The greatest pop song of all time.
Without a doubt.
I heard this on the radio at about midnight one day in 1979, it took me 10 years to get a copy and that was a bootleg (I know its always been about in the US, but it was impossible to get here).
02 May 01 ·tinks: it is indeed, one of the greatest songs ever produced...and some of the covers are just as good! check out big maybelle's (which i've recommended), jimmy ruffin's (temptation david's brother) or aretha franklin's (from her 1st atlantic lp). 28 Feb 02 ·G400 Custom: ...but don't check out the Stranglers' very weedy cover from 1990, by which time they'd lost it completely.
I'm a sucker for Hammond organs. And no place is that more true than in spy tv & film scores. Here is a cut which really swings from one of the genre's masters, Lalo Schifrin.
from More Mission: Impossible (Paramount) available on CD - Mission: Anthology (One Way)
07 Dec 05 ·Swinging London: Groovy! Groovy! Groovy!
What else can I say...what else could anyone say?
Killer organ-laden soundtrack cut with a wordless vocal provided by a male chorus, and featuring the incessant cackling of a young Candace Bergen.
from Live for Life (United Artists) available on CD - A Man and a Woman/Live for Life (DRG)
21 Sep 01 ·tempted: Yes!
I've played this in my dj sets several times. Its character and the sense of comedy, not to mention the grooviness, makes it a great "interlude" between some, er, more serious songs. 24 Sep 01 ·tinks: it's a staple in my dj sets, as well! glad to see that others have picked up on it, also!
A superb, achingly beautiful song which, to my knowledge, never appeared on a Beach Boys album, and was merely a studio outtake. The track opens with an incredible dense wall of harmonized vocals, and emotive lyrics ("I miss you darlin, I miss you so hard"). Later, the rhythm changes, and it becomes (to my taste) slightly cheesily rocky, but not so much as to ruin the song, which still rates as one of the Beach Boys' finest.
available on CD - Smiley Smile/Wild Honey (EMI/Capitol)
07 Dec 04 ·catfish: also check the different version on the box set. fantastic tune, and recorded after smile was shelved - proof that brian's genius endure a sea of troubles...
Tamba Trio were a Brazilian jazz group more commonly praised for their jazz instrumentals than for their vocals. Their vocals on this track are nice and simple, but it is the instrumentation and arrangement which really make the song. What does it sound like? I do honestly like other types of music, but here goes: jazzy piano, bossa beat, thick strings, group vocals. Really great track, and from what I've heard of other versions, they really transformed this song, which normally sounds very different.
available on CD - Tamba Trio Classics (Polygram Brasil)