Barbara Ann
| "Barbara Ann" | ||||||||||||
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 single sleeve |
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| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||||||||||
| from the album Beach Boys' Party! | ||||||||||||
| B-side | "Girl Don't Tell Me" | |||||||||||
| Released | December 20, 1965 | |||||||||||
| Format | Vinyl | |||||||||||
| Recorded | September 23, 1965 | |||||||||||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||||||||||
| Length | 3:23 (album version) 2:05 (single version) |
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| Label | Capitol 5561 | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Fred Fassert | |||||||||||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||||||||||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert and performed (as "Barbara-Ann") by The Regents in 1961. The recording reached a peak position of #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart.
The most famous cover version is by the American rock band The Beach Boys. The song was released as a single on December 20, 1965, with the B-side "Girl Don't Tell Me". The song peaked at #2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (#1 in Cash Box and Record World) and at #3 in the U.K. It also topped the charts in Germany, Switzerland and Norway. It was The Beach Boys' biggest hit in Italy, reaching #4. The song was also released on the 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!. Brian Wilson and Dean Torrence, who had previously recorded the song as one half of Jan and Dean, are featured on lead vocals. Dean is not credited on the album jacket but "Thanks, Dean" is said by Carl at the end of the track.[1]
A version recorded by the Beach Boys without the Beach Boys' Party! effects can be found on the Hawthorne, CA album. The Beach Boys made a false start on the Party! album by singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" instead of "Baa Baa Baa Baa Barbara Ann". The Beach Boys sang this song as an encore on their Live In London album. Brian Wilson has a rendition on his live Roxy CD, and in 2001, performed it himself, with the ensemble, on An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson.
The Beach Boys version
- Written by: Fred Fassert
- Album: Beach Boys' Party!
- Time: 3 min 23 sec
- Produced by: Brian Wilson
Performers
- Brian Wilson: lead vocals, bass
- Dean Torrence: lead vocals
- Al Jardine: backing vocals, guitar
- Bruce Johnston: backing vocals
- Mike Love: backing vocals
- Carl Wilson: backing Vocals, guitar
- Dennis Wilson: backing vocals
- Hal Blaine: his famous ashtrays
Use in popular culture
The Beach Boys appeared in the television series Home Improvement as cousins of the character Wilson. They perform "Barbara Ann" in Wilson's backyard. In episode of Full House called "Beach Boy Bingo" the Tanner family went to a Beach Boys concert and got to sing this song with them on stage.
The song was also covered by The Who (released in November 1966 on the Ready Steady Who 7" EP), sung by Keith Moon, and was included in the film The Kids are Alright. Blind Guardian also covered the song on the album Follow the Blind.
In the late 1970s series Welcome Back Kotter, the character Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta) sings a version with the lyrics "Baa-baa-baa Baa-Barbarino". A modified version of the Barbarino song is currently used in commercials by Barberino Nissan of Wallingford, Connecticut. The song featured in the 1973 film American Graffiti. In 1975, the Martin Cicus group performed a French version named "Marylène".
In the early 1990s, the melody of the song was made into a jingle for Babybel cheese and has remained in advertising for the cheese ever since.
In the early 1990s television series Saved by the Bell episode "House Party" Zach, Slater and Screech lip-sync to the song while enjoying "guys night in" at Screech's house when his parents are away on vacation. The song was featured during the 4th season episode, "My Ocardial Infarction", of the sitcom Scrubs, being sung by The Janitor's fake band, "Hibbleton". Brian Griffin mentions the song in the Family Guy episode "Ocean's Three and a Half". The song is also used as a plot point in the film Surf Ninjas.
The song was used as walk-on song for John McCain on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.[2]
The song was parodied in 2012 for the teaser trailer of Despicable Me 2.
Parodies
The song was parodied as "Bomb Iran" by Vince Vance and the Valiants during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.[3]
John McCain briefly sang "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" in response to a question at a campaign stop on April 19, 2007.[4]Paul Shanklin recorded a full "Bomb Iran" parody of the song (impersonating McCain) for Rush Limbaugh's radio show.[citation needed]
The ApologetiX also recorded a version called "Baa We're Lambs".
See also
References
- ^ Show 20 - Forty Miles of Bad Road: Some of the best from rock 'n' roll's dark ages. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library
- ^ ?uestlove's "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" Countdown. November 20, 2009. CBSNews/AP. Accessed 2010-01-25.
- ^ Declain McCullagh (April 22, 2007). McCain's 'Bomb Iran' song was anti-Muslim? News.com. Accessed 2007-11-05.
- ^ McCain's "Bomb Iran" Joke Draws Fire. April 20, 2007. CBSNews/AP. Accessed 2007-11-05.
