I Get Around


"I Get Around" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released as a single in May 1964 with "Don't Worry Baby" as its B-side and became the group's first number-one charting song in the United States. Coming in on the charts at number 7, it became their first top ten hit in the United Kingdom. It was included as the opening track on their studio album All Summer Long in July 1964.
An autobiographical narrative, "I Get Around" begins with a multi-part a cappella introduction that quickly shifts into rock-style verses sung by Mike Love and a pop chorus sung in falsetto by Brian Wilson, who also produced and arranged the song. During its recording session, Wilson's father Murry was relieved of his duties as the group's manager.
In 2017, "I Get Around" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Composition

The song was originally credited to Brian Wilson alone until Love v. Wilson, a 1994 lawsuit by Mike Love which amended the song's copyright to include him as a co-writer. In an interview with Goldmine, published September 18, 1992, Love insisted that he and not Wilson "came up with 'round round get around'".
Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis referenced the song as an example of Wilson's ability to "be very complex and have every single thing you do have an emotional impact, and have the hearer not even be aware of it—just hear it the first time and get it. That's hard."

Recording

The instrumental track for "I Get Around" was recorded on April 2, 1964, at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, along with "Little Honda". According to biographer Steven Gaines, manager Murry Wilson was in the control room "criticizing the song and Brian's production techniques... rambl on about what a loser Brian was, how poor the music was, and how only Murry had the real talent in the family. At one point he insisted that Brian end the session because something was wrong with the bassline." The disagreement eventually resulted in Brian relieving him of his managerial duties. Brian would later say, "We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up." The vocals were recorded during a session eight days later on April 10.

Personnel

Track details courtesy of session archivist Craig Slowinski.
;The Beach Boys
;Session musicians and production staff

Single release

"I Get Around", backed with "Don't Worry Baby", was released as a single in the United States on May 11, 1964. The single entered the Billboard chart on May 23 at #76. The song reached the #1 spot on the Billboard charts on July 4, replacing "A World Without Love" by Peter and Gordon and becoming the band's first #1 hit in the United States. The song remained at #1 for two weeks before being replaced by "Rag Doll" by The Four Seasons. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 5 song of 1964. The single also reached #1 on the United States Variety charts on July 1.
Released in June 1964 in the United Kingdom the single peaked at #7 on the Record Retailer chart and thus becoming the band's first top ten hit in the United Kingdom. According to some sources, Mick Jagger, when appearing on the UK television show Ready Steady Go!, stated that he thought the song was a great record. This most likely played a part in boosting the single's success, while also helping the band become more popular in the United Kingdom.
In Germany the single peaked at #38 on the Hit Bilanz chart, which was only the band's second single to chart in Germany. The single was the band's first charting single in the Netherlands, charting at #38 on the Netherlands singles charts. The single reached the top 10 in both the Canadian and Swedish singles charts, peaking at #10 in both countries.

Charts

;Weekly charts
Chart Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles1
German Singles Chart38
New Zealand 3
UK Singles Chart7
US Billboard Hot 1001

;Year-end charts
Chart Position
US Billboard Hot 1005

Certifications

Album and alternate releases

The song was first released on an album in 1964 on the band's All Summer Long album. Despite the album being available in both mono and stereo formats, "I Get Around" along with the title track "All Summer Long" were never mixed in stereo for the original album release for unknown reasons. In the following year, the band re-recorded the song as a medley along with "Little Deuce Coupe" for their 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album. The medley was a send-up of the original recording. The mock recording replaces lyrics such as "we always take my car cause it's never been beat" with "we always take my car although it's a heap". On the 1996 country styled studio release Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 the band re-recorded the song for the album which featured country band Sawyer Brown as guests on the track who played several of the instruments on the recording as well as featuring a lead vocal by band member Mark Miller.
The instrumental track of the song without any vocal overdubs was released on the 1993 five-disc box set .
The song received its first official stereo mix on the 2012 reissue of All Summer Long. Due to multitrack session tapes for the second vocal and guitar solo overdub being missing, the remix was created by utilizing new DES technology to isolate instruments and vocals directly from the mono master. The basic instrumental track and first vocal overdub were released on the rarities compilation Keep an Eye on Summer – The Beach Boys Sessions 1964 in 2014.

Live versions

After the song became the band's first United States number one hit song, it immediately became a regular in the Beach Boys' live set. During the band's first British tour in 1964, they performed this song as well as "When I Grow Up " on their first television appearance in Britain on Ready Steady Go!. The band performed I Get Around on the Ed Sullivan Show on September 27, 1964.
Several live renditions of the song have been officially released on various Beach Boys releases such as Beach Boys Concert, , and Songs from Here & Back. In 2013, The Beach Boys released a music video for a live performance of "I Get Around" during their 50th anniversary tour.

Cover versions