Break Away (Beach Boys song)

"Break Away" is a song written by Brian and Murry Wilson for American rock band the Beach Boys, released as a single in 1969. Murry was credited as lyricist under the pseudonym "Reggie Dunbar". The single was relatively unsuccessful compared to the group's releases, and charted at No. 63 in the US Billboard 100 (top 40 in the Cash Box and Record World charts). "Break Away" sold better abroad, reaching No. 6 in the UK, No. 10 in Ireland, No. 17 in the Netherlands, No. 20 in New Zealand, and No. 29 in Germany.

"Break Away"
Single by The Beach Boys
B-side"Celebrate the News"
ReleasedJune 16, 1969[1]
RecordedMarch 31; April 23, 1969
GenreRock
Length2:56
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Brian Wilson, Reggie Dunbar
Producer(s)Brian Wilson, Murry Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"I Can Hear Music"
(1969)		 "Break Away"
(1969)		 "Add Some Music to Your Day"
(1970)

It was the last release on which Brian was named as producer until "Child of Winter (Christmas Song)" in 1974.

Music

According to Brian Wilson, his father Murry came up with the idea from watching The Joey Bishop Show on television while it proclaimed, "We're gonna break away for a minute and we'll be right back!". Brian, at his piano, then composed the song with Murry as they "plunked and plunked and plunked" and "finally got a song going." When asked why Murry used a pseudonym, Brian responded: "I don't know. He was nutty. He was crazy, that was his fictitious name."[2] At another time, Brian has said that The Monkees inspired him to write this song.

"Break Away" features Carl Wilson singing verses (with Brian Wilson singing lead from 0:47 to the first chorus) and Al Jardine on the chorus; some have stated that Murry Wilson (who co-wrote the song) recorded the bass part of the song while Mike Love was away. Initially, the song was planned to be released with Brian Wilson singing the first verse, as included on the 2001 compilation, Hawthorne, CA and bootlegged rough mixes of the song.

Personnel

Partial credits from Craig Slowinski.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Break Away

Celebrate the News

Single release

The "Break Away" single backed with "Celebrate the News" was released through Capitol Records in the US in June 1969. It was the band's final single of the 1960s and its penultimate single with Capitol Records before moving on to Warner Brothers. The single peaked at the No. 63 spot on the Billboard charts; No. 35 in Record World and No. 38 in Cash Box. The single was also released through Capitol Records in the same month in the UK, being the band's final single of the 1960s there. Capitol re-released it in Britain in June 1975, although on that occasion the single failed to make any impact on the charts.

On regional US charts the single made the Beach Boys' weakest showing in major markets since the Christmas single "The Man with All the Toys" five years earlier. Notable success was seen in Council Bluffs-Omaha (No. 4), Indianapolis (No. 10), Columbus (No. 11), Hannibal, MS (No. 12), Calgary (No. 14), Hartford and Fargo (both No. 16). Settling on the bottom rung of top 20 in Los Angeles and Fresno, it stalled in the top 30 in Chicago, Sacramento, and minor playlists of New England (Manchester, New Haven, Cape Cod). It made only scattered showings on playlists of the Southern United States but for its emergence at a joint No. 18 in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and Valdosta across Florida-Georgia; low top 30 in Tampa and Sarasota (and in Cleveland, Omaha and Kansas City); top 40 in Atlanta (and New York and Seattle elsewhere).

Typically for that era, the single fared better in the UK, peaking at the No. 6 position. It was No. 10 in Malaysia and Ireland, No. 17 in The Netherlands, No. 20 in New Zealand, No. 29 in Germany and No. 38 in Canada. It would be the band's last single to chart in Germany until 1987.

Neither side of the single appeared on a regular Beach Boys LP. "Break Away" made its album debut in 1975 as part of the Spirit of America compilation, and then the UK compilation 20 Golden Greats, in 1976. "Celebrate the News" also appeared on Rarities with an alternate version. Both later appeared as a bonus track on the two-in-one CD for Friends and 20/20.

In 2012, a longer remixed version of the song with an extended final chorus was released, featuring some additional backup vocals throughout the song. It was included on the 2012 Beach Boys Made in California CD boxed set.

Live versions

"Break Away" was performed live following its release in 1969 but has not been played since. However, Brian Wilson performed the song regularly during his 2005 solo tour, with Wilson taking over the lead voice originally provided by brother Carl. The group lip-synched this tune on the German TV show Beat Club, in black and white with psychedelic production. This clip was later used on American cable shows such as Radio 1990 and VH-1.

References
  1. Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-818-4 p. 250
  2. Sharp, Ken (January 2006). "Christmas with Brian Wilson". Record Collector. United Kingdom: 72–76.
  3. "All I Wanna Do - What were The BBs trying to achieve with it?". smileysmile.net.
  4. "The Stephen Desper Thread". smileysmile.net.
  5. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26648.0.html
  6. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26834.0.html
  7. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26834.25.html
  8. http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5157.msg82938.html#msg82938
  9. "Dennis as a studio drummer". smileysmile.net.
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