Pet Sounds
Encyclopedia
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock
band The Beach Boys
, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records
. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't It Be Nice
" and "God Only Knows
". Pet Sounds was created several months after Brian Wilson
had quit touring with the band in order to focus his attention on writing and recording. In it, he wove elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, coupled with sound effects and unconventional instruments such as bicycle bell
s, buzzing organs, harpsichord
s, flute
s, Electro-Theremin
, dog whistles, trains, Hawaii
an-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs, along with the more usual keyboard
s and guitar
s.
Even though Pet Sounds has been credited as one of the most important albums of its time, its initial release failed to reach gold status, where it reached #10 on the American Billboard 200
. A heralding album in the emerging psychedelic rock
style, Pet Sounds has been championed and emulated for its dramatic and revolutionary baroque
instrumentation. It has been ranked at #1 in several music magazines' lists of greatest albums of all time
, including New Musical Express, The Times
and Mojo Magazine
. It was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone
s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
list.
" predated the recording of the rest of the LP by some months, but it proved to be a pivotal point in the album's development. It was a traditional Caribbean
folk song that had been suggested to Wilson by group member Al Jardine
. Wilson recorded a backing track on July 12, 1965, but after laying down a rough lead vocal, he set the song aside for some time, concentrating on the recording of what became their next LP, the 'live in the studio' album Beach Boys' Party!
, which was provided in response to their record company so the Beach Boys could have a new album ready for the Christmas 1965 market. What would become the Pet Sounds record could not be finished in time for Christmas 1965.
The real catalyst for Pet Sounds was the U.S. version of The Beatles
' album Rubber Soul
, which was released that December in time for the Christmas market. (The British version of Rubber Soul was edited prior to its release in the U.S.A. to emphasise its folk rock
feel that critics attributed to Bob Dylan
and The Byrds
.)
Wilson later recalled his first impressions of the groundbreaking album:
Wilson found Rubber Soul was filled with all-original songs and, more importantly, all good ones, none of them filler. Inspired, he rushed to his wife and proclaimed, "Marilyn, I'm gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!". In early January 1966 Wilson contacted Tony Asher
, a young lyricist and copywriter who had been working on advertising jingles, and whom Wilson had met in a Hollywood recording studio months earlier. Within ten days they were writing together. Wilson played him some of the music he had been recording, and gave him a cassette of the finished backing track for a piece with the working title "In My Childhood"; it had lyrics, but Wilson refused to show them to Asher, who took the music away and wrote new lyrics. The result was eventually retitled "You Still Believe in Me" and the success of the piece convinced Wilson that Tony Asher was the collaborator he was looking for.
"The general tenor of the lyrics was always his," Asher later recalled, "and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter."
Mike Love
is co-credited on the album's opening track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice
", and on "I Know There's an Answer" but with the exception of his co-credit on "I'm Waiting for the Day," (originally copyrighted in February 1964, to Wilson alone) his contributions are thought to have been minimal. The exact degree of Love's contribution to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is still hazy, but under oath in a court of law, Tony Asher has stated that it consisted of the tag "Good night my baby/Sleep tight, my baby."
Love, in addition to Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine, was taken aback by Brian's new sound (and Asher's lyrics) when they returned from touring in Asia to record their vocals. Love in particular was nonplussed by Brian's complete abandonment of the "fast cars, cute girls, and sunny beaches" formula that had marked the group's hit-making career up to that point.
Love's main influence on "I Know There's an Answer" is reputed to have consisted of his strenuous opposition to the song's original title, "Hang On to Your Ego
", and his insistence that it be partially rewritten and retitled. The original lyrics created quite a stir within the group. "I was aware that Brian was beginning to experiment with LSD
and other psychedelics," explained Love. "The prevailing drug jargon at the time had it that doses of LSD would shatter your ego, as if that were a positive thing... I wasn't interested in taking acid or getting rid of my ego." Jardine recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Wilson's. "Brian was very concerned. He wanted to know what we thought about it. To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'" Terry Sachen, who co-wrote the revised lyrics to this song, was the Beach Boys' road manager in 1966.
The album included two sophisticated instrumental
tracks, the wistful "Let's Go Away for Awhile" – with a working parenthetical title of "And Then We'll have World Peace" – and the brittle brassy surf of the title track, "Pet Sounds" (originally "Run James, Run", the suggestion being that it would be offered for use in a James Bond
movie). The subtitle of "Let's Go Away For A While" was a catchphrase from one of Wilson's favorite comedy recordings, John Brent
and Del Close
's How To Speak Hip
(1959) (which Wilson can be heard talking about in a session outtake included on the Pet Sounds boxed set). Both titles had been recorded as backing tracks for existing songs, but by the time the album neared completion Wilson had decided that the tracks worked better without vocals and so left them as such. A third instrumental, called "Trombone Dixie," had been fully recorded, but it remained in the vaults until its inclusion on the album's 1990 remastered CD release.
studios (Gold Star Studios
, Western Studios
and Sunset Sound) and an ensemble that included some highly regarded session musician
s, including jazz
guitarist Barney Kessel
, bassist Carol Kaye
, and session drummer Hal Blaine
. The tracks were produced and arranged by Brian Wilson. He also wrote or co-wrote every track on the album.
Wilson had developed his production methods over several years, bringing them to their zenith with the recording of Pet Sounds during late 1965 and early 1966. Wilson's approach was in some respects a refinement and development of the famous "Wall of Sound
" technique created by his mentor and rival Phil Spector
. In fact Wilson has stated that he named the album using Spector's initials. With new Ampex
8-track recorders, Wilson produced tracks of great complexity using his regular team of 'first call' players, sometimes known collectively as "The Wrecking Crew
".
