On This Day in 1964, the Beach Boys Entered the Studio to Record Their First No. 1 Single

On this day (April 2) in 1964, the Beach Boys stepped into Western Studio in Hollywood, California, to record “I Get Around.” The sessions that yielded the classic stretched until April 10. They released the single a little over a month later, on May 11. The summer anthem fittingly topped the Hot 100 on July 4 and retained the top spot for two weeks, giving the band the first of four chart-toppers.

Videos by American Songwriter

The Beach Boys had been trying and failing to reach the top of the Hot 100 since their debut single, “Surfin’,” charted in 1961. However, the competition was fierce. At the time, they were up against groups like the Beatles, the Four Seasons, and Jan & Dean. The latter went to No. 1 with “Surf City,” a song written by Brian Wilson.

[RELATED: On This Day in 2023, a Renowned Drummer Who Worked With Lennon, Harrison, and the Beach Boys Died in Prison After Committing an Unthinkable Crime]

They finally found their way to the top of the chart by writing a song that walked the line between personal and relatable. On one hand, the song was about summer vibes, cars, and girls. On the other hand, it was about the band dealing with their newfound fame.

“I Get Around” Was One of the Beach Boys’ Songs Listed in Mike Love’s Lawsuit

Mike Love famously filed a lawsuit against Brian Wilson in the early 1990s, demanding co-writing credit on more than 30 of the Beach Boys’ songs. “I Get Around” was one of those songs.

In his 2016 book, Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, Love recalled co-writing their first No. 1 hit. “I tinkered with Brian’s first verse, which was about this bored kid driving around but was really about our own experiences,” he wrote. “We had this instant fame, some fortune, had traveled all over the country, but did any of that bring us happiness? Maybe we needed a different kind of place,” he added.

Love also broke down their songwriting partnership in an interview. “Brian is amazingly adept at chord progressions and coming up with harmonies and so on,” he said. “I was pretty quick on the lyrical side and the hooks. We were just a very good partnership at the time,” he added. “I would sit next to him at the piano, and we would work out the musical and lyrical components, which complemented the musical mood that was going on at the time.”

Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images