Pet Sounds

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This article is about the Beach Boys album. For the recording studio, see Pet Sounds Studio.
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds cover
Studio album by The Beach Boys
Released 16 May 1966
Recorded 12 July 1965 &
1 November 1965 –
13 April 1966
Genre Baroque pop
Length 36:25
Label Capitol Records
Producer Brian Wilson
Professional reviews
The Beach Boys chronology
Beach Boys' Party!
(1965)		 Pet Sounds
(1966)		 Best of The Beach Boys
(1966)

Pet Sounds is a 1966 album recorded by American pop group The Beach Boys. It has been widely ranked as one of the most influential record albums ever released in western pop music. The album has been ranked at number #1 in several music magazines' lists of greatest albums of all time, including New Musical Express, The Times, Mojo Magazine, and Pure Pop's lists. It was number #2 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list. According to Acclaimedmusic.net, Pet Sounds is the most acclaimed pop album of all time by music journalists.[1]

Essentially a solo project for Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds was created after he had quit touring with the band in order to focus his attention on writing and recording.[2] In it, he wove elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, coupled with sound effects and unconventional instruments such as bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, the Electro-Theremin, and dog whistles, along with the more usual keyboards and guitars.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

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 Caribbean folk song that had been suggested to Wilson by group member Al Jardine.[4] 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 US version of The Beatles' new LP Rubber Soul, 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."[5] ”

In early January Wilson contacted Tony Asher, a young lyricist and copywriter who had been working on advertising jingles, and whom Wilson 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 Wilson that Tony 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."[6]

[edit] Writing

Most of the songs on the album were written during December 1965 and January 1966. While most were composed with Tony Asher, "I Know There's an Answer" was co-written by another new associate, Terry Sachen.[7]

Mike Love is co-credited on the album's opening track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and on "I Know There's an Answer" but with the exception of his co-credit on "I'm Waiting for the Day,"[7](originally copyrighted in February 1964, to Wilson alone) his contributions are thought to have been minimal. The exact degree of Love'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"[7].

Love, in addition to Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine, was taken aback by Brian's new sound (and Asher's lyrics) when they returned from touring the Far East to record their vocals.[8] Love in particular was nonplussed that Brian had completely thrown the tried-and-true formula of writing about fast cars, cute girls, and sunny beaches out the proverbial window.

Love's main influence on "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 Love. "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." Jardine recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Wilson'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.[9]

The album included two sophisticated instrumental tracks, the wistful "Let's Go Away for Awhile" — with a working parenthetical title of "And Then We'll have World Peace"[7][10] — and the brittle brassy surf of the title track, "Pet Sounds" (originally "Run James, Run", the suggestion 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 and so left them as such. A third instrumental, called "Trombone Dixie," had been fully recorded, but it remained in the vaults until its inclusion on the album's 1990 (remastered) CD release.

[edit] Recording

With writing well under way, Wilson worked rapidly through January and early February 1966, recording six backing tracks for the new material. When the other 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 attempts. 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 convinced the other members of the group.[6]

All the backing tracks for Pet Sounds were recorded over a four-month period, using major Los Angeles studios (Gold Star Studios, United Western Recorders and Sunset Sound) and an ensemble that included some highly regarded session musicians, including jazz guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Carol Kaye, and session drummer Hal Blaine. All tracks were produced and arranged by Brian Wilson. He also wrote or co-wrote every track except for Sloop John B.[11]

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.[12] Armed with new Ampex 8-track recorders, Wilson produced tracks of great complexity using his regular team of 'first call' players, sometimes known collectively as "The Wrecking Crew".[13]

Audio samples of Pet Sounds

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.[citation needed] Like Spector, Wilson was a pioneer of the 'studio as instrument' concept, exploiting novel combinations of sounds that sprung from the use of 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 reverberation and adding other unusual instruments to create startling new sound blends.[citation needed] The deceptive simplicity of Brian's music often veiled the fact that his arrangements were more musically adventurous and complex than one would expect 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 vocal harmonies, Wilson's arrangements ensured that they interacted effectively with the vocal tracks, often to the surprise of the musicians who performed them.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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; one of which was that he 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, back then, radio and TV were broadcast in mono, and most domestic and automotive radios and record players were monophonic. Another and more personal reason for Wilson's preference of recording in mono was due to his being almost totally deaf in his right ear, rumored to be the result of childhood injury to his eardrum caused by a blow from his violent father Murry Wilson, although Wilson has claimed that he was born deaf in one ear.

On February 15 the group traveled 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, Wilson 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." This contradicts 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.[6]

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.[6] ”

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 hitherto 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. [Brian] 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.[6] ”

[edit] Release

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 alone, leading to speculation that he 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. In Australia, the album was only released under the title The Fabulous Beach Boys on the Music for Pleasure label.

