Released February 3, 1964 Recorded January 1964 | Format Vinyl | |
B-side "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" Studio United Western Recorders, Hollywood Genre Pop rock
surf vocal
power pop
car song | ||
"Fun, Fun, Fun" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released in 1964 as a single backed with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", both later appearing on the band's album Shut Down Volume 2.
Contents
The song is one of many by the Beach Boys that virtually defined the California myth. Its lyrics are about a teenage girl who tricks her father so she can go hot-rodding with his Ford Thunderbird. At the end, her father discovers her deception and takes the keys from her. The narrator then comes to the girl's rescue with his own car.
Composition
The song was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love and was based upon real life occurrences in the life of Dennis Wilson. In 1996, Russ Titelman recalled that he visited Brian while he was working on the song, and that its original lyric was "Run, Run, Run". Then-manager Murry Wilson was dissatisfied with the song, and had engineer Chuck Britz cancel one of its recording sessions. However, Brian rescheduled the session after discovering what happened.
The opening electric guitar introduction of the original version of the song was based on Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", which in turn was based on the intro of Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)". The track's punctuated drum fills were inspired by the work of Phil Spector. Philip Lambert noted that the song's verses follow the same chord progression as Spector's "Da Doo Ron Ron".
Recording
The song was recorded on January 1, 1964, at United Western Recorders Studio 3. Vocals and additional overdubs followed on either January 8 or 9.
The stereo and mono mixes stem from the same recording but have a significant difference: the fadeout on the stereo mix fades out early into the song's outro, with the instruments fading away before the vocals (and an overdubbed drum part). The mono mix, as heard on the 45 as well as mono copies of Shut Down Volume 2 has an extended outro.
Personnel
Track details courtesy of session archivist Craig Slowinski.
The Beach Boys
Additional musicians
Release history
The "Fun, Fun, Fun" single backed with "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" was released in the United States in February 1964. The single peaked at the number 5 spot on the Billboard chart.
In the United Kingdom, the single was released in March 1964 through Capitol Records, but failed to chart. In Australia, the single peaked at the number 6 position, which was the band's highest charting single in Australia at that time. In West Germany, the single became their first single to chart in the country when it peaked at the number 49 position. According to various national charts published in Billboard through the 1960s, the single peaked at number 4 in The Philippines (February 1965) with thirteen weeks in its top 10, and spent four weeks at number 3 in Hong Kong (December 1965) with ten weeks in its top 10.
Variations
The instrumental track was released on the 2001 archival release Hawthorne, CA. A new stereo mix, more closely resembling the original single version, was released in 2013 on the Made in California box set. Alternate live versions appear on Beach Boys Concert (1964), The Beach Boys in Concert (1973), and Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002).
Cover versions
Status Quo version
The song was covered in 1996 by the then-current lineups of the Beach Boys and Status Quo (see Don't Stop), with a new verse written for the song. The Beach Boys sang mainly backing vocals, with Status Quo's Francis Rossi performing the lead vocal for the entire song, except the new verse, which was sung by Mike Love. It was released under PolyGram Records as a single in the United Kingdom. The single, featuring another artist on the B-side, peaked at the number 24 position on the charts.