Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966 by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. In the United Kingdom, the album was lauded by critics and reached number 2 on the Record Retailer chart, remaining in the top ten for six months. Promoted there as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds was recognized for its ambitious production, sophisticated music, and emotional lyrics. It is now considered to be among the greatest and most influential albums in music history.[1]
For other uses, see Pet Sounds (disambiguation).Pet Sounds
The album was produced, arranged, and almost entirely composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. It was recorded largely between January and April 1966, a year after Wilson had quit touring with his bandmates and debuted a more progressive sound with The Beach Boys Today! Wilson viewed Pet Sounds as effectively a solo album and credited part of its inspiration to marijuana and a newfound spiritual enlightenment. Galvanized by the work of his idol Phil Spector and rival group the Beatles, his goal was to create "the greatest rock album ever made", one without filler. An early concept album, it consists mainly of introspective and semi-autobiographical songs like "You Still Believe in Me", about a lover's unwavering loyalty; "I Know There's an Answer", a critique of LSD users; and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", about social alienation.
Incorporating elements of pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde, Wilson's Wall of Sound–based orchestrations mixed conventional rock set-ups with elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, found sounds, and instruments rarely if ever associated with rock, such as bicycle bells, French horn, flutes, Electro-Theremin, string sections, and soda cans. It marked the most complex instrumental and vocal parts of any Beach Boys album, and the first in which studio musicians (such as the Wrecking Crew) replaced the band on most of the instrumental tracks. The album could not be reproduced live and was the first time that any group departed from their usual small-ensemble pop/rock band format for a whole LP. Its unprecedented total production cost exceeded $70,000 (equivalent to $660,000 in 2023). Lead single "Caroline, No" was issued as Wilson's official solo debut. It was followed by two singles credited to the group: "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (backed with "God Only Knows"). A planned successor album, Smile, was never finished.
Pet Sounds revolutionized music production and the role of professional record producers, especially through Wilson's pioneering studio-as-instrument praxis. The record contributed to the cultural legitimization of popular music, a greater public appreciation for albums, the popularity of synthesizers, and the development of psychedelic music and progressive/art rock. It also introduced novel approaches to orchestration, chord voicings, and structural harmonies; for example, most of the compositions feature a weak tonal center, rendering their key signatures ambiguous. Although it had been widely revered by industry insiders, the album was obscure to mass audiences before being reissued in the 1990s, after which it topped several critics' and musicians' polls for the best album of all time, including those published by NME, Mojo, Uncut, and The Times. The album has also been consistently ranked number 2 in all editions of Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". As a solo artist, Wilson embarked on a string of Pet Sounds concert tours in the early 2000s and late 2010s. In 2004, the album was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Pet Sounds is certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), indicating over one million units sold in the United States. An expanded reissue, The Pet Sounds Sessions, was released in 1997 with isolated vocals and instrumental versions, session highlights, and the album's first true stereo mix.
Genre[edit]
Stylistic blend and debate[edit]
Pet Sounds incorporates elements of pop, jazz, classical, exotica, and avant-garde music.[77] Genres that have been attributed to the album as a whole include progressive pop,[78][79] chamber pop,[80] psychedelic pop,[81][82] and art rock.[83][84][85][nb 14] Wilson himself thought of the album as "chapel rock [...] commercial choir music. I wanted to make an album that would stand up in ten years."[98]
According to biographer Jon Stebbins, "Brian defies any notion of genre safety [...] There isn't much rocking here, and even less rolling. Pet Sounds is at times futuristic, progressive, and experimental. [...] there's no boogie, no woogie, and the only blues are in the themes and in Brian's voice."[77] Johnston identified "a tremendous amount" of noticeable doo-wop and R&B influences.[99] Journalist D. Strauss challenged the notion of whether Pet Sounds should be regarded as rock music. He argued that the album's quality and subversion of rock traditions is "what created its special place in rock history; there was no category for its fans to place it in [...] But placed within the Easy Listening genre-i.e., elevator music-it becomes a historically grounded, if incredibly ambitious, release."[100]
