2021 SONG DRAFT- ROUND 4 PICK 4- BADFINGER20 SELECTS- ‘DON’T WORRY BABY’- THE BEACH BOYS

· by · in Entertainment, Music, Music Videos, Pop Music, Radio. ·

Those who follow my blog and know me…know I like older music than my generation. I was once told by a co-worker that it’s “unnatural” to like music before you were born…which I think is hilarious and totally idiotic. I go through phases with music. When Hans and I talk about The Beatles I tend to listen to them and nothing else for a while…and the same with other bloggers. 

I have done this my entire life…I get into something and I’m obsessed. I never really discard anything after my obsession dies down…it keeps coming back and in the case of the Beatles and others… never goes away.

In my senior year of high school I went through a surf music phase. I wore Hawaiian shirts and coco butter everywhere. I was  looking forward to the Florida trip my friends and I were planning in spring. I would roll in the high school parking lot with Jan and Dean, Dick Dale, or The Beach Boys blaring out of my Mustang. I had a hell of a stereo system in my car. When Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” can drown out The Scorpions coming from another car…the system is loud.

During this time surf music hit the musical spot in me. The musicians on those surf records were incredible. This song dug deeper…much deeper. I still listen to the song. Don’t Worry Baby is about a girl and a car…when you are an 18 year old boy…a girl and a car are the two most important topics…at least they were to me. It has always stuck with me and I’ll never forget that year. My first serious girlfriend, a 66 Mustang, and Don’t Worry Baby… a good year.

It was written by Brian Wilson and DJ Roger Christian. This was conceived as a follow-up to the Ronettes #2 hit “Be My Baby.” When Brian Wilson heard the Be My Baby on the radio, he wondered aloud if he could match it. Wilson’s wife Marilyn reassured him, saying, “Don’t Worry, Baby.”

This is pop perfection by the Beach Boys. 

51 responses to “2021 SONG DRAFT- ROUND 4 PICK 4- BADFINGER20 SELECTS- ‘DON’T WORRY BABY’- THE BEACH BOYS”

  1. one of several classics they put out in that time period. Great backstory too on why it matters to you. Hope you still have the Hawaiian shirts at least, if not the car! My selection tomorrow should fit in easily behind this one…

    • Thanks Dave…nope all gone. I do have the dubious distinction of being the first to wear one to our school…at least in the years I went…they were not the fashion in the mid 80s…to say the least. Oh, how I wish I still had that car.

    • Like some others here have said, I think “God Only Knows” is my favorite song of theirs but this isn’t far behind.
      I love Hawaiian shirts – it’s hard to find cool, tacky ones these days. You reminded me actually, I’m going to check online. There was a discount dept. store chain in Canada that had a good selection about 10 years back…my Dad and I both got a couple. Maybe they still have some. Most of the ones you see on e-bay or like , if they are really fun, are really expensive too.

    • They are a lot of fun to have I agree. I had such an ugly one at the time…a little later later they were popular.

  2. I believe that is my favorite Beach Boys tune- about time they were selected- a lot of great singles they produced in the 60’s.

  4. I get it. Surf music was a huge part of my teenage years, 1962-69. Driving to the beach with our longboards strapped to the top of my Chevy, Beach Boys, Jan and Dean blasting from my AM radio with a bad speaker, it didn’t get any better than that. Stripped T-Shirts, chinos, Birdwell Beach Britches and surfer girls covered in Wesson Oil or coca butter. Then all of a sudden it was Nehru shirts and love beads, pot and acid, and Charles Manson. What the hell happend? The 60s didn’t end on a good note, except for landing on the moon but it sure gave us some great music and memories. My son, like you is a classic music and retro nut. Old cars (65 Mustang) and vinyle albums. Good read.

  5. You and Keith Moon have the “surf” bug. I get it. That co- worker was a pretty openminded person. Love that stuff.
    I have a Moon solo record where he does this tune. There’s something I dig about it..

  6. I remember the surf music and the surf movies with Annette, Frankie, and at least one or two with Elvis. That whole era felt like a big party. You picked a good’n from that time. About your co-worker: the idiocy of people never ceases to astound me. Nice write up and I also like the personal connection you have to the song.

  7. I love this one, but there are 10 Beach Boys songs I love even more. It’s one of the earliest hits where Brian’s personality takes the spotlight rather than Mike Love. I don’t know if that story about lyrics is true though – it sounded wrong to me as I don’t think Wilson was married to Marilyn at that point. Wikipedia says Roger Christian wrote them. Wilson was obsessed with Be My Baby though – which is understandable.

  8. Wilson was obsessed with Phil Spectors “wall of sound” concept. You can hear his take on it in “Don’t Worry Baby.” The single beat of the drum starts the song and then everything kicks in; blankets of instruments and over dubbed vocal harmonies; a wall of surf music. He made it work his way. Spector was a genius, but the wall of sound shouldn’t be for every recording. I think Wilson far surpassed Spector as an arranger and producer. The movie “The Wrecking Crew” covers this well. Real good pick. I think CB is as crazy about classic rock n roll as you are.

    • I have The Wrecking Crew….I just haven’t watched to it yet…and I need to. I do like Brian’s arrangement on this song.

    • Wilson and Spector both used the talents of the Wrecking Crew, Wilson more than anyone by not allowing the BB to play on most of the recordings except of course they added the vocals. That was the norm back then since most bands weren’t great musicians, and if your spending thousands on recording, then you want the best guys putting out the sound. Wilson, from I have read, thought he could take Spector’s wall of sound and improve on it. Obviously he did, but lost interest I guess and went another direction. It’s in a book called “If Everybody Had An Ocean.”

  9. I laughed out loud at the cocoa butter mention. You were really into it. As for liking music older than your years, my friends say I have an ‘old soul’ when it comes to music, so I say that definitely applies to your music tastes too. I too went through a Beach Boys phase, and even went to a concert they performed in Allen Field House (where the Kansas Jayhawks play basketball). This song has never been one of my faves of theirs, but I like having this group represented in the draft.

  10. Oh yes I was into it. I was the first at my high school in 1985 to wear a Hawaiian shirt…got snickers out of it but at the end of the year…some other people wore them…the one and only time Max was a trendsetter….I’m a blue jeans and shirt guy.
    The song started to grow on me back then and never stopped.

  11. I’m still laughing at Cocoa Butter ….

    Working in Oldies, we played a lot of Beatles and a lot of Beach Boys. One thing these two groups had in common was that they both had unique harmonies. I had an issue with the Beach Boys after working at that station. We played them so much that I got burned out on them. It was to the point where I just couldn’t listen to them for a while.

    After some years, I DJ’d a High School Reunion and the class graduated in 64 or 64, I can’t remember. I played a Beach Boys song and had headphones on. It was the first time in awhile I had really listened to them since the station. I had a new appreciation for them. That being said, I tend to like the more up-tempo Beach Boys songs – Dance, Dance, Dance, Surfin’ USA, etc. The harmonies on the slower songs make then stand out!

    Good pick, Max!

    • Thanks Keith I appreciate it. I do like all of those surf records…the drummers especially. This one I just love the construction of it.

    • Great harmonies. My band didn’t play but a few of their songs because we couldn’t replicate the voices. “In My Room” is a good one, has the 4 Freshmen written all over it.

  12. Max, I think you hit on a gem with this one. I have quite a few BB records so now” Ima gonna pull them out and spin them on the table.” (DJ talk from back in the day) A post about Jan and Dean would be a good one for the future. Good stuff, man.

Comments are closed.