When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)

"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" is a song written and composed by Brian Wilson with additional lyrics by Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys.^[1] It was released on their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! and as a single the previous year hit number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number seven in Cash Box, number five in Variety and number three in the Associated Press/Gilbert Youth chart. It spent two weeks at number one in Canada's national RPM chart.^[2] The B-side of the single was "She Knows Me Too Well" and stopped one place under the Hot 100.

Composition

The song was written by Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The song's lyric raises questions about adulthood, something Brian would further explore in later compositions such as "Child Is Father of the Man". According to future collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Brian at the time displayed a "fervent desire to reinvent himself as an individual, not as a boy."^[3]

Recording

The song, produced and arranged by Brian, was recorded over two sessions in 1964 at United Western Recorders. The instrumental track was most likely recorded on August 5 with the vocals being overdubbed five days later on August 10. The lead vocal is shared by Brian and Mike Love. Brian expressed disappointment with his vocal, saying that the group were trying to sound like the Four Freshmen, but his voice was too "whiney".^[4]

Variations

The song was first released in monaural in 1965 on the band's Today! album. When Capitol reissued the album (minus two tracks) on vinyl under the title Dance Dance Dance in the early 1980s, the complete album was in mono at Brian Wilson's request, as was the case with its 2001 CD release with all the original tracks re-instated.

The first stereophonic mix of the song was released on the 1993 compilation The Beach Boys...Summer Dreams!.

An alternate mix was released on the 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys, featuring the instrumental recording on one channel and the vocal recording on the other channel, allowing the listener to hear the complexity of both the instrumental and vocal track.

Live performances

During the band's first British tour in 1964, they performed this song as well as "I Get Around" on their first television appearance in Britain on Ready Steady Go.^[5]

Personnel

Surviving sessions audio and AFM musician contracts sheets, documented by Craig Slowinski have enabled this personnel list to be compiled.^[1]

The Beach Boys

Carl Wilson – electric lead and rhythm guitars, harmony and background vocals
Brian Wilson – acoustic upright piano, Baldwin electric harpsichord, lead vocals, harmony and background vocals
Al Jardine – electric bass guitar, harmony and background vocals
Dennis Wilson – drums, hi-hat, harmony and background vocals
Mike Love – lead vocals, harmony and background vocals

Session musicians and production staff

Carrol Lewis – double-reed harmonica

Charts

Chart (1964)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Singles Chart^[6]	1
UK Singles Chart^[7]	27
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[8]	9

In popular culture

The song was used during the opening credits of American comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age. It was also utilised in the 1989 romantic comedy film Look Who's Talking during a montage. "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" was used in "Gordo's Bar Mitzvah" which was the final Season 1 episode of Lizzie McGuire.

References

1 2 Craig Slowinski (2007). "The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!" (PDF). Retrieved October 27, 2012.
↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
↑ Priore, Domenic (2005). Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1860746276.
↑ Benci, Jacopo (January 1995). "Brian Wilson interview". Record Collector. UK (185).
↑ Live on Ready Steady Go! 1964 on YouTube
↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
↑ "Beach Boys". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
↑ "The Beach Boys awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

External links

When I Grow Up at AllMusic
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Today!

Songs

Side one	"Do You Wanna Dance?" "Good to My Baby" "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" "Help Me, Ronda" "Dance, Dance, Dance"

Side two	"Please Let Me Wonder" "I'm So Young" "Kiss Me, Baby" "She Knows Me Too Well" "In the Back of My Mind" "Bull Session with the 'Big Daddy'"

The Beach Boys singles discography

1960s

1961	"Surfin'" / "Luau"

1962	"Surfin' Safari" / "409" "Ten Little Indians" / "County Fair"

1963	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "Shut Down" "Surfer Girl" / "Little Deuce Coupe" "Be True to Your School" / "In My Room" "Little Saint Nick" / "The Lord's Prayer"

1964	"Fun, Fun, Fun" / "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" "I Get Around" / "Don't Worry Baby" "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" / "She Knows Me Too Well" "Dance, Dance, Dance" / "The Warmth of the Sun" "The Man with All the Toys" / "Blue Christmas"

1965	"Do You Want to Dance" / "Please Let Me Wonder" "Help Me, Rhonda" / "Kiss Me, Baby" "California Girls"/ "Let Him Run Wild" "The Little Girl I Once Knew" / "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" "Barbara Ann" / "Girl Don't Tell Me"

1966	"Sloop John B" / "You're So Good to Me" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "God Only Knows" "Good Vibrations" / "Let's Go Away for Awhile"

1967	"Then I Kissed Her" / "Mountain of Love" "Heroes and Villains" / "You're Welcome" "Wild Honey" / "Wind Chimes" "Darlin'" / "Here Today"

1968	"Friends" / "Little Bird" "Do It Again" / "Wake the World" "Bluebirds over the Mountain" / "Never Learn Not to Love"

1969	"I Can Hear Music" / "All I Want to Do" "Break Away" / "Celebrate the News"

1970s

1970	"Add Some Music to Your Day" / "Susie Cincinnati" "Cottonfields" / "The Nearest Faraway Place" "Slip On Through" / "This Whole World" "Tears in the Morning" / "It's About Time"

1971	"Cool, Cool Water" / "Forever" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (live) / "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (by Merry Clayton) "Long Promised Road" / "Deirdre" "Long Promised Road" / "'Til I Die" "Surf's Up" / "Don't Go Near the Water"

1972	"You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" / "Cuddle Up" "Marcella" / "Hold On Dear Brother"

1973	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You" "California Saga: California" / "Funky Pretty"

1974	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "The Warmth of the Sun" "Child of Winter (Christmas Song)" / "Susie Cincinnati"

1975	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You"

1976	"Rock and Roll Music" / "T M Song" "It's O.K." / "Had to Phone Ya" "Everyone's in Love with You" / "Susie Cincinnati"

1977	"Honkin' Down the Highway" / "Solar System"

1978	"Peggy Sue" / "Hey Little Tomboy"

1979	"Here Comes the Night" / "Baby Blue" "Good Timin'" / "Love Surrounds Me" "Lady Lynda" / "Full Sail" "It's a Beautiful Day" / "Sumahama"

1980s

1980	"Goin' On" / "Endless Harmony" "Livin' with a Heartache" / "Santa Ana Winds"

1981	"The Beach Boys Medley" / "God Only Knows" "Come Go with Me" / "Don't Go Near the Water"

1985	"Getcha Back" / "Male Ego" "It's Gettin' Late" / "It's O.K." "She Believes in Love Again" / "It's Just a Matter of Time"

1986	"Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue" / "Good Vibrations" (live) "California Dreamin'" / "Lady Liberty"

1987	"Happy Endings" (with Little Richard) / "California Girls" (live)

1988	"Kokomo" / "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard)

1989	"Still Cruisin'" / "Kokomo"

1990s

1990	"Somewhere Near Japan" / "Kokomo" "Problem Child" / "Problem Child (Instrumental)"

1992	"Hot Fun in the Summertime" / "Summer of Love"

1996	"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" / "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "Here Today"

2010s

2011	"Good Vibrations" / "Heroes and Villains" "Don't Fight the Sea" / "Friends" "Cabinessence" / "Wonderful"

2012	"That's Why God Made the Radio" / "That's Why God Made the Radio" (instrumental) "Isn't It Time" / Live in Chicago

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