The Smiley Smile Message Board

As everyone here (hopefully) knows Brian's autobiography is obviously not written by him, but I remember reading in it that the song God Only Knows was inspired by a "John Sebastian melody". Now if this is the case, Im assuming its a Lovin' Spoonful track as his first solo release (according to what I could find) was in 1970. But anyway, I was wondering was there any source where Todd Gold got this fact from that the song was indeed inspired by a Lovin' Spoonful or atleast a song written by John Sebastian for another artist? (Ie: did Brian ever state in an interview that this was the case and if so what was the song?)

Not that I know of.  Brian WAS interviewed by Gold for the book, which is where some of the info not available elsewhere came from.  Could be that is one such example. 

I hadn't noticed that line when I read--and because of how laughable the book is, I did only read it once--the book. I just double-checked it, hoping for context, and see there is none. Just "[t]he melody was inspired by a John Sebastian record I'd been listening to."

Even if it is true, "inspired by" doesn't necessarily mean the two will sound anything alike. It could mean there is a similarity, but maybe not. Just the same, I am going through the first Lovin Spoonful album now, just to see if anything sounds even remotely similar to my ears.

When did the second album, Daydream, come out, and when was GOK written or recorded? Pet Sounds was actually released in May 66, correct? Just trying to figure whether the alleged inspiration could've been off Daydream as opposed to DYBIM.

(Yes, I realize this may all be a waste of time, chasing a fictional part of the "autobiography." But I have nothing to do--it's a holiday.)

Any chance of John Sebastian being John Sebastian Bach? Then it would make sense... Just my 2 cents.  :)

Brian has mentioned that he liked the Lovin' Spoonful a few other times, so I'm sure he ment John Sebastian. 

One could say that God Only Knows has a similar feel to Daydream, if you really want to stretch it.

That might make sense... if Bach's first name wasn't Johann.

Probably the same root word anyway...

I know about "Johann" (being a huge fan of Bach) but hey, the writers these days... I mean, that kind of mistakes happens.

But I'm pretty sure that it was about John Sebastian and not about Bach anyway. It was just fun thinking about it.  :)