B-side "In My Room" Format 7" vinyl Genre Pop rock | Released October 28, 1963 Recorded September 1963 Length 2:10 | |
"Be True to Your School" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys, released as the third track of their album Little Deuce Coupe on October 2, 1963, and later as a single on October 28.
Contents
The song features the melody of the University of Wisconsin's fight song, "On, Wisconsin!", although it is a tribute to Hawthorne High School, which the Wilson brothers attended. Hawthorne High School's fight song uses the same melody as "On Wisconsin".
Recording
The Beach Boys recorded two studio versions of this song. The original recording, which appeared on the album, was made on September 2, 1963, and was in a higher key and at a slower tempo than the second version which was released as a single. The second version features The Honeys chanting various "cheerleader yells" before each chorus. The concept for the single version, recorded later that week, was born in the same studio session that Brian and Mike created the original idea for "Fun, Fun, Fun", backstage in Farmington, Utah.
Release
The single version was backed with "In My Room", a collaboration between Brian and Gary Usher, released as Capitol 5069. "Be True to Your School" charted at number 6 on the Billboard charts, and number 4 in the UPI chart survey for newspapers across the United States. It rated number 3 in New Zealand's Lever Hit Parade, number 6 in Sweden, and number 10 in Australia as cited by a contemporary issue of Billboard. Rising to popularity when the Beach Boys were still thought of as a Southern California phenomenon, it did best in Los Angeles: three weeks at #1 (KFWB).
The cover photo for this single (and for the associated album Little Deuce Coupe) included member David Marks but not Al Jardine, though Jardine had returned to create a six-member band for the recording sessions for this single and album. This single, with its B-side "In My Room", were the last two of eight charting songs to include Marks for nearly 50 years (2012's "That's Why God Made the Radio"), though he remained a legal member until September 27, 1967. This album was shortly shipped off to disc jockeys in the United States, coupled with a list of automobile-related terms to get them familiar with the language used on the songs, such as "Shut Down" and "Little Deuce Coupe".