Pet Sounds

Pet Sounds is a 1966 album recorded by American pop group the Beach Boys. Often regarded as the masterpiece of composer-producer Brian Wilson, it has been hailed as one of the best and most influential albums in popular music. In 1995, nearly thirty years after its release, a panel of top musicians, songwriters and producers assembled by MOJO magazine voted it "The Greatest Album Ever Made." In 1998 Q magazine readers voted it the 31st greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th Century; in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at #3. It also placed #2 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

In many ways more of a Brian Wilson solo project, Pet Sounds was created after Wilson had stopped touring with the band, focusing his attention on writing and recording. Wilson created elaborate layers of beautiful harmonies by The Beach Boys, sound effects and unusual instruments like bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, the theremin, and even dog whistles, on top of conventional keyboards and guitars.

"Sloop John B" and the beginning of Pet Sounds

The track "Sloop John B" predated the recording of the rest of the LP by some months, but it proved to be a pivotal point in the album's development. It was a traditional West Indian folk song that had been suggested to Brian by group member Al Jardine. Wilson recorded a backing track on July 12, 1965, but after laying down a rough lead vocal, he set the song aside for some time, concentrating on the recording of what became their next LP, the 'live in the studio' album Beach Boys' Party!.

The real catalyst for Pet Sounds was The Beatles' new LP Rubber Soul (The US version and not the UK version), which was released in December 1965. Wilson later recalled his first impressions of the groundbreaking album:

I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, 'That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album."

In early January Wilson contacted Tony Asher, a young lyricist and copywriter who had been working on advertising jingles, whom Brian had met in a Hollywood recording studio months earlier. Within ten days they were writing together. Wilson played him some of the music he had been recording, and gave him a cassette of the finished backing track for a piece with the working title "In My Childhood"; it had lyrics, but Wilson refused to show them to Asher, who took the music away and wrote new lyrics. The result was eventually retitled "You Still Believe in Me" and the success of the piece convinced Brian that Asher was the collaborator he was looking for.

"The general tenor of the lyrics was always his," Asher later recalled, "and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter."

Writing the songs

Most of the songs on the album were written during December 1965 and January 1966. While most were composed with Tony Asher, one song was co-written by another new associate, Terry Sachen.

Mike Love is co-credited on the album's opening track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and on "I Know There's an Answer" (the only song with lyrics by Terry Sachen) but with the exception of his co-credit on "I'm Waiting for the Day," (originally copyrighted in February 1964, to Brian alone) his contributions are thought to have been minimal. The exact degree of Mike's contribution to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is still hazy, but under oath in a court of law, Tony Asher has stated that it consisted of the tag "Good night my baby/Sleep tight, my baby".

Love's main contribution to "I Know There's an Answer" is reputed to have consisted of his strenuous opposition to the song's original title, "Hang On to Your Ego," and his insistence that it be partially rewritten and retitled. The original lyrics created quite a stir within the group. "I was aware that Brian was beginning to experiment with LSD and other psychedelics," explained Mike. "The prevailing drug jargon at the time had it that doses of LSD would shatter your ego, as if that were a positive thing... I wasn't interested in taking acid or getting rid of my ego." Al recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Brian's. "Brian was very concerned. He wanted to know what we thought about it. To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'" Terry Sachen, who co-wrote the revised lyrics to this song, was the Beach Boys' road manager in 1966.

Asher's lyrics brought a new level of nuance and maturity to Wilson's work and complemented the music and arrangements that Wilson was creating. Additionally, it should be noted that Pet Sounds is indubitably a concept album, since its songs, while not united in the traditional sense, tell the story of a tumultuous relationship that reflected Wilson's personal concerns with the difficult transition from youth to adulthood in Sixties America, the exciting but often fleeting nature of love, and the yearning for a better future.

These concerns are mirrored by Asher's lyrics, which contain many elements written in the negative, in future tense or in future conditional tense — evidenced in titles like "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "You Still Believe in Me", "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and "Caroline, No."

The album also included two sophisticated instrumental tracks — the wistful "Let's Go Away for a While" - briefly semi-seriously subtitled "(And Then We'll have World Peace)" - and the brittle brassy surf of the title track, "Pet Sounds." (originally "Run James, Run", the intent being that it would be offered for use in a James Bond movie). Both had been recorded as backing tracks for existing songs, but by the time the album neared completion Wilson had decided that the tracks worked better without vocals, so they were left in that state. Another fully recorded backing track for an untitled song, known as "Trombone Dixie," was also recorded, but it remained in the vaults until the album was remastered for CD release in 1990.

