"Darlin'" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Wild Honey.[5] Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was inspired by singer Danny Hutton (the title word featured heavily in his vocabulary) and was originally intended to be recorded by an early version of Three Dog Night. Carl Wilson ultimately sang the lead vocal.
The song interpolates the verse melody and chords of "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby", an earlier Wilson-Love composition that was first recorded in April 1964 and released as a single two months later by Sharon Marie[6]—a teenager Love met at a June 1963 Beach Boys concert in Sonoma County and helped sign to Capitol Records[7]—with production by Wilson himself.[8] The track was included on the 2004 compilation Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions.
Working in 1967, Wilson weaved a "radically different" hook and chorus into these preexisting elements.[9] He recalled, "I was writing more in a soul/R&B bag. The horns were conceived as a Phil Spector kind of a horn thing.... That song took about a week to write."[10] Singer Danny Hutton laid claim to inspiring the title for "Darlin'", it being frequent in his vocabulary at the time.[11][5]
Wilson produced the instrumental track for "Darlin'" on October 11, 1967.[12] Initially, he had planned to give this song and "Time to Get Alone" to Hutton's group Redwood (later known as Three Dog Night). Redwood only got as far as recording a guide vocal before Carl Wilson and Mike Love insisted that Brian focus his attention on producing work for the Beach Boys, according to various accounts.[11][5][13] Wilson stated in a later interview, "Darlin was for Three Dog Night. They recorded it and said, 'No, you can have it' so I gave it to Carl to sing."[10] Further recording on the track followed on October 27.[12]
"Darlin'" features a lead vocal by Carl Wilson. When asked what songs worked best for Carl Wilson's voice, Brian Wilson singled out the track, responding, "Wow, well 'Darlin'' of course, Carl did an amazing vocal on that song."[14]
Release
"Darlin'" was released as a single, backed with "Here Today", on December 18, 1967, the same date as the release of the Wild Honey album. It was the second single released from the album, after "Wild Honey". Upon its release, Cash Box said that the song represented "a shift in sound from the Beach Boys into a less elaborate but extra-commercial teen beat right between mid-and-up tempo. The deck's hard-throb rhythm and very fine group sound is complemented by a good set of teen-oriented lyrics to catch a maximum of exposure on the top pop programs. Instant breakout selection."[15]
As predicted by Cash Box, "Darlin'" was a commercial uptick for the band, peaking at number 19 in the US Billboard Chart and number 11 in the UK Singles Chart.[5] It has since appeared on several live and compilation albums.
Reception and legacy
Upon release, Rolling Stone wrote in a review of the album, "Darlin'" is the song in which the Beach Boys really take R&B styling and make it work in an original way."[16]Jazz & Pop's Gene Sculatti commented that "a whole lot of soul is used up" on the song.[17]
Retrospectively, biographer Mark Dillon said the song was "ahead of its time, anticipating the blue-eyed soul of such '70s acts as Todd Rundgren and Chicago."[18] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic wrote of the song, "Loaded with simple emotions and sentimentality, it's a luscious piece of late-'60s pop, and not unlike the finer efforts of groups like the Turtles' 'Happy Together' and Buffalo Springfield's 'On the Way Home'."[19]Rolling Stone readers ranked the song seventh on their vote for the top ten best Beach Boys deep cuts,[20] while writers for The Guardian and uDiscoverMusic ranked the song 24th and 13th respectively on their lists of the best Beach Boys songs.[21][22]
Asked in 2015 for his favorite ever song that he had written, Wilson cited "Darlin'" and explained, "I just like the melody."[23]
In popular culture
French rock trio Darlin' took their name from the song. Two of its members later reformed as the electronic music duo Daft Punk, and the third joined pop band Phoenix.
The song features in the 2015 The Big Bang Theory episode, "The Earworm Reverberation", where this song becomes an earworm to Sheldon. He later remembers this song which is significant because it is about Amy and the impact she has had on his life.[24]
