The Beach Boys were the quintessential American band; hailing from California, singing about surfing, sun, cars and girls and blending a mixture of doo wop harmonies and surf music. In the early days, The Beach Boys achieved massive commercial success in the US with marginal success in the UK. That began to change, however, in 1966 around the release of the classic Pet Sounds album – which shifted their song topics from surfing and girls to more mature topics of love and growing up. The list below shows the singles that peaked higher on the UK singles chart than the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“Sloop John B” (1966) from the LP Pet Sounds (UK #2 / US #3)
“God Only Knows” (1966) from the LP Pet Sounds (UK #2 / US #39)
“Heroes and Villains” (1967) from the LP Smiley Smile (UK #8 / US #12)
“Wild Honey” (1967) from the LP Wild Honey (UK # 29 / US #31)
“Darlin'” (1967) from the LP Wild Honey (UK #11 / US #19)
“Friends” (1968) from the LP Friends (UK #25 / US #47)
“Bluebirds Over the Mountain” (1968) from the LP 20/20 (UK #33 / US #61)
“I Can Hear Music” (1969) from the LP 20/20 (UK #10 / US #24)
“Break Away” (1969) non-album single (UK #6 / US #63)
“Cottonfields” (1970) from the LP 20/20 (UK #5 / US #103)
“California Saga: California” (1973) from the LP Holland (UK #37 / US #84)
“Here Comes the Night” (1979) from the LP L.A. (UK #37 / US #44)
“Lady Lynda” (1979) from the LP L.A. (UK #6 / US #Did Not Chart)