The recording of Pet Sounds

With writing well underway, Wilson worked rapidly through January and early February 1966, recording six backing tracks for the new material. When the Beach Boys returned from a three-week tour of Japan and Hawaii, they were presented with a substantial portion of a new album, with music that was in many ways a radical departure from their earlier hits. Both Asher and Wilson state that there was resistance to the project from within the group, but on this occasion, Wilson's belief in his new work won the day and the band gave in.

All the backing tracks for Pet Sounds were recorded over a four-month period, using major Los Angeles studios (Gold Star, Western Recorders and Sunset Sound) and an ensemble that included some highly regarded musicians, including jazz guitarist Barney Kessell, bassist Carol Kaye, and session drummer Hal Blaine. All tracks were co-written, produced and arranged by Brian Wilson.

Wilson had developed his production methods over several years, bringing them to their zenith with the recording of Pet Sounds during late 1965 and early 1966. Wilson's approach was in some respects a refinement and development of the famous "Wall of Sound" technique created by his mentor and rival Phil Spector. Armed with new Ampex 8-track recorders, Wilson assembled tracks of complexity and technical brilliance, using his regular team of 'first call' session musicians, who are sometimes known as "The Wrecking Crew".

Wilson's typical production method on Pet Sounds was to record the instrumental backing tracks for each song as an ensemble performance, performed live and taped direct onto a 4-track recorder. His engineer Larry Levine has reported that Wilson also typically mixed these backing tracks live, as they were being taped. Like Spector, Wilson was a pioneer of the 'studio as instrument' concept, exploiting the novel sound combinations that arose from using multiple electric instruments and voices in an ensemble and combining them with echo and reverberation. He often doubled bass, guitar and keyboard parts, blending them with reverb and adding other unusual instruments to create startling new sound combinations. The deceptive simplicity of Wilson's music often covered the fact that his arrangements were more musically adventurous and complex than was expected in pop music.

These backing tracks were then dubbed down onto one track of an 8-track recorder (at Columbia studio, the only facility in LA with an 8-track), and although much of the fine detail in the arrangements was often covered by the group's rich harmony vocals, Wilson's arrangements ensured that they interacted effectively with the vocal tracks — often to the surprise of the musicians who performed them.

Six of the remaining seven tracks were usually dedicated to each of the Beach Boys' vocals (the five-piece group was by then being regularly augmented by singer Bruce Johnston, who later became a permanent member). The last track was usually reserved for additional vocals and/or instruments and other 'sweetening' elements.

Although the self-taught Wilson often had entire arrangements worked out in his head (which were usually written in a shorthand form for the other players by one of his session musicians), surviving tapes of his recording sessions show that he was remarkably open to input from his musicians, often taking advice and suggestions from them, and even incorporating apparent 'mistakes' if they provided a useful or interesting alternative.

In spite of the availability of complex multitrack recording, Wilson always mixed the final version of his recordings in mono, as did Phil Spector. He did this for several reasons; Wilson personally felt that mono mastering provided more sonic control over the final result that the listener heard, regardless of the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality. It was also motivated by the knowledge that radio and TV broadcast in mono, and most domestic and car radios and record players were monophonic. Another and more personal reason for Wilson's preference was the fact that he was deaf in one ear, rumored to be the result of childhood damage to his eardrum inflicted by a blow from his violent father Murry Wilson.

On February 15 the group travelled to the San Diego Zoo to shoot the photographs for the cover of the new album, which had already been titled Pet Sounds. Two days later, Brian was back in the studio with his session band, laying down the first takes for a new composition, "Good Vibrations". Around February 23, Wilson gave Capitol a provisional track listing for the new LP, which included both "Sloop John B" and "Good Vibrations." So much for the long held misconception that "Sloop John B" was a forced inclusion as the hit single at Capitol's insistence: in late February, the song was weeks away from release.

Wilson worked through February and into March fine-tuning the backing tracks. To the group's surprise, he also dropped "Good Vibrations" from the running order, telling them that he wanted to spend more time on it. Al Jardine remembers:

At the time, we all had assumed that Good Vibrations was going to be on the album, but Brian decided to hold it out. It was a judgment call on his part; we felt otherwise but left the ultimate decision up to him.

