First released (on The Beach Boys Today!) by The Beach Boys (1965).
Hit version (from Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)) by The Beach Boys (US #1/CAN #1/UK #27/SWE #5 1965).
From the wiki: “‘Help Me, Rhonda’ was written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, with additional lyrics by Mike Love. Unlike many other songs by the band from this period, ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ features a lead vocal sung by Al Jardine.
“In his memoir, Wilson claimed the song was inspired by Bobby Darin’s ‘Mack the Knife’, which he was playing on the piano when he came up with the music for ‘Help Me Rhonda’. He has also cited ‘Fannie Mae’ — a 1952 R%B hit by Buster Brown — as an inspiration.
“Though Wilson initially intended to perform the lead vocal for the song himself, he instead assigned the part to Al Jardine. Wilson later stated, ‘I’d heard Al sing a lot and liked his voice and wanted to write a song for him that showed off the quality of his voice and sure enough I did.’ Jardine, who had only sung one lead vocal for the band up to that point, struggled with his vocal.
“According to Jardine, he and Brian Wilson conflicted over Jardine’s delivery of the lyric ‘Rhonda, you look so fine’. Jardine explained, ‘I think the part that was hard was the length of ‘fine’, that was the part, to be specific with you. It could have been sung quicker or longer, and I just heard it longer and he heard it shorter. I think it kind of came out halfway in between [laughs].’
“Two versions of ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ were released commercially in 1965. The first version, recorded in January 1965 and featuring Jardine’s vocal, was included on the band’s The Beach Boys Today! album under the title ‘Help Me, Ronda’. Jardine characterized this version as ‘more of a laid-back shuffle’ and said it ‘definitely wasn’t a single.’ Wilson, however, felt the song had hit potential and the band rerecorded the track in February 1965 with a punchier, guitar-led arrangement and some minor lyrical tweaks.
“Released as a single in March 1965, the ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ rerecording was a commercial smash hit, reaching #1 in the US and knocking the Beatles’ ‘Ticket to Ride’ from the top spot. It was the band’s second number-one and the first since 1964’s ‘I Get Around’. In the aftermath of its chart success, the new track was then included on the band’s next studio album, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). Wilson recalled, ‘That was one of the hits that Capitol wanted.'”
Buster Brown, “Fannie Mae” (1959):
The Beach Boys, “Help Me, Rhonda” stereo album version (1965):
The Beach Boys, “Help Me, Rhonda” mono single version (1965):