Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys | College Students' FIRST TIME REACTION! 

After doing Pet Sounds on Patreon everybody was saying we had to hit this song from them, we put them on a poll, and the people spoke!! Make sure to vote in this week’s poll! Cheers all have a great weekend!! 🙌🏻🔥

This was one of the most innovative and incredible songs when it came out.

When "Good Vibrations" first came out, the general reaction was a lot like what you'd expect: people weren't quite sure what they'd heard, but they really really liked it. And yes, the song sounds a little disjointed upon first listen, because you don't know what to expect next. After several listens, you DO know what's coming next, and you find your enjoyment of the section you're hearing augmented by the anticipation of what you know is to follow. With familiarity, all the transitions are perceived to to flow naturally, and eventually you can't imagine them flowing any other way. I'm confident that, after hearing "Good Vibrations" a few more times, you'll reassess your rating, and rerate it as the "S" it deserves to be. You just haven't gotten there yet, but you will - and when you do, you'll recognize it as a true landmark in popular music.

It is just beyond me that everyone doesn’t know this song. To me it’s like saying you don’t know the song Happy Birthday. Sigh. I feel so old.

When this came out, it put many people in the music industry in shock. They never heard anything like it, and made them wonder how they were able to pull this off.

"I like that bass line." The great Carol Kaye, baby! If you haven't seen it, I heartily recommend the "Wrecking Crew" doc on the great players of this and other sessions.

You need to listen to this a few more times . This was regarded as one of the most advanced and brilliant songs of the 60s . It took Brian Wilson months to get this track down and used many top rate musicians to interpret his genius. I have been listening to this song over 50 years now and it stills gets me going and never gets boring .

Absolutley S-tier for me. A timeless masterpiece. I have heard it so many times and for me it flows totally naturally, it feels organic and together, not disjointed whatsoever.

When you get to know this song, you breathlessly look forward to each transition (that you now find jarring) and your spirit soars when the new music comes in.

Nobody had ever heard anything like this when it came out. Parts of it were recorded in four different studios because Brian liked various things about their acoustics. If the transitions are a little jarring it's because he was working at the very edge of the limits of the studio technology at the time. If you like Wilson and the Beach Boys you should watch the movie Love and Mercy. A good part of it covers the Pet Sounds period and the way Brian would work with the Wrecking Crew musicians.

When you have listened to it multiple times you will anticipate and look forward to each section

Someone I forget who described their sound as being at Church and the beach at the same time...

Dude this was Brian Wilson in his avant-garde phase. The ambition was to make a pocket symphony and he succeeded.

FYI, this song was recorded throughout a few months, dozens upon dozens of takes, with each section in different studios, with dozens of different arrangements. The final product was pretty much a Frankenstein's monster. All these hundreds of hours of audio tape, edited, measured, spliced with razors, and glued together. No computers. Amazing stuff.

"How could people listen to this when it first came out?" ... 1967, this comes out, Spencer Davis Group, I'm A Man comes out. Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced comes out. It was sonic wonderment every other week. This was another day in paradis.

“What in the world did we just listen to?” Exact reaction of a generation when it came out. Which is why you need to listen to it again. Then again. Then listen to Sergeant Pepper. Then listen to It again. Then rate it. Super impressed you identified the theremin. The song is musically like the cover of the Sergeant Pepper album. Go back and see how many different sounds and instruments you can identify.

I never felt it was disjointed from the first time I heard it, instant love. This song was huge in the late 60's. We felt it was a masterpiece, and not at all weird.

It is hard to believe that *anyone* could have lived 20 years without hearing "Good Vibrations"! The late 1960's was a major competition between Brian Wilson and the Beatles to see who could do the most mind-blowing inventive music.

"God Only Knows" is their masterpiece. (As you heard on "Pet Sounds")

I am 53, I've been a pro musician for 35 years, and I listen to almost any kind of music. This song is my #1 favorite of all time. The backing vocals on the final chorus (before the vocal outro) sound like angels singing, especially as they tail off.

