Co-writes Question

[ThyRavenAscend]

The members of the Beach Boys (including Bruce) can be paired up in only these combinations:

Brian & Mike
Brian & Carl
Brian & Dennis
Brian & Al
Brian & Bruce
Mike & Carl
Mike & Dennis
Mike & Al
Mike & Bruce
Carl & Dennis
Carl & Al
Carl & Bruce
Dennis & Al
Dennis & Bruce
Al & Bruce

(Red glow = known co-writing pairs)

Question 1: Which of these pairs co-wrote (officially credited or not) BB's songs?

Question 2: If you could choose a pair who didn't co-write any BB's songs to co-write a song, which pair would you pick?


(I won't answer question 2 yet, seeing as I don't know all of the actual known pairs...)

[Ovi]

Dennis and Carl wrote 'River Song' together, didn't they?

Generally speaking, I wish Brian would've collaborated more with either Dennis or Carl. I wonder, is there a song that was written by all 3 of them together?  

[Jon Stebbins]

Dennis and Carl wrote 'River Song' together, didn't they?

Generally speaking, I wish Brian would've collaborated more with either Dennis or Carl. I wonder, is there a song that was written by all 3 of them together?  

Friends

[Matt H]

Mike & Bruce wrote "Don't Run Away" and Bruce & Terry track.

[chrs_mrgn]

I have always thought that Carl and Bruce would have made some real great music together. It would be more down tempo (yeah like sissy friends, Bruce) but I always imagined it would be beautiful.

[runnersdialzero]

"Oh Lord" is said to be a Brian/Denny co-write and was supposedly attempted as a studio version in 1984.

[Rocky Raccoon]

"All This is That" is credited to Mike, Carl, and Al.

Songwriting credits with the Beach Boys are a weird thing, it's hard to know who contributed what.  Like for instance, I always thought "Deirdre" was a Brian Wilson song with help from Bruce.  But in a recent interview, Bruce says he wrote "Deirdre" by himself and Brian contributed a couple of lyrics.

[runnersdialzero]

"All This is That" is credited to Mike, Carl, and Al.

Songwriting credits with the Beach Boys are a weird thing, it's hard to know who contributed what.  Like for instance, I always thought "Deirdre" was a Brian Wilson song with help from Bruce.  But in a recent interview, Bruce says he wrote "Deirdre" by himself and Brian contributed a couple of lyrics.

Songwriting credits are always a weird and very inconsistent thing, totally dependent upon the people involved in these things. I think it's pretty rare to have a complete breakdown of who did what with songwriting credits, although I sure as heck wouldn't mind something more in depth for any band I liked. I doubt there's much interest on the part of the songwriters in documenting this kind of thing, but yeah.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Indeed. The accurate credit for "Surfin' USA" should be Berry/Wilson/Bowlles.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

The members of the Beach Boys (including Bruce) can be paired up in only these combinations:

Brian & Mike
Brian & Carl
Brian & Dennis
Brian & Al
Brian & Bruce
Mike & Carl
Mike & Dennis
Mike & Al
Mike & Bruce
Carl & Dennis
Carl & Al
Carl & Bruce
Dennis & Al
Dennis & Bruce
Al & Bruce

(Red glow = known co-writing pairs)

Question 1: Which of these pairs co-wrote (officially credited or not) BB's songs?

Question 2: If you could choose a pair who didn't co-write any BB's songs to co-write a song, which pair would you pick?


(I won't answer question 2 yet, seeing as I don't know all of the actual known pairs...)

Are you not including cases where there were more than two people credited?  Brian and Dennis are both credited as writers on "South Bay Surfer" and "Friends," among others.

In fact, I think the only songwriting collaborations that didn't happen if you count those cases are Bruce with either Al, Carl, or Dennis.  I think.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

The members of the Beach Boys (including Bruce) can be paired up in only these combinations:

Brian & Mike
Brian & Carl
Brian & Dennis
Brian & Al
Brian & Bruce
Mike & Carl
Mike & Dennis
Mike & Al
Mike & Bruce
Carl & Dennis
Carl & Al
Carl & Bruce
Dennis & Al
Dennis & Bruce
Al & Bruce

(Red glow = known co-writing pairs)

Question 1: Which of these pairs co-wrote (officially credited or not) BB's songs?

Question 2: If you could choose a pair who didn't co-write any BB's songs to co-write a song, which pair would you pick?


(I won't answer question 2 yet, seeing as I don't know all of the actual known pairs...)

Are you not including cases where there were more than two people credited?  Brian and Dennis are both credited as writers on "South Bay Surfer" and "Friends," among others.

In fact, I think the only songwriting collaborations that didn't happen if you count those cases are Bruce with either Al, Carl, or Dennis.  I think.

Silly me; I forgot "How She Boogalooed It."  That means the only collaboration that didn't take place was Dennis and Bruce.

[ThyRavenAscend]

Are you not including cases where there were more than two people credited?  Brian and Dennis are both credited as writers on "South Bay Surfer" and "Friends," among others.

In fact, I think the only songwriting collaborations that didn't happen if you count those cases are Bruce with either Al, Carl, or Dennis.  I think.

I probably should've specified that:

I was only counting credits that have only two Beach Boy members credited plus any non-Beach-Boy co-writers.  So, I wasn't counting the ones with 3 or more Beach Boys.

