"Good Timin" is a song by the American rock band

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band 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 their f ...

and the second single from their 1979 album ''

L.A. (Light Album) ''L.A. (Light Album)'' is the 23rd studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on March 16, 1979, and their first issued through Sony Music, CBS Records. Recorded during a period of acrimony between the band members, it was a ...

''. It is one of the few songs jointly credited to

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

and

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 Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...

Recording

"Good Timin was recorded during the group's sessions at

Brother Studios Brother Studios (later renamed Crimson Sound) was the name of a recording studio located at 1454 5th St, Santa Monica, California established by brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, co-founders of the Beach Boy ...

and

Caribou Ranch Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou. The studio was in op ...

in April and November 1974, respectively, with Brian contributing piano and harpsichord. The basic track was completed and Carl Wilson recorded the lead vocals. In a 1975 interview, Carl stated that the track had been slated for the group's next album. That album, which became ''

15 Big Ones ''15 Big Ones'' is the 20th studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released July 5, 1976, by Brother/Reprise. It includes a mix of original songs and renditions of rock 'n' roll and R&B standards. The LP was the band's first a ...

'', ultimately did not include "Good Timin. In a 1976 interview,

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 was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Carl Wilson as well as ...

bemoaned the track's absence from ''15 Big Ones'', praising it as "another '

Surfer Girl ''Surfer Girl'' is the third studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released September 16, 1963 on Capitol Records. It is largely a collection of surf songs. The LP reached number 7 in the U.S. and number 13 in the UK. Lead sin ...

'". Due to negative critical reactions to the Beach Boys' "

Here Comes the Night "Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the US. Them's single is listed at either No. 33 or No ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

single, "Good Timin was hastily assembled with necessary vocal overdubs by Carl and Bruce Johnston and released as a single. Johnston recalled: "I'm not putting Al down or Mike but the real soldier who stuck with me the whole time was Carl. The two of us sang the verses on Good Timin', the two of us sang the four vocal parts."

Release

"Good Timin reached 40 in the U.S. during a stay of ten weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart; and peaked at No. 33 on the ''Cash Box'' sales chart. It was their first single to reach the Top 40 portion of the chart since " It's OK" in October 1976. It also reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "vintage Beach Boys ballad complete with rich layers of their trademark falsetto harmonies."

Live performances

"Good Timin was performed live on tours throughout the early 1980s following its release. Brian sang the lead vocals during

The 50th Reunion Tour The 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour was a 2012 world concert tour by the American rock band the Beach Boys. The tour marked the first time since 1982 that founding member Brian Wilson had consistently performed on a full tour with the band. The tou ...

with

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist, background vocalist, and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as number-one hit ...

also on vocals filling in for Carl Wilson.

Personnel

Sourced from sessionography archivist Craig Slowinski.

Good Timin'

The Beach Boys *

– lead and backing vocals, guitars *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

– piano, harpsichord, organ *

– drums *

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

– backing vocals, Fender Rhodes electric piano *

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals Additional musician *

Jim Guercio James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician, songwriter and director. He is best known for his work as the producer of Chicago's first eleven studio albums. He also produced the early recordings of The Buckin ...

– bass

Love Surrounds Me

The Beach Boys *

– lead, harmony and backing vocals, Fender Rhodes,

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacture ...

and Moog synthesizers, additional drums,

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, arrangements *

– backing vocals *

- backing vocals Additional musicians *

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, notably Chic ...

– backing vocals * Ed Carter – electric lead and rhythm guitars *

Neil Levang Neil LeVang (January 3, 1932 – January 26, 2015) was an American musician who was best known from television's ''The Lawrence Welk Show'', playing guitar, violin and banjo. Biography The younger of two boys, LeVang was born in Adams, North ...

–

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

during closing vamp *

Joe Chemay Joseph Chemay is an American bassist and backing vocalist, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked ...

– bass * Carli Muñoz – grand piano * Phil Shenale – Oberheim synthesizer during closing vamp * Bobby Figueroa – drums * Steve Forman –

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

mark tree A mark tree (also known as a nail tree, chime tree, or bar chimes) is a percussion instrument used primarily for musical color. It consists of many small chimes—typically cylinders of solid aluminum or brass tubing about 3/8" in diameter—of ...

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 bow ...

cabasa The cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wooden cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, wooden or plastic handle. The metal cabasa was created by Mar ...

during closing vamp

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Timin' (Beach Boys Song) 1979 singles The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Carl Wilson Song recordings produced by James William Guercio Song recordings produced by Bruce Johnston