Wax Pick: The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Amazon continues to crush it with great picks on the cheap. I grew up on this one, and if you don’t already have it in your collection, it is a MUST own as one of the most prolific albums of all time.
I had the chance to see Brian Wilson few years back on his Smile tour. As tragic as his story is, he has composed some of the most beautiful songs ever written, and reshaped American pop culture. The vocal harmonies are what The Beach Boys were always known for, but the depth of instrumentation, the layers and textures behind The Beach Boys’ material is staggering. They were way ahead of their time. Think about the fact that this was put out in 1966, one year before Sgt. Pepper. George Martin (The Beatles’ producer) himself even said, “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn’t have happened… Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds.” Sort of the opposite to their UK counterparts, The Beach Boys were simple on the top, but had incredible depth behind their music.
Fun Fact: The album art was shot right here in San Diego, at the San Diego Zoo.
Paul McCartney on Pet Sounds:
It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I’ve just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life … I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album … I love the orchestra, the arrangements … it may be going overboard to say it’s the classic of the century … but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways … I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried. I played it to John [Lennon] so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence … it was the record of the time. The thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the bass lines … and also, putting melodies in the bass line. That I think was probably the big influence that set me thinking when we recorded Pepper, it set me off on a period I had then for a couple of years of nearly always writing quite melodic bass lines. “God Only Knows” is a big favourite of mine … very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. On “You Still Believe in Me”, I love that melody – that kills me … that’s my favourite, I think … it’s so beautiful right at the end … comes surging back in these multi-coloured harmonies … sends shivers up my spine.
Eric Clapton:
I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that’s ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one.
Elton John:
For me to say that I was enthralled would be an understatement. I had never heard such magical sounds, so amazingly recorded. It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording. It is a timeless and amazing recording of incredible genius and beauty.
Pick it up, and under the advice of Mr. Wilson himself, “Listen to Pet Sounds with earphones in the dark.”
The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
One Response to “Wax Pick: The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds”
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I think about everyone has felt at one time or another that they "just weren't made for these times". Then in our dreams we hung on because we knew that "wouldn't it be nice" later! ….and it was. It is nice to see that the music is still appreciated, even 40+ years later. By the way, other songs were nice too. There was a place where I could go and tell my troubles to, "In my room"! Sometimes hurt brings the best in us, out! This seems especially true with musicians and we are often blessed by their hurt.