Wilson's typical production method on Pet Sounds was to record the instrumental backing tracks for each song as a live ensemble performance direct onto 4-track recorders. His engineer Larry Levine
has reported that Wilson also typically mixed these backing tracks live, as they were being taped. Subsequently transferring the sounds onto 8-track machines. Like Spector, Wilson was a pioneer of the 'studio as instrument' concept, exploiting novel combinations of sounds that sprang from the use of multiple electric instruments and voices in an ensemble and combining them with echo
and reverberation
. He often doubled bass, guitar and keyboard parts, blending them with reverberation and adding other unusual instruments.
Although the self-taught Wilson often had entire arrangements worked out in his head (which were usually written in a shorthand form for the other players by one of his session musicians), surviving tapes of his recording sessions show that he was remarkably open to input from his musicians, often taking advice and suggestions from them and even incorporating apparent 'mistakes' if they provided a useful or interesting alternative.
In spite of the availability of complex multitrack recording
, Wilson always mixed the final version of his recordings in mono
, as did Phil Spector. He did this for several reasons; one of which was that he felt that mono mastering provided more sonic control over the final result that the listener heard, regardless of the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality. It was also motivated by the knowledge that, back then, radio and TV were broadcast in mono, and most domestic and automotive radios and record players were monophonic. Another and more personal reason for Wilson's preference of recording in mono was due to his being almost totally deaf in his right ear, rumored to be the result of childhood injury to his eardrum
caused by a blow from his violent father Murry Wilson
, although Wilson has claimed that he was born deaf in one ear.
These backing tracks were then dubbed down onto one track of an 8-track
recorder (at Columbia studio, the only facility in LA with an 8-track), and, although much of the fine detail in the arrangements was often covered by the group's rich vocal harmonies, they interacted effectively with the vocal tracks. This mono recording meant that a stereo mixdown could not be achieved. Wilson's partial deafness made him indifferent to stereo and it was not until the advent of digital recording that it was possible to combine the instrumental and vocal session-tapes to achieve a true stereo release. Six of the remaining seven tracks were usually dedicated to each of the Beach Boys' vocals (the five-piece group was by then being regularly augmented by singer Bruce Johnston
, who later became a permanent member). The last track was usually reserved for additional vocals and/or instruments and other 'sweetening' elements.
". Around February 23, Wilson gave Capitol a provisional track listing for the new LP, which included both "Sloop John B" and "Good Vibrations." This contradicts the long held misconception that "Sloop John B" was a forced inclusion as the hit single at Capitol's insistence: in late February, the song was weeks away from release.
Wilson worked through February and into March fine-tuning the backing tracks. To the group's surprise he also dropped "Good Vibrations" from the running order, telling them that he wanted to spend more time on it. Al Jardine remembers:
Most of March and early April was devoted to recording the remaining backing tracks and to the crucial recording of vocals, a process which proved to be the most exacting work the group had hitherto undertaken, as Mike Love
later recalled:
and the song Hang On To Your Ego:
Brian appeared to become interested in Eastern philosophy and the psychedelic experience, in particular; often pointing to ego loss, or ego-death, as the key to a better way of living:
According to music critic Jim DeRogatis
:
Jim DeRogatis also stated:
Brian Wilson also claimed at one point that the title was "a tribute" to Phil Spector by naming the album using his initials. Carl Wilson later spoke about the album title: "The idea he had was that everybody has these sounds that they love, and this was a collection of his 'pet sounds.' It was hard to think of a name for the album, because you sure couldn't call it Shut Down Vol. 3."
Mike Love also has laid claim to coming up with the title. "We were standing in the hallway in one of the recording studios, either Western or Columbia, and we didn't have a title," he recounted. "We had taken pictures at the zoo and ... there were animal sounds on the record, and we were thinking, well, it's our favorite music of that time, so I said, 'Why don't we call it Pet Sounds.'
On February 15, the group traveled to the San Diego Zoo
to shoot the photographs for the cover of the new album, which had already been titled Pet Sounds. George Jerman has been credited for taking the cover photo. According to the Pet Sounds' liner notes, "The photos of The Beach Boys feeding an assortment of goats was a play on the album's chosen title, Pet Sounds."
"Sloop John B" was extremely successful, scoring a #3 hit in the U.S. and #2 in Great Britain. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" reached #8 in the U.S. Its flip side, "God Only Knows," was another #2 single in Britain, but reached only #39 in the States. The LP broke into the Top Ten in the U.S., belying its reputation as a commercial failure there. In Australia, the album was only released under the title The Fabulous Beach Boys on the Music for Pleasure
label.
Pet Sounds greatest success was in the UK, where it reached #2 in the LP charts. Its success there was aided by considerable support from the British music industry, who embraced the record warmly; Paul McCartney
spoke often about the album's influence on The Beatles. Bruce Johnston has often stated that he flew to London in May 1966 and played the album for John Lennon
and Paul McCartney. But although it's been claimed that the Rolling Stones
manager Andrew Oldham helped Derek Taylor
publicize unsolicited advertisements lauding the album in British music papers, a search of the UK pop press for 1966 fails to uncover any such advert.
However, like Beach Boys' Party!
, Pet Sounds failed to reach gold
status on its initial release in the U.S., where it reached #10, which deeply disappointed Wilson (although during the accounting process which resulted in gold and platinum awards in 2000 it emerged that the album had sold enough to be certified as gold by summer 1967: for whatever reason, Capitol never requested such certification). Much of the blame for its lukewarm commercial fortunes has been laid with Capitol Records
, which did not promote the album as heavily as the band's earlier releases. Pet Sounds eventually went gold and platinum in 2000.
In 1997, The Pet Sounds Sessions
box set was released which included the original mono release, the first stereo release and three CDs of out-takes and rehearsals. The stereo mix was released in 1999 on vinyl and on CD. The current CD release has the original mono version, followed by "Hang On to Your Ego" (the original version of "I Know There's an Answer") as a bonus track, and the album remixed in stereo.
Recordings from Brian Wilson's 2002 concert tour, in which he reproduced the whole album live on stage, were released as Pet Sounds Live
.
