Brian had wanted to issue "God Only Knows" as a solo record by Carl, but according to Carl, "'Good Vibrations', which should have been our next single, didn't turn out the way Brian wanted. We had to have another release and so ['God Only Knows' came out as a Beach Boys single]." On July 18, the song was issued as the B-side of the "Wouldn't It Be Nice" single in the US. Radio programmers ultimately hesitated to add the song to their playlists due to the word "God". On September 24, it peaked in the "Billboard" charts separately from the A-side, at number 39. It was ultimately their last B-side to chart there. Later reports suggest that the song was banned from radio in parts of the southern US, a claim that is likely spurious.