The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

I grew up listening to the Beach Boys. My little brother and I spent many hours in the back seat of our ’84 Caprice Classic (AKA The Boat) on long car trips while my parents blasted "Surfin’ USA", "In My Room", and "Little Deuce Coupe" from their vast collection of Beach Boys tapes. I honestly think it’s why I can harmonize so well today.

Prior to 1966 when their album Pet Sounds was released, the Beach Boys’ music had themes of surfing, hot-rods, and girls. It had elements of rock and RnB of the era but added more intricate vocal jazz harmonies and instrument arrangements. The driving force behind the Beach Boys’ success was Brian Wilson. Brian sang many of the lead vocals and acted as the band’s primary songwriter, arranger, and producer.

In 1964, the stress of his workload and touring with the band had taken its toll on Brian. He suffered a serious nervous breakdown and decided to stop touring with the Beach Boys. This freed him up to experiment with new ideas in the studio, resulting in several smash hit singles over the following year. In 1965, Brian was inspired by the release of the Beatles album, Rubber Soul. He set out to record the “greatest rock album ever made.” This inspiration coupled with the influence of LSD led to the Beach Boys’ next album, Pet Sounds.

Pet Sounds was an innovative work in many ways. Aside from a departure from the Beach Boys’ mainstream sound, this new album featured instrumentation and arrangements that were just not heard in pop music, such as the use of accordions, a theremin and brass instruments. Brian also used some unusual multi-track recording methods. He doubled many of the instrumental parts and blended them with reverb and echo techniques he was experimenting with, essentially using multiple sources to create a brand new sound.

I still find this album enjoyable to listen to. The vocal textures and harmonic content is amazing. It really is a breath of fresh air compared to much of today’s mainstream music. I read that pro audio companies spent decades trying to design processors to recreate what Brian Wilson did in the studio on this album. It’s truly a testament to ingenuity. Listening to Pet Sounds again not only brought back memories, but stirred up some of what first interested me in music all those years ago.