Break Away
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Break Away" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by The Beach Boys | ||
| Released | June 23, 1969 | |
| Format | Vinyl | |
| Recorded | March 31, 1969 and April 23, 1969 | |
| Genre | Pop music | |
| Length | Unknown | |
| Label | Capitol Records | |
| Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |
| Chart positions | ||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||
| "I Can Hear Music"/"All I Want to Do" (1969) |
"Break Away"/"Celebrate the News" (1969) |
"Add Some Music to Your Day"/"Susie Cincinnati" (1970) |
"Break Away" (occasionally listed as Breakaway) is the title of a song written by Brian Wilson (Murry Wilson receives a songwriting credit, though the contributions he made to the record are not known) for The Beach Boys in 1969. It is commonly ranked as one of their stronger songs, despite being a relatively unsuccessful single, charting at #63 in the US (but far stronger abroad).
During the Smiley Smile sessions, Brian Wilson was effectively no longer leader of the Beach Boys. Between Surfer Girl to the "Heroes and Villains" single, Brian Wilson would receive producing credits; after, the producing credits went to "The Beach Boys." This would be the last single aside from "Cool, Cool Water" that would see his name as the producer until 15 Big Ones.
This song features Carl Wilson singing the verses (and Mike Love taking a part of the verses) and Al Jardine singing the chorus. Initially, the song was planned to be released with Brian Wilson singing the first verse, as shown on Hawthorne, CA. Numerous early stereo studio remixes of the exist dating back to the recording session verifying this comment as well, but these remixes are illicit; Carlin's biography Catch a Wave hints that Brian Wilson began to sing on fewer tracks at this period due to excessive cigarette use and beginning cocaine use beginning to affect his voice in early 1969 and it being needed to be supplemented by his brother Carl.
This single was the penultimate single with Capitol Records before moving on to Warner Brothers. Brian Wilson himself seemed to be greatly bothered by the failure of this record and "Sunflower" in particular: Only four conventional songs (maximum) would be written and released specifically for the three albums after ("A Day in the Life of a Tree", "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone", "Sail On, Sailor" and "Funky Pretty"). The remaining songs ("'Til I Die", "Surf's Up", "Marcella") are known to have been recorded in some form before 1971.
It's been said by Brian that the Monkees inspired him to write this song.