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. But although it's been claimed that the Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham placed unsolicited advertisements lauding the album in British music papers, 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 in the U.S., where it reached a respectable #10, which deeply disappointed Wilson. Much of the blame for its lukewarm commercial fortunes has been laid with Capitol Records, which did not promote the album as heavily as the band's earlier releases. Pet Sounds eventually went gold and platinum in 2000.

[edit] Reception

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 their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 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. 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 [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.[14] ”

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."[15]

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."[16]

Beatles producer George Martin stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."[17] After Sgt. Pepper was released, Wilson was so despondent that he went to bed for months.[18]

Bob Dylan has said of Brian Wilson's talents, "That ear — I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian."[17]

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." It was number one in New Musical Express's list "The 100 Best Albums". In 2006 Q magazine readers voted it the 18th greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th Century; in 2001 the TV network VH1 placed it at #3. The Times magazine ranked it greatest album of all time. It also placed #2 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time behind only 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. According to Acclaimedmusic.net, Pet Sounds is the most acclaimed pop album of all time by music journalists.[19]

In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[20]

[edit] Track listing

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

  1. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (Wilson, Asher, Mike Love) – 2:22
    • Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
  2. "You Still Believe in Me" – 2:30
    • Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals; originally titled "In My Childhood"
  3. "That's Not Me" – 2:27
    • Features Mike Love [w/Brian Wilson] on lead vocals
  4. "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" – 2:51
    • Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
  5. "I'm Waiting for the Day" (Wilson, Love) – 3:03
    • Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
  6. "Let's Go Away for Awhile" (Wilson) – 2:18
    • Instrumental, Originally titled "The Old Man and the Baby"
  7. "Sloop John B" (Trad. arr. Wilson) – 2:56
    • Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
  8. "God Only Knows" – 2:49
    • Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals: Brian Wilson & Bruce Johnston on the tag.
  9. "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"
  10. "Here Today" – 2:52
    • Features Mike Love on lead vocals
  11. "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" – 3:11
    • Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals
  12. "Pet Sounds" (Wilson) – 2:20
    • Instrumental; originally titled "Run James Run"
  13. "Caroline, No" – 2:52
    • Features Brian Wilson on lead vocals; The barking of his dogs Banana and Louie closes the song

[edit] 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"
  • "Here Today" featured as the B-side to "Darlin'"

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 on vinyl and one CD and again in 2001 along with the CD release having the mono mix as well, 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.

On August 29, 2006, Capitol released the 40th Anniversary edition of Pet Sounds. The new compilation contains a new 2006 mono mix, DVD mixes (stereo and Surround Sound), and a "making of" documentary. The discs were released in a regular jewel box and a deluxe edition was released in a green "fuzzy box". A two disk colored gatefold vinyl set was released with green and yellow disks with the yellow one having the mono mix on it and the green disc having the stereo version.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Band members

[edit] Session musicians

[edit] Other staff

  • Ralph Balantin - Engineer
  • Bruce Botnick - Engineer
  • Chuck Britz - Engineer
  • H. Bowen David - Engineer
  • Larry Levine - Engineer

[edit] Trivia

  • Splitsville paid tribute to this album (as well as the Beatles' Rubber Soul) with their 2001 release "The Complete Pet Soul".

[edit] 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.
  • Pet Sounds on All Music Guide.com
  • Badman, Keith; Bacon, Tony The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage, Backbeat Books, 2004 ISBN 0879308184
  • Doe, Andrew; Tobler, John Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to Their Music, Omnibus Press, 2004 ISBN 1844494268 с. 46-53

[edit] References

  1. ^ Acclaimed Music
  2. ^ A 'Pet Sounds' apotheosis: 1/25/98
  3. ^ The Brighton Magazine - Clubs & Music - Reviews
  4. ^ The Pet Sounds Sessions: "The Making Of Pet Sounds" booklet, pg. 25–26
  5. ^ An Evening with Brian Wilson The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England-September 23, 2007
  6. ^ a b c d e Pet Sounds Liner Notes
  7. ^ a b c d Pet Sounds Track Notes
  8. ^ Brian Wilson :: Official Web Site. Words: L.A. Weekly
  9. ^ Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to Their Music, page 50
  10. ^ Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to Their Music, page 49
  11. ^ Ibid
  12. ^ Brian Wilson :: Official Web Site. Words: American Prospect.
  13. ^ AmericanHeritage.com / The Wrecking Crew
  14. ^ Brian Wilson :: Official Web Site. Words: McCartney
  15. ^ The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage, page 139
  16. ^ EMIssion-online.com - issue 312 - jun 23, 2006
  17. ^ a b Brian Wilson :: Official Web Site. Quotes
  18. ^ Brian Wilson went to bed: bbc.co.uk Retrieved: 3 February 2007
  19. ^ Acclaimed Music
  20. ^ The All-TIME 100 Albums

[edit] External links

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