Why the hate for "Barbara Ann"?

[Ron]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

It's also in key...

[Ron]

Pisces Brothers is just inept; Afternoon Delight is so contrived and calculated it could run for president.

In 2010, Billboard named "Afternoon Delight" the 20th sexiest song of all time.

Also in key

I think most bands have a 'BA' in their catalog. Whenever I hear the Beatles 'Obladi Oblada' its like fingernails on a blackboard.

Completely In Key

I think most bands have a 'BA' in their catalog. Whenever I hear the Beatles 'Obladi Oblada' its like fingernails on a blackboard.

Or Dont Stop Believing by Journey. Good song, but after hearing it at EVERY school dance, wedding, club...I can't stand it anymore

Fantastically in key song

I think most bands have a 'BA' in their catalog. Whenever I hear the Beatles 'Obladi Oblada' its like fingernails on a blackboard.

For me, it's Yellow Submarine.

Even John's in key

[Lee Marshall]

Chuck stole 'Toy Bell' from the Bees...and Fats Domino's buddy Dave Bartholemew...and he turned it into something kind of 'icky'.  Old man drooling 'icky'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5IorPq8k2Q

 People didn't do THAT to Chuck's songs.  The Beach Boys didn't do it to Barbara Ann either.  But Dean Torrence doesn't help the sound much at all.  He kind of sounded like a ding-a-ling...and generally I very much enjoyed most of Jan and Dean's post [as opposed to pre]  Surf City material.  Drag City, in fact, is an all-time fave.

[Komera]

Because we all have an ex girlfriend named Barbara Ann somewhere in our lives (for females it was a college experiment) and we don't want to hear her name repeated over and over again, driving us crazy, until we can't take it anymore!!!!   

I have an aunt named Barbara Annette.  She prefers to be called Annette.

Er...  Anyway...

I like the song.  Simple, repetitive, spontaneous, light hearted.  Fun little ditty that everyone can get in on, nothing particularly heavy, definitely nothing particularly serious.  I don't listen to the Party! album all that often, so it retains it's freshness for me.  It reminds me of all the times I sat next to my sister, listening to her BB tape.  Perhaps I like it even more ever since learning that Dean's on it as an uncredited guest star... I like it when artists are able to sneak things past the powers that be.

[Kurosawa]

Well, they did do a cover of Surfin' Bird on Party. Well...kinda anyway. It's called Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.

I LOVE Papa-Omm-Mow-Mow.

I don't mind Barbara Ann, I enjoy hearing Dean on it because I love J&D.

[Ron]

I think Chicks dig it.  Mostly. 

Also the few chicks I've known, that knew about "My Ding A Ling" by Chuck Berry, thought that was his best song. 

Chick logic

[Cyncie]

I've always loved this joyous racket. Why on earth anyone should dislike it is beyond me.

So do tell.

It's off key. 


The original is also off key. 

The whole thing's sung in a weak falsetto instead of Brian's strong falsetto.  Nothing worse than a weak, thin falsetto, it sounds like an amplified whisper.

The original is even weaker. 

Yeah, it's off key. But, that just adds to the pseudo-spontaneous party vibe they were going for, IMO. I actually wish Dean had sung some other part in Barbara Ann because his falsetto is harsh and strident compared to Brian's. But, it's a fun song, anyway. Sounds like a bunch of friends goofing off at a party, which was the whole point.

[Sound of Free]

"Barbara Ann" has also been a staple at Brian Wilson's shows.

Dean may have been the one who suggested it, Brian was the one who decided to do it, and Brian was the one who produced it. And Brian was the one who decided to do it in his solo shows.

It may be hard for some people to accept, but Brian Wilson likes Barbara Ann. Yes, the man who gave us In My Room, Let Him Run Wild, God Only Knows, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Caroline No, Surf's Up, Till I Die, et. al, LIKES Barbara Ann.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZylusEw-68&t=85m20s

[JK]

I've always loved this joyous racket. Why on earth anyone should dislike it is beyond me.

So do tell.

It's off key. 


The original is also off key. 

I've never understood the accusation levelled at doo wop songs that they're off key! All the best doo wop is off key----it adds a special "edge" to the proceedings. "Little Star" by The Elegants starts and ends woefully off key but boy does it work----shivers-down-the-spinesville. 

