Break Away (The Beach Boys song)
{{Infobox song
| name = Break Away
| cover = Beach Boys - Break Away.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Beach Boys
| album =
| B-side = Celebrate the News
| released = June 16, 1969
| recorded = March 31 {{snd}} April 23, 1969
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 2:57
| label = Capitol
| writer = Brian Wilson, Reggie Dunbar
| producer = Brian Wilson, Murry Wilson
| prev_title = I Can Hear Music
| prev_year = 1969
| next_title = Add Some Music to Your Day
| next_year = 1970
| misc = {{External music video|header=Licensed audio|{{YouTube|cZ46rLgBXKk|"Break Away"}}|type=single}}
}}
"Break Away" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was recorded during the early sessions for their album Sunflower and issued as a non-album single on June 16, 1969. It was written by Brian and Murry Wilson, although Murry was credited as lyricist under the pseudonym "Reggie Dunbar". Dennis Wilson's "Celebrate the News" was chosen as the B-side. The single peaked at No. 63 in the US and No. 6 in the UK.{{cite book|last=Badman|first=Keith|title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-818-6|page=250}}
Record World called it "an extremely pretty and summery song."{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=June 21, 1969|page=1|accessdate=2023-05-08|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/RW-1969-06-21.pdf}}
Background
According to Brian, Murry came up with the idea for the song from watching The Joey Bishop Show on television while it proclaimed, "We're gonna break away for a minute and we'll be right back!". Brian, at his piano, then composed the song with Murry as they "plunked and plunked and plunked" and "finally got a song going."{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=Ken |title=Brian Wilson: God's Messenger |url=https://americansongwriter.com/brian-wilson-gods-messenger/2/ |website=American Songwriter |date=January 2, 2009}} At another time, Brian said that the Monkees inspired him to write this song.{{cite web | title=Good Times with The Monkees: Bands we love to discredit | website=DailyTrojan.com | date=2016-02-18 | url=https://dailytrojan.com/2016/02/18/good-times-with-the-monkees-bands-we-love-to-discredit}} The Monkees had appeared on the aforementioned television program on April 29, 1969,{{cite book |last1=Ventrella |first1=Mike |title=Long Title: Looing for the Good Times - Examining the Monkees' Songs. One by One |date=2018 |location=Albany, GA |isbn=9781629331751 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d7Y-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA255}} but "Break Away" was recorded prior to that date.{{cite web |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew G. |title=GIGS69 |url=http://bellagio10452.com/gigs69.html |website=Bellagio 10452 |access-date=July 10, 2022}}
Asked why Murry had used a pseudonym, Brian responded that his father "didn't want anyone to know that he wrote it with me."{{cite web |url=https://bestclassicbands.com/brian-wilson-interview-kubernik-7-3-21/ |title = Brian Wilson Remembers: An In-Depth Interview with the Beach Boys' Resident Genius {{!}} Best Classic Bands| date=20 June 2022 }} On another occasion, Brian gave a different answer to the same journalist, saying "I don't know. He was nutty. He was crazy, that was his fictitious name."{{cite journal|last1=Sharp|first1=Ken|title=Christmas with Brian Wilson|journal=Record Collector|date=January 2006|pages=72–76|location=United Kingdom}}
Brian Wilson spoke positively of the song in a later interview, commenting, "That's a beautiful song. I think it might be one of my most underrated songs."
Charts
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|id=FvRTIoxWsGM|Break Away (demo)}}
- {{YouTube|id=JNXR-2VS_hQ|Break Away (Hawthorne, CA version)}}
{{The Beach Boys singles}}
{{Sunflower}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Capitol Records singles
Category:Songs written by Brian Wilson