Barbara Ann#The Beach Boys version
{{Short description|1961 song by the Regents}}
{{for|the episode of The Last Man on Earth|Barbara Ann (The Last Man on Earth)}}
{{for|the Wonder Woman villain Barbara Ann Minerva|Cheetah (character)#Barbara Ann Minerva}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Barbara-Ann
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Regents
| album = Barbara-Ann
| B-side = I'm So Lonely
| released = {{Start date|1961||}}
| recorded = {{Start date|1958||}}
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Doo-wop|pop}}
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=15}}
| label = Gee 1065
| writer = Fred Fassert
| producer = Louis Cicchetti
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Runaround
| next_year = 1961
}}
"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached No.13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A more well-known version of the song was recorded by the Beach Boys for their 1965 in-house live album Beach Boys' Party! In December, "Barbara Ann" was issued as a single with the B-side "Girl Don't Tell Me", peaking at No. 2 in the U.S. and No. 3 in the UK.
The Regents' original version was featured in the 1973 film American Graffiti and later included on the soundtrack album. The Regents' version was ranked number 986 among the greatest singles ever made in Dave Marsh's book The Heart of Rock & Soul (1989).{{cite book |title=The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made |last=Marsh |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Marsh |date=1989 |publisher= New American Library |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/heartofrocksoul100mars/mode/1up |pages=139,140 |isbn=0-452-26305-0}}
{{Anchor|The Beach Boys}} The Beach Boys version
{{Infobox song
| name = Barbara Ann
| cover = Beach Boys - Barbara Ann.jpg
| caption = U.S. picture sleeve
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Beach Boys
| album = Beach Boys' Party!
| B-side = Girl Don't Tell Me
| released = {{Start date|1965|12|20}}
| recorded = {{Start date|1965|09|23}}{{cite web|last=Doe|first=Andrew G.|title=GIGS65|url=http://bellagio10452.com/gigs65.html|website=bellagio10452.com|access-date=March 6, 2025}}
| studio = Western, Hollywood
| genre = Rock and roll, doo-wop
| length = {{plain list|
- {{Duration|m=2|s=05}} (single edit)
- {{Duration|m=3|s=23}} (album version)
}}
| label = Capitol
| writer = Fred Fassert
| producer = Brian Wilson
| prev_title = The Little Girl I Once Knew
| prev_year = 1965
| next_title = Sloop John B
| next_year = 1966
| misc = {{External music video|header=Licensed audio|{{YouTube|i4me2Rbz1Us|"Barbara Ann"}}}}
}}
The Beach Boys recorded their version in 1965. Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean is featured on lead vocals along with Brian Wilson. Torrence is not credited on the album, but Carl Wilson is heard saying "Thanks, Dean" at the song's conclusion.{{Cite web |url=http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark%3A/67531/metadc19770/m1/ |title=Show 20 – Forty Miles of Bad Road: Some of the best from rock 'n' roll's dark ages. [Part 1] |via=UNT Digital Library |access-date=May 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801152759/http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark%3A/67531/metadc19770/m1/ |archive-date=August 1, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |df=mdy-all }} Capitol's Al Coury rush-released "Barbara Ann" as a single without informing the band, after the relatively poor performance of the group's previous disc, "The Little Girl I Once Knew".{{Cite book|last=Love|first=Mike|year=2016|title=Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy|publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=9780571324705|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KLiDAAAQBAJ&q=Beach+Boys+Al+Coury&pg=PT94}}
The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending January 1, 1966. The week ending January 29, the song leaped from {{Numero|15}} to {{Numero|2}} and was in position to replace "We Can Work It Out" by the Beatles as the next {{Numero|1}} song. However, "My Love" by Petula Clark unexpectedly vaulted into the {{Numero|1}} position the week ending February 5, 1966. Consequently, "Barbara Ann" peaked at {{Numero|2}} on the US Billboard Hot 100 ({{Numero|1}} in Cash Box and Record World) and at {{Numero|3}} in the UK in January 1966. It also topped the charts in Germany, Switzerland and Norway. It was the Beach Boys' biggest hit in Italy, reaching {{Numero|4}}.
