Brian Wilson’s Reaction to ‘I Get Around’ Surpassing the Beatles on the Music Charts
The Beach Boys became one of the most popular groups in the early 1960s — topping the music charts alongside the Beatles. Here’s what Brian Wilson said about their first original that reached No. 1, “I Get Around” on Billboard’s Pop chart.
Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote ‘I Get Around’ by the Beach Boys
They get around — from town to town. The Beach Boys are the band behind “I Get Around,” a track written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The “doo-wop” surf rock track was initially included on the 1964 album All Summer Long and further detailed this group’s affinity for cars.
“I’m gettin’ bugged driving up and down the same old strip,” the first verse states. “I gotta find a new place where the kids are hip / My buddies and me are getting real well known / Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone.”
Brian Wilson said ‘something changed on the chart’ when ‘I Get Around’ was released
In I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir, the songwriter detailed his experience releasing music with the Beach Boys. Even some of their early hits were played on the radio and jukeboxes, according to Al Jardine. “I Get Around,” however, was a turning point for the group.
“Then in July, something changed on the chart,” Wilson wrote. “The top song wasn’t by the Dixie cups or Mary Wells or the Beatles. It was by us… I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t just Sweden anymore. ‘I Get Around’ was also our first gold record. And it wasn’t just how many people were buying our records. It was how people were talking about our records.”
“They made us out to be the next great pop act after the Beatles, though we had been putting records on the charts for years,” he continued. “And some people were saying we were even better, that our songs were more interesting or sophisticated or created more positive energy.”
“I Get Around” remains one of the most popular songs by the Beach Boys. In 2012, it was added to 50 Big Ones: Greatest Hits. Since its Spotify debut, the track has earned over 145 million plays. This was also the song showcased on the Ed Sullivan Show — the same television program that confirmed the Beatles’ popularity in America.
Were the Beach Boys and the Beatles friends?
In the same memoir, Brian Wilson confirmed his friendship with Paul McCartney of the Beatles, with the singer inducting him into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. John Lennon and George Harrison once showed up at Jardine’s hotel room to discuss transcendental meditation.
Despite this overlap in the community, the Beatles and the Beach Boys never collaborated on music. Jardine specifically mentioned wanting to work with the “Let It Be” band. Still, the Beach Boys went on to appear in Full House while the Beatles branched out to work on solo projects.