As someone else said suggested, this might be a fruitless endeavor considering how weird the writing credits are assigned.  But I still think it's interesting to think about two Beach Boys together who didn't ever (or normally) co-write songs with just themselves...I wonder what they would sound like.  "Deirdre" is a good example of a song that sounds unique in the BB's catalog, and I'd like to think that's because both Brian & Bruce wrote it--but, as someone said earlier, Brian may have just chipped in some lyrics lol.

[shelter]

Indeed. The accurate credit for "Surfin' USA" should be Berry/Wilson/Bowlles.

I disagree. The guy provided factual information and had no creative input whatsoever.

[Nicko1234]

Indeed. The accurate credit for "Surfin' USA" should be Berry/Wilson/Bowlles.

Nah. Bowles simply gave a list of places didn't he? That isn't songwriting.

And Brian did state in his 1974 interview on Youtube that he actually wrote the song with Mike.

[Smilin Ed H]

Here's a link to a piece that has a word or two to say about co-writes, courtesy of  a poster on the Hoffman board:

http://www.surfermoon.com/interviews/asher.html

[runnersdialzero]

Indeed. The accurate credit for "Surfin' USA" should be Berry/Wilson/Bowlles.

Nah. Bowles simply gave a list of places didn't he? That isn't songwriting.

Why not? If the d00d contributed, he contributed.

[Niko]

Bruce is such a lone wolf. I wonder what some songs written by him with the band in the Sunflower era would have been like.
I love his songs, but they do tend to be a bit high on the cheese...

[clack]

I've wondered why Mike and Bruce never formed a songwriting partnership -- Love/Johnston, or even Love/Johnston/Melcher (not counting Somewhere in Japan, which was mainly a Phillips song).

[runnersdialzero]

Planet Earth would probably implode if Love/Johnston songs even came into existence. It cannot handle such things, let alone any of us. Can you imagine? Don't. For the love of God, do not do it.

[Wirestone]

"Oh Lord" is said to be a Brian/Denny co-write and was supposedly attempted as a studio version in 1984.

"City Blues" was likely a Brian/Denny co-write as well, but Dennis wasn't credited when it was released.

And Gary Usher should probably be on the credits of "Walking the Line" and "You've Touched Me," too.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Indeed. The accurate credit for "Surfin' USA" should be Berry/Wilson/Bowlles.

I disagree. The guy provided factual information and had no creative input whatsoever.

Brian wanted to do a surfin' song along the lines of "Sweet Little Sixteen" (as it happened, exactly along the musical lines) and asked Jimmy for a list of surfin' spots: without his contribution of the list, the song would look something like this...

If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like californ-I-A
You'd see 'em wearin' their baggies
Huarachi sandals, too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A.

You'd catch 'em surfin at .....
.....
..... and .....,
Australia's .....,
All over .....,
And down ..... way

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin U.S.A.

We'll all be plannin' out a route
We're gonna take real soon
We're waxin' down our surfboards
We can't wait for June
We'll all be gone for the summer
Were on safari to stay
Tell the teacher we're surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

At ..... and .....
.....
..... and .....
...., L.A.
All over .....
At .....

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Yeah, everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Fifteen words. If Mike can be credited for five words that formed the tag to a song, surely Jimmy Bowlles deserves a credit fro supplying the bulk of the choruses.

[ontor pertawst]

Nah. Providing a list of names does not equal songwriting. It's just research! Maybe if songs had footnotes, he'd deserve a mention.

Maybe if they presented the lyrics to him as above and he filled in the blanks with words that fit, you'd have more of a case.

Altho if he had a few hundred grand to spend on lawyers and a few years to kill, there's a chance he'd get an out of court settlement just to make it go away. I hear Mark O'Mara has a light caseload these days.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

^I've seen lawsuits filed (and won!) for a whole lot less, though :/

[Nicko1234]

Brian wanted to do a surfin' song along the lines of "Sweet Little Sixteen" (as it happened, exactly along the musical lines) and asked Jimmy for a list of surfin' spots: without his contribution of the list, the song would look something like this...

If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like californ-I-A
You'd see 'em wearin' their baggies
Huarachi sandals, too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A.

You'd catch 'em surfin at .....
.....
..... and .....,
Australia's .....,
All over .....,
And down ..... way

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin U.S.A.

We'll all be plannin' out a route
We're gonna take real soon
We're waxin' down our surfboards
We can't wait for June
We'll all be gone for the summer
Were on safari to stay
Tell the teacher we're surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

At ..... and .....
.....
..... and .....
...., L.A.
All over .....
At .....

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Yeah, everybody's gone surfin'
Surfin' U.S.A.

Fifteen words. If Mike can be credited for five words that formed the tag to a song, surely Jimmy Bowlles deserves a credit fro supplying the bulk of the choruses.

Well no, it wouldn't have looked like this. Because Brian could have asked another surfer and they would have given him pretty much the same list of names as it was a factual question.

And as many (including your good self I believe) argue that Mike shouldn't have been credited for Wouldn't it be Nice, that is a little spurious perhaps.

[18thofMay]

Australia's Narabeen was on the list? Or just Narabeen?
Or did Brian and Mike already have Australia's ............ (insert popular Australian Surfing beach)?