The Beach Boys, Help Me Rhonda, 18/40

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The Beach Boys score 18 of 40 with Help Me Rhonda Click To Tweet

Help Me Rhonda, The Beach Boys, 5/29/65, 2 weeks at #1

Riffage 8, Rhythm 5, Fills 5, Solo 0; Total Guitar Score: 18

Stick with me here. There are TWO versions of “Help Me Rhonda.” The first one, “Help Me Ronda” (with no ‘h’) was recorded in January 1965; it opens with a ukulele riff and features no Brian Wilson falsetto and no guitar solo.

The version that hit #1 (recorded in February 1965) adds the ‘h’: “Help Me Rhonda.” It opens with Al Jardine’s vocals, has Brian on falsetto in the chorus and does feature a three-bar guitar solo which, as with “Ticket to Ride,” is really too short to be called a solo.

The above is an excerpt from Volume 3 of “Number One with an AXE!”, a song-by-song look at the guitar’s role in all of America’s #1 Billboard hits.

“Number One with an AXE! Vol 3” sells for $2.99. Release date: 6/15/17, available at: smashwords, amazon, kobo, iBooks, barnes & noble.

More ebooks by Michael Rays

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