The Beach Boys - Help Me Rhonda | FIRST TIME REACTION

[@debjorgo]

This is the LP version. It fades in and out for some reason. It also did not include the guitar solo towards the end that the single did.

[@Blend42]

both versions landed on LP's but the single version was on their next album Summer Days (And Summer Nights) and is superior (I think the new bass line and a few other things are better). Essentially this version was re-worked to be the dynamic version that was a #1 US hit)

[@debjorgo]

@@Blend42 Yeah, I got a lot of those two on one CD sets. They're great because you get two albums, but you get bonus tracks too. I got everything up to and including Smiley Smile and Wild Honey. I have 50 Big Ones that has a lot of the later stuff.

[@SG-js2qn]

Beach Boys songs are ideal for blasting through loudspeakers at the state fair, amusement park, or boardwalk. As for Rhonda, we are probably talking about innocent high school flirting and crushes. Love affairs with the weight of pom poms.

[@irisradinger1632]

😄 Great song from my youth! Thanks for bringing the old songs back. Hi, from Germany.

[@johnniekight1879]

This is an alternate version. The single version is much better.

[@mikecaetano]

Whomever put together the photo montage compromised the audio in the process. I checked it against my copy to see if it was the same version and it was. The key I used to confirm the authenticity was the sound of the tambourine that kicks in starting with the second verse. Tambourine sounds are difficult to reproduce with exact precision. That said, my copy could be some reworked version, but my copy sounds to me like the version they used to play on the oldies radio back when.

[@stevedahlberg8680]

Their greatest hits album was so popular on 8-track cassette when I was really young, and my sister was a big fan, so I heard it a lot. But I really did fall in love with many of the songs, in particular this one and "Fun, Fun, Fun ('Til Daddy Took the T-Bird Away)" ❤❤❤

[@rondasuarez8935]

The song that has haunted me my entire life. My name is Ronda. Lol

[@mikecaetano]

Nice! My next door neighbor's house sitter is named Rhonda. We spent a lot of time together during the pandemic. One of the questions I asked her was how often people sing this song when they see her. She said not as often as they used to. I don't know if her parents named her with this song in mind, but she is around the same age as me and so it's possible they did. According to the popular baby names website hosted by the Social Security Administration, Rhonda was the 44th most popular name for girls in the 1960s, a thirty point leap from being the 74th most popular name for girls in the 1950s. Rhonda was the 86th most popular name for girls in the 1970s, which suggests the surge in the popularity of that name may have had something to do with the popularity of the song. That might seem like a strange connection to make, but the relation between The Beatles "Michelle" and the rise in popularity of that name for girls is even more striking, from 93rd in the 1950s, to 9th in the 1960s, to 4th in the 1970s and 12th in the 1980s, falling to 185th in the 2010s.

[@jackempson3044]

Al Jardine sings the lead on this one. One of my favorites of theirs.

[@iamtoothewalrus]

"Caroline, No" and "In My Room" are two Beach Boys songs which are more on the introspective side of their music.

[@BridgetBailey47]

Oh I love this one!! 😍

[@debjorgo]

I think you are thinking Rhonda may just be a rebound girl. But she looks "so fine". Some rebounds work out.

[@StevenW1958]

Ace, you need to play the original studio recording, which sounds ten times better.

[@wombatwilly1002]

Al Jardine sings lead on this.

[@stuBdoc]

As with all Beach Boys songs, the vocals are the best part. Although they did play instruments, their recordings were backed by The Wrecking Crew in the studio. Whatever this version is, it is not the same as the original single release and the backing vocals are different, as well as some of the guitar parts. It's still very catchy, but try to find the original single version. Next try Fun, Fun, Fun.

[@rosemarywatson1231]

Even though this is one of favorites, God Only Knows is the next up.

[@tanyaweathersby9393]

❤

[@edb6690]

Can you say rebound fling?

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

This is not the original recording. It's a re-recording of the song. Sucks. You should have listened to the original. Or at least a live performane.

[@hmichaelr1]

This is, without a doubt, the worst recording of this song I have ever heard! It reminds me of listening to an 8-track stereo tape with misaligned heads, resulting in the loss of audio for one or more tracks. It's like hearing two parts of a three-part harmony. Cringe worthy!

[@Blend42]

This is Help me Ronda not Help me Rhonda the song that hit #1 in 1965 - the single version is worth listening to kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJKrcplmm6ujbKMsi=7GPXq-9mURs6B7BJ

[@Sprenklefish]

This is an alternate mix. Def not the best mix at all. Don't blame Ace! There's a much better version out there!

[@chuckstrunk236]

This doesn't even sound like the beach boys! Where is the falsetto? Definitely a cover.

[@MarkPatterson-r7r]

No, it’s the Beach Boys. They recorded this as an album track, not intending to release it as a single. After record producer asked Brian Wilson for the rights to the song (Melcher saw a hit in his mind), Brian Wilson decided to have the Beach Boys re-record it as the version we all know and love.

[@rs-ye7kw]

Does not sound like the version I know. Might not even be The Beach Boys.

[@MarkPatterson-r7r]

This is the Beach Boys. In fact it was the first version of Help Me Rhonda they released on an LP. The intro is a ukelele. Producer Terry Melcher asked Songwriter Brian Wilson if he could have the rights to the song because he (Melcher) saw something bigger in the song. Then Brian Wilson decided that he wanted bis band (Beach Boys) to re-record the song in a different style, and that resulted in the single version that we all know and love.

[@waltw4537]

The album version was nowhere near as cool. Brian reworked the tune then released it as a single.