Pet Sounds

When people are asked what are the most influential rock n roll albums of all time, Pet Sounds from the Beach Boys is more often than not in their top choices. But, even though the album is revered as one of the greats, believe it or not it didn’t do that well in album sales. This just goes to show that great art sometimes doesn’t sell as good as the most popular thing at the time.

Brian Wilson, the founding member, producer, writer, arranger and overall musical genius of the Beach Boys was the mastermind behind the album Pet Sounds. The idea for the album came to Brian after he was blown away by the sound of the Beatles “Rubber Soul”. By nature Brian was very competitive and musically he wanted to grow, so he challenged himself as a writer, composer, and human being to craft what we now today consider one of the greatest albums in history.

Prior to Pet Sounds the Beach Boys imagery was considered pure California. It was bright, happy and appealed to the young generation. Songs featured topics such as hot rods, surfing, beaches and pretty Girls. The optimism, and promise of prosperity and happiness is what was appealing to the public at that time. And that is what the Beach Boys made, but soon for Brian and even the public the fad was beginning to simmer. A new sound needed to be heard.

Unlike the previous sound of the Beach Boys which was about finding the next big single to play on the radio, Pet Sounds was about making a complete album from A side to B side, track 1 to track 14. The songs on the album essentially cover the story of a man throughout his life, beginning with a song called “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” a song featuring a teenager thinking to himself about how it would be swell to be older and do the things the like the adults. Continuing along later in the album with a song titled “Caroline No” A song essentially about a woman leaving a man, and the heartbreak he feels.

The album also feature sounds and arrangements that were rarely heard in popular music on the radio at that time.  For example the use of the Theramin, a unique instrument that was played by manipulating sound waves in the air. The album was revolutionary, so revolutionary it even inspired The Beatles to craft their masterpiece “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

To me Pet Sounds is an album that throws out the idea of trying to make money and is just a group of collective musicians making music. The idea of only writing songs that appeal to records executives is almost the norm now a days and I assume was the same back then. But, when you hear music like Pet Sounds it is special because you know it is what is truly coming from the artist’s Soul