"Sloop John B" would be another great one. Love that song by the BB.

You asked if there was anything before this besides The Beatles that was like this sonically. The closest thing that I could think of was "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds. It didn't have quite as many different sounds as "Good Vibrations", but it easily had its share, and I don't think anyone would object to any of its transitions. Each sound leads to the next. I think you'll love it. The songs this week have been "Hollywood Nights", "Into the Mystic", "Me and Bobby McGee", and "Good Vibrations". What a great week!

Carol Kaye -- bad ass female bass player on 100s of famous 1960s songs. She still does lessons online for those interested in being taught by a legend.

When I first heard this 50 years ago, IT....BLEW...ME...AWAY !! The harmonies....wow.

Bob Dylan said of Brian Wilson: “He should donate his ear to the Smithsonian.”

That was Carl, Brian's brother, and Mike, Brian's cousin, singing. Brian produced.

When you’ve heard this multiple times on the radio growing up, you don’t even think about the transitions. the song is what it is

Guys.. you gotta know that,at this time,this was a masterpiece of recording and engineering..there was not any of the technology there is today...they had to record this all with live players..there was no sampling...

They were breaking out of their mold and I still get chills when they harmonize!

Brian spent weeks recording this song. Hours and hours of takes, and many different versions. The final product was very much stitched together, which you noticed.

Young men, let this song grow on you. You’ll eventually get it. Soooo groundbreaking for its time.

This is a very interesting reaction video! Here's what to keep in mind: this was the new Beach Boys single. This song would have been played over and over again on the radio. These kids would have been hearing this song probably three times at least on just the first day they heard it. Everyone had transistor radios, everyone had car radios. That's how you listened to music when you were out and about, you couldn't take your music collection with you everywhere you went. so you are absolutely right. At first listen, you may feel a little disoriented. But upon repeated listens, you grow to love the whole thing. And that's why it was such a hit. And yeah, it blew everybody's minds. But they had just had their minds blown by The Beatles' "Revolver" two months earlier. There was a momentum going on, every record building upon the last, music getting heavier, weirder, deeper, more diverse.... and "Good Vibrations" was definitely a big step. It's practically the first prog-rock song, in a way, a "suite" of musical themes. And for this to be a SINGLE! This was a stand-alone single!

I remember the first time I heard this song. I was driving on my learner’s permit in my parents’ big boat of a station wagon. I was so jazzed, I was jumping around behind the steering wheel saying "oh, wow. Oh, wow!" Didn’t mind the abrupt transitions at all, I was blown away by the harmonies. The more you listen, the more you appreciate and anticipate the transitions. When I hear this song, I always think of a warm summer day with the sun shining, driving down PCH with the windows down and bouncing in time to the music.

The theremin on this is actually an "electro theremin" or "slide theremin", as opposed to the mid-air instrument played by Jimmy Page and others :) x

The backing musicians were largely comprised of The Wrecking Crew, a group of talented and well-respected session musicians employed by several music producers during that era. One especially well-known member of The Wrecking Crew was Glen Campbell, who didn’t play on this track, but was a touring member of The Beach Boys for a time, filling in for Brian Wilson. Campbell did record periodically with The Beach Boys, most notably on their album, Pet Sounds.

Wow, I've never felt it disjointed at all! Such an epic song.

This is a Top Ten song of all time for me. The vocal harmonies do it for me every time. It is a masterpiece

Cello, and, yes, our minds were blown and, yes, it gets better the more you listen. 56 years later it still sounds great.

This was a bif radio hit..no one over analyzed it. We just accepted it.

this whole album is sooooo good it almost makes me cry tears of joy.

Been listening to this song for 54 years now and it still seems as fresh as when I first heard it.

In answer to your question about how people "could have listened to this when it first came out," Good Vibrations was a #1 single, so SOMEBODY apparently liked it at the time.