On August 29, 2006, Capitol released the 40th Anniversary edition of Pet Sounds. The new compilation contains a new 2006 remaster of the original mono mix, DVD mixes (stereo and Surround Sound), and a "making of" documentary. The discs were released in a regular jewel box and a deluxe edition was released in a green fuzzy box. A two disk colored gatefold vinyl set was released with green and yellow disks with the yellow one having the mono mix on it and the green disc having the stereo version.
On September 2, 2008, Capitol reissued a single LP version replicating the original artwork (including the inner sleeve) with the original mono mix on 180 gram vinyl.
, and Paul McCartney has repeatedly named it as one of his favorite albums (with "God Only Knows" as his favorite song) – completing a circle begun by The Beatles' influence on Wilson. McCartney stated that:
Other artists have also cited Pet Sounds as one of the all time classic albums. Eric Clapton
stated that "All of us, Ginger Baker
, Jack Bruce
and I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one."
Elton John
has said of the album, "For me to say that I was enthralled would be an understatement. I had never heard such magical sounds, so amazingly recorded. It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording. It is a timeless and amazing recording of incredible genius and beauty."
Beatles producer George Martin
stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."
Bob Dylan
has said of Brian Wilson's talents, "That ear – I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian."
Roger Waters
stated that along with Sgt Pepper, Pet Sounds "completely changed everything about records for me."
Elvis Costello
stated "Last summer, I heard "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" played on the cello. It sounded beautiful and sad, just as it does on Pet Sounds."
In May 1966, Bruce Johnston flew to London with copies of Pet Sounds and recalls Keith Moon
loving the album. Keith later stated "Pet Sounds was too far removed from the style he loved".
Pete Townshend
stated "'God Only Knows' is simple and elegant and was stunning when it first appeared; it still sounds perfect".
Tom Petty
stated "I think I would put him up there with any composer - especially Pet Sounds. I don't think there is anything better than that, necessarily. I don't think you'd be out of line comparing him to Beethoven - to any composer."
magazine voted it "The Greatest Album Ever Made." It was number one in New Musical Express's list "The 100 Best Albums". In 1997, Pet Sounds was named the 33rd greatest album of all time in a poll
conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV
, Channel 4
, The Guardian
and Classic FM
. In 2006 Q magazine
readers voted it the 12th greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th Century; in 2001 the TV channel VH1
placed it at #3. The Times
magazine ranked it the greatest album of all time.
It also placed #2 on Rolling Stone
' s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
behind only Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
by The Beatles
. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress
to be added to the National Recording Registry
. In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME
as one of the 100 best albums of all time. The album has inspired many progressive rock
bands and was later named as one of Classic Rock magazine
s "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".
s such as "Do It Again A Tribute To Pet Sounds" by Patrick Wolf
. Many songs on "Pet Sounds" have appeared on many Beach Boy and Brian Wilson tribute albums like Making God Smile by Sixpence None the Richer
and Smiling Pets by various artists including Sonic Youth
's Thurston Moore
. There are many Pet Sounds tribute parodies including Punk Sounds
by the Huntingtons
. There have also been track-for-track mash-ups such as Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band
which is a blend of "Pet Sounds" with The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was released under the pseudonym "The Beachles". Seattle-based folk band, the Fleet Foxes
have often been seen paying tribute to the album.Simon Neil
of Scottish band Biffy Clyro
has the lyrics "God only knows what I'd be without you" tattooed across his chest which refers to the song and to his wife Francesca. It was the first song they danced to.A song entitled "Caroline, Yes" appears on the Kaiser Chiefs'
2005 album Employment
in reference to Caroline, No.
(*) denotes an unordered list
According to Russ Waspensky, Laura Tunbridge and Brad Elliott
The Beach Boys
Session musicians and production staff
(*) denotes uncertainty where or if the musician plays the instrument on the album.
Singles
Chart information courtesy of Allmusic and other music databases.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't It Be Nice
Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the opening track on the 1966 album Pet Sounds and one of the most widely recognized songs by the American rock band The Beach Boys...
" and "God Only Knows
God Only Knows
"God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys. It is the eighth track on the group's 11th studio album, Pet Sounds , and one of their most widely recognized songs. "God Only Knows" was composed and produced by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Tony Asher and lead vocal by Carl...
". Pet Sounds was created several months after Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
had quit touring with the band in order to focus his attention on writing and recording. In it, he wove elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, coupled with sound effects and unconventional instruments such as bicycle bell
Bicycle bell
A bicycle bell is a bell mounted on a bicycle for warning pedestrians and other cyclists. They are a required piece of equipment is some jurisdictions. They usually mounted on the handlebars and thumb activated...
s, buzzing organs, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
s, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, Electro-Theremin
Electro-Theremin
The Electro-Theremin, often called the Tannerin, is an electronic musical instrument developed by trombonist Paul Tanner and amateur inventor Bob Whitsell in the late 1950s to produce a sound to mimic that of the theremin. The instrument features a tone and portamento similar to that of the...
, dog whistles, trains, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs, along with the more usual keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s.
Even though Pet Sounds has been credited as one of the most important albums of its time, its initial release failed to reach gold status, where it reached #10 on the American Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. A heralding album in the emerging psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
style, Pet Sounds has been championed and emulated for its dramatic and revolutionary baroque
Baroque pop
Baroque pop, Baroque rock, or English baroque, often used interchangeably with chamber pop/rock, is a pop and rock music subgenre which originated in the mid-1960s in the United Kingdom and United States...
instrumentation. It has been ranked at #1 in several music magazines' lists of greatest albums of all time
Albums considered the greatest ever
Many publications and organizations have tried to determine the album considered the greatest ever. Those listed in this article have all been cited in a notable survey — be it a popular poll or critics' poll....
, including New Musical Express, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and Mojo Magazine
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
. It was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
list.
Background
The track "Sloop John BSloop John B
"Sloop John B" is the seventh track on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album and was also a single which was released in 1966 on Capitol Records. It was originally a traditional West Indies folk song, "The John B. Sails," taken from a collection by Carl Sandburg . Alan Lomax made a field recording of...
