In the lyrics to this song, there are several references to the various events that took place during the time of this song's release, including miniskirts, the Vietnam War, and electric baseball scores.
The backing track for the song was recorded using the renowned group of Los Angeles session musicians who are now collectively known as "The Wrecking Crew". This was written by Sonny and the arrangement is credited to Harold Battiste, but Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye asserts that at the session she devised the distinctive syncopated bass line that is featured on the released recording, replacing the original walking bass line in the prepared arrangement: "Well, "The Beat Goes On" is a biggie. I mean, it was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that. But you'd have to say all of them. There's only a certain song, like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" that was guaranteed to be a hit because it was a great song. But about 95% of that stuff would not have been a hit without us, that's true." Carol played on hundreds of records, including tracks for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. She had recently switched from guitar to bass - Sonny Bono would often use her for electric 12-string fills. This song had a very sparse bass part written, which Carol elaborated into the key part of the instrumentation. She adds that it was only one chord, but its impact made her realize how important a bass line could be and inspired her to play more of the instrument.
In the lyrics to this song, there are several references to the various events that took place during the time of this song's release, including miniskirts, the Vietnam War, and electric baseball scores.
The backing track for the song was recorded using the renowned group of Los Angeles session musicians who are now collectively known as "The Wrecking Crew". This was written by Sonny and the arrangement is credited to Harold Battiste, but Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye asserts that at the session she devised the distinctive syncopated bass line that is featured on the released recording, replacing the original walking bass line in the prepared arrangement: "Well, "The Beat Goes On" is a biggie. I mean, it was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that. But you'd have to say all of them. There's only a certain song, like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" that was guaranteed to be a hit because it was a great song. But about 95% of that stuff would not have been a hit without us, that's true." Carol played on hundreds of records, including tracks for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. She had recently switched from guitar to bass - Sonny Bono would often use her for electric 12-string fills. This song had a very sparse bass part written, which Carol elaborated into the key part of the instrumentation. She adds that it was only one chord, but its impact made her realize how important a bass line could be and inspired her to play more of the instrument.
In the lyrics to this song, there are several references to the various events that took place during the time of this song's release, including miniskirts, the Vietnam War, and electric baseball scores.
The backing track for the song was recorded using the renowned group of Los Angeles session musicians who are now collectively known as "The Wrecking Crew". This was written by Sonny and the arrangement is credited to Harold Battiste, but Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye asserts that at the session she devised the distinctive syncopated bass line that is featured on the released recording, replacing the original walking bass line in the prepared arrangement: "Well, "The Beat Goes On" is a biggie. I mean, it was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that. But you'd have to say all of them. There's only a certain song, like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" that was guaranteed to be a hit because it was a great song. But about 95% of that stuff would not have been a hit without us, that's true." Carol played on hundreds of records, including tracks for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. She had recently switched from guitar to bass - Sonny Bono would often use her for electric 12-string fills. This song had a very sparse bass part written, which Carol elaborated into the key part of the instrumentation. She adds that it was only one chord, but its impact made her realize how important a bass line could be and inspired her to play more of the instrument.