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Do you know the history behind The Beach Boys' "Never Learned Not to Love," released in 1969?
iHeartRadio podcast A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs zooms in on the "history of rock music from 1938 to 1999, looking at five hundred songs that shaped the genre."
The latest episode analyzes the history behind The Beach Boys' track, starting with co-founder Brian Wilson's obsession with certain songs.
"Brian Wilson is a man who, when he likes a song, really likes it. We've talked in recent episodes about how he became obsessed with The Ronnetts' 'Be My Baby' for a long time. And how he spent a period intensely reworking Steven Foster's 'Old Folks at Home.' But there was one song, more than any other, that obsessed Brian Wilson in the 1970s and for decades after."
That song was "Shortnin' Bread."
"In the 1970s, Brian recorded multiple versions of 'Shortnin' Bread' with The Beach Boys with Carl Wilson putting far more effort into the lead vocal than you would expect." Podcast host Andrew Hickey revealed that Brian, 82, was not satisfied with Carl's vocals, so he phoned Alex Chilton of The Box Tops to sing the lead.
Listen to A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs (including parts 1, 2, and 3 of the series) for more behind The Beach Boys' "Never Learned Not to Love."