| "Little Honda" | |
|---|---|
| Song bythe Beach Boys | |
| from the albumAll Summer Long | |
| Released | July 13, 1964 (1964-07-13) |
| Recorded | April 2 & 10, 1964 |
| Studio | Western, Hollywood |
| Genre | |
| Length | 1:52 |
| Label | Capitol |
| Songwriters | |
| Producer | Brian Wilson |
| Licensed audio | |
| "Little Honda" onYouTube | |
"Little Honda" is a song by the Americanrock bandthe Beach Boys from their 1964 albumAll Summer Long. Written byBrian Wilson andMike Love, it pays tribute to the smallHondamotorcycle and its ease of operation, specifically theHonda 50.[4]
At 21 seconds into the song the definite sound of guitar feedback can be heard. The recording on April 2 & 10, 1964 of the song predates the Beatles' "I Feel Fine" by several months. While buried under vocals on the original release, with the 1968 instrumental track release on the Beach Boys LP "Stack-o-Tracks", this high-pitched feeback howl can be heard.
Immediately following its appearance onAll Summer Long, the song was covered bythe Hondells, whose recording produced byGary Usher peaked at No. 9 on theU.S.Billboard 100.[citation needed]
In a 1976 interview,Carl Wilson recounted an anecdote about "Little Honda",
[Brian] does exactly what he wants to do. I remember [sits back and laughs] — this is so funny — when we did "Little Honda," Brian wanted me to get this real distorted guitar sound, realfuzzy. "This guitar sounds like shit," I said. "Brian, I hate this." And he goes, "Would you fucking do it? Just do it." When I heard it, I felt like an asshole. It sounded really hot. That was before fuzz became a big deal.[5]
In 2014, acompilation album of studio and live recordings ofthe Beach Boys was released entitled,Keep an Eye on Summer – The Beach Boys Sessions 1964. It was released exclusively through theiTunes Store.[6] On that album, another version of the song was heard, with the major difference being that the background refrain was, "Go little Honda, faster little Honda" instead of, "Honda, Honda, go faster, faster." The third verse also had slightly different lyrics (e.g., "Champ" was used instead of "Matchless").[7]
Per Craig Slowinski.[6]
| Chart (1964–65) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] | 15 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[9] | 8 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[10] | 65 |
| West Germany (GfK)[11] | 44 |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