However, a riff from "Good Vibrations" was incorporated into "Here Today".

Most of March and early April was devoted to recording the remaining backing tracks and to the crucial recording of vocals, a process which proved to be the most exacting work the group had yet undertaken, as Mike Love later recalled:

We worked and worked on the harmonies and, if there was the slightest little hint of a sharp or a flat, it wouldn't go on. We would do it over again until it was right. ^* was going for every subtle nuance that you could conceivably think of. Every voice had to be right, every voice and its resonance and tonality had to be right. The timing had to be right. The timbre of the voices just had to be correct, according to how he felt. And then he might, the next day, completely throw that out and we might have to do it over again.

The influence of Pet Sounds

By mid-April Pet Sounds was finished and had been submitted to Capitol. "Caroline, No," released as a solo single; interestingly, it was credited to Brian Wilson solo, leading to later speculation that Wilson was considering leaving the band.

The single reached #32 in the United States. "Sloop John B" was extremely successful, scoring a #3 hit in the U.S. and #2 in Great Britain. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" reached #8 in the U.S. Its flip side, "God Only Knows," was another #2 single in Britain, but reached only #39 in the States. The LP broke into the Top Ten in the U.S., belying its reputation as a commercial failure there.

Pet Sounds' greatest success was in the UK, where it reached #2 in the LP charts. Its success there was aided by considerable support from the British music industry, who embraced the record warmly; Paul McCartney spoke often about the album's influence on The Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham even went as far as placing unsolicited advertisements lauding the album in British music papers, at his own expense: or so it was claimed for many years. However, a trawl of the UK pop press for 1966 fails to uncover any such advert.

However, like Beach Boys' Party!, Pet Sounds failed to reach gold status on its initial release, which disappointed Brian deeply. Much of the blame for its lukewarm commercial fortunes has been laid with Capitol Records, which did not promote the album as heavily as earlier releases. Pet Sounds eventually went gold and platinum in 2000.

Although not a big seller for the band originally, Pet Sounds has been influential since the day it was released. Rapturously received in Britain, it was lauded in the music press and championed by many top pop stars. The Beatles, for example, have said that Pet Sounds was a major influence on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, and Paul McCartney has repeatedly named it as one of his favorite albums (with "God Only Knows" as his favorite song) — completing a circle begun by the Beatles' influence on Wilson (see "the beginning of Pet Sounds", above).

Paul McCartney stated that "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 ^* 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 favorite 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-colored harmonies ... sends shivers up my spine."

Other artists have also cited Pet Sounds as one of the all time classic albums. Eric Clapton stated that "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 thinks that "Pet Sounds is a landmark album. 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." George Martin, the Beatles producer, stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." Bob Dylan has said of Brian Wilson's talents, "That ear - I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian."

Track listing

All songs by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, except where noted.

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" (Wilson, Asher, Mike Love) – 2:22
- Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"You Still Believe in Me" – 2:30
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals; originally titled "In My Childhood"
"That's Not Me" – 2:27
- Features Mike Love and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" – 2:51
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"I'm Waiting for the Day" (Wilson, Love) – 3:03
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" (Wilson) – 2:18
- Instrumental, Originally titled "The Old Man and the Baby"
"Sloop John B" (Trad. arr. Wilson) – 2:56
- Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
"God Only Knows" – 2:49
- Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals: Brian & Bruce on the tag.
"I Know There's an Answer" (Wilson, Terry Sachen, Love) – 3:08
- Features Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Brian Wilson on lead vocals; Originally titled "Hang On To Your Ego"
"Here Today" – 2:52
- Features Mike Love on lead vocals
"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" – 3:11
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
"Pet Sounds" (Wilson) – 2:20
- Instrumental; originally titled "Run James Run"
"Caroline No" – 2:52
- Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals

Singles

"Caroline, No" b/w "Summer Means New Love" (Capitol 5610), 7 March 1966 US #32. (Credited to Brian Wilson)
"Sloop John B" b/w "You're So Good to Me" (Capitol 5602), 21 March 1966 US #3; UK #2
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" b/w "God Only Knows" (Capitol 5706), 11 July 1966 US #8 ("God Only Knows" US #39; UK #2)
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" featured as the B-side to "Good Vibrations"

In 1997, The Pet Sounds Sessions box set was released which included the original mono release, the first stereo release and 3 CDs of out-takes and rehearsals. The stereo mix was released in 1999 and again in 2001 on one CD along with the mono mix, with "Hang on to Your Ego" (the original version of "I Know There's an Answer") as a bonus track.

