‘Pet Sounds’ by the Beach Boys is 50 years old this year, considered by many to be the best album from its era. “Wouldn’t it be Nice,” “Sloop John B,” “God Only Knows,” and “Caroline No” all come from this Brian Wilson classic.
Glen Campbell plays his 12 string electric guitar on the album, as do a majority of the legendary Los Angeles based ‘Wrecking Crew’ studio musicians. Rolling Stone Magazine lists ‘Pet Sounds’ as number three of the greatest albums of all time, VHI lists the album as number three, the New York Times considers the album to be the number one album ever. The album is the complete effort of Brian, written and recorded over a five-month period in 1966, as Brian had stopped touring to concentrate on creating the next Beach Boys album.
How significant was this LP? Consider that when Paul McCartney of the Beatles heard it, he was so blown away that he realized that if the Beatles didn’t respond to the album, the Beach Boys would have the 1 up on them. That’s the moment Paul began working on a project that would change the course of music forever – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band!!!
‘Pet Sounds’ was considered a concept album in that it had contained tracks of barking dogs and Coca Cola cans. The expense was enormous as well, running up studio expenses of nearly $800,000 – unheard of for a record at the time of its recording. The project was all Brian and ruffled the feathers of all the other members of the group as they fought over song selections, lyrics, and overall direction of the album.