I remember hearing this song long in the late seventies for the first time. The intro drum sound is interesting. Their engineer at the time, Stephen Desper, came up with the drum effect heard at the beginning of the track. Desper created it by blending the original sound with that of one drum strike being repeated four times.
This song was released in 1968. By this time their popularity in America was falling since releasing Pet Sounds…which makes no sense considering the legendary status that album has. Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote this song and went back to the surfing image with this one. The song peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK (where they remained very popular), and #10 in Canada.
This was a single release…released only two weeks after their album Friends. This was their second UK number one…the first one was Good Vibrations. Brian Wilson named “Do It Again” as one of his favorite Beach Boys original songs, offering insight into his creative process with Mike Love. He did say it was his favorite song that he co-wrote with Mike Love. Since its Spotify debut, this track has earned over 10 million plays!
Carl Wilson: Yes, I suppose it has got the old Beach Boys surfing sound. It’s back to that surfing idea with the voice harmony and the simple, direct melody and lyrics. We didn’t plan the record as a return to the surf or anything. We just did it one day round a piano in the studio. Brian had the idea and played it over to us. We improved on that and recorded it very quickly, in about five minutes. It’s certainly not an old track of ours; in fact it was recorded only a few weeks before it was released. We liked how it turned out and decided to release it.
Mike Love: “I went to the beach with my friends and we went to the surfing spot down at a place called San Onofre, down near the Marine Corps base down south. And it was such a beautiful day and the waves were great. And then of course one of the great things about the beach is it attracts good looking girls. [Laughing].”
I’ve never been a fan of Mike Love. He kicked Brian Wilson out of the band at one time and is not known as a nice guy. Here is a short clip of Brian Wilson talking about Mike Love.
Do It Again
It’s automatic when I
Talk with old friends
The conversation turns to
Girls we knew when
Their hair was soft and long
And the beach was the place to go
Suntanned bodies and
Waves of sunshine
The California girls and a
Beautiful coastline
Warmed up weather
Let’s get together and do it again
With a girl the lonely sea looks good
Makes your night times warm and out of sight
Been so long, long, long, long
Been, been, been, been, been
Been, been, been, been, been
Been so long
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now
Well I’ve been thinking ’bout
All the places we’ve surfed and danced and
All the faces we’ve missed so let’s get
Back together and do it again
Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I really quite like this song and while i was aware of the tension I didn’t know of that deep dislike with Brian Wilson. Well we’ve heard similar stories in groups over the years have we not!
Oh yes! Mike Love is not loved at all in that band. Not many people outside of that band has nice words for the guy.
It sounds like so many other Beach Boys songs that I am not sure if I heard this before or not.
I had a greatest hits package that had this as a kid.
not a bad song but I would have never picked it to be one of just two #1 hits they had in Britain! Love sure wasn’t be-love-d by many in the music world!
No he wasn’t…I was surprised to hear Brian just come out and say that….I don’t blame him but still I didn’t expect it.
Punned Dave!
The Beach Boys must have been barking up the wrong tree after ‘Pet Sounds’ 🙂
lol….
(Where’s Bruce when you need him?)
I know! Right!
In all honesty…I thought he would be back posting again. He usually does when he “retires” but this time it looks like it might stick.
Man, I LOVED the Beach Boys in my younger days! My father was one of those “There are TWO kinds of music, Country AND Western”, but he and I did share a love of the Beach Boys (and Jan & Dean). It was the only music connection we had until the Stray Cats strutted into the music scene my freshman year of high school. Thanks for the memories!!
During my senior year in High School…I turned into a huge surf fan…Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys…some fun music.
I would have never figured a group called The Beach Boys would have any internal issues at all. I mean, it’s the Beach, people!🌞 That being said, I have been aware of this feud and dislike for awhile now. It’s a shame, Max. Heaven knows, plenty of non-music work environments feature people who can’t stand each other. Great song nonetheless!
Yes that is true about non music work places…I’ve worked at a few.
