"Let's Go Away for Awhile" is an instrumental 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 Wale ...

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 ...

from their 1966 album ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...

''. It was composed and produced by

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 ...

, and performed by uncredited session musicians. The track is the first of two instrumentals that appear on the album, the other being its title track. The piece was intended to have a vocal, but Wilson ultimately decided that it did not need one. He later called it his favorite instrumental that he ever wrote, and commented that it was possibly influenced by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

's music. Several months after the album's release, the track was issued as the B-side to the band's single "

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...

Background and composition

"Let's Go Away for Awhile" was composed by

and provisionally titled "The Old Man and The Baby". Wilson surmised that he may have subconsciously based the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

on the music of

.''The Pet Sounds Sessions: "The Making Of Pet Sounds"'' booklet (1996) Bacharach's " Are You There (With Another Girl)", in particular, may have directly influenced Wilson to write "Let's Go Away for Awhile". Musicologist James Perone wrote of the track: An early full working title was "Let's Go Away for Awhile (And Then We'll Have World Peace)"—the parenthetical being a reference to

Del Close Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was ...

and John Brent's 1961 comedy album '' How to Speak Hip''. Tony Asher explained:

Recording

The bulk of "Let's Go Away for Awhile" was recorded on January 18, 1966 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 Boule ...

String String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

overdubs were recorded the next day. Wilson stated: "We used dynamics like

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. You know, Beethoven, the dynamic music maker." In 1966, Wilson considered the track to be "the finest piece of art" he had made up to that point, and that every component of its production "worked perfectly". A year later he expounded, In 1995, it emerged that the final ''Pet Sounds'' session was originally intended to add vocals to "Let's Go Away for Awhile", but Capitol insisted that the session date be the only one used for the album's entire mixing.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 is "a moody instrumental track."

Other releases

*It was included as the B-side of the Beach Boys' October 1966 single "

". *It appears on the

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

'' Journey Through the Past'' as the closing track. *It is featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 2017 film ''

Baby Driver ''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action crime film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Eiza González, Jon Ber ...

''.

Personnel

Per Alan Boyd and Craig Slowinski. Session musicians The Sid Sharp Strings

Cover versions

* 1995 – Sean Macreavy, ''Dumb Angel'' * 1998 –

John McEntire John McEntire (born April 9, 1970) is an American recording engineer, producer, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of both Tortoise and the Sea and Cake. Early life McEntire was born on April 9, 1970 ...

, ''

Smiling Pets ''Smiling Pets'' is a multi-artist tribute album consisting of experimental music, experimental/alternative rock, alternative cover versions of the Beach Boys, Beach Boys songs from ''Pet Sounds'' (1966) and the never-finished ''Smile (Beach Boys ...

'' * 2002 –

, '' Pet Sounds Live'' * 2012 – Neil Cowley Trio, '' MOJO Presents Pet Sounds Revisited'' * 2013 – Fairmont, ''Mint 400 Records Presents The Beach Boys Pet Sounds'' * 2023 – nelson., ''Summer Dreams''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Let's Go Away For Awhile 1960s instrumentals 1966 songs The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson Lounge music