Released October 7, 1963 Genre Surf rock Label Capitol | Format Vinyl Length 2:23 | |
Writer(s) Brian Wilson/Roger Christian | ||
"Spirit of America" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian for the American pop band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1963 album Little Deuce Coupe.
Contents
Background
The lyrics, written by Beach Boys collaborator Roger Christian, were written as a tribute to Craig Breedlove and his record-breaking Spirit of America car. Christian, who not only worked with The Beach Boys, but with other surf rock artists, had also written similar lyrics for "Ballad of Bonneville," a song for Gary Usher's band, The Super Stocks. Usher later said, "Roger would give Brian [Wilson], Jan [Berry] and I similar lyrics, and not tell us he was doing so! As it turned out, we wouldn't know this until the songs were released! The songs themselves, or the ideas, were much the same, even though they weren't copied. That was just how Roger did things."
The song also was used as the title track to the band's compilation album Spirit of America, the follow-up to their number one compilation album Endless Summer.
Reception
AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald said it was "[a]nother fine example of the Brian Wilson/Roger Christian songwriting team's car songs" and went on to say "it's still a somewhat obscure song in the Beach Boys' canon – something that doesn't diminish the quality of the song, despite its somewhat dated subject matter."