"You like it now, you'll learn to love it later" --Robbie Robertson

A "pocket symphony" - that's what Brian intended.

I never considered this song jarring in its transitions. When I listen to this song, I hear the incredible harmonies that are being created in the different sections of this song. And it’s the harmonies that tie those sections together. Considering it hit #1, no one thought it was jarring. It’s uniqueness sets it far apart from other songs. A true original and a masterpiece.

As a 4 year old when it came out, it blew my little mind as did another song from that same year by The Who "I can see for miles".

Not violins or violas- cellos. Can't believe you'd never heard this before....such a staple, for Americans particularly. 😎

The song is phenomenal to me. To just sit back and listen and just let it be what it is, is the absolute best way to enjoy it.

Beatles "Strawberry Filelds" along the same experimental genre of the times. Great song as well!!!

All overdubs, no synthesizers, just multiple tracks of instruments. I remember hearing there were 64 overdubs. I think the standard pro recorders at the time were 4 channels. This predated 16 track machinery.

Watch the Documentary "The Wrecking Crew" to see who and how these albums were made. It's the same handful of musicians on every hit of that era.

I think ANDY is referring to CARL WILSON’S voice.

Guys, you must do Heroes and Villains next. Another Brian Wilson masterpiece. And then Surf’s Up.

Sounded wonderful in 1966. So far ahead of everyone else. The word gets bandied around a lot, but Brian Wilson is a genius. Saw him live in 2008 recreating Smile with a whole bunch of musicians. The nearest equivalent to BW in the composition and arranging departments is Jeff Lynne.

I wish everyone could have experienced the Beach Boys in concert, as I did in the fall of 1977. Good Vibrations was amazing!

This song turned rock music from nice little arrangements to grand events. It is the benchmark for all to come. How could you have never heard it before? Seriously?

Paul McCartney said that Pet Sounds was one of the best albums ever. Brian was so amazing!!

When John Lennon heard this he knew the Beatles had to change or be left behind. Then came Sgt. Pepper

I was about 13 when this came out. We were going through the psychedelic era and it all made prefect sense at the time.

This song definitely gives the Goosebumps and it gets better every time you hear it

Brian Wilson said it was a "Teenage Symphony to God"

Alex - I completely understand how this feels jarring to you in the context of todays music. It's very difficult to take yourself back to the era when this came out. It came out at a time when music was changing every month... and everything was a stepping stone on what had come before . BUT, when this came out it was yet another improvement but 2 or 3 steps up instead of just the 1 step that we had become used to. That's why everyone has been recommending it really but we forget that you aren't listening through the ears of us oldies... :D Then 6 months later Sergeant Peppers came out and nothing was ever the same again.

The session musicians who recorded on this were called 'The Wrecking Crew' and their list of credits is astounding, they play on literally 100s of big hits.

Genius writing, unbelievable vocals most underrated band in history.

Production wise, only the Beatles with producer George Martin, another genius, came close during this era.

Brian Wilson’s compositions (especially with Good Vibrations): there’s so much going on in Brian’s mind... perhaps combined with a touch of ADD... the drugs... the ‘Beatles nipping at my heels’ creatively... this incessant self-competition plus his yet-to-be diagnosed psychological disorder. I’m guessing as Mike Love wrote the lyrics, there may have been some internal ego-band battles in the studio too. Artists seek perfection, but in many ways, Brian was tortured by it - and when you think back to 1966 when the technology wasn’t there to create or replicate a sound easily! All this vision in his mind, and literally creatively handcuffed as he pursued ways to communicate what ‘he’ was hearing into a medium WE could hear (the ‘how do you describe a cloud to a blind man’ analogy). It’s no wonder it took him six months to bring this song to life. Layers and layers of sounds on those 2” AMPEX reel-to-reel tapes. Today, it’s an easy Pro Tools patch. I’m with Alex...... it’s a complex ‘like/grading’ in the likability of this ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ song......... but when you think about the complex, painstaking backstory of this song to even reach an acceptable conclusion for Brian? It’s the backstory that blows me away.

