The Beach Boys are one of the greatest and arguably the most influential rock groups of all time.

[sir pball]

Brian Wilson had such perfect pitch, Bob Dylan said "Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to the Smithsonian."

In 1965, the Beatles released Rubber Soul. Brian Wilson heard it and decided he could do better...and the next year, we got Pet Sounds. Not only does it include some of the greatest vocal harmonies in popular music, it also basically invented the concept of "the studio as an instrument" - Good Vibrations almost entirely consists of pre-recorded snippets and tracks mixed after the fact. It would be impossible to perform live. Rolling Stone rates it as the #2 pop album of all time and I don't disagree.

And, of course, in response to Pet Sounds, the Beatles wrote a little record called Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...you may have heard of it.

Here's the isolated vocals from Sloop John B, off of Pet Sounds. Boyz II Men *might* be able to do as well, but I can't think of any other pop group that even comes close.

[MenloParque]

1. 100%. For me it's always The Beach Boys and Stones at the top!

[sir pball]

2. The Boys, the Stones, Beatles, Led Zep, Velvet Underground for me nt

[Walleye]

3. That was an exciting time in music with the heavyweights trying top each other with each album

[sir pball]

4. We can only imagine what it would have been like if Brian Wilson hadn't melted down

Looking at Pet Sounds, what would the Boys' response to Sgt. Pepper have been? We already have some of the best albums ever, wouldn't that have been great?

[Walleye]

5. Absolutely. I also imagine what Janis and Jimi would be doing. Maybe jazz??

[DBoon]

8. I bet Jimi would be doing some serious funk

I can imagine him pairing up with George Clinton

[Walleye]

10. Goddamn, that would've been great!

[SCantiGOP]

31. I wrote a short story for a college class in the late 70's

It was based on the premise that none of the great rockers had died of overdoses, and a kid who was torn up over their deaths manages to see into a future 25 years later where they are all alive.
Jim Morrison had burned his brain out on acid and was a megachurch holy roller minister that believed that he talked to Jesus every day.
Janis Joplin, after barely surviving her heroin overdose, had abandoned rock music and was the Mary Kay Cosmetics spokesperson.
And Jimi Hendrix's fortunes had plummeted during the disco era, and he was doing ads for weight loss pills on late night TV.

I guess if I were to update the story now I would have one of them doing the Joe Namath/Dy-no-mite guy Medicare ads, while another would be Alex Jones' sidekick on his show.

[Gruenemann]

6. They performed "Good Vibrations" when I saw them live.

This was 1967, I think. Maybe it didn't sound exactly like the recording, but what live performance does?

It's the only time I've ever seen someone play a theremin!

I TOTALLY agree with your assessment of the Beach Boys!

[bahboo]

7. saw Brian Wilson a few years ago at the Santa Barbara Bowl...

did the entire Pet Sounds album. It was a holy shit night....

[ificandream]

9. Met Brian several years ago during that Pet Sounds tour

My friend won a backstage pass and she invited me to go. It was an eerie experience. He didn't seem like he was all there. But there's no getting around his brilliance.

[DBoon]

11. Beatles worship obscures the other amazing talented bands of the time

Even without the Beatles, it would have been a golden era of popular music

[sir pball]

12. True, but in pop music being popular is more important than being talented...

…the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

[cinematicdiversions]

19. Well Jesus' second album was a disappointment nt

[lastlib]

13. I always despised that song.......

...Couldn't tell you why, it just rubbed me wrong.

[AngryOldDem]

14. Pet Sounds -- one of the greatest albums ever.

Brian Wilson is a genius. Also like VanDyke Parks.

I think I prefer Pet Sounds to Rubber Soul. I can listen to “Let’s Go Away for Awhile” (which Wilson challenged someone to try to hum to show how musically intricate it is) and “Woukdn’t It Be Nice” (innocence of youth) all day.

[highplainsdem]

15. I had an early, promo copy of Pet Sounds because my dad worked for a radio station

at the time. I loved "Sloop John B" and liked "God Only Knows" almost as much, didn't like the rest of the album nearly as well. (My favorite Beach Boys song is "Don't Worry Baby." )

Btw, although they started recording "Good Vibrations" while they were recording Pet Sounds, that song wasn't finished and released till months later.

Pet Sounds did better in the UK than the US, peaked at #10 here.

[AngryOldDem]

16. God Only Knows gives me chills.

GORGEOUS song. It’s been covered a lot, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad version.

[highplainsdem]

17. It is a beautiful song. I thought it was far and away the best original song

on the album. (I was thinking I'd discussed Pet Sounds here before, but that was just a mention in a thread in Music Appreciation - https://democraticunderground.com/103465451#post3 .)

