On February 17, 1966, Brian Wilson began recording "Good Vibrations."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, This Day in Music, but they said it was the 18th. I always defer to Wikipedia.

February 18th

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1966 - Brian Wilson
Beach Boy Brian Wilson recorded the future classic song 'Good Vibrations', which went on to become the band's third US number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up "vibrations" from people, so that the dog would bark at "bad vibrations" Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

Good Vibrations

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Recording and production

{snip}

Development

Brian came over to me and sang such and such a thing, and I said "Well, write it down and I'll play it," and he said "Write it down? We don't write anything down."

—Electro-Theremin inventor Paul Tanner, recalling his first Pet Sounds session

The instrumental of the first version of the song was recorded on February 17, 1966, at Gold Star Studios and was logged as a Pet Sounds session. On that day's session log, it was given the name "#1 Untitled" or "Good, Good, Good Vibrations", but on its master tape, Wilson distinctly states: "'Good Vibrations' ... take one." After twenty-six takes, a rough mono mix completed the session. Some additional instruments and rough guide vocals were overdubbed on February 23. Brian and Carl shared vocals for this mix.

The original version of "Good Vibrations" contained the characteristics of a "funky rhythm and blues number" and would not yet resemble a "pocket symphony". There was no cello at this juncture, but the Electro-Theremin was present, played by its inventor, Paul Tanner. It was Brian's second ever recorded use of the instrument, just three days after the Pet Sounds track "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times". Brian then placed "Good Vibrations" on hold in order to devote attention to the Pet Sounds album, which saw release on May 16. More instrumental sections for "Good Vibrations" were recorded between April and June. Brian then forwent additional instrumental tracking until early September, when it was decided to revisit the song's bridge section and apply Electro-Theremin overdubs.

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The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations (Official Video)
5,126,257 views Oct 10, 2016

Beach Boys
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Music video by The Beach Boys performing Good Vibrations. (C) 2016 Brother Records, Inc.

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GOOD VIBRATIONS (HD) THE BEACH BOYS
5,915,249 views Oct 14, 2013

PhilGoodFactor1
20.2K subscribers

LOVE THE BEACH BOYS and feel those GOOD VIBRATIONS.

Same video, if that one gets yanked:

Beach Boys Good Vibrations
1,524,405 views Jan 29, 2013

Larry Jonik
656 subscribers

[Bobstandard]

1. Genius music!

I’ve listened to outtakes of Good Vibratons. It’s amazing how brian had the whole song in his head, then recorded little pieces of it over many months, always seeking the perfection of his vision.

I’ve read studio musician accounts of some of the sessions. They’d ‘work’ for hours, sometimes just sitting there while Brian fussed trying to get the sound exactly right. And in the end a session that lasted long into the night might result in maybe a single bar of music that made it into the mix—or nothing at all.

In the end, a masterpiece!