The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds album

Prior to The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds album, it seemed a little chaotic looking on the inside. The father I don’t think made it easy to be around, and he was always in the picture even after he was dropped from management in 1964. Brian I believe had it worse. I recall reading about him being in a plane covering his head with a pillow yelling and crying after 5 minutes of leaving the airport. However, looking in from the outside every thing seemed great! The band still had there second number one hits in the spring of 1965, WHEN I GROW UP (TO BE A MAN) and HELP ME, RHONDA. The image still seemed promising and there songs where still popping the charts. I understand that Capital was signing the Beatles, which contributed much worries for the group.

Brian Wilson as discussed above had it worse then the others. In the mid month of 1965 he left the road and only wanted to make records. Brian said, “The only way we could achieve it was if they did their job and I did mine.” He was under too much pressure. Brian did everything and he was getting tired of it. Brian said, “I felt I had no choice. I was run down mentally and emotionally because I was running around, jumping on jets, one-night stands, also producing, writing, arranging, singing, planning, teaching.” He had a lot of influences to include Phil specter, the Four Freshmen and even Bill Haley & The Comets. This of course is also where he gets some of his sounds when recording. He was even a huge fan of Author/Writer Arthur Koestler.

While recording his album Pet Sounds Brian enjoyed collaborating with Tony Asher and Mike Love. It is amazing how this album came to pass. This album started out nicely but had a strange gap between the start and finish. I like how they pushed through the boundaries and kept moving toward a positive direction despite Brians addiction with drugs and alcohol. It is nice how years later Tony and Brian where able to pick up where they left off. In mid-April of 1966 the album was submitted to Capital Records. Brain declared, “I was very proud of that album.”

As a music professional, I think the group added a very distinctive sound and paved the road/future for upcoming artist alike. I had listened to Pet Sounds before listening to the documentaries and reading bios. I previously listened to the whole album again from the originals to the newer version. I have to say that the sound is amazing. I can’t believe that it could sound so different after following the story… It is astonishing what Brain was able to do back then compared to today’s technologies. – What a wonderful ear for music.

Thanks, Joshua