16 Jul 03 ·konsu: Claudine Longet did a great version of "God Only Knows" on her Let's Spend The Night Together LP from 1972 (BR-15001). Although her version is not what i'd call jazzy, more like meadow-flower California country? Nick Decaro arranged a lot of her 60's albums. 17 Jul 03 ·bobbyspacetroup: I've actually been looking for that LP. It seems to be one of the less common Claudine records... Thanks for the recommendation! 15 Mar 04 ·konsu: I was recently introduced to Four King Cousins version of "God only Knows", also an A&M product from 1967... It's more faithful vocally to the original arrangement, only it's four girls doing the harmonies! 16 Mar 04 ·Mike: James Warren (of The Korgis and Stackridge) has recorded a version of "Caroline, No" which I'd be very interested to hear. 28 Apr 07 ·artlongjr: I have this 45 by Nick DeCaro. What's weird is I heard
it before I heard the Beach Boys original, which I first listened to in 1996.
Not a particularly well-known song which was originally a B side and not on any of their original albums, it's actually particularly musically advanced for the time. A pity that George Martin didn't get them to do a few extra takes of the vocals, as the difficult harmony signing which starts the song sounds...difficult. The song, which deserves to be more talked about, contains interest and variety in its melody, rhythm, harmony and arrangement. In its way this is truly a masterpiece.
available on CD - Past Masters Volume 1 (EMI)
04 Feb 02 ·delicado: It's a very nice song, but it is indeed a shame about the vocals. I wish the Beach Boys had recorded this song. I just heard a demo version (from the Anthology vol 3 cd) that is perhaps better - it's barer, with some nice acoustic guitar work and mostly just John singing. 31 Mar 04 ·Mike: The demo version screams out for the harmony singing heard on the final version, in my opinion. All we really needed was an extra take or two. George Martin should have sorted it!
25 Sep 05 ·Mike: Great review, though I personally can't agree with everything you've put as I have a strong preference for Natalie Imbruglia's version. 25 Sep 05 ·eftimihn: Nice one, Mike! ;-)
It's funny. It's quite catchy. It's, um, loud and happy.
22 Apr 04 ·jeanette: Yeah, you gotta love a bit of McFly. And the single came out on 7" picture disc too, which shows a bit of effort. 22 Apr 04 ·olli: no offense, but it sounds pretty bland to me. then again, i'm not really into that blink 182 "happy teen sunshine punk" kind of thing. 23 Apr 04 ·Mike: The chord sequence is very Pet Shop Boys.
