The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys had made their imprint in the music industry by ingratiating the American fans with fun lyrics and harmonious sounds. The Four Freshmen were a group that heavily influenced the band’s sound and the background harmonies that the Freshmen showcased became a staple for what The Beach Boys would be remembered for. Lyrically, The Beach Boys’ music was a narration of a surfer’s life. The music captured the California “fun in the sun” scene and was set to Rock ‘N’ Roll rhythms reminiscent of Chuck Berry. The group’s wholesome and clean-cut image was adorned with clothing that fit their style. Pendleton shirts were popular amongst the surfing community and not only did The Beach Boys wear the heavy wool shirts, but they adopted the popular article of clothing as their band name before settling on their more well known appellation.

Brian Wilson was the machine that kept the group running smoothly. His depth not only as a musician, but also a fan of music, breathed life into the music scene in the 1960’s. Wilson’s contributions and genius are severely understated; drummer John Cody wrote, “Wilson wore many hats. Previously, music industry roles were clearly defined; performer, A & R man, songwriter, producer, arranger … each had a distinct position, and rarely did the roles overlap. But he managed to do them all, and do them extremely well.” Brian had a wide range of influences throughout his career, most notably Phil Spector and The Beatles. The Beatles were instrumental in motivating Brian Wilson to construct The Beach Boys most praised album, Pet Sounds. When The Beatles released their record, Rubber Soul, Wilson was enthralled with the idea of a complete album that told a story rather than a handful of good tracks littered with a few fillers in between. The Beatles were successful in accomplishing this feat and left Brian yearning for the opportunity to attempt the same. Brian Wilson proved to be the nucleus of the group and both elevated and halted the fortune of the band.

The production of their critically acclaimed Pet Sounds was very interesting and innovative. Brian Wilson had studied Phil Spector’s approach to production and modified Phil’s famed “wall of sound” technique. Originally The Beach Boys recordings used 3-tracks, one for the main vocals and the other two for background vocals. With the creation of the 8-track recorder, and Brian Wilson’s ingenuity, the proverbial floodgates were opened and out poured endless musical possibilities. Wiki Answers documents the creative process stating, “Brian Wilson pretaped all the instrumental backing tracks with a large ensemble, recording the performances live, direct to a four-track recorder. These four-track backing tapes were then 'dubbed down' to one track of an eight-track tape. Six of the remaining seven tracks were then used to individually record the vocals of each member of The Beach Boys, and the eighth track was reserved for any final 'sweetening' overdubs of instruments or voices.” Interestingly, their music was still mixed in mono due to Brian Wilson’s indifference to stereo quality recordings stemming from Brian’s partial deafness in his right ear. Almost 30 years later, when the album was mixed in stereo, listeners were awed and impressed once more with the technical production that went into this project. Another characteristic that distanced Pet Sounds from other albums and artists of their generation was its lyrical content. Brian had solely made the decision to divert from the “sunny” California sound that popularized the group early on, and move towards a more psychedelic distinction. With the help of writer Tony Asher, Brian Williams was able to focus more on the production and instituted abstract sounds into their music such as bicycle bells and barking dogs. Allmusic.com describes the compositional content as evoking, “both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well).” Pet Sounds firmly stands as a precursor to the sounds of music today.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Pet Sounds, as it was my first time ever hearing the album in its entirety. Thinking about the advancements The Beach Boys made with this album is comparable to cavemen and their use of the wheel and pulley; it’s hard to imagine where the idea came from, but you’re just thankful that it did. It takes an incredible amount of foresight to manipulate and operate machinery in the style that Brian Williams had, and though he might not have been in the clearest state of mind, his brilliance shined through and that adds to the exclusivity and exceptionality of his work on this album. Both professionally and personally I’m appreciative of The Beach Boys’ contributions to this business because a majority of the more conceptual and theoretical albums that succeeded their work might never have come to fruition.