Brian Wilson came to fame as the principal songwriter, co-lead singer, and creative mastermind of The Beach Boys. Later in his career, Wilson became a solo artist, but he actually released his first solo single 60 years ago today (March 7), while still very much an active Beach Boys member.
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Wilson’s debut solo single was the atmospheric, melancholy ballad “Caroline, No.” Wilson co-wrote the tune with lyricist Tony Asher. Asher served as his main songwriting partner on The Beach Boys’ landmark 1966 album Pet Sounds. “Caroline, No” wound up appearing as the final track on Pet Sounds, which was released in May 1966. So, it was released both as a Beach Boys tune and as a Wilson solo track.
The single reached No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its B-side was “Summer Means New Love,” an instrumental from the 1965 Beach Boys album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).
Brian Wilson recorded “Caroline, No” with 12 session musicians from the famed Wrecking Crew collective. They included Glen Campbell on electric 12-string guitar, Carol Kaye on electric 12-string guitar and six-string bass, and Hal Blaine on drums and percussion. The percussion Blaine played was a large plastic water jug.
Songfacts: Caroline, No | The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson recorded this without the rest of the group – on the single it’s listed as “Brian Wilson,” not “The Beach Boys.” The released version was recorded a half step slower so that when played back, the vocal would sound a little higher in pitch. (The same technique McCartney used on “When I’m 64” – the acetate is in the original key of C major as opposed to C# on “Pepper”.) It was supposed to give the vocal a more “youthful” sound. (thanks, Barry Kesten – Bellmore)
No other Beach Boys sing on the record, as Wilson felt that the song sounded fine with just his voice. Wilson’s vocals were sped up a half-step to give them a more youthful quality.
The album version of “Caroline, No” features a non-musical tag for which he recorded his dogs Banana and Louie barking and a train whistle taken from a sound-effects record.
More About the Writing of “Caroline, No”
“Caroline, No” is sung from the perspective of a guy talking to an ex-girlfriend whom he’s saddened to see has lost her youthful, innocent aspect of her personality.
Asher has said that he wrote the lyrics about a former girlfriend named Carol Amen who had moved to New York City to become a dancer. His initial title for the song was “Carol, I Know,” but Wilson misheard it as “Caroline, No.” Wilson and Asher decided to keep the latter title.
According to the liner notes for a 1990 CD reissue of Pet Sounds, Asher also said the lyrics were inspired by Wilson’s attitude about lost innocence. Asher commented that Wilson was “saddened to see how sweet little girls turned out to be bitchy hardened adults.”
Wilson gave a contradictory account about the inspiration for “Caroline, No.” He said it was inspired by a high-school crush named Carol Mountain. Asher said, however, that Wilson had never mentioned Mountain to him before he’d written the lyrics.
In the liner notes for the 1997 box set The Pet Sounds Sessions, Wilson is quoted as saying “Caroline, No” was his favorite song on the album.
He also referred to the song as “the prettiest ballad I’ve ever sung.”
Wilson wouldn’t release another solo single until the late 1980s.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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