Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys' Pop Masterpiece

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00:00 Intro
00:53 Title Card
01:01 1966
01:30 Recording
02:23 “Wall of Sound”
02:41 Song Structure
02:49 Verse & Chorus #1
03:26 Verse & Chorus #2
04:06 Episodes #1-2
05:26 Chorus #3
05:41 Coda
05:53 Conclusion

[mousearmitageify]

Fun fact:
This was the most expensive song to ever be recorded at the time

[Rozenkratz]

Great analysis and editing, The Beach Boys are truly underrated. I remember I once read Lennon was asked how the Beatles felt competing with the Stones and he said something to the effect of: We're not competing with the Rolling Stones, we're competing with the Beach Boys.

[nikokaapa]

Anyone who says nice things about Brian Wilson is a friend of mine

[zairabernal]

"I don't know where but she sends me there" HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE LINE OF THIS SONG.

[Rosco]

Brian Wilson is a musical genius; check out some of the behind the scenes videos of him directing recording sessions. Brian and the rest of the Beach Boys are egregiously underrated and underappreciated to this day. "Good Vibrations" is the Magnum Opus of Brian and the rest of The Beach Boys. "Good Vibrations" is a top ten, pop/rock song, hands down, no questions, no hesitation, no reservation, no equivocation. This video is a brilliant dissection of the song. Exceptionally well done.

[lizucavictoria]

Video essays about music make me feel good about life.

[jedicid]

Man, I always bring the Beach Boys as one of my favorite bands, and people always react in a shocking way, then I begin my defense on why people should really listen to them. Thank you.

[MrROTD]

I think they were seen as a novelty because the whole beach scene culture that was going on but they had some seriously great songs and Brian Wilson was a genius

[FunkAndFluff]

Unfortunately, the little graphic you showed for a Bb major depicts an Ab minor, but I'll say as both a musician and audio engineer, I bloody adore the way you thoroughly broke this song apart. I'm loving your work more with each new video.

[DazedxHipster]

It's a shame that The Beach Boys aren't as appreciated as the Beatles.

[topsnek]

"Revered and underappreciated" could describe The Beach Boys as a whole.

[Terrible_Peril]

Mentioning the high melodic bass parts without mentioning Carol Kaye is almost criminal.

[youngdumbandbaroque]

Brian Wilson is one of the saddest stories in pop history. Such a genius, though.

[frankstrawnation]

Fun fact: the first Queen song recorded in a studio was a cover of "I can hear music". So definitely Beach Boys was a major influence to Queen.

[sharko]

Brian Wilson is one of the very few genuine musical genius in pop music. Not only was the song "Good Vibrations", the entire album that it was on, "Smiley Smile" is a work of symphonic art.

[bpabustan]

Credit goes to Carole Kaye for that magnificent bass lines on the verses.

[snarflatful]

It's hard to overstate this contribution. When the Beatles study your technique for a year before releasing Sgt Pepper, you must be on to something.

[deanagar]

I'm a Beatles nut and have been since I was 4 or 5. I'm now 48.

But, the greatest pop song ever produced, and the greatest 3 minutes in music ever, is Good Vibrations.

It's perfect in every conceivable way.

[wildsmiley]

Not all of Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) is so simple. Brian's production aesthetic on Pet Sounds the following year began on the two fantastic 1965 albums Today and Summer Days. Plus, the second side of Today contained songs with lyrical themes akin to those on the songs on Pet Sounds. Starting with these two albums, Brian was developing a more mature, musically and lyrically, direction for The Beach Boys, reaching its zenith with his masterpiece Pet Sounds.

[C-Stanz]

It's unfair to slag off all of Summer Days & Summer Nights as formulaic simplicity. Listen to "Let Him Run Wild", that's totally on par with Pet Sounds melodically, arrangement, & production wise.