" predated the recording of the rest of the LP by some months, but it proved to be a pivotal point in the album's development. It was a traditional Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
folk song that had been suggested to Wilson by group member Al Jardine
Al Jardine
Alan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, a guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early life:...
. Wilson recorded a backing track on July 12, 1965, but after laying down a rough lead vocal, he set the song aside for some time, concentrating on the recording of what became their next LP, the 'live in the studio' album Beach Boys' Party!
Beach Boys' Party!
Beach Boys' Party! is an album of cover songs by American rock and roll band The Beach Boys that was marketed during the lucrative Christmas season. The original album release included a sheet of photographs of the band 'appearing' to be at the party at hand. It was The Beach Boys' tenth album...
, which was provided in response to their record company so the Beach Boys could have a new album ready for the Christmas 1965 market. What would become the Pet Sounds record could not be finished in time for Christmas 1965.
The real catalyst for Pet Sounds was the U.S. version of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' album Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul
Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
, which was released that December in time for the Christmas market. (The British version of Rubber Soul was edited prior to its release in the U.S.A. to emphasise its folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
feel that critics attributed to Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
.)
Wilson later recalled his first impressions of the groundbreaking album:
Wilson found Rubber Soul was filled with all-original songs and, more importantly, all good ones, none of them filler. Inspired, he rushed to his wife and proclaimed, "Marilyn, I'm gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!". In early January 1966 Wilson contacted Tony Asher
Tony Asher
Tony Asher is an American lyricist who co-wrote much of The Beach Boys 1966 album Pet Sounds in conjunction with front man Brian Wilson, including such classic songs as "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice"...
, a young lyricist and copywriter who had been working on advertising jingles, and whom Wilson had met in a Hollywood recording studio months earlier. Within ten days they were writing together. Wilson played him some of the music he had been recording, and gave him a cassette of the finished backing track for a piece with the working title "In My Childhood"; it had lyrics, but Wilson refused to show them to Asher, who took the music away and wrote new lyrics. The result was eventually retitled "You Still Believe in Me" and the success of the piece convinced Wilson that Tony Asher was the collaborator he was looking for.
"The general tenor of the lyrics was always his," Asher later recalled, "and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just his interpreter."
Writing and composition
Most of the songs on the album were written during December 1965 and January 1966. While most were composed with Tony Asher, "I Know There's an Answer" was co-written by another new associate, Terry Sachen.Mike Love
Mike Love
Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
is co-credited on the album's opening track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice
Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the opening track on the 1966 album Pet Sounds and one of the most widely recognized songs by the American rock band The Beach Boys...
", and on "I Know There's an Answer" but with the exception of his co-credit on "I'm Waiting for the Day," (originally copyrighted in February 1964, to Wilson alone) his contributions are thought to have been minimal. The exact degree of Love's contribution to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is still hazy, but under oath in a court of law, Tony Asher has stated that it consisted of the tag "Good night my baby/Sleep tight, my baby."
Love, in addition to Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine, was taken aback by Brian's new sound (and Asher's lyrics) when they returned from touring in Asia to record their vocals. Love in particular was nonplussed by Brian's complete abandonment of the "fast cars, cute girls, and sunny beaches" formula that had marked the group's hit-making career up to that point.
Love's main influence on "I Know There's an Answer" is reputed to have consisted of his strenuous opposition to the song's original title, "Hang On to Your Ego
I Know There's an Answer
"I Know There's an Answer" is a song by the American rock band The Beach Boys, taken from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It is the ninth track on the album. The song was composed and produced by Brian Wilson with the lyrics by Terry Sachen and Mike Love. The song was written during Brian's second...
", and his insistence that it be partially rewritten and retitled. The original lyrics created quite a stir within the group. "I was aware that Brian was beginning to experiment with LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
and other psychedelics," explained Love. "The prevailing drug jargon at the time had it that doses of LSD would shatter your ego, as if that were a positive thing... I wasn't interested in taking acid or getting rid of my ego." Jardine recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Wilson's. "Brian was very concerned. He wanted to know what we thought about it. To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'" Terry Sachen, who co-wrote the revised lyrics to this song, was the Beach Boys' road manager in 1966.
The album included two sophisticated instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
tracks, the wistful "Let's Go Away for Awhile" – with a working parenthetical title of "And Then We'll have World Peace" – and the brittle brassy surf of the title track, "Pet Sounds" (originally "Run James, Run", the suggestion being that it would be offered for use in a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
movie). The subtitle of "Let's Go Away For A While" was a catchphrase from one of Wilson's favorite comedy recordings, John Brent
John Brent
-Biography:Brent was born at Rotherhithe on 21 Aug. 1808, and was the eldest son of a father of the same name, a shipbuilder there, who about the year 1821 removed to Canterbury, and became thrice mayor of the city and deputy-lieutenant of the county. His mother was Susannah, third daughter of the...
and Del Close
Del Close
Del Close was an actor, improviser, writer, and teacher. Considered one of the premier influences on modern improvisational theater, Close had a prolific career, appearing in a number of films and television shows...
's How To Speak Hip
How to Speak Hip
How to Speak Hip was a comedy album by Del Close and John Brent, released by Mercury Records in 1959. The album is designed as a satire of language-learning records, where the secret language of the 'hipster' is treated as a foreign language...
(1959) (which Wilson can be heard talking about in a session outtake included on the Pet Sounds boxed set). Both titles had been recorded as backing tracks for existing songs, but by the time the album neared completion Wilson had decided that the tracks worked better without vocals and so left them as such. A third instrumental, called "Trombone Dixie," had been fully recorded, but it remained in the vaults until its inclusion on the album's 1990 remastered CD release.
