Good Vibrations

The seeds of SMiLE began with an unfinished work-in-progress stemming from the Pet Sounds sessions.  “Good Vibrations”—which many consider The Beach Boys’ masterpiece—was Brian’s first foray into the modular recording approach, in which many variations of the same musical idea were recorded separately and then edited together to create a whole.  The success of “Good Vibrations” spurred Brian on to make an entire album with this process: what would become (or not become) SMiLE.  While some fans speculate “Good Vibrations” was never intended for the SMiLE album, its exuberant mention in the album’s cover art, as well as its piecemeal modular sonic design, seemed to suggest otherwise.    

The first recording session for “Good Vibrations” was originally meant for Pet Sounds, recorded February 18th.  The master was Take 28 and at this point was a complete three-minute run-through of its basic structure.  Scratch vocals were recorded by Carl on March 3rd, along with an abundance of overdubbed jaw harp.

Unsatisfied and drawing closer to the end of the Pet Sounds sessions, Brian returned to the song to completely remake it on April 9th.  That master was Take 26 and like the previous session, Brian recorded a straight run-through with a similar structure.  Much to The Beach Boys’ surprise, Brian was still not satisfied with either version and dropped “Good Vibrations” from the album’s running order, choosing instead to fine-tune the song at a later date.  Despite this, the Verse sections recorded on February 18th were used in the final master.   

With Pet Sounds scheduled to be released within weeks, Brian returned to the studio on May 4th to rerecord the individual sections of “Good Vibrations” to make a post-album standalone single, beginning with a new Chorus, Bridge and Fade sequence; of these sessions, the first Bridge was used in the final master.   He then returned on May 24th to rerecord the Chorus and a Fade, as well as an exuberant second Bridge; none of these sessions were ultimately used in the final master.  Brian conducted further sessions on May 27th, remaking the Chorus and Fade as well as an even more elaborate rerecording of the second Bridge; of these sessions, only the Fade sequence was used in the final master.

Even though he already had multiple versions of every section of “Good Vibrations” in the can—at this point containing most of what is heard on the final master—Brian continued to rerecord the sections, in search of the correct “feel” for each individual section.  This began on June 2nd with all three Chorus variations and a fuzz bass-driven second Bridge; of these sessions, the Choruses were used in the final master.  Curiously, Brian returned on June 16th and 18th to rerecord the Verses, the first Bridge and the Second Bridge, many with a klezmer-esque clarinet overdub; none of these recordings were used in the final master. 

By August the entire group recorded their unmistakable multipart harmonies and Brian made a test edit on the 24th.  A couple notable differences: the original lyrics that specifically dealt with telepathy (a literal good vibration) and the inclusion of the fuzz bass Bridge from June 2nd.  Both were changed by September, as Brian recorded a new, now iconic church organ breakdown Bridge on September 1st and Mike Love rewrote the verses to be more ambiguously romantic, recorded September 12th.  “Good Vibrations” was released on October 10th to massive critical and commercial success.  Brian thought this modular approach just might work for an entire album…