California Girls

The track arrived on June 28, 1965 as a single and later appeared on the album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote the song while reflecting on the variety of women they met during the band's first European tour. Wilson composed the music after his first experience with LSD, aiming to capture the grandeur of Western film scores in an orchestral prelude. The recording marked the first time Bruce Johnston appeared on a Beach Boys session, even though he was not yet an official member.

Listeners hear complex vocal harmonies and subtle chromatic shifts throughout the two-minute runtime. Wilson considered this his favorite record by the group, describing it as a hymn to youth despite feeling some dissatisfaction with the final vocal take. Capitol Records released the song alongside "Let Him Run Wild" as its B-side. It climbed to number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 10 in several other nations.

Cultural echoes of the song appear across decades of popular music. The Beatles used the opening theme for their parody "Back in the U.S.S.R.," while Big Star and the Magnetic Fields drew inspiration from the title concept. David Lee Roth covered the track in 1984 and also hit number 3 on the charts. Katy Perry sampled the melody for her 2010 hit "California Gurls," which stands as a distinct work from the original 1965 version. [edit]