"Wouldn't It Be Nice" #8 9/17/1966

The unique intro to this Beach Boys classic was played by Wrecking Crew member Barney Kessel on a homemade instrument. He took the strings and neck off a 12-string guitar and grafted them onto an oversized electrified mandolin. The ridiculously intricate harmonies took hours of rehearsal and countless takes. Mike Love started calling Brian Wilson "Dog Ears" because he apparently heard things in the vocal parts that mere humans could not. This is one of a number of songs where Mike filed a lawsuit years later in order to get co-writing credit. He contributed only the last two lines here.