The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm sure this song has been discussed before, I even vaguely remember some sort of thread, perhaps recently, having to do with it.  I apologize if this has been covered already, but I just was blown away by this track.  I finally gave 20/20 a chance, I mean, a real good listen through, and the album just blew my mind.  I really think the band did a spectacular job with this album, whether or not it's up there with Sunflower or Surf's Up.  In any case, what are people's opinions on this track?  Like Wikipedia states, "it's nothing like the Beach Boys had ever done, or ever would do, before."  It's crazy! Really reminds me of the Stones, being so uptempo and provocative.  It's a true rock and roll song, and for the Beach Boys to have released this at this point in their career is a real bold move.  It's provocative, it's nasty, it's downright dirty, but I've absolutely loved it just after the first listen.  It's the kind of rock and roll that people were looking for in '69, and I still find it hard to believe the band (well Dennis) actually wrote this and recorded it.  Love it!

Yeah, its' awesome stuff, it's like a big electrical generator that some keeps crankin' up.  The guitar blurbs are hot, and a better fit than in the break in Bluebirds.

I think it also links into the last part of Celebrate the news and reminds me of the overall arrangement of San Miguel, the pulsing wash of energy. 

I'm not suprised that Dennis slammed this one out as his music always seemed a have a more contemporary feel, imo.  It's a jump away from Be With Me (which I think is more in line with his more brooding efforts on Friends), a big stylistic change over what may have been a couple of months to a year or so.

I heard the live version before I heard the album version - you should check that one out as the BB's and the touring band lay down a pretty spectacular rendition (the version from the Beach Boys Rarities comp, is an outtake from the Live in London tracks, the encore).  :)

I always confuse this for "All I Wanna Do."  (Justin shutters)

But anyway, this track is fantastic.  It's probably Mike's most rock and rolliest vocal ever.  Fantastic drums and great guitars.  It deserved to be a bigger hit.  Perhaps the moaning and groaning at the very tip of the end was too raunchy for some people...

Yeah, always wondered why the band would consciously name songs after earlier ones that had the exact same name, i.e. Good Time vs Good Timin'.  I mean...really?

Anyway, back to the song.  Yes, it should have been a bigger hit, and more importantly, it's a song that would change MANY people's perception of the band, especially at this time period.

Generic attempt at hard rock that should never have been recorded.  Really drags down the album along with Bluebirds and Nearest.

I think it's a brilliant track, Mike could really scream

I guess you could say that "All I Want To Do" is the BB's "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"

I just wish the mix on 20/20 (and the live recording on Rarities from the Live In London encore) wasn't so wimpy. I want to hear that guitar scream, Mike wail, and that chick at the end moan! That's why the mono version is great and needs to be more widely available -- it has everything! Hopefully if there's a follow-up singles box set covering 1965-69 it'll be included...

When I was speaking to Steve Desper via telephone back in 1987, he told me the story of how Dennis got the idea of bringing the hooker in to record the sounds of sex on the track, not just once but twice. The original intent was to have it audible throughout the entire track in glorious double-track stereo. Part of the reason for a second run through was that the highpoint of Dennis was not achieved at the correct point...so from the top again it went.

Mike Love's vocal kicks so much ass on this song.

Justin - I agree completely...All I Wanna Do is fabulous, dreamy and has a certain "intimate" quality but probably not raunchy at all, given the time it was released.  If one extra track could ever have been included on Smiley, I would have voted for this one, (released few years earlier) a  because of its oneiric (dreamlike) quality, not unlike Wind Chimes...Mike's vocals are superb...It reminds me of a "whispered love symphony."

Unfortunately, it (Sunflower) did not do as well in the United States as in the United Kingdom...Not unlike a few of our other favorite albums, the critical acclaim came later. 

It is a delicious song.   ;) 

 

I think Justin was talking about All I Want To Do (not All I Wanna Do), with Dennis' raunchy ending and Mike's "rock and rolliest vocal ever".  I do agree with you about the dreamlike quality of All I Wanna Do, though.  Personally, I love them both.

Mea culpa, Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!  - You are absolutely correct!  I pulled the LP off the shelf and checked the track list...20/20 was one of the few albums I did not have on mp3 format.  Checked amazon to listen to the preview!  Yes, I know it!
It is tame in comparison to a lot of the music in the late 60's. 