Cash Box said the Beach Boys apply a "distinctive, easy-going style complete with plenty harmony and counterpoint portions."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=December 18, 1965 |page=10 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-12-16.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}} Record World called it a "sweet Beach Boy tribute" to "that certain girl."{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=December 18, 1965|page=1|accessdate=2023-07-19|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/65/Record-World-1965-12-18.pdf}}
Variations of the Beach Boys' version of the song have been released. A version without the party sound effects can be found on the Hawthorne, CA album. The group sang the song as an encore on their Live in London album. As a solo artist, Brian has a rendition on his live album Live at the Roxy Theatre, and in 2001 performed it himself, with the ensemble, on An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson.
In 1987, the group re-recorded the song as "Here Come the Cubs" with re-written lyrics about the Chicago Cubs.{{YouTube|ybDexDAd33E|Beach Boys – Here Come The Cubs (1987 Cubs Radio Theme Song)}} It became the team's official theme that year, replacing "Go, Cubs, Go".{{cite news|last=Zarefsky|first=Marc|title='Go, Cubs, Go' a staple in Chicago|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/2251957|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410103652/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/2251957/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 10, 2015|publisher=Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P.|work=MLB.com|date=October 5, 2007|access-date=September 12, 2016}}
= Personnel =
{{unref-section|date=June 2024}}
- Brian Wilson - lead vocals, bass
- Al Jardine & Carl Wilson - backing vocals, guitars
- Bruce Johnston, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson - backing vocals
== Guests ==
- Dean Torrence - lead vocals
The Who version
The Who recorded "Barbara Ann" on the Ready Steady Who EP in 1966.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewho.com/music/ready-steady-who-ep/|title=Ready Steady Who (EP)|website=The Who|access-date=2019-11-03}}
The song was performed live on 27 July 1977 in rehearsals at Shepperton Studios for the film The Kids Are Alright with Keith Moon on vocals. Moon, a massive Beach Boys fan but a notoriously limited singer, plays and sings much to the delight of his fellow band members.{{cite book |last1=Neill |first1=Andrew |last2=Kent |first2=Matthew |title=Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The WHO 1958–78|year=2009|publisher=Sterling Publishing|isbn=978-1-4027-6691-6 | pages=399–400 }}{{cite book |last=Fletcher |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Fletcher |title=Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-84449-807-9 |year=1998 |page=490 }}
Other versions
- 1962 – Jan and Dean
- 1975 – Martin Circus (as "Marylène", with French lyrics)
- 1975 – Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta), Welcome Back, Kotter (as "Barbarino", in multiple episodes)
- 1989 – Blind Guardian, Follow the Blind
- 1993 – Blind Guardian, Tokyo Tales (live version)
- 1996 – Blind Guardian, The Forgotten Tales (medley with Little Richard's Long Tall Sally)
- 2002 – ApologetiX, Grace Period (as "Baa! We're Lambs")
- 2013 – The Minions, Despicable Me 2 (as "Banana")
- 2013 – Elements of Life
="Bomb Iran"=
{{main|Bomb Iran}}
The song was parodied as "Bomb Iran" by various musicians, including Vince Vance and the Valiants, during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.Declain McCullagh (April 22, 2007). [http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9711370-7.html McCain's 'Bomb Iran' song was anti-Muslim?] News.com. Accessed 2007-11-05.
On April 17, 2007, at an appearance in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina during the 2008 presidential election campaign, U.S. Senator John McCain responded to a question from an audience member about military action against Iran by referring to "That old, eh, that old Beach Boys song, 'Bomb Iran'," and then singing the parody chorus, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah ..."{{cite news|last=Sidoti|first=Liz|title=McCain Jokes About Bombing Iran|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041900962.html|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 19, 2007|access-date=January 3, 2020}}
Charts
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2020}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Weekly charts
{{col-2}}
Year-end charts
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Beach Boys version |
| Chart (1966)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |
|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1966.htm|title=Top 100 Hits of 1966|website=MusicOutfitters.com}}
| style="text-align:center;"|79 |
| US Cash Box{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1966YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 24, 1966 |access-date=July 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217030153/http://www.tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1966YESP.html |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|44 |
{{col-end}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Beach Boys' Party!}}
{{The Beach Boys singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:Number-one singles in Norway
Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson