Please Let Me Wonder
"Please Let Me Wonder" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band The Beach Boys. The song was the B-side of the single "Do You Wanna Dance?" which was released by The Beach Boys in 1965 through Capitol Records.[1] It peaked at number 52 in Billboard and number 46 in Cash Box. The contemporary Gilbert Youth Survey conducted nationally in April 1965 placed this song at number 9 in its chart one week.
| "Please Let Me Wonder" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album The Beach Boys Today! | ||||
| A-side | "Do You Wanna Dance?" | |||
| Released | February 15, 1965 | |||
| Recorded | January 7–9, 1965 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson, Mike Love | |||
| Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio sample | ||||
"Please Let Me Wonder"
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The song is in F major. It was the first that Wilson wrote while under the influence of marijuana.[2][3] The song was first released on the band's 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! Due to the lyrics, which are filled with a sense of longing and uncertainty, it is a contrasting piece to Wilson's "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)".[2]
Personnel
Per Craig Slowinski.[4]
- The Beach Boys
- Al Jardine – harmony and backing vocals
- Brian Wilson – lead, harmony and backing vocals, upright piano, Farfisa organ
- Carl Wilson – harmony and backing vocals, 12-string lead guitar
- Dennis Wilson – harmony and backing vocals, percussion, tambourine, tom-tom
- Mike Love – harmony and backing vocals
- Additional musicians and production staff
- Glen Campbell – 12-string acoustic guitar
- Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
- Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone
- Carol Kaye – bass guitar
- Barney Kessel – classical guitar
- Jack Nimitz – baritone saxophone
- Earl Palmer – drums, timbales
- Don Randi – grand piano, Hammond B-3 organ
- Billy Lee Riley – double-reed harmonica
- Billy Strange – acoustic guitar
- Jerry Williams – vibraphone, timpani
- Ron Swallow – tambourine, woodblock
Live versions
Two live recordings of the song appear on the 2013 release of the Beach Boys 1965 tour of Chicago.
Cover versions
- 1984 – Tatsuro Yamashita, Big Wave
- 1992 - Mi-Ke (Japanese language version), Taiyou no Shimo no Surfing JAPAN (太陽の下のサーフィン JAPAN)
- 1997 – The King's Singers, Spirit Voices
References
- 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. 84
- "Matthew Greenwald review".
- Wilson, Brian; Greenman, Ben (2016). I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir. Da Capo Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-306-82307-7.
- Slowinski, Craig (2007). "The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!" (PDF). Retrieved October 27, 2012.
