One Of The Beach Boys' Best-Charting Singles Was Snubbed In 1965 — Vindication Came Decades Later

As long as there's a summer somewhere around the world, the music of the Beach Boys will always have a home with listeners. The California group attained incredible success and influence with a run of unforgettable pop rock songs in the '60s, from slick, carefree party-starters to what songwriter Brian Wilson dubbed "teenage symphonies to God" in the latter, more psychedelic half of the decade. Their real-life story as a band may have more highs and lows than the waves of the choppiest seas, but their sound remains timeless.

Yet while the Beach Boys' endless summer songs were immediate hits with audiences (more than a dozen of their songs hit the Top 10 in America in the '60s alone), some of the typical hallmarks of success eluded the group early on. Consider this shocking fact: "I Get Around," the band's first No. 1 hit single — one of the year's biggest hits in a banner year for rock music — was, like many songs in its genre, completely overlooked the following year at the Grammy Awards. It was an error that took decades to correct.

Having taken the Billboard charts by storm with three Top 10 hits in 1963 ("Surfin' U.S.A.," "Surfer Girl," "Be True to Your School") and another in early '64 ("Fun, Fun, Fun"), the Beach Boys were already riding high. But "I Get Around" shifted them into a new gear. The song, with its singalong vocal harmonies and good-time imagery of hot rods and hot women, was a success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in the summer of 1964 and even making No. 5 on the magazine's year-end singles chart. In a year when The Beatles were achieving unbelievable milestones on the American charts, the song's ubiquity was no small feat.

But rock 'n' roll wasn't fully accepted by the Grammys just yet; the genre wouldn't receive a dedicated category until 1980. So, when the nominations were called in 1965, showcasing the best and brightest of the previous year, The Beatles were the only rock band to get widely recognized, taking home two trophies (including Best New Artist) and several additional nominations including Song and Record of the Year. In fact, the Beach Boys would only ever earn three Grammy nominations: two in 1967 for their third No. 1 hit, "Good Vibrations"...and another in 1989 for their fourth chart-topper, "Kokomo." They weren't the only massively popular musicians the Grammys snubbed — but could the Recording Academy ever overcome their Beach Boys bias?

Though the Beach Boys were in no danger of being forgotten by the end of the 20th century, fans were surely curious if their award shelves would ever reflect the critical and commercial goodwill the band enjoyed for decades. Enter the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Established in 1973 to honor notable albums and singles 25 years or more after they were released, the Grammy Hall of Fame soon inducted great works by the group. "Good Vibrations" was honored in 1994, the landmark album "Pet Sounds" in 1998 (the album that made 1966 one of the best years in Beach Boys history), early single "In My Room" just a year later, and the favorite "California Girls" in 2010. In 2017, more than 50 years after it reached the top of the charts, the Hall of Fame finally honored "I Get Around."

Any doubts about the song's place in the Beach Boys canon were gone by 2023, when My Morning Jacket covered the tune for the TV special "A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys." "MMJ suddenly turn [the song] into a guitar jam," critic Chris Willman wrote in Variety. "[It] may not have a lot to do in those few bars with what Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote, but still a good deal of fun fun fun."