned o ...

'' *1996 – Rerecorded with country music artist James House for '' Stars and Stripes Vol. 1''. This version peaked at number 69 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. *2001 – Demo version, '' Hawthorne, CA''.

Live performances

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 ...

have released five live versions of "Little Deuce Coupe", on ''

Beach Boys Concert ''Beach Boys Concert'' is the first live album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 19, 1964. It is their seventh album in all, and their third alone in the same year. It was their first of two chart-topping albums in the U ...

'', '' Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980'', ''

Songs from Here & Back ''Songs from Here & Back'' is a 2006 live album by The Beach Boys released through Hallmark Gold Crown Stores and only available for two months. The album contains nine never-before-released live recordings, as well as three solo studio recordi ...

'', as part of a medley on ''

Endless Harmony Soundtrack ''Endless Harmony Soundtrack'' is an anthology album of previously unheard material by The Beach Boys, originally released by Capitol Records in August 1998. Named for Bruce Johnston's song on the 1980 album ''Keepin' the Summer Alive'', it was ...

'' and as part of a medley on '' Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour''.

included this song on his solo album ''Live in Las Vegas''.

Legacy

Frank Zappa was quoted in his autobiography ''

The Real Frank Zappa Book ''The Real Frank Zappa Book'' is an autobiography/memoir by Frank Zappa, co-written by Peter Occhiogrosso, and published by Poseidon Press. The text is copyright 1989 Frank Zappa, and copyright 1990 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Since 1999, the book has ...

'', "One of the most exciting things that ever happened in the world of 'white-person music' was when the Beach Boys used the progression V-ii on "Little Deuce Coupe." An important step forward by going backward." In the 2005 film ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...

'', directed by Steven Spielberg, Ray Ferrier (played by

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

) sings part of the song to his daughter (

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomin ...

) as a lullaby when she is too afraid to sleep, because he doesn't know the lullabies she has heard from her mother (

Miranda Otto Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of ...

). Ray's effort succeeds in getting his daughter to sleep.

References

{{authority control The Beach Boys songs Jan and Dean songs 1963 songs James House (singer) songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Roger Christian (songwriter) Songs about cars Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson Capitol Records singles