Welcome to the song of the day, where we feature a single track, whether its brand new or older than us, overlooked or overplayed, our favorite or no one’s favorite; as long as its interesting, it can be the song of the day.
Born on this day in 1939, Tony Asher had a curious career as a songwriter. He co-wrote eight of the thirteen songs on the Beach Boys’ 1966 album, Pet Sounds, including two of the greatest songs of all time, “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” But the rest of Asher’s writing credits are sparse. Before meeting Brian Wilson, Asher worked writing jingles at an advertising agency. Wilson met him and offered him the collaboration and the two wrote in various sessions over three weeks. Of the 13 songs on Pet Sounds, Wilson has a credit on all of them, Asher on 8, Mike Love has three and Terry Sachen has one. Despite the incredible critical and commercial success of Pet Sounds, Asher never wrote with the Beach Boys again, though he does have a credit on a single song, “Everything I Need,” from the sole album released by The Wilsons, a collaboration between Brian and his daughters, Carnie and Wendy.