| "The Little Girl I Once Knew" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 U.S. picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by the Beach Boys | ||||
| B-side | "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" | |||
| Released | November 22, 1965 | |||
| Recorded | October 13–24, 1965 | |||
| Studio | Western, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Avant-pop[1] | |||
| Length | 2:35 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
| Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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| Licensed audio | ||||
| "The Little Girl I Once Knew" on YouTube | ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"The Little Girl I Once Knew" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was issued as a standalone single on November 22, 1965. Written and produced by Brian Wilson, it was recorded during the making of the band's 1966 album Pet Sounds.[2]
Recorded in October 1965, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" is an avant-pop song that is distinguished for employing several abrupt pauses in its structure, as the music shifts from a heavily orchestrated arrangement to complete silence for multiple bars. It also features a prominent bass part performed by session musician Carol Kaye and vocal contributions by all members of the group.
Despite a printed endorsement from Beatle John Lennon, the single reached only number 20 on the U.S. Billboard charts, marking the band's lowest entry there for an A-sided single since 1963. Because of the track's momentary periods of silence, many disc jockeys at the time had omitted the song from radio playlists to avoid dead air. The relatively poor commercial performance may have been a factor in Wilson's decision to omit the song from Pet Sounds.[3]
Retrospectively, critics have praised the song for its ambitious arrangement and production, and have described it as a turning point in the group's sound and musical style, foreshadowing Wilson's further experimentation with song structure throughout 1966 and 1967 on Pet Sounds and Smile. The track's first album appearance came on the greatest hits compilation The Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. 3 (1968).
- ^ Carlin, Peter Ames (2006). Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rodale. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-59486-320-2.
- ^ Badman 2004, p. 104.
- ^ Umphred 1997, p. 36.