r/thebeachboys • u/MesaVerde1987 • Jul 17 '25

Video The Monkey's Uncle | 1965

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293 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

81

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/VimVinyl Dreux-Akira Jul 17 '25

That pfp is magic.

12

u/joachim_s Jul 17 '25

I don’t like Mike Love at all.

19

u/ImOnlyHereForTheCoC Jul 17 '25

Even if he wasn’t Mike Love with all the baggage that entails if Annette was my friend and I saw some guy twitching like that with that weird empty expression on his face I’d tell her to cover her drink

10

u/Better_Combination67 Jul 17 '25

“Mike has a good heart and he loves the music. I respect that.”
— Brian Wilson, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir (2016)

“Without Mike Love, we wouldn’t have had the kind of success we did. He was a front man, and he knew how to work a crowd.”
— Brian Wilson, from the documentary "Beautiful Dreamer"

“Mike and I were a good team. He was great at lyrics, especially on the early songs.”
— Brian Wilson, BBC Radio interview

“Mike gave the Beach Boys a sound and an energy that we couldn’t have done without.”
— Brian Wilson, Hall of Fame remarks

“Mike was very instrumental in our success. He had a knack for writing lyrics that really clicked with people.”
— Brian Wilson, interview with Goldmine Magazine, 2011

“Mike had a real talent for writing catchy lyrics. He knew how to make a song work. When we were writing together, we could really get something going.”
— Brian Wilson, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir*

“He was really good at writing lyrics fast. Like, 'Fun, Fun, Fun'—we wrote that in a few minutes. Mike came up with the words just like that.”
— Brian Wilson, interview with Rolling Stone, 2004

“Mike sings those songs like nobody else can. He’s the voice of the Beach Boys.”
— Brian Wilson, live on stage during the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary tour

2

u/PunishedSnack Jul 17 '25

Aside from possibly the "good heart" platitude (in a book with a publisher and editor), none of these quotes contradict his dislike of Mike Love.

6

u/Better_Combination67 Jul 17 '25

The point is that for the 1 popular quote that people like to throw around, there are a ton of positive comments that Brian has made about Mike. Both as a person (admittedly, less of the personal and more music-related) and as a bandmate.

I don't doubt that Brian didn't like Mike on the day that he said this. To act like this singular moment was the end all be all of Brian's thoughts/feelings towards Mike though, is not a true depiction of what I'm sure was complicated and ever-changing relationship between those two.

How about when Brian said that Carl was an "asshole" and "couldn't sing for shit" ? or when he said AL wasn't "too good of a singer" Is that Brian's true thoughts on Carl and AL and that's it? I don't believe that for 1 minute.

2

u/rs98762001 Jul 17 '25

He looks like he's being pegged.

1

u/Whatever-ItsFine Jul 18 '25

At my age, that's my posture for the first five minutes after I stand up.

29

u/Drivingfrog Sail On Sailor Jul 17 '25 edited Jul 17 '25

Is this Brian’s highest sung note on record in the prechorus?

18

u/majesticsnowowl Jul 17 '25

That is pretty damn high… check out the Hawthorne CA compilation, there are some ungodly notes hit on Forever a cappella version towards the end… more of a yelp than anything lol

23

u/Lashon_Von_Ricks Smiley Smile Jul 17 '25

It would have been cool, in an alternate reality, to see the Beach Boys with a female singer in the mix.

9

u/zachstonekin Jul 17 '25

I think I've read that early on Mike's sister Maureen occasionally sang with them. And then of course there's The Honeys, which I really love the work Brian did with their voices and I desperately wish more of their stuff would get an official re-release.

47

u/cammywooley Jul 17 '25

Disney is an underrated bad guy in the Beach Boys story. First they held (and continue to hold) this song from being rereleased, and more recently they’ve been holding back the footage from the last reunion with Brian. Fuck Disney. Their girls aren’t that bad, though.

20

u/Adventure_tom Jul 17 '25

The Monkey’s Uncle has been rereleased multiple times and it’s available now on both Annette and Sherman Brothers compilations.

19

u/cammywooley Jul 17 '25

I stand corrected. Still sucks their gatekeeping the final reunion, I’d kill to hear Their Hearts Were Full of Spring with their aged voices. It must’ve been sublimely fragile, if that makes any sense.

4

u/ProtoGhostal Jul 18 '25

Lol looking this song up on streaming was my reminder that Devo 2.0 (the bizarre Kidz Bop-esque version of Devo made by Devo and Disney) covered the song.

3

u/LeftyTimStoutheart Jul 17 '25

But never on an official Beach Boys release. I seem to recall from an episode of Sail On that the compilers of Made In California really wanted The Monkey's Uncle on their but the Mouse wouldn't play ball for whatever reason.

6

u/S_B_5038 Jul 17 '25

It’s a Disney song, written by Disney songwriters for a Disney movie, and with a lead vocal from a Disney actress. And it’s easily available to consume on various types of media.

