Darlin' (The Beach Boys song)
"Darlin" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album "Wild Honey". 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. Released as the second single from "Wild Honey", "Darlin peaked at number 19 in the U.S. and number 11 in the UK. Cover versions returned the song twice to the U.S. charts, reaching number  51 for singer Paul Davis in 1978, and number 68 for the band Yipes! in 1980. In 1992, the title was adopted by Darlin', the band that later evolved into Daft Punk. Background and recording. The song was initially written as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby" by Wilson and Love years earlier, and was first recorded in April 1964 and released as a single two months later by Sharon Marie—a previously unrecorded teenager who had informally auditioned for Wilson and Love by singing opera standards after a Sacramento Beach Boys concert—with production by Wilson himself. The track was included  on the 2004 compilation "". In reference to "Darlin", Wilson 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." Singer Danny Hutton laid claim to inspiring the title for "Darlin, it being frequent in his vocabulary at the time. Wilson produced the instrumental track for "Darlin on October 11, 1967. 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. 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." Further recording on the track followed on October 27. 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. The song peaked at number 19 in  the US Billboard Chart and number 11 in the UK Singles Chart. "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." Legacy. Biographer Mark Dillon decreed that the song was "ahead of its time, anticipating the blue-eyed soul of such '70s acts as Todd Rundgren and Chicago." Personnel. The Beach Boys Additional personnel References. Citations Bibliography