Recording process
With writing well under way, Wilson worked rapidly through January and early February 1966, recording six backing tracks for the new material. When the other Beach Boys returned from a three-week tour of Japan and Hawaii, they were presented with a substantial portion of a new album, with music that was in many ways a radical departure from their earlier attempts. Both Asher and Wilson state that there was resistance to the project from within the group, but on this occasion, Wilson's belief in his new work convinced the other members of the group. The backing tracks for Pet Sounds were recorded over a four-month period, using major Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
studios (Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world....
, Western Studios
United Western Recorders
United Western Recorders, often abbreviated to UWR, was a renowned recording studio complex in Hollywood, California, which became one of the most successful independent recording studios in the world in the late 1950s and 1960s....
and Sunset Sound) and an ensemble that included some highly regarded session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
, bassist Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
, and session drummer Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
. The tracks were produced and arranged by Brian Wilson. He also wrote or co-wrote every track on the album.
Wilson had developed his production methods over several years, bringing them to their zenith with the recording of Pet Sounds during late 1965 and early 1966. Wilson's approach was in some respects a refinement and development of the famous "Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
" technique created by his mentor and rival Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
. In fact Wilson has stated that he named the album using Spector's initials. With new Ampex
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
8-track recorders, Wilson produced tracks of great complexity using his regular team of 'first call' players, sometimes known collectively as "The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
".
Wilson's typical production method on Pet Sounds was to record the instrumental backing tracks for each song as a live ensemble performance direct onto 4-track recorders. His engineer Larry Levine
Larry Levine
Larry Levine was an American audio engineer, known for his cooperation with Phil Spector on the Wall of Sound recording technique....
has reported that Wilson also typically mixed these backing tracks live, as they were being taped. Subsequently transferring the sounds onto 8-track machines. Like Spector, Wilson was a pioneer of the 'studio as instrument' concept, exploiting novel combinations of sounds that sprang from the use of multiple electric instruments and voices in an ensemble and combining them with echo
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
and reverberation
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
. He often doubled bass, guitar and keyboard parts, blending them with reverberation and adding other unusual instruments.
Although the self-taught Wilson often had entire arrangements worked out in his head (which were usually written in a shorthand form for the other players by one of his session musicians), surviving tapes of his recording sessions show that he was remarkably open to input from his musicians, often taking advice and suggestions from them and even incorporating apparent 'mistakes' if they provided a useful or interesting alternative.
In spite of the availability of complex multitrack recording
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
, Wilson always mixed the final version of his recordings in mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
, as did Phil Spector. He did this for several reasons; one of which was that he felt that mono mastering provided more sonic control over the final result that the listener heard, regardless of the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality. It was also motivated by the knowledge that, back then, radio and TV were broadcast in mono, and most domestic and automotive radios and record players were monophonic. Another and more personal reason for Wilson's preference of recording in mono was due to his being almost totally deaf in his right ear, rumored to be the result of childhood injury to his eardrum
Eardrum
The eardrum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear in humans and other tetrapods. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles...
caused by a blow from his violent father Murry Wilson
Murry Wilson
Murry Gage Wilson was an American musician and record producer, best remembered as the father of The Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson, uncle of bandmate Mike Love, and the husband of Audree Wilson...
, although Wilson has claimed that he was born deaf in one ear.
These backing tracks were then dubbed down onto one track of an 8-track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
recorder (at Columbia studio, the only facility in LA with an 8-track), and, although much of the fine detail in the arrangements was often covered by the group's rich vocal harmonies, they interacted effectively with the vocal tracks. This mono recording meant that a stereo mixdown could not be achieved. Wilson's partial deafness made him indifferent to stereo and it was not until the advent of digital recording that it was possible to combine the instrumental and vocal session-tapes to achieve a true stereo release. Six of the remaining seven tracks were usually dedicated to each of the Beach Boys' vocals (the five-piece group was by then being regularly augmented by singer Bruce Johnston
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston is a member of The Beach Boys and a songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs". Johnston was not one of the original members of the band...
, who later became a permanent member). The last track was usually reserved for additional vocals and/or instruments and other 'sweetening' elements.
Provisional tracks and Capitol's insistence
Wilson was back in the studio with his session band, laying down the first takes for a new composition, "Good VibrationsGood Vibrations
"Good Vibrations" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys. Composed and produced by Brian Wilson, the song's lyrics were written by Wilson and Mike Love....
". Around February 23, Wilson gave Capitol a provisional track listing for the new LP, which included both "Sloop John B" and "Good Vibrations." This contradicts the long held misconception that "Sloop John B" was a forced inclusion as the hit single at Capitol's insistence: in late February, the song was weeks away from release.
Wilson worked through February and into March fine-tuning the backing tracks. To the group's surprise he also dropped "Good Vibrations" from the running order, telling them that he wanted to spend more time on it. Al Jardine remembers:
Most of March and early April was devoted to recording the remaining backing tracks and to the crucial recording of vocals, a process which proved to be the most exacting work the group had hitherto undertaken, as Mike Love
Mike Love
Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
later recalled:
Heralding the psychedelic era
Brian Wilson's response when asked about acidLSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
and the song Hang On To Your Ego:
Brian appeared to become interested in Eastern philosophy and the psychedelic experience, in particular; often pointing to ego loss, or ego-death, as the key to a better way of living:
According to music critic Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
:
Jim DeRogatis also stated:
Title and cover art
Both the origin and meaning of the album title Pet Sounds are uncertain. In his 1991 autobiography Wouldn't It Be Nice, Brian Wilson claimed that the title was inspired by disparaging comments made by Mike Love after a particularly acrimonious vocal recording session for the album. According to Wilson, Love remarked, "Who's gonna hear this shit? The ears of a dog?"Brian Wilson also claimed at one point that the title was "a tribute" to Phil Spector by naming the album using his initials. Carl Wilson later spoke about the album title: "The idea he had was that everybody has these sounds that they love, and this was a collection of his 'pet sounds.' It was hard to think of a name for the album, because you sure couldn't call it Shut Down Vol. 3."