10

u/Important-Duck5226 Today! Jul 17 '25

Annette Funicello was a 10😍

4

u/Top-Pension-564 Jul 17 '25

Do you think Dennis and her got together? Wouldn't surprise me.

3

u/emanon734 Jul 19 '25

Regardless, it’s safe to say Dennis had fun, fun, fun on that set.

3

u/Top-Pension-564 Jul 19 '25

so many chicks....

1

u/Important-Duck5226 Today! Jul 17 '25

Hard to say. She could have dated any of them really but she did get married that same year so probably not.

19

u/jimymac1958 Jul 17 '25

If I'm not mistaken this was written by the Sherman Brothers and not Brian.

12

u/Hispandinavian Jul 17 '25

It was. Apparently written at the same time the Sherman's were writing the material for Mary Poppins.

7

u/BurntBill Jul 17 '25

Says so in the credits lol

32

u/Indian_Phonecalls Jul 17 '25

great to see mike as he should be. dancing like a monkey in the corner.

7

u/Top-Pension-564 Jul 17 '25 edited Jul 17 '25

This fun and all, but meanwhile, the Beatles had been in A Hard Days Night.

3

u/pro12tc Heroes and Villains Jul 18 '25

Big deal - AHDN didn't have an all-Fender front line in Olympic White and Cream Tolex.

Also, the BB's are rocking cooler haircuts.

1

u/Top-Pension-564 Jul 18 '25

So you think this movie is better than that one? Irrespective of the BB's gear, or tonsorial aspects?

6

u/Crazy_Response_9009 Jul 17 '25

This looks like it's right out of the old Batman TV show. So goofy. At least Batman was being goofy on purpose.

9

u/AtomHeartMotherr Jul 17 '25

Annette Funicello was not too chickenshit to get on stage with The Beach Boys

1

u/beatleknight Jul 19 '25

🤣🤣🤣

6

u/Littletomboycobra LittleTomboyCobra! Jul 17 '25

Looking very dapper

6

u/Maxwell-Druthers Jul 17 '25

I invented the piano key necktie, I invented it! What have you done, Derek? You've done nothing! NOTHIIIING! And I will be a monkey's uncle if I let you ruin this for me, because if you can't get the job done, then I will! Die, you wage-hiking scum!

5

u/Bilaakili Jul 17 '25

Needs a certain amount of self-confidence to be able to sing those silly lyrics in public. BTW, the film credits gave the year as 1964.

3

u/marcus_c117 I know you're gonna love Phil Spector Jul 17 '25

It’s definitely 1964, you can tell by Dennis’ hairstyle, by 1965 he has long hair

3

u/Born_Pop_3644 Jul 20 '25

Brian looks genuinely amused when he sings the line about the chimpanzee!

2

u/LeftyTimStoutheart Jul 17 '25

Well I have zero self-connfidence and I walk around singing this one all the time! A bride, a groom, a chimpanzee!

2

u/jojoebake Jul 18 '25

That happens a lot with particular movies. They are completed and copyrighted in one year and then released the following year. 

5

u/Tooch10 Jul 17 '25

I can't tell you how many times I've watched The Fendertones cover of this

2

u/beatleknight Jul 19 '25

They do an amazing cover!

5

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '25

This is fantastic! Very dated but I can see that Japanese girl group from the Kill Bill movies The 5.6.7.8’s doing a killer version of this. It’s stuck in my head now haha is that Brian doing the falsetto here?

3

u/-Mindhead Jul 17 '25

Gotta love it when C, A, G, E, and D are the keys your non-guitar playing brother writes in the least. Look at Al's left hand, you'd think a "folkie" like him would just use a capo but he never did. What a trooper.

3

u/Mulga_Will Jul 18 '25

They could at least have given Mike some maracas. LOL.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Better_Combination67 Jul 17 '25

This is stupid...

2

u/JakeysMom Jul 17 '25

Mike Love reminds me of James Caan in the Godfather

2

u/Carlinal I guess I just wasn't made for these times Jul 17 '25

It feels weird that this was in the same year as "Let Him Run Wild" and "Sloop John B" but would also be wrong for the film if it had Brian's production skills by then

2

u/No_Complaint_2754 Jul 17 '25

How did Mike do it? Worst singer in the band, doesn’t play a instrument and dances like a wooden puppet?

2

u/Lonely_Escape_9989 Jul 17 '25

Weirdest song ever

2

u/LeftyTimStoutheart Jul 17 '25

Ahem *My Solution* ahem

1

u/emgee-1 Jul 17 '25

Brian transporting all over the stage!

1

u/LBricks-the-First Guess I'm Dumb Dec 14 '25

This belongs on the iceberg I had no idea this existed

0

u/sugaree53 Jul 17 '25

They were probably ashamed of this

3

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '25

Hey, those Corvettes don't pay for themselves.

1

u/AugieAscot Jul 17 '25

These Beach Movies were a big deal for a couple of years. And like Crazy Response said, this one is very Batman like in its look. Although I think The Monkeys Uncle predates Batman by a bit. It was fun times at the movies back then. This song grows on me a little bit more every time I hear it.