To me Pet Sounds is basically a Brian Wilson solo project, and an enormously expensive one. One of the most, if not the most, expensive albums ever recorded, at that time.

By contrast, "Don't Worry Baby" -- which IMO is perfect, quintessential Beach Boys -- was recorded quickly and inexpensively. And I think it's just the band, no session musicians, though I'm not positive of that.


Editing to add that I just checked Wikipedia and their article on "Don't Worry Baby" says it was just the band on that track. The article also has a quote from an interview Brian Wilson gave in 1970 where he said "Don't Worry Baby" was "probably the best record we've done" -- but I know he also once said that "California Girls" was his favorite Beach Boys song, and he's probably expressed other opinions about favorites at other times.

[malthaussen]

18. Listening to "Pet Sounds" recently, I had a thought...

... now, Brian will tell you that there is no theme connecting all the cuts on the album into a story, that it was just exercises in sonic variations -- his "Pet" sounds. So my interpretation does not have the seal of approval.

But, if you listen to the cuts in order, you come up with a story of the life and death of a relationship, with the guy going through "all kinds of changes" and then complaining that Caroline is not the girl he loved anymore. (Interestingly, "She's Not the Little Girl I Once Knew" was also recorded during these sessions, but not included on the album -- but it's kinship with "Caroline, No" thematically, if not sonically, is clear). I came away with the conclusion that the answer to the questions he asks in "Caroline, No" boil down to: you, bro.

Over the course of the album, the guy leaves his girl twice (she forgives him both times), tells her to shut up, he doesn't care about her feelings ("Don't Talk, Put Your Head on My Shoulder" ), virtually accuses her of being a slut ("Here Today" ), and ends by complaining that *she's* changed. It may be unintentional, but the album tells a story... and a pretty depressing one.

Which doesn't make me love it any less -- on the short list for GOAT.

-- Mal

[highplainsdem]

21. Really interesting possibility. Which I can't give you any good feedback on

because it's been too long since I listened to more than my two favorite tracks there. I wonder what responses you might get from Pet Sounds fans, though, if you posted an OP about this here in the Lounge?

[malthaussen]

25. Already did, and to quote David Hume...

... it "fell dead born from the Press." I rarely get more than a couple of responses to my crazier lucubrications here.

-- Mal

[highplainsdem]

26. You posted that yesterday? I just used Advanced Search to search for your

name, and also skimmed back through posts here, but I can't find it.

[malthaussen]

27. Nope, back in July...

... according to my Journal.

-- Mal

[highplainsdem]

28. Sorry you didn't get more of a response then. But with the details about

your theory from reply 18 here, plus the renewed interest in the album shown in this thread, it might be worth another try -- but definitely with those details you mentioned to me here, since they explain so much. Your July OP was really short.

[AngryOldDem]

30. Looking at the lyrics of "Caroline, No" you're right.

He’s asking “What happened to you?” The comma is essential.

Slut shaming? Idolization gone bad? Unrequited love gone bad?

Brian only knows.

[malthaussen]

32. Asher only knows.

He wrote the lyric.

-- Mal

[AngryOldDem]

33. True.

[sarge43]

22. Me too.

Right up there with the Four Tops Reach out, I'll be There. Perfect love songs

[AngryOldDem]

29. If you want to hear a really good cover...

…listen to the Manhattan Transfer. The arrangement on that is stellar.

So much emotion, simply put. That’s what makes a great song. “Cherish” by The Association is another one.

[malthaussen]

20. Before the Beatles, their rivals were the Four Seasons.

Each tried to out-do the other. So, there at one time you have three of the best harmonic groups ever struggling for prominence.

-- Mal

[3catwoman3]

23. Some time in the mid-to-late 1980s, my husband and I went to...

...a Beach Boys concert at the outdoor venue Wolf Trap, in Virginia.

The first half of the concert was somewhat disappointing - not much energy, rather flat. After the intermission, whole different energy. Lively, crisp, pumped up, exhilarating. I found myself wondering if they had snorted a few lines of coke during the break, or what. The difference was very noticeable.

I love their music - the music of my teens and young adulthood.

[BlueTsunami2018]

24. I love listening to isolated vocals.

I never thought to look up The Beach Boys, thanks for the nudge to do so. Don’t Worry Baby sounds amazing.

[CTyankee]

34. I loved the Beach Boys but at the time they got famous, I didn't think they were appreciated fully.

I also loved the BeeGees, but at the time, they weren't popular among the higher minded folks. When I noticed my little grandson bouncing up and and down in the car seat when that song went on, I realized that the critics were wrong about the BeeGees.

I loved Disco.

[ProfessorGAC]

35. I'll Take The Opposing View

I think they're among the most overrated band in history.
And, if you think the Beatles weren't heading toward Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds or nit, you're kidding yourself.