Released August 30, 1971 Length 2:29 | Genre Psychedelic pop Label Brother/Reprise | |
Recorded January 1970
early 1971 Writer(s) Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Gary Winfrey | ||
"Take a Load Off Your Feet" is a song written by Al Jardine, Brian Wilson and Gary Winfrey for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was projected to be released on Add Some Music, an album which was to be released in 1970. After that album was reworked into Sunflower, "Take a Load Off Your Feet" was released on the next Beach Boys album, Surf's Up.
Contents
Composition
Gary Winfrey returned to California, after serving in the Air Force, in 1968. He and Al Jardine quickly rekindled a friendship that had begun back when both were in high school. Winfrey's wife Sandi was pregnant at the time, and her ankles were swollen. With the song Hair being popular at the time, somebody suggested writing a similar song about ankles. That song turned into "Take a Load Off Your Feet". Brian Wilson would later add some lyrics and help with the melody.
Recording
The first session for the song was during the Add Some Music sessions in January 1970. The song was then put on hold until the early part of the next year. All of the sessions were held at Brian Wilson's home studio. Brian did the lead vocal on the first and third verse (though this verse not in falsetto and also sped up on the final mix-leading it to be confused with Jardine), alternating giving way to Jardine, who sang the second and fourth verse and also played bass guitar. The Beach Boys, with help from Winfrey, sang the backing vocals, and Brian added sound effects including hitting an empty 5-gallon Sparkletts glass water container with a rubber mallet for percussion, footsteps and the horn of his Rolls-Royce Phantom V.
Live Versions
The Beach Boys performed the song live for the first time in 1975 and then again during their 1993 Box Set Tour.