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The Little Girl I Once Knew
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = The Little Girl I Once Knew
| cover = Beach Boys - The Little Girl I Once Knew.jpg
| caption =
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = the Beach Boys
| album =
| B-side = There's No Other (Like My Baby)
| released =
| recorded = October 1324, 1965
| studio = Western, Hollywood
| genre = Avant-pop
| length = 2:35
| label = Capitol
| writer = Brian Wilson
| producer = Brian Wilson
| prev_title = California Girls
| prev_year = 1965
| next_title = Barbara Ann
| next_year = 1965
| misc =
}}
"'The Little Girl I Once Knew'" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was released as a standalone single in November 1965. It was written by Brian Wilson and recorded during the making of the band's 1966 album 'Pet Sounds'.
The single reached number 20 on the U.S. 'Billboard' charts and marked the band's lowest entry there for an A-sided single since 1963. Wilson chose to leave the track off 'Pet Sounds', possibly due to the single's relatively underwhelming sales response.
Background and lyrics
Lyrically, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" follows familiar territory as the Beach Boys' 1964 outtake "All Dressed Up for School", telling the story of a guy who reacquaints with a girl from his past who has now grown up and catches his eye. According to Mark Dillon, some speculate that the song was written about Brian's then-wife Marilyn Wilson. Mike Love reportedly had a hand in the lyrics, although his 1992 lawsuit for officially recognized writing contributions failed to include "The Little Girl I Once Knew".
Recording and composition
"The Little Girl I Once Knew" was recorded shortly after Brian Wilson completed 'Beach Boys' Party!' in between sessions for the 'Pet Sounds' tracks "Sloop John B" and "You Still Believe in Me". It was initially labelled "Carol K" on its session tape box, a reference to the song's bassist, Carol Kaye. The track has drawn comparisons with the work of contemporary Burt Bacharach, whom Wilson admired.
The song is unusual in that it uses stopstart melody sections and a few dramatic periods of silence lasting several seconds each. Dillon writes that the verses are "low-key" and hard-shift into a "blaring chorus" that "foreshadows the 'Smile' track 'Cabin Essence'". In a 2007 interview, Wilson stated,
Wilson was dissatisfied with his vocal performance, calling it "too effeminate". In 1995, Wilson expressed, "It was a fine song, except the intro is the only good part of it, and the rest didn't sound so good. I thought the song in itself sucked. I didn't like the harmonies, I thought they were sour and off-key." In 2014, he said that the song "should've" gotten more attention than it did. However, Wilson has also stated that the song is "as good" or "almost as good" as "California Girls". He stated his vocals in particular were "really spectacularly great" and said, "There's no way the Beach Boys could sound any better than on "The Little Girl I Once Knew".
Release and reception
It was released in November 1965 as a single 45 rpm, backed by "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", and reached #15 on the 'Cash Box' chart and #20 on 'Billboard'.[http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19651225.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 25, 1965]'Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 19551990' - Since radio stations preferred to avoid dead air time, the song was poorly received by them.
'Cash Box' described the song as a "rhythmic ode about a fellow who reminisces about how his gal has grown up and become a woman." Retrospectively, AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald called the song "a virtual link between the slightly progressive work on songs such as 'California Girls' and the then-quantum leap taken by Wilson on 'Pet Sounds' and 'Good Vibrations'".
Personnel
According to Keith Badman and Mark Dillon,: the Beach Boys; : session musicians. except where noted:
'The Beach Boys'
*Mike Love lead vocal, harmony vocal
*Brian Wilson lead vocal, harmony vocal
*Carl Wilson lead vocal, harmony vocal
*Al Jardine harmony vocal
*Bruce Johnston harmony vocal
*Dennis Wilson harmony vocal
'Session musicians'
*Frank Capp percussion
*Carol Kaye bass
*Don Randi organ
*Unidentified musicians twelve-string guitar, trumpet and saxophones
Charts
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Category:The Beach Boys songs
Category:1965 singles
Category:Songs written by Brian Wilson
Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson
Category:Capitol Records singles
Category:1965 songs
Category:Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements
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