[Ron]

I dunno... I don't really have dog ears for that type of thing so it usually doesn't bother me.  I love Doo Wop, listen to it all the time to be honest.  I was listening to the 50's channel on XM on the way to work for instance; they played "The Boy from new York City" if that counts.

anyways, for whatever reason Barbara Ann has always sounded wayyyyyy off to me.  Little Star sounds great. 

[37!ws]

I don't hate the song, and obviously neither does Brian. In the US the song was a huge, huge hit: #2 on Billboard, #1 on Cashbox. That's higher than many other hits performed at the various factions' concerts, including "California Girls" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." Sad to say, but to not include it would be a huge, glaring omission. You would expect for an artist to perform the biggest hits at some point.

Having said that, I wish to all things holy that they would actually perform it THE WAY IT IS ON THE RECORD. Unplugged. I mentioned that to Probyn recently (along with "Cool, Cool Water," "Rio Grande," and "That Same Song"), but all he could do was smile and say that it'd have to be approved by "the powers that be."

[RangeRoverA1]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

You've cat to be kitten me. It's one of his best songs in entire catalog. The fact that he made the audience clap during it makes it cooler in my book. It's very catchy. And Barbara Ann. The crowd likes it because, obviously, it's simple to singalong to. What's more fun than sing silly words? Creative minds can change the names to smb. they know, f.ex. Betty Lou > Gary Q. etc.

[bossaroo]

it's simple, catchy, fun. nothing wrong with that. the thing I like least about it is that it's a cover tune and it's one of their best-known songs and biggest hits. the Beach Boys are so much more than Barbara Ann, and some folks still don't get that.

it would be like the Beatles being just as well-known for Rock-n-Roll Music or Matchbox as they are for Strawberry Fields or Let It Be.

it's telling that it was such a success for the Boys in 1965/66. I don't think the Beatles could have gotten away with it, but I do feel like there is a substantial segment of Beach Boy fans who prefer the simpler, teenybopper stuff. they like their Beach Boys singing about surfing and fun, fun, fun. not dropping acid and writing symphonies to God. and that's fine. clearly, there's room for it all.

[JK]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

You've cat to be kitten me. It's one of his best songs in entire catalog.

RR, how would you list these Chuck Berry songs in order of quality? I'm curious:

Carol
Johnny B. Goode
Maybelline
Memphis Tennessee
My Ding-A-Ling
Rock And Roll Music
Roll Over Beethoven
School Day
Sweet Little Sixteen

[Jonathan Blum]

it's simple, catchy, fun. nothing wrong with that. the thing I like least about it is that it's a cover tune and it's one of their best-known songs and biggest hits. the Beach Boys are so much more than Barbara Ann, and some folks still don't get that.

Don't they?  Seriously, we're talking about a band that can put out a two-CD set and still not have run out of hit songs that people can sing along with.  I figure at this point, after the sheer number of their own songs that everyone knows, from Fun Fun Fun and I Get Around to Good Vibrations and God Only Knows even before you get into the lesser-known fan faves, begrudging them their hit covers because you're afraid they'll cheapen their reputation just seems silly.

it would be like the Beatles being just as well-known for Rock-n-Roll Music or Matchbox as they are for Strawberry Fields or Let It Be.

Same there.  You'd begrudge them Twist And Shout?

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[bossaroo]

I'm not begrudging either band at all.

but Barbara Ann is one their highest-charting singles and is therefore more well-known than many of the other titles you listed. and the fact remains that one of their most ambitious singles, The Little Girl I Once Knew was a flop compared to Barbara Ann which is probably their least ambitious... and they were released within a month of each other. whether that was caused by radio playing one song more than the other, or the record company promoting one over the other, or the public simply preferring one to the other (probably a combination of the 3) that is the way it went down. the lightweight cover beat out the innovative original.

Twist and Shout was released nearly 3 years earlier. I don't think it would have done nearly as well in late '65/early '66. for whatever reason, the Beatles were expected to keep moving forward and the Beach Boys were not... at least in my opinion. Good Vibrations being the one notable exception.