The upside of my mistake is that when I checked Amazon, to "refresh" (remember) the song.. I saw that they have it Friends (which I already had) with 20/20 for $4.99!  It's mine now!   ;)

It is a great album! 

(Last week it was nearly $15.00 for the double album. )

Check out the other BB sale stuff! 

This mono mix you speak of, how "widely available" is it?

So is the sex at the end of the track real?  In the book, Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of Americas Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio....it specifically says that Dennis went into the studio with a friend of his to record themselves having intercourse..which was then used at the end of this track. 

I always thought it was faked...never thought it was real.  So, what...Dennis and his lady friend went into the studio and did it while people in the booth....watched....or left the room? 

It was DW and a hooker he hauled in from Hollywood & Vine, just down from the Tower. The only other person in the studio was Steve Desper and, as he told me, he engineered the session "with my head down on the board". What you hear on the album is two different takes, one in each ear. I recall hearing there's an 8-track safety copy in the BRI vaults.

Wow...great info AGD, thanks! 

I never would have thought it was real....

I hate this song, easily one of my least favorite Beach Boys tracks. Very ugly vocal, very mediocre composition and completely wrong for the group.

I love this song, easily one of my favorite Beach Boys tracks. Very energetic vocal, very simple but effective composition and completely different, but at the same time right, for the group.

I would love to get Mr. Desper in here to comment on recording this song, specifically the end!

It was up on YouTube but has since disappeared, sadly. I think your only way of getting it is, as far as I know, tracking down the "I Can Hear Music" single (Capitol 2432), which had this mono mix as its B-side.

Your wish is granted. Stephen shared his recollections a while back in The Stephen Desper Thread. Here's the link (reply 282, about halfway down the page):

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=419fa4777e12aaa26162690135b9f4e8&topic=1203.275 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=419fa4777e12aaa26162690135b9f4e8&topic=1203.275)

Thank you very much! This should be interesting...

Great track. Only "wrong" for the group if one considers them ripping up Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow live on stage also to be inappropriate. They were a ROCK AND ROLL band when they began.

Yeah. It's a shame though that this song sounds like something that a band made up of 60 year old white haired men playing exclusively in open mic nights at local pubs would write in order to prove that they still "had it."

Doesn't Dennis say to her "Did I hurt you?" at the end? Something only members of the ten inch club have to ask.

The transition from this track to The Nearest Faraway Place is one of my favorites. i personally find the incoherence and extreme contrasts throughout the album to be totally compelling. Not too crazy about "Bluebirds", but otherwise love it all.

I agree with you on that. Mike sings this song in a great way he never did before or since, unfortunately he is so low in the mix one might almost wonder if it were meant for Stack-o-tracks.... A solid remix of this song is warranted. It's just too good to remain hidden.

Such a waste, that he never used this voice again. When David Lee Roth left Van Halen, they should have called Mike instead of Spammy Hagar. It's not like the Beach Boys did anything worthwhile during the Hagar years, anyway.

I like the track a lot, especially the singing and the DRUMS. I suppose those drums are Dennis?

The live version cuts the studio cut to pieces, in my opinion. Wish they would have kept it in the set.

The live version is indeed great, although an iffy mix and Mike not "going for it" as much as the studio version drag it down a bit.

I love this song, enjoy it more than TTGA and IWTS on side 2. Who plays drums and who plays lead guitar on the recording? I think it's not Dennis and Carl, but I don't have any real info.

Can anyone provide the mono mix? That would be something for the alledgedly upcoming box set... :) One more reason to buy it! ;D

But Mike says "ARE YOU READAYY?" at the beginning. That does it for me.

and Mike WOULD have worn Dave's stage outfits too and everything!!!!!!

there aren't words to express how great it is having somebody like Stephen Desper here to share memories with us. and a great story teller to boot.

I love the brass in between the "C'mon, baby" parts. Fantastic song, Top 3 of 20/20 for sure.

As was mentioned, this is the only instance (I am aware of, anyway) that Mike just lets it rip in such a fashion - and he does it so well, makes me wonder why he never grabbed a few tunes like this before or since.  Makes me think he might have done well at belting out something like Wild Honey, or I Was Made To Love Her, etc. 
The ending of course is classic.   ;)

I really love this track.. Mike really goes for it (as does Dennis ;)  It's absolutely one of my favorite BB songs, makes me want to get up and dance.  Mike's vocals are ripper, wish he sung like that more often.

Y'got me there ^_^ I'm a fan of that, as well.