Barbara Ann

For the episode of The Last Man on Earth, see Barbara Ann (The Last Man on Earth).

For the Wonder Woman villain Barbara Ann Minerva, see Cheetah (character) § Barbara Ann Minerva.

"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.

"Barbara-Ann"
Single by the Regents
from the album Barbara-Ann
B-side	"I'm So Lonely"
Released	1961 (1961)
Recorded	1958 (1958)
Genre	Doo-wop pop
Length	2:15
Label	Gee 1065
Songwriter(s)	Fred Fassert
Producer(s)	Louis Cicchetti
The Regents singles chronology
"Barbara-Ann" (1961) "Runaround" (1961)

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).^[1]

The Beach Boys version

"Barbara Ann"
U.S. picture sleeve
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album Beach Boys' Party!
B-side	"Girl Don't Tell Me"
Released	1965
Recorded	1965
Studio	Western, Hollywood
Genre	Rock and roll, doo-wop
Length	2:05 (single edit) 3:23 (album version)
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Fred Fassert
Producer(s)	Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"The Little Girl I Once Knew" (1965) "Barbara Ann" (1965) "Sloop John B" (1966)
Official Audio
"Barbara Ann (Remastered)" on YouTube

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.^[2] 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".^[3]

The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending January 1, 1966. The week ending January 29, the song leaped from No. 15 to No. 2 and was in position to replace "We Can Work It Out" by The Beatles as the next No. 1 song. However, "My Love" by Petula Clark unexpectedly vaulted into the No. 1 position the week ending February 5, 1966. Consequently, "Barbara Ann" peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (No. 1 in Cash Box and Record World) and at No. 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 No. 4.

Cash Box said the Beach Boys apply a "distinctive, easy-going style complete with plenty harmony and counterpoint portions."^[4] Record World called it a "sweet Beach Boy tribute" to "that certain girl."^[5]

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.^[6] It became the team's official theme that year, replacing "Go, Cubs, Go".^[7]

Personnel

• 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.^[8]

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.^[9][10]

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 article: Bomb Iran

The song was parodied as "Bomb Iran" by various musicians, including Vince Vance and the Valiants, during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.^[11]

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 ..."^[12]

Charts

Weekly charts Beach Boys version Chart (1965–66) Peak position Australia[citation needed] 2 Austrian Singles Chart[13] 1 Belgian Singles Chart[14] 11 Canada RPM Top Singles[15] 2 Finland (Soumen Virallinen)[16] 19 Dutch Albums Chart[17] 17 German Singles Chart 2 Ireland (IRMA)[18] 7 New Zealand (Listener)[19] 3 Swiss Singles Chart[citation needed] 1 Norwegian Singles Chart[20] 1 South Africa (Springbok Radio SA Top 20)[21] 2 UK Singles Chart[22] 3 US Billboard Hot 100[23] 2 US Cash Box Top 100[24] 1

Year-end charts Beach Boys version Chart (1966) Rank US Billboard Hot 100[25] 79 US Cash Box[26] 44

References

1. Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New York: New American Library. pp. 139, 140. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
2. "Show 20 – Forty Miles of Bad Road: Some of the best from rock 'n' roll's dark ages. [Part 1]". Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2017 – via UNT Digital Library.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
3. Love, Mike (2016). Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571324705.
4. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 18, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
5. "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. December 18, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
6. Beach Boys – Here Come The Cubs (1987 Cubs Radio Theme Song) on YouTube
7. Zarefsky, Marc (October 5, 2007). "'Go, Cubs, Go' a staple in Chicago". MLB.com. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
8. "Ready Steady Who (EP)". The Who. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
9. Neill, Andrew; Kent, Matthew (2009). Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The WHO 1958–78. Sterling Publishing. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-1-4027-6691-6.
10. Fletcher, Tony (1998). Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon. Omnibus Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-1-84449-807-9.
11. Declain McCullagh (April 22, 2007). McCain's 'Bomb Iran' song was anti-Muslim? News.com. Accessed 2007-11-05.
12. Sidoti, Liz (April 19, 2007). "McCain Jokes About Bombing Iran". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
13. "austriancharts.at The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann". Hung Medien (in German). Archived from the original (ASP) on October 18, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
14. "ultratop.be The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann" (ASP). Hung Medien. Ultratop. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
15. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966-02-07. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
16. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 96. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
17. "dutchcharts.nl The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann". Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Archived from the original (ASP) on November 8, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
18. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Barbara Ann". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
19. "Flavour of New Zealand, 20 May 1966". Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
20. "norwegiancharts.com The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann". Hung Medien. VG-lista. Archived from [htt-p://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Beach+Boys&titel=Barbara+Ann&cat=s the original] (ASP) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
21. "South African Rock Lists Website – SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Songs (A-B)".
22. "Beach Boys". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
23. "The Beach Boys – Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
24. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 5, 1966". Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
25. "Top 100 Hits of 1966". MusicOutfitters.com.
26. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 24, 1966". Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.