I’m only 42, but, even after hearing what Brian Wilson laid down on Pet Sounds, this is next level.

I first listened to this song at eight years old. I still remember where I was and how I felt. My dad raised me on jazz music like Weather Report and Jaco Pastorius (as he is a bassist himself). I had heard harmony, but when I first heard this song played, this was when I truly heard and felt music. I had never heard a song like Good Vibrations, and I haven't heard anything like it since. I feel head over heels for the Beach Boys and the genius of Brian Wilson. A decade later, and I am still in love with their music and music as a whole. I'm now a music education major and a lover of all things music, harmony, and instruments. I fell in love with music because of Brian Wilson, and I got to see him and Al Jardine in concert this summer two days before Brian's 80th birthday. My life was made complete and I have him and this song to thank for making me fall in love with music and to fill a desire to become a high school band teacher. Thank you Brian Wilson for this masterpiece and so many amazing songs and albums. He truly is the Mozart of the 20th century, a musical genius.

I have a hard time listening to this song only once in a sitting. Usually put on "repeat" at least once or twice. A beacon from my youth!

This is probably my all time favorite Beach Boys tune, glad you are doing it.

God, I was a conflicted teenager, The Beach Boys were somewhat going out of popularity, but I still loved them, especially when this came out! It was the groundwork in my opinion for them to break into Pet Songs...it was ground breaking!

The Beach Boys harmony was legend. Brian Wilson was a creative genius.

Theremin - the only instrument you play by NOT touching it.

Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer

"Sail on Sailor " so under rated. So awesome. Will always be my favorite.

This is one of those songs where the once you know what is coming next, you start loving it. Like a roller coaster once you get to remember all the turns and dips.

For a good insight into the musical performances on this track, research the "Wrecking Crew".

.....before the pandemic, I was on the road 200 nights a year for 50 years - played with James Taylor, Paul Simon, Steppenwolf, too many... worked with/on Grammy recordings... you two are, hands-down, nobody is even 2nd, the best at what you do. You don't stop a song - talk for 3 minutes just as a great part is about to play, talk more... you LISTEN.... deeply. The show is not about you, but is about the music you are listening to, and how you feel about it. I love you guys, and the different ways you listen, and hear things in the recording or a heavy lyric - not much gets by you. I go back, show my musician friends your vids, especially "Born on the Bayou" to start them off (a classic show of yours). You two look/act just like I did when I first heard it in 1969. Don't change, roll'em easy, stay safe, Abide, my friends... thanks....

When this first came out it was another “new sound” when there were so many group genres that had their specific sound that we couldn’t get enough of!

Lennon said that Pet Sounds made the Beatles step up their game, leading to the way underappreciated Revolver and, of course, the monster Sergeant Pepper's LHCB. 👍👍

“They”, didn’t lay it down in the studio. Hal Blaine - drums, timpani, other percussion Al De Lory - piano, harpsichord Jesse Ehrlich - cello Larry Knechtel - organ in verses and choruses Tommy Morgan - harmonica Al Casey - guitar Ray Pohlman - electric bass Lyle Ritz - double bass Jim Horn - piccolo Paul Tanner - Electro-Theremin and bassist Carol Kaye

Brian Wilson wss an amazing songwriter/arranger and a huge influence on the Beatles. He and Paul McCartney had a good natured competition going on.

oh, and " I don't know where but she sends me there." one of the great lyrics ever.

When Good Vibrations came out, McCartney is said to have felt The Beachboys were on top of the heap-but, as we know, the Beatles had more up their sleeve.

The first time I ever heard this song it literally stopped me in my tracks. I as blown away. No one but the Beatles had done that to me before.