Recordings from Brian Wilson's 2002 concert tour, in which he reproduced the whole album live on stage, were released as Pet Sounds Live.

Pet Sounds (Capitol (D) T 2458) hit #10 in the US during a 39 week chart stay. In the UK, it reached #2.

Personnel

Glen Campbell – Guitar (12 String)
Paul Horn – Sax (Tenor)
Brian Wilson – Organ, Guitar, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Producer
Frank Capp – Percussion, Glockenspiel, Bells, Tympani ^*, Vibraphone
Plas Johnson – Percussion, Saxophone, Sax (Tenor)
Barney Kessel – Guitar, Mandolin
Don Randi – Piano
Jerry Cole – Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Frank Marocco – Accordion
Lyle Ritz – Ukulele, String Bass
Julius Wechter – Tympani ^*, Vibraphone, Latin Percussion
Mike Deasy Sr. – Guitar
Bruce Johnston – Vocals
Mike Love – Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Terry Melcher – Tambourine, Vocals
Jerry Williams – Percussion
Carl Wilson – Guitar, Vocals
Billy Strange – Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (12 String)
Jim Gordon – Percussion, Drums
Hal Blaine – Bongos, Drums, Tympani ^*
Chuck Berghofer – String Bass
Bruce Botnick – Engineer
Chuck Britz – Engineer
Roy Caton – Trumpet
Gary Coleman – Bongos, Tympani ^*
Al DeLory – Organ, Piano, Tack Piano
Dennis Diken
Carl Fortina – Accordion
Ron Furmanek
Bill Green – Flute, Percussion, Saxophone, Sax (Tenor)
Jim Horn – Flute, Saxophone, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
Jules Jacob – Flute
Al Jardine – Vocals
Carol Kaye – Bass, Bass (Electric)
Larry Knechtel – Organ
Larry Levine – Engineer
Nick Martinis – Drums
Ron McMaster – Remixing
Mike Melvoin – Harpsichord
Jay Migliori – Clarinet, Flute, Clarinet (Bass), Saxophone, Sax (Baritone)
Tommy Morgan – Harmonica
Jack Nimitz – Sax (Baritone)
Bill Pitman – Guitar
Ray Pohlman – Guitar, Mandolin, Bass (Electric)
Alan Robinson – French Horn
Ernie Tack – Trombone (Bass)
Paul Tanner – Electrotheremin
Tommy Tedesco – Guitar (Acoustic)
Dennis Wilson – Drums, Vocals
Brad Benedict – Photo Research
Arnold Belnick – Violin
James Getzoff – Violin
William Kurasch – Violin
Jerome Reisler – Violin
Tibor Zelig – Violin
Ralph Schaeffer – Violin
Sid Sharp – Violin
Harry Hyams – Viola
Norman Botnick – Viola
Joseph DiFiore – Viola
Darrel Terwilliger – Viola
Jesse Erlich – Cello
Joseph Saxon – Cello
Justin DiTullio – Cello
Gail Martin – Trombone
Tommy Steele – Art Direction
Leonard Hartman – Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Horn (English)
Sam Gay – Art Supervisor
George Jerman – Photography
Darren Wong – Art Supervisor
Lisa Reddick – Producer
Jim Elliott – Producer
Bobby Klein – Sax (Tenor)
Ralph Balantin – Engineer
Michael Etchart – Executive Producer
Tammy Kizer – Producer
Al Casey – Guitar
Richard Evans – Design
Steve Douglas – Clarinet, Flute, Saxophone, Sax (Tenor)

Sources

Pet Sounds CD booklet notes, David Leaf, c.1990 and 2001.
The Pet Sounds Sessions box set notes, David Leaf, c.1997.
"The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
"Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
"Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
All Music Guide.com

External links

Pet Sounds lyrics
Liner Notes
Rolling Stone voted the album the second greatest album ever.

1966 albums | The Beach Boys albums | Capitol Records albums | United States National Recording Registry

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