"Guess I'm Dumb" is a song recorded by American singer Glen Campbell that was released as his seventh single on Capitol Records on June 7,1965. Written by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman,it is a love song that describes a man who regrets ending a relationship after he realizes he still harbors deep feelings for his former lover. The single failed to chart.
The song was originally intended to be recorded by Wilson's band,the Beach Boys,during the sessions for their album The Beach Boys Today! Wilson's bandmates rejected the track (with only Brian's brother Carl Wilson,who sings and plays on the finished track,supporting its inclusion),and so he ultimately produced it for Campbell,who had recently been hired as an emergency fill-in for Wilson on the group's concert tours. The song has since been covered by artists including Tatsuro Yamashita,Louis Phillipe,and Wondermints.
Background and recording
Brian Wilson with the Beach Boys,1964
"Guess I'm Dumb" is a love song that describes a man who regrets ending a relationship after he realizes he still harbors deep feelings for his former lover.[1] It was one of two songs written by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman during the early 1960s,the other being "Sherry She Needs Me".[2][3] Titelman recalled co-writing the song in 1964 at Wilson's apartment and his wife Marilyn's home.[2]
Wilson produced the backing track amid the early sessions for The Beach Boys Today!,on October 14,1964,at Western Studio in Hollywood.[4] His 2016 memoir states:"When I was finished,no one from the band wanted to sing it. The message was okay,but maybe it was just the idea of being dumb."[5] Campbell,then a studio musician who had played on many of the band's recordings,said,"I played on the track for Brian and the Beach Boys,and the guys didn't want to do it. ... that's when Mike Love thought he was the star of the show. If he hadn't had Brian Wilson to write,I don't think anything would have happened."[6]
From December 1964 to early 1965,Campbell filled in for Wilson on the band's concert tours after Wilson had suffered a nervous breakdown.[7] As a show of thanks,Wilson gave the song to Campbell.[8] According to Campbell,"Brian [said],'Glen you want to sing it?' I said,'Sure I do.' Because I kind of liked it. It was a great track and the guys already had some background on it."[6] Campbell's lead vocal was recorded on March 8,1965.[8]
After hearing Glen Campbell's sterling vocal on the final recording, it's hard to imagine "Guess I'm Dumb" as a Beach Boys song, and therefore easy to understand why it might have been passed over for the Today! album. But the performance isn't just a model of musical expressivity; it impresses also because the song is so difficult to sing. The near-octave leaps at the ends of the first two phrases (on "like me" and "to be") ... emerges as one aspect of [Wilson's] movement toward novelty and innovation in late 1964. The chord changes too are fresh, often hovering around subtle shifts over held bass ("pedal") notes. In every aspect, from the cumulative intro and distinctive drum beat to the colorful orchestration and certain specific chord progressions, it's Brian's most Spector-like production to date, and in fact shares artistic space with Spector's recording of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" for the Righteous Brothers ...[1]
Reception
"Guess I'm Dumb" was released as Campbell's seventh single on Capitol Records on June 7, 1965. It failed to chart.[8]
Biographer David Leaf referred to the song as "Brian's most ambitious outside production effort, and one of the first records that consolidated all his ideas into a coherent sound. The instrumental sophistication, the intricate voices, the forlorn lyrics—this song and production were an obvious foreshadowing of Pet Sounds."[9] Writing in his book Sonic Alchemy, David Howard said "Guess I'm Dumb" was Wilson's "most inspired" production to date, featuring a "surging, elegant Burt Bacharach-inspired string and horn arrangement and Campbell's forlorn Roy Orbison-like vocal."[10] Journalist Domenic Priore credited the arrangement with influencing subsequent work by Jimmy Webb.[11]
Marilyn Wilson and Ginger Blake reflected on the song's relative commercial failure, "It's a shame that Capitol Records did not carry out the promotion of one of the finest performances by Glen Campbell and the beautiful songwriting from Brian Wilson. Brian loved the song as did we. It's a mystery as to why it was not a hit."[12]
Variations
The song is featured on many Glen Campbell compilations, and appears as one of the many Wilson-produced tracks on Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions (2003). In 2013, the instrumental track with backing vocals was released on the Beach Boys compilation Made in California.
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