orchestrating there, but it's fine. This was a little boring to play without a lead...sort of like Beethoven, the bass wound up playing scale-like figures to a march time, ending a jazz-like chordal spread of violin and cellos." Recording Wilson produced the basic track, including string overdubs, on March 6, 1966 at Western Recorders Studio 3. The song was then logged as "Untitled Ballad". Vocal overdubs finished the track on March 10 (or possibly March 10–12) at Columbia Studio A. Wilson and Love, who both sang vocals, are the only Beach Boys who perform on the recording. A discarded alternate mix, created on March 12, featured only Love on lead vocals. Critical reception On May 16, 1966, "I'm Waiting for the Day" was released as the fifth track on Pet Sounds. In his self-described "unbiased" review of the album for Record Mirror, Norman Jopling described the song as an exhibition for "shotgun drums ... strings and organ, but used completely different [from 'Don't Talk'] ... it suddenly develops into a thumpy heartbeating noise, which is the introduction for Brian Wilson to throw in everything including the proverbial kitchen sink, and presumably the washing up water..." Wilson felt that his singing on "I'm Waiting for the Day" was inadequate, explaining, "Vocally, I thought I sounded a little bit weird in my head. That's the one cut off the album I didn't really like that much. But, you know, it's okay, it's not a case of liking or not liking it; it was an appropriate song, a very, very positive song. I just didn't like my voice on that particular song." His brother Carl praised the dynamics, saying, "The intro is very big, then it gets quite small with the vocal in the verse with a little instrumentation and then, in the chorus, it gets very big again, with the background harmonies against the lead. It is perhaps one of the most dynamic moments in the album." Live performances In 1974 and 1975, the Beach Boys incorporated "I'm Waiting for the Day" in their concert set lists. Personnel Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys Mike Love – bass and backing vocals Brian Wilson – lead and bass vocals Session musicians (also known as "the Wrecking Crew") Gary Coleman – timpani, bongos Jim Gordon – drums Bill Green – flute Leonard Hartman – English horn Jim Horn – flute Carol Kaye