I'll Take "Songs About People" for $200

Brian Wilson did not write Barbara Ann about Agent 99.  He didn't write it all--it was a guy named Fred Fassert (never heard of him, I had to look it up).

And I believe "Barbara Ann" had already been a hit for the vocal group The Regents, iirc. Most of the songs on the Party album were hits by other people. Doing Beatles songs, contemporaries of theirs, was not very cool of them!

As our foremost rock historian, bdp24 is of course correct about "Barbara Ann." As is Tostadosunidos. As described in the following reference, it was written by Fred Fassert and recorded by The Regents, to which he belonged, in 1958. Although it was not released until 1961, when it became a modest hit. The Beach Boys cover of the song was released four years later.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1449809/bio

As mentioned in the reference, the song was named after Fassert’s baby sister. Which brings to mind another song that was also recorded in 1958 and that I recall was also named after a baby sister, "Susie Darlin’" by Robin Luke (eventually to become Professor Robin Luke, Ph.D.). As I recall the story he named his composition thusly to eliminate the possibility that the girls he was pursuing at the time would suspect the song was named after a rival :-)

Regards,
-- Al

"You talk about people
That you don't know
You talk about people
Wherever you go

You just talk
Talk too much

You talk about people
That you've never seen
You talk about people
You can make me scream

You just talk
you talk too much"

[Instrumental Interlude]

;)

Natalie Merchant’s "River" is about River Phoenix. His name is only in the song title however.