| Today! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by The Beach Boys | ||||
| Released | March 8, 1965 | |||
| Recorded | Main Recording: January 7-19, 1965 Sporadically: June 8 & 22, August 5 & 8, October 9, and December 16, 1964 |
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| Genre | Rock, surf rock, baroque pop, sunshine pop | |||
| Length | 28:54 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Blender | [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
Today!,[4][5] also known as The Beach Boys Today! is the eighth studio album by The Beach Boys, and their first of three in 1965. Although few realized the significance of the album at the time, Today! marked a major turning point inside the band's world, and in particular, leader Brian Wilson's personal life.[6]
After Pet Sounds, the album is arguably the most acclaimed album of the Beach Boys' career. The album includes the original version of the classic hit, "Help Me, Rhonda" (titled on this album as "Help Me, Ronda").
In 1965, Today! (Capitol (D) T 2269) hit #4 in the US during a chart stay of 50 weeks.[7] It reached #6 in the UK in the summer of 1966.[8]
Contents |
By the end of a particularly stressful 1964, The Beach Boys had released four albums in twelve months, and recorded the advance singles "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" and "Dance, Dance, Dance."[6] As the band leader, Brian Wilson was becoming physically and emotionally exhausted, and suffered an anxiety attack on December 23, 1964.[9]
While the bulk of Today! was being recorded in January 1965, he informed the band that he wanted to retire from touring so he could give his full attention to creating music.[6] The band reluctantly agreed, and after a brief alliance with Glen Campbell in Wilson's place, Bruce Johnston, a musician (and ex-partner, with Terry Melcher in The Ripchords) and major admirer of the band, became the Beach Boys' live bassist in April 1965.[10] Correspondingly, Wilson came to rely during 1965-66 on the group of talented session musicians known informally as the Wrecking Crew when producing backing tracks.
The album is notable for having one side of up-beat songs and a second side of melancholic ballads.[10] On the first half, "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)," "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Do You Wanna Dance?" were all hits, and "Help Me, Ronda" would later be reworked to deliver the Beach Boys their second #1 hit in May.[11] The second side indicates Wilson's continuing maturation as an artist, with more sophisticated production values and deeper subject matter foreshadowing the following year's Pet Sounds.
The shift in style appeared to have little detrimental effect concerning sales - Today! was a #4 gold-selling smash in the US, and the following year it would reach #6 in the UK. In 2003, the album was ranked number 270 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The front cover lists nine of the album's tracks, followed by "plus three great new songs written by Brian Wilson." However, the remaining three tracks include a cover, "I'm So Young"; and the interview track "Bull Session with the "Big Daddy"". Only "In The Back Of My Mind" was a Brian Wilson composition.
Wilson later admitted that he had begun using marijuana during December 1964 as a stress reliever, but became a regular user after he realized the profound effect it had on the way he perceived music.[12]
With Wilson assuming total control of production in June 1963, this was the first of several Beach Boys releases not to be issued in true stereophonic sound (Wilson preferred to work in mono exclusively for several reasons, including deafness in his right ear). Capitol did issue the album in its "duophonic" quasi-stereo format as well as in mono, however.
All songs written and composed by Brian Wilson/Mike Love, except where noted.
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Do You Wanna Dance?" (Freeman) | Dennis Wilson | 2:19 | ||||||
| 2. | "Good to My Baby" | Brian Wilson/Mike Love | 2:16 | ||||||
| 3. | "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" | Love/B. Wilson | 2:07 | ||||||
| 4. | "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" | Love/B. Wilson | 2:01 | ||||||
| 5. | "Help Me, Ronda" | Al Jardine | 3:08 | ||||||
| 6. | "Dance, Dance, Dance" (B. Wilson/C. Wilson/Love) | Love/B. Wilson | 1:59 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Please Let Me Wonder" | B. Wilson/M. Love | 2:45 | ||||||
| 2. | "I'm So Young" (Tyrus) | B. Wilson | 2:30 | ||||||
| 3. | "Kiss Me, Baby" | Love/B. Wilson | 2:35 | ||||||
| 4. | "She Knows Me Too Well" | B. Wilson | 2:27 | ||||||
| 5. | "In the Back of My Mind" | D. Wilson | 2:07 | ||||||
| 6. | "Bull Session with the 'Big Daddy'" (B.Wilson/C.Wilson/D.Wilson/Love/Jardine) | n/a | 2:10 | ||||||