| "Let's Go Away for Awhile" | |
|---|---|
 Label to the 1966 single release as b-side of "Good Vibrations" | |
| Instrumental bythe Beach Boys | |
| from the albumPet Sounds | |
| Released | May 16, 1966 |
| Recorded | January 18–19, 1966 |
| Studio | Western,Hollywood |
| Genre | Lounge[1] |
| Length | 2:25 |
| Label | Capitol |
| Composer | Brian Wilson |
| Producer | Brian Wilson |
| Audio sample | |
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" [sic] is an instrumental by the Americanrock bandthe Beach Boys from their 1966 albumPet Sounds. It was composed and produced byBrian Wilson, and performed by uncredited session musicians. The track is the first of two instrumentals that appear on the album, the other beingits title track.[2]
The piece was intended to have a vocal, but Wilson ultimately decided that it did not need one. He later called it his favorite instrumental that he ever wrote,[3] and commented that it was possibly influenced byBurt Bacharach's music. Several months after the album's release, the track was issued as the B-side to the band's single "Good Vibrations".
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" was composed byBrian Wilson and provisionally titled "The Old Man and The Baby".[2] Wilson surmised that he may have subconsciously based thechord progression on the music ofBurt Bacharach.[4] Bacharach's "Are You There (With Another Girl)", in particular, may have directly influenced Wilson to write "Let's Go Away for Awhile".[5] Musicologist James Perone wrote of the track:
There are melodic features but no tune to speak of. As an instrumental composition, this gives the piece an atmospheric feel; however, the exact mood is difficult to define. [...] To the extent that the listener hears 'Let's Go Away for Awhile' as an incomplete piece, it is possible to understand it as a reflection of the alienation—the sense of not quite fitting in—of the bulk ofTony Asher's lyrics in the songs onPet Sounds."[6]
An early full working title was "Let's Go Away for Awhile (And Then We'll Have World Peace)"—the parenthetical being a reference toDel Close andJohn Brent's 1961 comedy albumHow to Speak Hip.[7] Tony Asher explained:
There was an album out calledHow to Speak Hip [...] a lampooning of the language instruction albums. I played it for Brian, and it destroyed him, killed him. Brian picked up a couple of references on the album. One of them was this hip character that said if everyone were "laid back and cool, then we'd have world peace." So Brian started going around saying, "Hey, would somebody get me a candy bar, and then we'll have world peace." [Brian] even made an acetate disc with a label on it with the title.[2]
The bulk of "Let's Go Away for Awhile" was recorded on January 18, 1966 atUnited Western Recorders.String andflute overdubs were recorded the next day.[8][2] Wilson stated: "We used dynamics likeBeethoven. You know, Beethoven, the dynamic music maker."[4] In 1966, Wilson considered the track to be "the finest piece of art" he had made up to that point, and that every component of its production "worked perfectly".[9] A year later he expounded,
I applied a certain set of dynamics through the arrangement and the mixing and got a full musical extension of what I'd planned during the earliest stages of the theme. I think the chord changes are very special. I used a lot of musicians on the track; twelveviolins,piano, foursaxes,oboe,vibes, aguitar with aCoke bottle on the strings for a semi-steel guitar effect. Also, I used two basses and percussion. The total effect is 'Let's Go Away For Awhile', which is something everyone in the world must have said at some time or another. Nice thought; most of us don't go away, but it's still a nice thought. The track was supposed to be the backing for a vocal, but I decided to leave it alone. It stands up well alone.[7]
In 1995, it emerged that the finalPet Sounds session was originally intended to add vocals to "Let's Go Away for Awhile", butCapitol insisted that the session date be the only one used for the album's entire mixing.[10]
Cash Box said that it is "a moody instrumental track."[11]
PerAlan Boyd and Craig Slowinski.[8]
Session musicians
The Sid Sharp Strings