[EgoHanger1966]

That being said, during the encore in Philly, EVERY song there had the crowd really energized, but then Barbara Ann came on and you could tell the crowd was a bit less enthusiastic about it. So perhaps it should be retired from Brian's setlist.

I was like five seats down from you and I didn't get that vibe at all. 

Anyone who thinks it should be removed from ANY setlist of a Beach Boys related concert should think again (especially a certain board member who never fails EVERY TIME IT IS MENTIONED FOR THE SONG'S BANISHMENT FROM CONCERTS - yeesh, get over it). People come to hear the hits, mostly. It was one of their biggest hits. It's not art, but it's fun. Sing along, have a good time, The Beach Boys make you feel good.

[rab2591]

That being said, during the encore in Philly, EVERY song there had the crowd really energized, but then Barbara Ann came on and you could tell the crowd was a bit less enthusiastic about it. So perhaps it should be retired from Brian's setlist.

I was like five seats down from you and I didn't get that vibe at all. 

Anyone who thinks it should be removed from ANY setlist of a Beach Boys related concert should think again (especially a certain board member who never fails EVERY TIME IT IS MENTIONED FOR THE SONG'S BANISHMENT FROM CONCERTS - yeesh, get over it). People come to hear the hits, mostly. It was one of their biggest hits. It's not art, but it's fun. Sing along, have a good time, The Beach Boys make you feel good.

Haha well if that's the general concensus I may need to get my hearing checked, after that encore it wouldn't be such a bad idea anyways

Idk, that was one thing that I distinctly remember from that show. Again, not saying people weren't clapping and singing along with it, just that it wasn't as enthusiastic as the other songs during the encore. Just an observation, and apparently a flawed one at that

[Mark A. Moore]

and they were released within a month of each other. whether that was caused by radio playing one song more than the other, or the record company promoting one over the other, or the public simply preferring one to the other (probably a combination of the 3) that is the way it went down. the lightweight cover beat out the innovative original.

Capitol's northeast promotion guy started pushing "Barbara Ann" because the two-bar pause in "Little Girl" was throwing listeners off. That's a long pause on the radio.

[SamMcK]

Why Barbara Ann get this much hate is beyond me, there's a much worse single by the Beach Boys that got all the way to No. 1! It's about some fictitious island or something..

[Ron]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

You've cat to be kitten me. It's one of his best songs in entire catalog. The fact that he made the audience clap during it makes it cooler in my book.

I've always marveled at that too, that was live in London, I don't know if they tweaked the level of that (i suppose they probably did),... but it sounds like literally everybody in the show is singing along (except that guy in the front row).  There's no other instruments, just Chuck and his guitar, and he's got literally the entire crowd singing along. 

Masterful entertainer....



By the way, in my store I have this one really weird room near the bathrooms, it's kind of like a room you step into, before you go into the bathrooms.  I didn't know what to refer to it as, so I always just refer to it as the "Vestibule"... in nod to this song...

[Please delete my account]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

You've cat to be kitten me. It's one of his best songs in entire catalog. The fact that he made the audience clap during it makes it cooler in my book.

I've always marveled at that too, that was live in London, I don't know if they tweaked the level of that (i suppose they probably did),... but it sounds like literally everybody in the show is singing along (except that guy in the front row).  There's no other instruments, just Chuck and his guitar, and he's got literally the entire crowd singing along. 

I always guessed it was the second time that night he had performed it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's enough stuff I can't stand but the one song that makes me gag at the very thought of it is Chuck Berry's lone US #1 "My Ding-A-Ling". That song is so wrong on every imaginable level!

You've cat to be kitten me. It's one of his best songs in entire catalog. The fact that he made the audience clap during it makes it cooler in my book.

I've always marveled at that too, that was live in London...

Marvel no longer. It was recorded in Coventry. The Locoarno Ballroom, to be precise.

[Bean Bag]

I think most bands have a 'BA' in their catalog. Whenever I hear the Beatles 'Obladi Oblada' its like fingernails on a blackboard.

Yeah... for some reason, most of the Beatles White Album is like that for me.

There's some bad ju-ju in that White Album.  Stay away, I tells ya! 

[Shady]

Yeah, every band has a Barbara Ann in their catalogue but please don't compare it to 'obladi oblada', it's not that bad.