"Lady" is a song written by

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Carl Wilson as well as ...

, recorded by him with

Daryl Dragon Daryl Frank Dragon (August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American musician known as Captain from the pop musical duo Captain & Tennille with his wife, Toni Tennille. Early life Born into a musical family, Dragon was the son of Elo ...

and released under the name "Dennis Wilson & Rumbo" in the United Kingdom on 4 December 1970, on

Stateside Records Stateside Records, styled as $tateside Records, is a British record label, owned by Warner Music Group and operates through its Parlophone and Warner Records imprints. Upon creation, it initially released licensed American recordings and is n ...

. The song served as the B-side of the " Sound of Free" single. The single was not issued in the United States. On both songs, Wilson performed the lead vocals with

playing instruments. Dragon and his wife, Toni Tennille, would later become famous as

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were an American recording duo whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinum a ...

Proposed releases

Also known as "Fallin' In Love", the song was reportedly originally written for the unreleased

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

album ''Add Some Music''. That album later evolved into the 1970 release ''

Sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

'', which did not include "Lady". The song has also been rumored to have been considered for the album that became '' Surf's Up'', but again passed over for the eventual release. Although a fairly obscure song, it was performed by the Beach Boys, as seen on the 25 February 1971 edition of ''The

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

Show''. When asked what inspired the song, Dennis replied, "My lovely wife, she's an inspiration." Dennis was at the time married to Barbara Charren. Both songs from the single were part of a legal dispute between Capitol and

Brother Records Brother Records, Inc. (BRI) is an American holding company and record label established in 1966 that owns the intellectual property rights of the Beach Boys, including "The Beach Boys" trademark. It was founded by brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Ca ...

, making both songs out of print for decades. The original mono single mix of "Lady" saw release in 2005 on the

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian C ...

compiled ''Under the Influence - A Collection of Musical Influences & Inspirations'' released in 2005, although this version is thought to be

lossy In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data size ...

sourced. A remaster of a previously unreleased 1970 stereo mix was included on the 2021 compilation ''

Feel Flows "Feel Flows" is a song recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album '' Surf's Up''. It was written by guitarist Carl Wilson and band manager Jack Rieley, and was one of Wilson's first songs. Background and recording The b ...

''. A new mix of the song, featuring a newly created introduction (edited together from later parts of the track), extended instrumental passages and additional vocals from both Dennis and

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...

features on the Beach Boys' 2009 compilation album '' Summer Love Songs''. This version was created and mixed by

Mark Linett Mark Linett is an American record producer and audio engineer who is best known for his remixing and remastering of the Beach Boys' catalog. Since 1988, he has been the engineer for Brian Wilson's recordings. He has also worked with Red Hot C ...

, and is credited to the Beach Boys rather than Dennis Wilson & Rumbo. A rerecording of the song, titled "Flowers Come in the Spring", was done in 1977. Recorded either during or just after the sessions for what became ''

Pacific Ocean Blue ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' is the only solo studio album by American musician Dennis Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys. When released in August 1977, it was warmly received critically, and noted for outselling the Beach Boys' contemporary efforts ...

'', it was considered for inclusion on his then-unreleased follow-up '' Bambu''.

Personnel

Credits from Craig Slowinski Dennis Wilson and Rumbo *

- piano, bass guitar *

- lead vocals, harmonium, Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

Additional musicians *

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre ...

- string arrangement *Alvin Dinkin - viola *Sam Freed - violin *David Frisina - violin *Allan Harstian - viola *Igor Horoshevsky - cello *

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist, background vocalist, and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as number-one hit ...

- electric guitars *Anatol Kaminsky - violin *Nathan Kaproff - violin *George Kast - violin *Marvin Limonick - violin *Abe Luboff - arco double bass *Edgar Lustgarten - cello *Virginia Majewski - viola *Alexander Murray - violin *Robert Ostrowsky - viola *Dorothy Wade - violin *

- electric & acoustic guitars

Cover versions

A cover version of the song under the title "Fallin' in Love" by

American Spring American Spring (known as simply Spring before 1972) was an American pop music duo formed in Los Angeles, California. It consisted of sisters Marilyn Wilson and Diane Rovell, who had earlier been members of girl group the Honeys. As with the H ...

appeared on the B-side of their 1973 single "Shyin' Away". American Spring featured

the Honeys The Honeys (originally the Rovell Sisters) were an American girl group, formed in Los Angeles in 1958, that initially comprised sisters Marilyn, Diane, and Barbara Rovell. Barbara was later replaced by their cousin, Ginger Blake. After 1962, ...

members Marilyn Rovell and her sister Diane, without their cousin Ginger Blake. Dennis Wilson's brother, Brian Wilson, was at the time married to Marilyn. The song featured her on lead vocals, as well as a new instrumental and vocal arrangement by Brian Wilson. It was produced by Brian Wilson,

Stephen Desper Stephen W. Desper is an American audio engineer who is best known for his work with the Beach Boys and for inventing the Spatializer. The Spatializer is an effects unit which employs psychoacoustic techniques that emulate three-dimensional ambienc ...

and David Sandler. Although the single sold poorly, it has since become a sought-after collectible. The "Shyin' Away" single was later reissued as a part of the rereleased ''Spring'' album by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

in 1988. Both songs from the single were also released on the 2004 compilation CD, ''Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions''. English band Lush covered the song as "Fallin' in Love" on their 1991 EP release '' Black Spring''. In 2000, the song was covered and released as the opening track on the Beach Boys tribute album '' Caroline Now!: The Songs of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys''. That version was performed by

Eugene Kelly Eugene Kelly (born 9 August 1965) Eugene Kelly allmusic biography. is a Scottish musician who is a member of the group The Vaselines, a founding member of the now disbanded Eugenius and has had a number of solo releases. Eugene Kelly formed Th ...

. Swedish pop band Sambassadeur covered "Fallin' in Love" on their 2008 album ''Migration''.

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

covered "Fallin' in Love" on her 2016 album ''Luck or Magic''. In 2020, French pop singer

Étienne Daho Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981. Career Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery vo ...

covered "Falling in Love" on his album ''Surf''.

References

{{authority control 1970 songs 1970 singles Dennis Wilson songs Songs written by Dennis Wilson Song recordings produced by Dennis Wilson