Although it has been called "baroque pop", the often-specious term was not used in critical discussions about Pet Sounds until rock critics in the 1990s began adopting the phrase in reference to artists that the album had influenced.[101] No contemporary press material referred to Pet Sounds as "baroque", and instead, commentators used "progressive" as their descriptor of choice.[102] Writing in 2021, academic John Howland argued that the album's baroque-pop aesthetic was limited to "God Only Knows".[103]
Psychedelia[edit]
Pet Sounds is often considered to be psychedelic rock,[86] but many commentators hesitate to name the Beach Boys in discussions of psychedelic music.[82] For example, in his book The Acid Trip: A Complete Guide to Psychedelic Music, Vernon Joyson agreed that Pet Sounds contained psychedelic gestures, but chose not to devote significant coverage to the album because he felt that the Beach Boys had "essentially predated the psychedelic era".[105] Stebbins writes that the album is "slightly psychedelic—or at least impressionistic."[106] Wilson himself felt that while psychedelic features are present in a number of the songs, the overall tone was "mostly not psychedelic".[104]
According to academics Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell, Pet Sounds has a "personal intimacy" that sets it apart from the Beach Boys' contemporaries in psychedelic culture and the San Francisco Sound, but still retains a "trippy feel" that resulted from Wilson's LSD use.[107][nb 15] They attribute this to Wilson's "eclectic mixture of instruments, echo, reverb, and innovative mixing techniques learnt from Phil Spector to create a complex soundscape in which voice and music interweave tightly".[107] In the belief of cultural historian Dale Carter, the album's psychedelic qualities are proven through rich "sonic textures", "greater fluidity, elaboration, and formal complexity", "the introduction of new (combinations of) instruments, multiple keys, and/or floating tonal centers", and the occasional use of "slower, more hypnotic tempos".[109]
Among other reasons given for the album's perceived psychedelic quality, Jim DeRogatis, author of a book about psychedelic music, writes that the repeated listening value is similar to a heightened psychedelic awareness, elaborating that its melodies "continue to reveal themselves after dozens of listens, just as previously unnoticed corners of the world reveal themselves during the psychedelic experience".[110] Musician Sean Lennon opined that "psychedelic music is a term that pretty much refers to these sort of epic, ambitious long-form records", and that listening to Pet Sounds in its entirety can feel like "entering another world" temporarily, much like an LSD trip.[111]
Leftover material[edit]
"The Little Girl I Once Knew"[edit]
"The Little Girl I Once Knew", which may be considered part of the Pet Sounds sessions, was not included on the album. Writer Neal Umphred speculated that the song might have been considered for the LP and would have probably been included had the single been more commercially successful.[258]
Instrumentals[edit]
On October 15, 1965, Wilson went to the studio with a 43-piece orchestra to record an instrumental piece entitled "Three Blind Mice", which bore no musical connection to the nursery rhyme of the same name.[257][nb 36] On the same day, he recorded instrumental versions of the standards "How Deep Is the Ocean" and "Stella by Starlight".[59] According to Leaf, it was a coincidence that the latter turned out to be a favorite of Asher's.[46] Biographer Mark Dillon surmised that these recordings were never meant for release, and that they were merely experimental exercises in recording orchestras, possibly in anticipation for the string ensemble required for "Don't Talk".[259]
Another instrumental, "Trombone Dixie", was recorded on November 1.[260] According to Wilson, "I was just foolin' around one day, fuckin' around with the musicians, and I took that arrangement out of my briefcase and we did it in 20 minutes. It was nothing, there was really nothing in it."[261] It was released as a bonus track on the album's 1990 CD reissue.[260]
"Good Vibrations"[edit]
In February and March 1966, Wilson began recording an unfinished song he wrote with Asher, "Good Vibrations", between sessions for "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and "God Only Knows".[262] Asher recalled that the song was conceived in response to Capitol's demand for a new single.[256] Brian ultimately delivered "Sloop John B" to the label instead, and to the band's disappointment, chose not to include "Good Vibrations" on the album.[263] The track was replaced by "Pet Sounds" as indicated by a Capitol Records memo dated March 3.[264] Johnston and Jardine later expressed regrets with Wilson's decision, as they felt that including "Good Vibrations" would have bolstered the sales of Pet Sounds.[265] However, the song was not released until October, albeit in a drastically different form.[266] Wilson's bandmates prevailed against him to include "Good Vibrations" on their next album, Smiley Smile, (1967),[267] after it had been previously slated for their unfinished album, Smile.