Now I know what the buzzy intro was. Nice older style song for them. Man, no wonder Brian had issues- no escaping the criticism from Father or band’mate’.
He did have it rough…I’ve never heard him talk like that about anyone…I’ve read from other people…Love is a piece of work.
I have heard Love is a bit of a tool. With his name the irony must be heavy.
I think this one is new for me. It is kind of interesting that they started to tank after their most innovative album. Will take your and Brian’s word for Mike’s offputting ways. I remember you and/or Hans writing about that animosity before.
Good number. Underrated.
I think “Do It Again” perfectly illustrates how I generally feel about The Beach Boys: Incredible harmony vocals and songs that are mostly average when it comes to the music. Their surf songs in particular are quite repetitive. That said, I like the drums effect in the beginning and the guitar solo, which I think has more bite than in other songs.
I do like those drums…I had it on a greatest hits when I was a kid…I always liked this one…it was a bit more modern than than earlier stuff.
Weirdly, and I know this is hard to believe, I first heard “Do It Again” on a Beach Boys vinyl compilation I had bought of anticipation without noticing all tracks had the music only and no vocals – almost as if it had been designed for karaoke!
I’m not kidding. Not sure I still have the copy to prove it. To say I was disappointed when I noticed there were no vocals would be an understatement.
I believe the title of that humdinger was something like “The Music of The Beach Boys.” Well, yeah, it had the music but not the vocals! 🙂
That is wild that you heard it there first. Yea that would suck with no vocals. It sounds like an early karaoke.
I believe “Do It Again” was the first track, so when I started listening, initially, I thought it was an instrumental. 🙂
I wish I could find that compilation. Unfortunately, my music outside of streaming is terribly organized – still the result of a flooding situation in our basement, which destroyed an entertainment center that housed my entire vinyl and CD collection.
Luckily, the vinyl and CDs survived unharmed, but sadly, they have been in boxes ever since. It’s kind of embarrassing!
Oh I’m sorry about that! We were lucky….back in 2010 we got that huge flood in Tennessee….our house wasn’t touched.
I’m glad your albums and CDs were alright.
Thanks, me too. Hopefully, I’ll get them properly organized again one of these years!
The truth is I have access to all this music via my two streaming services. Plus, unlike my vinyls and CDs, with my phone, I can take the music with me wherever I go.
Yea that is me also…but Christian this summer I”m going to look for a good 70s stereo system.
While it is a bit strange that this was their ‘other’ number one in the UK, I’ve always really rated it. At first glance, it’s a standard surf and girls song, but then there’s the nostalgic lens it’s being viewed through. Plus that intro is great.
That intro makes the song to me…I really like this one and it is overlooked.
Max, I was reading a post yesterday that gave some of Dennis’ sordid history, including marrying his cousin’s, Mike Love’s, DAUGHTER when she just 17. It may have been what started the family feud?
Yea that could have either started it or made it a ton worse. That would have been later on though I think…but Mike Love wasn’t well loved at the start either lol. He is a different kind of person.
I had completely forgotten about this song. It must be my first listen in decades, When the kids get up it will be the first song we put on. ‘The gift that keeps on giving’. Thanks man!
Glad you liked it…it’s one that is not played to death or hardly at all now.
You are right. We must have heard it 3 times yesterday and I added it to the collection.
Have always liked this song.
It does a pretty great job for recapturing thr magic. Their late 1960s albums were all over the place but had some great moments.
I guess it made sense to step back at this time to a little more of their surf sound.
There was a lot of tension between band member. Mike Love wanted to stay in the early 1960s – ‘Student Demonstration Time’ is a crass quasi cover on a great album.
This one’s much better as he had Brian helping him
LOve this throwback to the surf years, I can still remember when it was fresh and new – I was surprised to find out it wasnt as big in the USA, along with the fabulous Break Away. They were still grabbing big UK hits into 1970 – and then nothing until 1976, and it wasnt until 1979’s gorgeous Lady Lynda they had another top 10…