"Wind Chimes" | |||||||||||||||||
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Song by The Beach Boys from the album Smiley Smile | |||||||||||||||||
Released | September 18, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||
Recorded | July 10–11, 1967, Brian Wilson's home studio, Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||||
Length | 2:36 | ||||||||||||||||
Label | Brother/Capitol | ||||||||||||||||
Writer(s) | Brian Wilson | ||||||||||||||||
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | ||||||||||||||||
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"Wind Chimes" | ||||||||
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Song by The Beach Boys from the album The Smile Sessions | ||||||||
Released | October 31, 2011 | |||||||
Recorded | August 3–October 10, 1966Gold Star Studios and United Western Recorders, Hollywood | ,|||||||
Length | 3:06 | |||||||
Label | Capitol | |||||||
Writer(s) | Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks | |||||||
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||||||
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"Wind Chimes" is a song composed by Brian Wilson for the American rock band The Beach Boys. The original version of the song was written and recorded for the aborted 1966 album Smile. The band completely re-recorded the song for inclusion on their next album, Smiley Smile. That version was released on the b-side of "Wild Honey", their 1967 single which charted at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Early versions and alternate mixes of the song were later released on the Beach Boys' box sets Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys (1993) and The Smile Sessions (2011).
When Brian Wilson returned to finish Smile as a solo project in 2004, he would record the song again. This version was also used as a b-side, this time for Wilson's solo recording of "Wonderful", which charted at #29 in the UK.
Marilyn Wilson said: "We went shopping one day and we brought home some wind chimes. We hung them outside the house and then one day, while Brian was sitting around he sort of watched them out the window and then he wrote the song. I think that’s how it happened. Simple. He does a lot of things that way."
The song fulfills the "Air" portion of "The Elements".
In its original version, "Wind Chimes" was in AAB form. The finished 'A' sections feature Carl Wilson on lead vocals, singing over a backing track consisting of marimbas, percussion, and double bass. As with all parts of the project, Brian Wilson experimented with a number of variant arrangements for "Wind Chimes" - Takes 1-3 and Takes 8-9 of the A-section backing track feature an alternative arrangement in which the marimbas were replaced by multiple keyboards (possibly celeste, organ, piano and/or harpsichord). There is also a surviving alternate vocal version of the A section (possibly a demo) on which Brian sings the lead vocal.