“Caroline, No” by The Beach Boys

Brian Wilson put "Caroline, No" out under his own name in March 1966, his first solo record, and two months later it turned up as the final, aching word on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Tony Asher wrote the words with him, about a man looking back on a lost love and grieving how she's changed; the title started life as Asher's "Carol, I Know" until Wilson misheard it.

Wilson cut it at Western Studio with 12 session players, among them Hal Blaine on drums, Carol Kaye on bass, Glen Campbell and Barney Kessel on guitar, Al De Lory on muted harpsichord and Frank Capp on vibes, with bass flutes and jazz chords floating underneath. The percussion includes an empty water-cooler jug thumped with a mallet, and Wilson sped the mix up a semitone to make himself sound younger. On the album it trails off into his dogs barking and a passing train. The single stalled, Capitol rushed out "Sloop John B", and Wilson still named it his favorite track on Pet Sounds.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.