Mike Love also has laid claim to coming up with the title. "We were standing in the hallway in one of the recording studios, either Western or Columbia, and we didn't have a title," he recounted. "We had taken pictures at the zoo and ... there were animal sounds on the record, and we were thinking, well, it's our favorite music of that time, so I said, 'Why don't we call it Pet Sounds.'
On February 15, the group traveled to the San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species...
to shoot the photographs for the cover of the new album, which had already been titled Pet Sounds. George Jerman has been credited for taking the cover photo. According to the Pet Sounds' liner notes, "The photos of The Beach Boys feeding an assortment of goats was a play on the album's chosen title, Pet Sounds."
Release
By mid-April Pet Sounds was finished and had been submitted to Capitol. "Caroline, No," released as a solo single; it was credited to Brian Wilson alone, leading to speculation that he was considering leaving the band. The single reached #32 in the United States."Sloop John B" was extremely successful, scoring a #3 hit in the U.S. and #2 in Great Britain. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" reached #8 in the U.S. Its flip side, "God Only Knows," was another #2 single in Britain, but reached only #39 in the States. The LP broke into the Top Ten in the U.S., belying its reputation as a commercial failure there. In Australia, the album was only released under the title The Fabulous Beach Boys on the Music for Pleasure
Music for Pleasure (record label)
Music for Pleasure was a record label that issued budget-priced albums of popular and classical music, although the latter were marketed under the Classics for Pleasure name...
label.
Pet Sounds greatest success was in the UK, where it reached #2 in the LP charts. Its success there was aided by considerable support from the British music industry, who embraced the record warmly; Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
spoke often about the album's influence on The Beatles. Bruce Johnston has often stated that he flew to London in May 1966 and played the album for John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney. But although it's been claimed that the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
manager Andrew Oldham helped Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor was an English journalist, writer and publicist, best known for his work as press officer for The Beatles...
publicize unsolicited advertisements lauding the album in British music papers, a search of the UK pop press for 1966 fails to uncover any such advert.
However, like Beach Boys' Party!
Beach Boys' Party!
Beach Boys' Party! is an album of cover songs by American rock and roll band The Beach Boys that was marketed during the lucrative Christmas season. The original album release included a sheet of photographs of the band 'appearing' to be at the party at hand. It was The Beach Boys' tenth album...
, Pet Sounds failed to reach gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status on its initial release in the U.S., where it reached #10, which deeply disappointed Wilson (although during the accounting process which resulted in gold and platinum awards in 2000 it emerged that the album had sold enough to be certified as gold by summer 1967: for whatever reason, Capitol never requested such certification). Much of the blame for its lukewarm commercial fortunes has been laid with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, which did not promote the album as heavily as the band's earlier releases. Pet Sounds eventually went gold and platinum in 2000.
Re-issues
In 1990, Pet Sounds was released in CD format (All songs Mono) with three bonus tracks: "Unreleased Backgrounds" (actually an unused vocal section for "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)"), "Hang On to Your Ego" and "Trombone Dixie" all of which were described as unreleased.In 1997, The Pet Sounds Sessions
The Pet Sounds Sessions
The Pet Sounds Sessions is a 4-CD boxed set released in 1997 which compiles tracks from The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, and its recording sessions. The album is included in its entirety in its original mono mix, as well as a stereo mix...
box set was released which included the original mono release, the first stereo release and three CDs of out-takes and rehearsals. The stereo mix was released in 1999 on vinyl and on CD. The current CD release has the original mono version, followed by "Hang On to Your Ego" (the original version of "I Know There's an Answer") as a bonus track, and the album remixed in stereo.
Recordings from Brian Wilson's 2002 concert tour, in which he reproduced the whole album live on stage, were released as Pet Sounds Live
Pet Sounds Live
Pet Sounds Live is the second live album released by Brian Wilson. Coming directly after his first live package, Live at the Roxy Theatre, Wilson wanted to capture The Beach Boys' 1966 masterpiece in a live contemporary atmosphere....
.
On August 29, 2006, Capitol released the 40th Anniversary edition of Pet Sounds. The new compilation contains a new 2006 remaster of the original mono mix, DVD mixes (stereo and Surround Sound), and a "making of" documentary. The discs were released in a regular jewel box and a deluxe edition was released in a green fuzzy box. A two disk colored gatefold vinyl set was released with green and yellow disks with the yellow one having the mono mix on it and the green disc having the stereo version.
On September 2, 2008, Capitol reissued a single LP version replicating the original artwork (including the inner sleeve) with the original mono mix on 180 gram vinyl.
Reception
Although not a big seller for the band originally, Pet Sounds has been influential since the day it was released. Rapturously received in Britain, it was lauded in the music press and championed by many top rock stars. The Beatles, for example, have said that Pet Sounds was a major influence on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
, and Paul McCartney has repeatedly named it as one of his favorite albums (with "God Only Knows" as his favorite song) – completing a circle begun by The Beatles' influence on Wilson. McCartney stated that:
Other artists have also cited Pet Sounds as one of the all time classic albums. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
stated that "All of us, Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
, Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
and I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one."
Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
has said of the album, "For me to say that I was enthralled would be an understatement. I had never heard such magical sounds, so amazingly recorded. It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording. It is a timeless and amazing recording of incredible genius and beauty."
Beatles producer George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
stated that "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
has said of Brian Wilson's talents, "That ear – I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian."
Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
stated that along with Sgt Pepper, Pet Sounds "completely changed everything about records for me."
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
stated "Last summer, I heard "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" played on the cello. It sounded beautiful and sad, just as it does on Pet Sounds."
In May 1966, Bruce Johnston flew to London with copies of Pet Sounds and recalls Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
loving the album. Keith later stated "Pet Sounds was too far removed from the style he loved".
Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
stated "'God Only Knows' is simple and elegant and was stunning when it first appeared; it still sounds perfect".
Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
stated "I think I would put him up there with any composer - especially Pet Sounds. I don't think there is anything better than that, necessarily. I don't think you'd be out of line comparing him to Beethoven - to any composer."
