Darlin' (The Beach Boys song)
"Darlin'" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys with Carl Wilson on lead vocal. It opens the second side of their 1967 album Wild Honey and was also released as a single, backed with "Here Today" from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. The single peaked at No. 19 in the United States and No. 11 in the United Kingdom. The song is also known by different lyrics and structure as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby", also written by Wilson and Love, and first recorded by singer Sharon Marie in 1964.
It has twice returned to the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 51 for Paul Davis in 1978, and two years later No. 68 for the Milwaukee-based band Yipes!. In 1992, "Darlin'" became the namesake of the French rock trio of the same name; two of its members later reformed as the electronic music duo Daft Punk.
Recording
The instrumental and vocal track was recorded under the production of Brian Wilson on October 27, 1967. Initially Wilson had planned to give this song and "Time to Get Alone" to a band called Redwood (later to be known as Three Dog Night) as Danny Hutton was a friend of Wilson. Hutton laid claim to inspiring the title for "darlin'", it being frequent in his vocabulary at the time. Redwood only got as far as recording a guide vocal before Mike Love insisted that Brian focus his attention on producing work for the Beach Boys. Accompanied by piano, bass, tambourine, strings, and horns, Carl Wilson sings lead vocals.