Some call "Pet Sounds" a Brian Wilson solo album in disguise, but I can't call it that when the distinct Beach Boys harmonies are all over this record.

The Beatles listened intently to this, especially Paul MCCartney. But you're right, nothing ever really sounded like this when it came out. This was still early in the rock era. It was a huge hit in its day. For me their unequalled masterpiece was Feel Flows (from their great LP Surf's Up. Another song McCartney was obsessed with

That deep chuda chuda chuda sound are two cellos playing the same low notes together at the same time. One time I was driving around in my old Chevy and ended up at an A & W drive-in. In those days we all listened to the same AM radio station. This came out in the spring so everyone had their windows down and all the radios turned to the same station - then "Good Vibrations" came on. No one had heard it before. Everyone turned up their radios and for the length of the song everyone was together dancing in the parking lot. It grabbed everyone`s attention really fast. It was a massive hit for them that year and to me it still has that same out standing quality it had as the first time I heard it that day in the parking lot.

Been waiting for you guys to react to this! Excellent! Released in October 1966. Innovative tune for the time and did blow listeners away. Brian Wilson would record his tunes in 4 different Los Angeles/Hollywood studios. One for vocals, another for percussion, one for guitars and bass and finally another for mix and echo. Wilson envisioned using the theremin for this tune.

In My Room, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Heroes and Villains

Good Vibrations was released in 1966 over 56 years ago I was 13 when I first heard it and I loved it then and I still do this song to me has stood the test of time other songs of the of the Beach Boys are great but this one is special I've seen Brian Wilson working with the Wrecking Crew to put this song together and it was unbelievable thank you for playing it

Brian was going for a *solid wall of sound* that he fell in love with listening to anything produced by Phil Spector. Being a teen when this came out was exciting! Couldn’t wait to hear it again after the first time. One felt,this is totally NEW!!

There’s a documentary called “The Making of Smile” followed by the “Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson...” from the concept of the album in 1966 to live in London first performance in 2004. You guys should check it out.

Brian Wilson heard all of this in his head. Such brilliance. Love and Mercy will help you understand his mind, struggles and how he tried to so hard to put it all down despite the push backs and challenges he had.

Have to tell you this story. This happened in the early 80's. My car was in the shop, so my younger brother picked me up from work. Well the Beach Boys were playing that night, so I said to my brother, let's see if we can get tickets, so we drove downtown and got the tickets . We were behind the stage looking right down on the band. Brian Wilson was on the piano, when this happens. His cousin tosses a sax on to the grand piano, which slides and knocks over a drink right onto Brian. He's FURIOUS, he's PISSED , Brian stops playing, and walks off the stage. A minute later, he's back.....Epic moment. You have to realize Brian Wilson is a MUSICAL SAVANT....He recovered well I must say...What memories 😁

Hey there, everyone from the early twentieth century and beyond. I am a nineties baby. I first heard this song at a few months old, most likely because of my great great grandmother. Ever since, I have became a multi-genre musician; everything from dubstep to power pop. I play many musical instruments, including: drums, keyboards, harmonica, guitar, and the device you are talking about, the electro-Theremin. One hand controls the volume, and the other controls the frequency thereof. The sixties were a beautiful decade in music: the latter half of the doowop era, the California sound, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, and sunshine pop. The Beach Boys helped with starting the sunny sound; you can see it in "Pet Sounds". Anyway, I just wanted to say something to others who encountered the Beach Boys, and you too. No matter how old you are, music will never age; timeless, perennial, utterly congenial, existing alongside every generation of elders and millennials.

This album inspired the Beatles to produce Sargent Pepper! 😎👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 New set is really cool! The Beach Boys were great!

The Beatles album "Sgt Pepper's" was directly influenced by The Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds"

It’s an amazing composition. Can’t begin to remember my first listen, but I love it every time I hear it.

The great Carol Kaye laying down the bass line. A true innovator who broke down barriers