Legacy
In 1995, nearly thirty years after its release, a panel of top musicians, songwriters and producers assembled by MOJOMojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine voted it "The Greatest Album Ever Made." It was number one in New Musical Express's list "The 100 Best Albums". In 1997, Pet Sounds was named the 33rd greatest album of all time in a poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
. In 2006 Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
readers voted it the 12th greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th Century; in 2001 the TV channel VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
placed it at #3. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
magazine ranked it the greatest album of all time.
It also placed #2 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
behind only Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
to be added to the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
. In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
as one of the 100 best albums of all time. The album has inspired many progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands and was later named as one of Classic Rock magazine
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
s "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".
Tributes
Pet Sounds has inspired a number of tribute albumTribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
s such as "Do It Again A Tribute To Pet Sounds" by Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf is an English-Irish singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola...
. Many songs on "Pet Sounds" have appeared on many Beach Boy and Brian Wilson tribute albums like Making God Smile by Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer is an American rock/pop band that formed in New Braunfels, Texas, eventually settling in Nashville, Tennessee. They are best known for their songs "Kiss Me" and "Breathe Your Name" and their covers of "Don't Dream It's Over" and "There She Goes". The name of the band is...
and Smiling Pets by various artists including Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
's Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
. There are many Pet Sounds tribute parodies including Punk Sounds
Punk Sounds
Punk Sounds is an album by the Huntingtons released in 2009, digitally by Steinhaus Records and on CD by Knowhere Records. The album contains B-sides, rarities, and two newly recorded tracks.-Band lineup:*Mikey Huntington: Vocals/Bass/Moog...
by the Huntingtons
The Huntingtons
The Huntingtons are a punk band from Baltimore, Maryland which formed in 1993-1994 in the Maryland/Delaware area by Cliff Powell , Mike Holt and Mike Pierce . The band is heavily influenced by The Ramones.-1993-2005:The Huntingtons debut album Sweet Sixteen was released in 1996 by Flying Tart...
. There have also been track-for-track mash-ups such as Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a track-for-track mash-up of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by Clayton Counts, posted on his blog. It was released under the pseudonym "The Beachles" and received favorable mentions in Entertainment...
which is a blend of "Pet Sounds" with The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was released under the pseudonym "The Beachles". Seattle-based folk band, the Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes are a folk rock band which formed in Seattle, Washington. They are signed to the Sub Pop and Bella Union record labels. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP, Sun Giant, and their debut full length album Fleet Foxes...
have often been seen paying tribute to the album.Simon Neil
Simon Neil
Simon Alexander Neil is a Scottish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, known for his work in the bands Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Duke.-Biffy Clyro:...
of Scottish band Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, comprising Simon Neil , James Johnston and Ben Johnston...
has the lyrics "God only knows what I'd be without you" tattooed across his chest which refers to the song and to his wife Francesca. It was the first song they danced to.A song entitled "Caroline, Yes" appears on the Kaiser Chiefs'
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
2005 album Employment
Employment (album)
Employment is the debut album by English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, released in March 2005 on B-Unique Records. Employment takes its inspirations from the Britpop and New Wave movements, 70s'-era punk rock and Beach Boys-esque West Coast music...
in reference to Caroline, No.
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Times The Times The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... |
United Kingdom | The 100 Best Albums of All Time | 1993 | 1 |
| New Musical Express | United Kingdom | New Musical Express Writers Top 100 Albums | 1993 | 1 |
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
United Kingdom | Mojo's 100 Greatest Albums of All Time | 1995 | 1 |
| The Guardian The Guardian The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format... |
United Kingdom | 100 Best Albums Ever | 1997 | 6 |
| Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... |
United Kingdom | The 100 Greatest Albums | 1997 | 33 |
| Grammy Awards | United States | Grammy Hall of Fame Award Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"... |
1998 | * |
| Virgin Virgin Group Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding... |
United Kingdom | The Virgin Top 100 Albums | 2000 | 18 |
| VH1 VH1 VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly... |
United Kingdom | VH1's Greatest Albums Ever | 2001 | 3 |
| BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
United Kingdom | BBC 6 Music: Best Albums of All Time | 2002 | 11 |
| Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... |
United States | The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:... |
2003 | 2 |
| Jim DeRogatis | United States | One Hundred and Ninety Eight Albums You Can't Live Without | 2003 | 2 |
| Robert Dimery | United States | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd... |
2006 | * |
| Time Magazine | United States | The All-TIME 100 Albums | 2006 | * |
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
United Kingdom | Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums Ever | 2006 | 12 |
| The Observer The Observer The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,... |
United Kingdom | The 50 Albums That Changed Music | 2006 | 10 |
Track listing
Pet Sounds has had many different re-issues since its release in 1966, including remastered mono and stereo versions. The first release of the album on CD came in 1990, when it was released with the addition of three bonus tracks. In 2001, Pet Sounds was re-released with "Hang on to Your Ego" as a bonus track.Personnel
The majority of the groups, session musicians and engineers information has derived largely from musician union contracts, web sources and books stating information about the record. This means that some of the information isn't certain or accurate. Furthermore, while contracts contain the session date, song title and hours booked, none was required to be precisely accurate. The date on the contracts were often changed to comply with union requirements.According to Russ Waspensky, Laura Tunbridge and Brad Elliott
The Beach Boys
- Al JardineAl JardineAlan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, a guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early life:...
– lead, harmony and backing vocals, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
* - Bruce JohnstonBruce JohnstonBruce Arthur Johnston is a member of The Beach Boys and a songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs". Johnston was not one of the original members of the band...
