A-side "Dance, Dance, Dance" Format Vinyl Length 2:51 | Released October 26, 1964 Genre Sunshine pop | |
Recorded January 1, 1964
January 8, 1964
Western Studios
Hollywood, California | ||
"The Warmth of the Sun" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2 and as the B-side of the "Dance, Dance, Dance" single, which charted at number eight in the United States and number twenty-four in the United Kingdom. Brian Wilson produced the song, and the rest of the album.
Contents
Information
Wilson and Love began composing the song on the night of November 21, 1963 and completed it early the following morning, mere hours before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The subsequent recording of the song was informed by the emotional shock felt by its authors in the wake of Kennedy's death.
"The Warmth of the Sun" was started in the early morning hours of the same morning that President Kennedy was killed in Dallas. The melody was so haunting, sad, melancholy, that the only thing that I could think of lyrically was the loss of love, when interest slips and feelings aren't reciprocated…though I wanted to have a silver lining on that cumulus nimbus cloud so I wrote the lyrics from the perspective of, "Yes, things have changed and love is no longer there, but the memory of it lingers like the warmth of the sun." I think it's really impactful and memorable…one of my favorite songs from an emotional and personal point of view.
Reviewing the song for AllMusic, Donald A. Guarisco stated, "The sublime balance of lush vocals and sensitive songwriting made 'The Warmth of the Sun' one of the Beach Boys' finest and most moving ballads." Brian Wilson pioneered the use of adventurous chord changes in pop—"The Warmth of the Sun"'s transitions from C to A-minor to E-flat, were unheard of in 1964.
Among the session musicians who played on the recording were Hal Blaine and Ray Pohlman.
Appearances
It was featured on the soundtrack of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) along with "I Get Around" and "Don't Worry, Baby."
Willie Nelson performed lead vocals on a version of the song on the album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1.
Other versions
The song was recorded by Murry Wilson—father of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson—on his one and only album, The Many Moods of Murry Wilson, which was released in 1967 on Capitol Records.
In 2006, 42 years after the Beach Boys released the original version, it was recorded by Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes, the solo side project of Relient K singer Matt Thiessen.
Vince Gill performed another version at "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson (2001)" concert.
In 2006, Matthew Sweet and Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs recorded the song for their collaboration, Under the Covers, Vol. 1.
In 2010, Rumer recorded a version on the B-side of her single "Aretha".
Shelby Flint and Tim Weston, "Wouldn't It Be Nice, A Jazz Portrait of Brian Wilson."
Friends of Dean Martinez recorded a version on their album "Under the Waves."