I Get Around

"I Get Around"
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album All Summer Long
B-side	"Don't Worry Baby"
Released	May 11, 1964
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	Western Studios April 2, 1964 April 10, 1964
Genre	Surf rock,[1]pop rock[1]
Length	2:12
Label	Capitol 5174
Writer(s)	Wilson/Love
Producer	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Fun, Fun, Fun" (1964) "I Get Around" (1964) "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" (1964)
All Summer Long track listing 12 tracks Side one "I Get Around" "All Summer Long" "Hushabye" "Little Honda" "We'll Run Away" "Carl's Big Chance" Side two "Wendy" "Do You Remember?" "Girls on the Beach" "Drive-In" "Our Favorite Recording Sessions" "Don't Back Down" Beach Boys' Party! track listing 12 tracks Side one "Hully Gully" "I Should Have Known Better" "Tell Me Why" "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" "Mountain of Love" "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" "Devoted to You" Side two "Alley Oop" "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" "Medley: "I Get Around" / "Little Deuce Coupe" "The Times They Are a-Changin'" "Barbara Ann" Audio sample file info · help

"I Get Around" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for The Beach Boys. The song features Love on lead vocal for the verse, and Wilson for the chorus. It is noteworthy for its back-to-front structure—it starts with a chorus and has two short verses. It was a single which was released in 1964 through Capitol Records; the B-side of the single was "Don’t Worry Baby", which itself charted at number 24 in the United States. "I Get Around" was The Beach Boys' first number-one hit song in the United States. The single charted at number seven in the United Kingdom, and was the band's first top ten single there. The song's first album release was on All Summer Long in 1964.

Copyright ownership

In November 1969, the Wilsons' father, Murry Wilson, sold the copyrights to the band's songs to Irving Almo for approximately $700,000.^[2] Many years later in April 1992, just after Brian Wilson had won a lawsuit which recovered many of the copyrights to his songs, Mike Love filed a lawsuit against Brian Wilson claiming that he had not been given credit, and therefore had not received royalties, on over thirty of the band's songs, many of them hit singles.^[3] One of these songs was "I Get Around". The original credit only credited Wilson, but Love insisted that he had a hand in writing the lyrics. In an interview with Goldmine, published September 18, 1992, Love insisted that he and not Wilson "came up with 'round round get around'". Mike Love won the lawsuit and the song-writing credit was amended, therefore ensuring future royalties on all of the songs that he had claimed he had a hand in writing.

Recording

The instrumental track for "I Get Around" was recorded on April 2, 1964. During the session, producer Brian Wilson dismissed his father Murry as manager of The Beach Boys.^[4] The bed instrumental track of the song without any vocal overdubs was released on the 1993 five-disc box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys.

The vocals were recorded during a session eight days later on April 10. The lead vocal features Mike Love on the verses and Brian Wilson on the choruses with backing vocals from Brian, Carl & Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Alan Jardine (the soaring falsetto is Brian Wilson).^{[citation needed]}

Single release

"I Get Around", backed with "Don't Worry Baby", was released as a single in the United States on May 11, 1964. The single entered the Billboard chart on June 6 at #17.^[5] The song reached the #1 spot on the Billboard charts on July 4, replacing "A World Without Love" by Peter and Gordon and becoming the band's first #1 hit in the United States. The song remained at #1 for two weeks before being replaced by "Rag Doll" by The Four Seasons. The single also reached #1 on the United States Variety charts on July 1.^[5]

Released in June 1964 in the United Kingdom the single peaked at #7 on the Record Retailer chart and thus becoming the band's first top ten hit in the United Kingdom. According to some sources, Mick Jagger, when appearing on the UK television show Ready Steady Go!, stated that he thought the song was a great record. This most likely played a part in boosting the single's success, while also helping the band become more popular in the United Kingdom.

In Germany the single peaked at #38 on the Hit Bilanz chart,^[6] which was only the band's second single to chart in Germany.^[7] The single was the band's first charting single in the Netherlands, charting at #38 on the Netherlands singles charts.^[8] The single reached the top 10 in both the Canadian and Swedish singles charts, peaking at #10 in both countries.^[9][10]

Album and alternate releases

The song was first released on an album in 1964 on the band's All Summer Long album. In the following year, the band re-recorded the song as a medley along with "Little Deuce Coupe" for their 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album. The medley was a send-up of the original recording. The mock recording replaces lyrics such as "we always take my car cause it's never been beat" with "we always take my car although it's a heap". The original recording of the song was later re-released on the band's 1989 studio album Still Cruisin'. On the 1996 country styled studio release Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 the band re-recorded the song for the album which featured country band Sawyer Brown as guests on the track who played several of the instruments on the recording as well as featuring a lead vocal by band member Mark Miller. The harmonies on the re-recorded track were provided by Brian & Carl Wilson, Alan & Matt Jardine, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston.

The song frequently appears on many of the groups Greatest Hits compilations including the 1974 #1 hit compilation album Endless Summer; the 1999 compilation The Greatest Hits – Volume 1: 20 Good Vibrations; the 2002 compilation Classics Selected by Brian Wilson, which was hand-picked by Brian Wilson himself; the 2003 compilation Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys as well as the 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys.

Live versions

After the song became the band's first United States number one hit song, it immediately became a regular in The Beach Boys live set. During the band's first British tour in 1964, they performed this song as well as "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" on their first television appearance in Britain on Ready Steady Go!^[11] Several live renditions of the song have been officially released on various Beach Boys releases. It was first released on their first live album Beach Boys Concert in 1964. A concert from Anaheim Stadium on July 3, 1976 which featured the song was filmed and produced by Lorne Michaels for a Beach Boys television special which first aired in the United States in August 1976. The TV special was later released on video and DVD as Good Vibrations Tour. In 1980, a live rendition was recorded, though not released until 2002 on the Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 live album. Footage from the concert was released on video and DVD format. Another live recording of the song from a concert in 1989 was released on the 2006 album Songs from Here & Back. Westlife have live version of the song for their 2003 concert tour.

Appearances in media

• The song was covered by Miss Piggy and a biker gang of pigs on the Muppet Show.
• In the 1986 Disney film Flight Of The Navigator, David tries to teach the alien robot Max about Earth music. Max scans local radio broadcasts, and David rejects a choral and salsa songs until they pick up "Around", so David teaches Max the lyrics, and how to dance.
• During Robin Williams's first radio broadcast in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam, "Around" is the second song played, after Martha and the Vandellas's Nowhere To Run. Both songs infuriate his polka-loving superior, but the audience loves them.
• The song appeared in the 1989 film Look Who's Talking's opening credits.
• The song is heard in the 1999 Gulf War film Three Kings.
• The song was covered by Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Musicares tribute to Brian Wilson. It can be found on their 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP
• The song appears in the Regular Show episode "Skips vs. Technology".
• The song was featured in a 2012 Swiffer duster commercial.

Charts

See also

• List of songs by The Beach Boys

References