– harmony and backing vocals - Mike LoveMike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
– lead, harmony and backing vocals - Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
– lead, harmony and backing vocals, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, arrangedArrangerIn investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
and conductedConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
the session musicians, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, dog whistles, sound effects incl. barking dogs and trains - Carl WilsonCarl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
– lead, harmony and backing vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, twelve string guitarTwelve string guitarThe twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar... - Dennis WilsonDennis WilsonDennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
– harmony and backing vocals, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
*
Session musicians and production staff
- Ralph Balantin – engineer
- Arnold Belnick – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Chuck Berghofer – upright bass
- Hal BlaineHal BlaineHal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
– drums, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, bongos, tympani, temple blocks* - Bruce BotnickBruce BotnickBruce Botnick is an American audio engineer and record producer, best known for his work with The Doors, and with Love. He engineered Love's first two albums, and co-produced their third album, Forever Changes, with the band's singer-songwriter, Arthur Lee.In November 1970, he took over production...
– engineer - Norman Botnick – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Chuck BritzChuck BritzCharles "Chuck" Dean Britz was a recording engineer who most famously worked with Jan and Dean, Brian Wilson, and The Beach Boys on numerous albums between 1962 and 1967....
– engineer - Glen CampbellGlen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
– guitar, twelve string guitarTwelve string guitarThe twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar... - Frank CappFrank CappFrank Capp is an American jazz drummer.Capp was born August 20, 1931 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He began playing with Stan Kenton starting in 1951 and remained with Kenton for some time. Later he joined Neal Hefti's group. He often accompanied Peggy Lee on some of her road dates and...
– percussion, bellsBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
* - Al Casey – guitar
- Ray Caton – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Jerry ColeJerry ColeJerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.-Biography:...
– guitar - Kyle Burkett – guitar
- Andrew Maxson – bass
- Gary Coleman – percussion, bongos
- H. Bowen David – engineer
- Mike Deasy – guitar
- Al de Lory – piano, harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, organ, tack pianoTack pianoIn music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound... - Joseph DiFiore – viola
- Justin DiTullio – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Steve DouglasSteve Douglas (saxophonist)Steven Douglas Kreisman , better known as Steve Douglas, was an American saxophonist, flautist and clarinetist. Douglas is best known as a Los Angeles session musician, a member of The Wrecking Crew, who worked with Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys...
– saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, percussion, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Jesse Erlich – cello
- Ritchie Frost – drums, percussion, Coca-Cola cans
- Carl Fortina – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- James Getzoff – violin
- Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
– drums, percussion - Bill Green – saxophone, flute, percussion
- Leonard Hartman – English horn, clarinets
- Jim HornJim HornJim Horn is an American saxophonist and woodwind player. He was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for five years, playing sax and flute on the road, and in the recording studio...
– saxophones, flute - Paul Horn – saxophone
- Harry Hyams – viola
- Jules Jacob – flute
- Plas JohnsonPlas JohnsonPlas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most familiar as the lead on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme"....
– saxophones, percussion - Carol KayeCarol KayeCarol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
– electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Barney KesselBarney KesselBarney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
– mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, guitar - Bobby Klein – saxophone
- Larry KnechtelLarry KnechtelLawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
– Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard... - William Kurasch – violin
- Larry Levine – engineer
- Leonard Malarsky – violin
- Frank Marocco – accordion
- Gail Martin – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Nick Martinis – drums
- Terry MelcherTerry MelcherTerrence P. Melcher was an American musician and record producer, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of American West Coast rock music. His greatest contribution to the culture of the time was producing The Byrds' innovative hits "Mr Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and his...
– tambourine* - Mike MelvoinMike MelvoinMike Melvoin is an American jazz pianist.Melvoin began on piano at age three. He studied English at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1959, but decided to pursue a career in music. After moving to Los Angeles in 1961, he played with Frank Rosolino, Leroy Vinnegar, Gerald Wilson, Paul Horn, Terry...
– harpsichord - Jay MiglioriJay MiglioriJay Migliori was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker....
– saxophones, clarinets, flute - Tommy Morgan – harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
- Jack Nimitz – saxophone
- Bill Pitman – guitar
- Ray Pohlman – mandolin, electric guitar, six string bassExtended-range bassExtended-range bass refers to an electric bass guitar with greater frequency range than the standard 4-string bass guitar. Bass guitars tuned one octave lower than a standard four-string instrument are also considered an extended-range bass...
- Don Randi – piano
- Jerome Reisler – violin
- Lyle Ritz – upright bass, ukuleleUkuleleThe ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
- Alan Robinson – French horn
- Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
– piano - Joseph Saxon – cello
- Ralph Schaffer – violin
- Sid Sharp – violin
- Billy StrangeBilly StrangeWilliam E. "Billy" Strange is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor.-Recordings and songwriting:...
– guitar, twelve-string electric guitar - Ron Swallow – tambourine
- Ernie Tack – trombone
- Paul TannerPaul Tanner-Career:Tanner gained fame by playing trombone with Glenn Miller's band from 1938 until 1942, later working as a studio musician in Hollywood. He was a professor at UCLA and also authored or co-authored several academic and popular histories related to jazz....
– Electro-ThereminElectro-ThereminThe Electro-Theremin, often called the Tannerin, is an electronic musical instrument developed by trombonist Paul Tanner and amateur inventor Bob Whitsell in the late 1950s to produce a sound to mimic that of the theremin. The instrument features a tone and portamento similar to that of the... - Darrel Terwilliger – viola
- Tommy TedescoTommy TedescoThomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
– guitar - Julius WechterJulius WechterJulius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...
– percussion - Jerry Williams – percussion
- Tibor Zelig – violin
Sales chart positions
Albums| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | US Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart | 10 |
| 1966 | UK Top 40 Album Chart | 2 |
| 1972 | US Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart | 50 |
| 1990 | US Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart | 162 |
| 2001 | Top Internet Albums | 24 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | "Caroline No" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 32 |
| 1966 | "God Only Knows" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 39 |
| 1966 | "Sloop John B" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 3 |
| 1966 | "Wouldn't It Be Nice" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 8 |
Chart information courtesy of Allmusic and other music databases.
External links
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
voted the album the second greatest album ever. - Out-Of-Sight! SMiLE Timeline
- [ Pet Sounds on Allmusic.com]