Other recordings[edit]
In late 1965, Wilson devoted some Pet Sounds sessions to experimental indulgences such as an extended a cappella run-through of the children's song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" that exploited the song's use of rounds.[257] Granata called the piece "very low-key and relatively simple", but an "effectively lavish layer of recorded vocal harmonies".[268] Humorous skits and sound effects were also recorded in an attempt to create a psychedelic comedy album.[257] At least two sketches survive, "Dick" and "Fuzz", which feature Brian, a woman named Carol, and the Honeys, a girl group that included Marilyn. These recordings remain unreleased.[59]
"Dick" involves an exchange between Brian and Carol: "What's long and thin and full of skin and heaven knows how many holes it's been in?" "Dick?" "No, a worm."[59] The participants then burst into forced laughter. According to documentarian Keith Badman, "Just as with his music, Brian insists on perfection for 'Dick' and [six] further takes are made by Carol to tell the joke."[59] "Fuzz" involves a similar joke: "What's black and white and has fuzz inside?" "A lorry?" "A police car."[59] Carol then asks Wilson if he has hemorrhoids: "No." "Well let me shake your hand." "Why?" "It's really great knowing a perfect asshole."[59]
Contemporary reviews[edit]
Early reviews for the album in the U.S. ranged from negative to tentatively positive.[269] Billboard's terse review, published uncharacteristically late,[299] called it an "exciting, well-produced LP" with "two superb instrumental cuts" and highlighted the "strong single potential" of "Wouldn't It Be Nice".[298] Biographer David Leaf wrote in 1978 that the album received "scattered" instances of praise from American reviewers; the group's fans initially considered Pet Sounds too challenging and "quickly passed the word to 'stay away from the new Beach Boys album, it's weird.'"[324]
By contrast, the reception from music journalists in the UK was highly favorable[325][326] due in part to the promotional efforts of Taylor, Johnston, and Fowley.[325] Rolling Stone founding editor Jann Wenner later recalled that fans in the UK identified the Beach Boys as being "years ahead" of the Beatles and declared Wilson a "genius"[327] Penny Valentine of Disc and Music Echo admired Pet Sounds as "Thirteen tracks of Brian Wilson genius ... The whole LP is far more romantic than the usual Beach Boys jollity: sad little wistful songs about lost love and found love and all-around love."[328] Writing in Record Mirror, Norman Jopling reported that the LP had been "widely praised" and subjected to "no criticism". He prefaced his review as "unbiased" and wrote that his only "real complaint" with the album was the "terribly complicated and cluttered" arrangements.[329] Jopling predicted: "It will probably make their present fans like them even more, but it's doubtful whether it will make them any new ones."[330] A reviewer in Disc and Music Echo disagreed: "this should gain them thousands of new fans. Instrumentally ambitious, if vocally over-pretty, Pet Sounds has brilliantly tapped the pulse of the musical times. ... A superb, important and really exciting collection from the group whose recording career so far has been a bit of a hotchpotch."[309]
Melody Maker ran a feature in which many pop musicians were asked whether they believed that the album was truly revolutionary and progressive or "as sickly as peanut butter".[309] The author concluded that "the record's impact on artists and the men behind the artists has been considerable."[309] Among the musicians contributing to the 1966 Melody Maker survey: Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group said: "Brian Wilson is a great record producer. I haven't spent much time listening to the Beach Boys before, but I'm a fan now and I just want to listen to this LP again and again."[309] Then a member of Cream, Eric Clapton reported that everyone in his band loved the album, adding that Wilson was "without doubt a pop genius".[309] Andrew Loog Oldham told the magazine: "I think that Pet Sounds is the most progressive album of the year in as much as Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade was. It's the pop equivalent of that, a complete exercise in pop music."[309]
Three of the nine people who are quoted in the Melody Maker survey (Keith Moon, Manfred Mann's Mike d'Abo, and the Walker Brothers' Scott Walker) did not agree that the album was revolutionary. D'Abo and Walker favored the Beach Boys' earlier work, as did journalist and television presenter Barry Fantoni, who expressed a preference for Beach Boys' Today! and stated that Pet Sounds was "probably revolutionary, but I'm not sure that everything that's revolutionary is necessarily good".[331] Pete Townshend of the Who opined that "the Beach Boys new material is too remote and way out. It's written for a feminine audience."[309][nb 43]
In other issues of Melody Maker, Rolling Stones member Mick Jagger stated that he disliked the songs but enjoyed the record and its harmonies, while John Lennon said that Wilson was "doing some very great things".[333] At the end of 1966, the magazine crowned Pet Sounds and the Beatles' Revolver as the joint "Pop Album of the Year". The paper's spokesman wrote, "We argued, argued and argued and still the MM pop panel couldn't agree which was the Pop Album of the Year. The voting was evenly divided [...] Cups of coffee were drunk and sheets of paper were torn up before we finally agreed to compromise and vote for both The Beatles and Beach Boys on top."[334]
Influence and legacy[edit]
Innovations[edit]
Pet Sounds is recognized as an ambitious and sophisticated work that advanced the field of music production in addition to setting a higher standard in music composition and numerous precedents in its recording.[194][395] Lambert, who was a professor of music at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York, wrote that the album was "an extraordinary achievement – for any musician, but especially for the 23-year-old Wilson".[396] Singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb described it as "a musician's album", "an engineer's album", and "a songwriter's album".[397] Paul McCartney declared that "no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album."[398][399] To explain why the album "was one of the defining moments of its time", composer Philip Glass referred to "its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, [and] production concepts in terms of overall sound which were novel at the time".[400] Edmonds believed that the album's "most impressive" feature was "the fully integrated use of orchestration, an area glossed over all too lightly in those days."[356]
Pet Sounds has had many different reissues since its release in 1966, including remastered mono and remixed stereo versions.
Notes
Per band archivist Craig Slowinski.[123]
The Beach Boys
Guests
Session musicians (also known as "the Wrecking Crew")
The Sid Sharp Strings
Engineers