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Baroque 'n' Roll: 10 things you might not know about God Only Knows

An emotional episode of Radio 4's Soul Music reveals some moving personal stories inspired by The Beach Boys' God Only Knows, the 1966 classic from the game-changing Pet Sounds album.

As well as being regarded as one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written, Brian Wilson’s masterpiece also has an interesting history. Here are 10 things you may not know about this iconic track…

1. It was banned on release in parts of the USA

Strange though it seems today, there was a huge worry on release that using the word "God" in the title would lead to the song being deemed blasphemous. Wilson said, "I was scared they'd ban playing it on the radio because of the title..." and although it did get banned on the radio in some areas of the USA when it came out (mainly in the Southern territories) it generally escaped censorship.

2. It was originally a B-side

The record company in the States was keen to issue God Only Knows as a single, but then decided to put it on the B-side (as the flip to Wouldn’t It Be Nice), perhaps through fear of it being banned. This could be interpreted as a commercial mistake; as it only reached 39 in the US charts, whereas in Europe, Australia and Canada it was the A-side and a massive hit, reaching Number Two in the UK.

3. An earlier version featured a saxophone solo

The elegant vocal round in the song's central bridge passage was originally a saxophone solo which also featured at the beginning. Wilson eventually edited this out, alongside a complex vocal a capella that occurred at the end, which he stripped back to three voices. This illustrates how painstakingly hard he concentrated on getting the sonic production of the piece exactly right.

4. Brian Wilson isn’t the singer on the track

Brian Wilson is not in fact the lead singer on God Only Knows. He originally tried singing the lead but later handed vocal duties over to his brother Carl, whose silvery tenor voice was better suited to the piece.

5. Brian Wilson’s co-writer worked in advertising

Tony Asher, who co-wrote a lot of the lyrics on Pet Sounds including God Only Knows, originally wrote jingles for Mattel toys and Max Factor cosmetics, among other high profile companies. Wilson was desperate to write a more spiritual album and take the Beach Boys away from their traditional "surf and fun" sound, so he invited Asher to collaborate with him after bumping in to him recording jingles in the studio.

Asher described his role in this way: "It's fair to say that the general tenor of the lyrics was always his and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter."

About The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Dennis, Carl and Brian Wilson (pictured); their cousin Mike Love; and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The band drew on the music of jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and R&B to create their unique sound, and with Brian as composer, arranger, producer, and de facto leader, often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.

"There鈥檚 a sense of impending loss running through the song鈥�

"There鈥檚 a sense of impending loss running through the song鈥�

Artist Kim Lynch recalls the important part God Only Knows played in her parents鈥� lives.

6. It was written in 45 minutes

The song is regarded as one of the most complex and unusual to have been written at that point in pop music’s history, and even now it’s viewed as an intricate subversion of pop’s usual song-writing rules; but Brian Wilson claimed that he and Tony Asher wrote it extremely quickly – in just 45 minutes. Not bad for a song universally acclaimed as one of the greatest ever written!

The Beach Boys appeared on Top of the Pops in 1996, the year in which God Only Knows was released. Brian Wilson's younger brother Carl, the song's vocalist, is second from the right.

7. It’s Paul McCartney’s favourite song

Sir Paul has eulogised on several occasions about his love of the song, and The Beatles were inspired to write Here, There and Everywhere after hearing Pet Sounds for the first time at a party, penning it back at John Lennon’s house immediately after.

8. The song has been covered by a diverse range of artists from David Bowie to Michael Bublé

Even hard rockers Avenged Sevenfold had an unlikely go at this track, joining a long list of covers from the likes of Bowie, Joss Stone and Taylor Swift to name but a few.

9. Jazz artist and songwriter Margo Guryan turned to pop after hearing it

Margo Guryan wrote her first pop song Think Of Rain after hearing God Only Knows, such was the profound effect it had on her. ”I just decided it was better than what was happening in jazz,” she later explained.

10. Baroque Rock... the flagship track for a genre

The inclusion of French horns, oboe, harpsichord and strings added to the song’s poignancy, but also made it a flagship track for the burgeoning Baroque Pop / Baroque Rock genre emerging at the time. This was echoed in the mid-sixties, on both sides of the Atlantic, by bands like The Left Banke and The Zombies, but in the USA the Beach Boys’ classic more or less defined the genre.

Listen to Soul Music on Radio 4.

God Only Knows, with a host of stars

God Only Knows (主播大秀 Music)

We've remade The Beach Boys masterpiece God Only Knows with the help of a few friends鈥�

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