Fun, Fun, Fun

This article is about The Beach Boys single. For the music festival, see Fun Fun Fun Fest. For Shonen Knife album, see Fun! fun! fun!. For other uses, see fun (disambiguation).
"Fun, Fun, Fun"
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Shut Down Volume 2
B-side "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"
Released February 3, 1964
Format Vinyl
Recorded January 1964, United Western Recorders, Hollywood
Genre Surf rock,[1] pop rock,[2] power pop[3]
Length 2:16
Label Capitol
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Little Saint Nick"
(1963)		 "Fun, Fun, Fun"
(1964)		 "I Get Around"
(1964)
Shut Down Volume 2 track listing
Endless Summer track listing
Music sample
"Fun, Fun, Fun"

"Fun, Fun, Fun" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released in 1964 as a single backed with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", both later appearing on the band's album Shut Down Volume 2.

The song is about a teenage girl who tells her father she needs his car (a Ford Thunderbird) so she can go to the library. Her dad permits this. However, instead of going to the library, she grabs a hamburger for lunch and cruises "just as fast as she can". At the end, her father finds out her lie and takes the keys to the Thunderbird from her. However, the narrator tells her not to worry because he has ideas for them to have fun together.

Composition

The song was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Despite the number and variety of stories about "the girl it was really about", the song's plot and lyrics came from Love's brain.[4][5]

Murry Wilson, the father of the Wilson brothers, denounced the whole idea for the song as immoral, and tried to prevent the group from recording it. The song, backed by a single-only mix of a remake of Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", became a top-five hit. This eventually led to the musicians dismissing Murry as manager during the recording sessions for "I Get Around".

The opening electric guitar introduction of the original version of the song was based on Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", which in turn was based on the intro of Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)".

Recording

The song was recorded on January 1, 1964, at United Western Recorders Studio 3. Vocals and additional overdubs followed on either January 8 or 9.[6]

The stereo and mono mixes stem from the same recording but have a significant difference: the fadeout on the stereo mix fades out early into the song's outro, with the instruments fading away before the vocals (and an overdubbed drum part). The mono mix, as heard on the 45 as well as mono copies of Shut Down Volume 2 has an extended outro.

Personnel

Track details courtesy of session archivist Craig Slowinski.[6]

The Beach Boys
Additional session musicians and technical staff

Release history

The "Fun, Fun, Fun" single backed with "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" was released in the United States in February 1964. The single peaked at the number 5 spot on the Billboard chart. In the United Kingdom, the single was released in March 1964 through Capitol Records. However, the single failed to chart. In Australia, the single peaked at the number 6 position, which was the band's highest charting single in Australia at that time. In West Germany, the single became their first single to chart in the country when it peaked at the number 49 position. According to various national charts published in Billboard through the Sixties, the single peaked at number 4 in The Philippines (February 1965) with thirteen weeks in its top 10, and spent four weeks at number 3 in Hong Kong (December 1965) with ten weeks in its top 10.

The instrumental track was released on the 2001 archival release Hawthorne, CA. In 2013, a new stereo mix was released for the Made In California set. Alternate live versions appear on Beach Boys Concert (1964), The Beach Boys in Concert (1973), and Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002).

Charts

Chart (1964) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[7] 6
German Singles Chart[8] 49
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5

Status Quo version

The song was covered in 1996 by the then-current lineups of the Beach Boys and Status Quo (see Don't Stop), with a new verse written for the song. The Beach Boys sang mainly backing vocals, with Status Quo's Francis Rossi performing the lead vocal for the entire song, except the new verse, which was sung by Mike Love. It was released under Polygram Records as a single in the United Kingdom. The single, featuring another artist on the B-side, peaked at the number 24 position on the charts. The instrumental track was released on the 2001 album Hawthorne, CA.

References

  1. ↑ Richie Unterberger, Samb Hicks, Jennifer Dempsey. Music USA: the rough guide, ISBN 185828421X, p. 383.
  2. ↑ "Fun, Fun, Fun". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ Altham, Keith. "Lily Isn't Pornographic, Say Who" New Musical Express May 20, 1967
  4. ↑ Fun, Fun, Fun by The Beach Boys. Songfacts.com. Accessed 2013.
  5. ↑ Mike Love of the Beach Boys (interview 2012-10-31). Songfacts.com. Accessed 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Craig, Slowinski (2014). Keep an Eye On Summer 1964 (Digital Liner). Mirror. Capitol Records.
  7. ↑ "Australian Singles Charts". mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  8. ↑ "German Singles Charts". mountvernonandfairway.de. Retrieved 12 November 2007.

External links