"River Song" 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 ...

and his younger brother

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, ...

. It served as the opening track for Dennis Wilson's 1977 debut solo album ''

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 ...

''. The song is Wilson's debut solo single after his 1970 collaboration 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 ...

, " Sound of Free". "River Song" was released in Europe with the B-side being " Farewell My Friend". The single however, failed to chart. The track, as with the rest of the album, was credited as being produced by Dennis Wilson and his close friend

Gregg Jakobson Gregg Jakobson (born August 2, 1939) is an American songwriter who was a friend and songwriting partner of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and a prosecution witness in the murder trials of members of the Manson Family. Beach Boys Jakobson and W ...

. Wilson sings the lead vocals on this and every other track on the album.

Recording

All the keyboards featured in the song were provided by Dennis Wilson. The opening piano part of the song had origins seven years earlier during recording sessions held in 1970. The piano riff represents the flowing of a river. In an interview, Wilson explained that he was "in the High Sierras walking by this river that was very small and it kept getting bigger and bigger", and he explained that this is the purpose — to represent the river — of "the guitar sound on the track". The music, according to Wilson, "came from the river".

The Beach Boys version

The Beach Boys performed the song live in the early 1970s and had attempted to record the song, but their version was left unfinished. The band then used Dennis Wilson's solo version for their 1981 two-disc greatest hits collection, ''

Ten Years of Harmony ''Ten Years of Harmony'' is an official double album compilation album released by the Beach Boys in 1981, and spanning their entire Brother Records-era up to that point (1970–80), including some unreleased or rare material. Although the song ...

''.

Personnel

Credits from Craig Slowinski. *

– lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, bass vocals, piano,

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

synthesizer, producer, arrangements, choral vocal arrangements *

– harmony and backing vocals, lead/rhythm guitar *

Billy Hinsche William Hinsche (June 29, 1951 – November 20, 2021) was an American musician who was a co-founding member of the singing trio Dino, Desi & Billy and a keyboardist for the Beach Boys' backing band. Early life Hinsche was born in Manila, the Ph ...

– harmony and backing vocals, bass vocals, lead/rhythm guitar * Ed Carter – bass *

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African musician of Malay descent who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on the Beatles, in which he per ...

– drums * Ed Tuleja – bass vocals * Gregg Jakobson – bass vocals, producer * The Double Rock Baptist Church Voices of Inspiration Choir – choral vocals * Alexander Hamilton – bass vocals, choral vocal arrangements, choir conductor

References

{{Authority control 1970 songs 1977 debut singles Dennis Wilson songs Songs written by Carl Wilson Songs written by Dennis Wilson Song recordings produced by Dennis Wilson Songs about rivers